Bruxas and their heirs: women of life, earth and death

Abstract

The figure of the bruxa (Ast. ‘witch’), from its historical origins as a repository of traditional knowledge and practices to its revitalization in the contemporary neorural movement, represents a significant cultural enclave as well as a paradigmatic example of femininity. This article analyses the cyclic and transformative triad of earth-life-death as an intersectional point in which the bruxa is situated within rurality. Through interviews with (neo)rural women who identify with this figure, we unveil its important social role and the legacy it leaves in rural communities as an agent of political, ecological, and feminist change. The bruxa is reborn, therefore, as a rebellious and vindicating identity, challenging hegemonic discourse, advocating for diversity and symbiosis with nature. This study proposes to reconsider the destigmatisation of the margins and their inhabitants, the deconstruction of normative discourses, and the redefinition of the frameworks of meaning and significance in which we classify knowledge and its subjects. Ultimately, the bruxa and its rural context stand as symbols of diversity, plurality, and (trans)difference, all of them essential in the pursuit of a more inclusive and just society.