His antlers were well developed and he looked everywhere nervously until his body went limp and he could no longer see. The goat was killed after midnight, when it was already Friday, during the black mass to which EL PAÍS had access and which was held at the home of Enrique Marthen, the oldest magician in the city of Catemaco in Veracruz. No one could see what was happening, but they all heard the howl of pain as the older wizard, knife in hand, bent down to kill the animal. After that, those present plunged into a strange silence that could actually be divided into two, that of the devotees impatient to be anointed with the blood of the sacrificed animal, and that of the influencers who didn’t know how to explain it to their few followers. And that’s just the first act of the ceremony.
It’s Thursday morning, the day before the black mass, and Catemaco exudes a calm that only falters when you talk about Bujería. The battle between the spiritualities becomes almost devilish in the central square. There, the city council hung a banner in front of the Basícila de Nuestra Señora del Carmen with the activities of the witches’ day. The celebration takes place on these dates every year. Every first Friday in March, witches celebrate a black mass in the privacy of their homes. The goal is to eliminate the bad energies accumulated during the working year. To complement this famous ceremony and attract more people, the authorities organize witch parades, music concerts and purges to get rid of evil spirits. This activity brings about 10,000 tourists to the city every year.
Photographs of scapulars and religious figures in the Basilica of Our Lady of Carmen Catemaco, Veracruz (Mexico). Aggi Garduño
Martín, a nice 23-year-old boy, hums while he scrubs the floor of the basilica with big licks. “It’s ignorance that makes people go to hell,” he says, in the gentle voice of someone who’s learned to enjoy an act as innocuous as washing the dishes, “because when you ask for something, you have to you give back and , but you ask God and he gives you. But you have to make an effort,” says the young man, leaning on his mop. To counteract the negative energy of the black mass, the church has planned actions to cleanse and pray for sinners. “The only true way is God,” says the young man before continuing to clean the floor of the church.
Modern and spectacular witchcraft aside, Catemaco is a city where quackery has traditionally dominated, driven by the syncretism between indigenous rites, the Catholic religion imposed after the conquest, and the Cuban Santeria that arrived with the slaves that the Spanish brought here sent. This has created a breeding ground in which mysticism and dark beliefs thrive. Dagoberto Escobar Pereira, a 77-year-old neighbor, former town journalist, publicist and construction worker, has witnessed the changes that have transformed Catemaco into an international center of witchcraft. He is a Christian but based on effort and dedication.
Dagoberto Escobar Pereira, resident of Catemaco, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Carmen Catemaco, Veracruz (Mexico) Aggi Garduño
“He tempted me once,” he says, pausing as he settles into the kiosk in the main square with the basilica at his back.
-The devil?
-Yes. It was the first Friday in March. I was sitting on the sidewalk in despair because I had many problems when a horse passed on the street. It was pretty, very pretty. But he didn’t have riatas or anything and he turned to me but I said no I’m with my most holy Father don’t come to tempt me. I looked at the clock and it was midnight Thursday through Friday. And I wondered what makes such a beautiful horse on the loose that people who have money take care of her. I never touched it.
This is just one of the stories Pereira tells. He wears old clothes that are a little grainy to him. The mustache and index and ring fingers are yellow from smoking. Even Catholics used to know about “homemade witchcraft”. For example, if someone wanted a visitor to leave the house, they would put the broom upside down behind the front door. “And the visit would go,” says Pereira in a dispassionate tone, as if saying that people drank water to quench their thirst.
However, warlocks as they are known today did not exist. “It was a modern thing, before that there was no ambition to have money because there was no communication. “But we have free will, everyone can do what they want, that doesn’t bother me, it’s part of our culture and it’s true that it brings a lot of tourism to the city,” he says.
Malecón de Catemaco in the state of Veracruz (Mexico) Aggi Garduño
Before the first act
It’s already ten o’clock at night for Enrique Marthen. María Mata sits and confidently awaits the beginning of the ceremony in her red, low-cut dress, her neck full of protective energy chains, long eyelashes and an imposing posture. The older wizard changed his life in July last year.
“I was very ill and nobody could help me. I went to see a psychologist for three years, but it didn’t work,” says Mata, who came from California. His life began to change when he arrived at this lost house on the outskirts of Catemaco. “Now I know who I am and I’m sure of myself and I don’t need anyone anymore, I’m not emotionally dependent like I used to be. I have my feet on the ground,” she says while planting her heels on the floor. “This energy is felt by my children and has changed my life,” he says. Other customers’ stories are similar. They were very angry, desperate when Enrique Marthen rescued them from the darkness that ruled their lives. Now the magician, dressed in a golden robe, enters the house through the front door, holding a staff with an animal head strung on it.
