Central and South America


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The texts listed below cover the history of witchcraft in Central and South America, ie from Mexico south. For context, you might also refer to the bibliographies for Spain or Portugal, as necessary.

Behar, R., ‘Sexual Witchcraft, Colonialism, and Women’s Powers: Views from the Mexican Inquisition’, in Asunción Lavrin (ed.), Sexuality and Marriage in Colonial Latin America (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989), 178-206

Cárdenas, Alejandra, Hechicería, saber y transgresión: Afromestizas en Acapulco, 1621 (Mexico City: Gobierno del Estado de Guerrero, 1997)

Cervantes, Fernando, ‘The Devil in Colonial Mexico: Cultural Interaction and Intellectual Challenge’ (PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, 1989)

Cervantes, Fernando, The Devil in the New World: The Impact of Diabolism in New Spain (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994)

Cervantes, Fernando, ‘The Devils of Quertaro: Scepticism and Credulity in Late Seventeenth-Century Mexico’, Past & Present 130 (1991), 51-69

Cervantes, Fernando, The Idea of the Devil and the Problem of the Indian (London: Institute of Latin American Studies, 1991)

Gareis, Iris, ‘Liebesmagie und Schadenzauber. Zur Rezeption des europäischen Hexenbildes in Hispano-Amerika (16.-18. Jahrhundert)’, in Ingrid Ahrendt-Schulte, Dieter R. Bauer, Sönke Lorenz and Jurgen Michael Schmidt (eds.), Geschlecht, Magie und Hexenverfolgung (Bielefeld: Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, 2002), 209-25

Greenleaf, R.E., The Mexican Inquisition of the 16th Century (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1969)

Greenleaf, R.E., Zumárraga and the Mexican Inquisition 1536-1543 (Washington: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1961)

Palmer, Colin A., ‘Religion and Magic in Mexican Slave Society, 1670-1650’, in S. Engerman and E. Genovese (eds.), Race and Slavery in the Western Hemisphere: Quantitative Studies (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975), ??

Silverblatt, Irene, Moon, Sun and Witches: Gender Ideologies and Class in Inca and Colonial Peru (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987)

Spence, Lewis, The Magic and Mysteries of Mexico; or, the Arcane Secrets…of the Ancient Mexicans and Mayas (London: Rider & Co., 1930); repr. as Arcane Secrets and Occult Lore of Mexico and Mayan Central America: A Treasury of Magic, Astrology, Witchcraft, Demonology and Symbolism (Detroit: B. Ethridge Books, 1973)


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