Superstitions and Religion

Growing up in a Hispanic household I was always surrounded by tales of the paranormal and witchcraft. To convey how I felt to the reader, it almost felt like I was in the time period of the Salem witch trials. These stories range from La Llorona to witchcraft in the form of animals. These stories are so embedded in the Hispanic culture that they are passed down generations and always include a first-hand experience of the events. Of course, like most traditions, some of these stories tend to die off in the children of immigrant families. This I do not know why considering I am a child of immigrants. But what is consistent throughout these stories is that there always is some sort of religion implemented into the accounts. In the case of my family, my mother absolutely hates the fact that she can hear the Lechuzas at night. For those who do not know, Lechuzas are large owl like animals that are associated with death and witchcraft. My mother is a major believer in the stories to the point where she would sprinkle holy water around the foundation of our house to cast a sort of barrier from the evils that these Lechuzas bring. She has also tied in the death of a family member to the appearance of these animals. It is a strange occurrence that we happen to live by a mountain where these creatures are located and other various paranormal observations, made by my mother, happen. To say I do not believe in these stories would be a lie because there are things that have happened that I cannot explain and my usual response to the paranormal stories told by friends is “I’m Mexican so I’m not going to mess with that.” Could this just be folklore passed down generations and perhaps occurred before the arrival of the Spanish or is there actually something that is going on that people have used religion to counter these acts of the paranormal? Is culture a factor into these stories as well?