Preparations for the celebration of Witches’ Day gather at the El Ahijado Museum and Ceremony Center Aggi Garduño
first act
The six-pointed star painted on the floor is filled with tequila bottles that visitors bring as gifts. The dancers retreat and one of the magicians prepares to speak. The roar of the drones recording the act from above sounds. One of the witches begins to speak. “We promote complacency instead of abstinence, we defend freedom without reservation,” he said in front of a hundred people. Then Marthen steps up to the microphone. “We will now precede the sacrifice of life,” he says. The atmosphere is suddenly tense. The goat enters from the side, innocent, clueless, lost. Circles are formed, the adjutants, dressed in a tight-fitting red leather suit, cover the view of everyone present with a black screen. Marthen takes a dagger out of its sheath and shows it to the audience. “Please don’t take any pictures of him because of the censorship,” the witch says in a low voice.
Then he ducks. No one can see what’s going on, but his microphone is on and the goat’s howl says it all. “Talking,” he asks, cutting off his head, “talking.” “Hail Lucifer,” says someone, some follow him. The howling of the animal stops. One of the warlocks collected a whole bowl of her blood. “Strength, power, healing,” they all say. Marthen climbs onto the altar behind the cross. It’s a small pyramid with an inverted cross at the end. He sets down the blood bowl and pulls out a hospital bag of blood.
“Well then,” it begins, “tonight we shall shed human blood for the first time. Someone donated it today and it’s going to be poured into this pyramid just like it was done in ancient times.” He breaks the bag with the knife and the blood spreads down the steps of the pyramid. From the speakers comes an intense, deep Music.”May this blood wash away all the troubles, all the negativity that has surrounded our lives,” he says, before scattering some sprigs of pirul in the bowl of goat’s blood and sprinkling it on everyone.Those who want more come closer , put their hands in it and smear their faces. Youtubers record everything they can. The goat has disappeared from the scene. The head is picked up for the third act and its body lies behind some bushes.
Black Mass at the El Ahijado Ceremonial Center in the city of Catemaco, Veracruz (Mexico) Aggi Garduño
second act
The private ceremony takes place in the cave, a place lit by red lights and presided over by a naked devil. The 40 people with the “Press” tag stay outside and wait for the third act. The two journalists from EL PAÍS are invited to come in. Inside, on the central table of the room, three seated young girls waddle slowly. Each of them is covered with a fine black cloth. It’s very hot and the room is almost full. Marthen speaks and pleads with those present tonight, and without lingering too long, plead something with Satan for the rest of the year. When they are done, Marthen opens a bottle of wine and asks the girls to show themselves. They take off the black cloth. Her body is protected from nudity by leather garters that encircle her body in a circle. The magician sprinkles their bodies with wine while they move like snakes until the ceremony is over. People back out of the temple so as not to turn their backs on the devil. Most are sweating, their faces beaming with exhaustion and devotion.
Private Ceremony for Wizards in the Demon’s Lair. Aggi Garduño
third act
The third act takes place in Mexico’s first Satanic Church, which is still half built. On a table they left the goat’s head, the pirul leaves for the pure and a book of satanic prayers. Before burning the stupa and the six-pointed gasoline star, read a few prayers. Enrique approaches the base of the star with a torch. Silently, with all eyes on him, he sets the structure on fire. “Long live Lucifer,” they shout in the red glow of the bonfire.
Enrique Marthen Berdón was born in Catemaco to a Catholic environment, where he was taught that the devil is a dark and dangerous being. During his years of service in the United States, he dressed up people close to him as a favor. But he began to educate himself, learning about psychology, logic, philosophy and the sacred texts. “You start to realize that it was the Catholic Church that turned Lucifer into an evil being, where Lucifer means exactly being of light,” he explains.
Enrique Martín Berdón “El Ahijado” the older witch. Aggi Garduño
Some time later, she decided to return to Catemaco and devote herself fully to witchcraft. Like Martín, the Christian boy who swept the floor of the basilica, Marthen defends that his work has no effect if the other does not make an effort. “You don’t have to give your soul to the devil, but you have to work for what you want to achieve,” he defends. Politicians, business people, but also street sweepers have gone through his advice. “We’re all important, and when I come in here, I take care of both of them the same way,” he says.
“Do the sweeper and the merchant ask you about similar things?”
In this world, everyone wants the same thing. Those who have nothing want little, those who have moderately want more, and those who have a lot want twice as much. The world is filled with an excessive ambition towards money. I try to lead them, but in the end everyone has to go their own way in life.
On the first Friday of March, the sorcerers of this Veracruz city meet in a secret place to perform rituals: Aggi Garduño
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