THE MAGIC MARKET
written by
Kurt Hollander


Want to dominate that beautiful woman who has always given you the
cold shoulder? Need to find a job or get some cash quick? Want your
clients to pay on time? Is your husband chasing after any woman he can
get his hands on? Has someone cursed you with the 'evil eye' or stolen
your soul? Stop worrying, there's a magical cure for you here in
Mexico City in the largest witchcraft market in the world.

The Mercado de Sonora, inaugurated on September 23, 1957 and located
within the commercial center of Mexico City, is divided into three
major sections. In one section of the market are sold hundreds of
colorful, plastic toys, while in another all kinds of animals, from
dogs and cats to exotic snakes, lizards, scorpions, spiders, and even
some illegally hunted species, are for sale. The Sonora Market,
however, is best known for the dozens of brujas and brujos (female and
male witches), chamanes (shamans) and santeros (priests of the
African-based santería) who attend clients within the market. Working
out of stalls, many of them the size of a large closet, these healers
perform limpias (spiritual cleansings), healing rituals, initiations
and predictions. All the materials needed for these and other ritual
practices are sold in the hundreds of small botánicas within the
Sonora Market, while the birds used in the ritual sacrifices can be
bought live and squawking a few yards away.

So the next time you're sick, fed up with your bad luck, suffering
from spiritual malaise, in need of some sexual healing, or just want
to indulge in some good old-fashioned revenge, just head over to the
Sonora Market, one of the world's largest one-stop-shopping for
witchcraft, santería and traditional indigenous healing.