Customer Reviews

The Witches of Abiquiu: The Governor, the Priest, the Genizaro Indians, and the Devil

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is packed full of info on the Northern New Mexico Genizaros...the witchcraft part is pretty interesting too...I wonder how much peyote had to do with the "demonic possessions"...This book really fills in the gap withb regard to Governor Tomas Vélez Cachupín... a lot of Indian raids against the Spanish settlers and vice versa...then throw in the devil and crazy friars, spells, potions, snakes...It's a really great storyline.....the research is top notch..great foot notes section..I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Northern New Mexico history...and I found out a distant relative of min was one of the accused sorcerer!!! He died in a Mexiacan prison :( poor guy.....

This is a fine history of Abiquiu, a small community in northern New Mexico about 80 miles northwest of Santa Fe.

Although it focuses on the outbreak of witchcraft in the mid-1700s, the author properly fills in the background with excellent depictions of the challenges of living in this remote crossroads under Spanish rule, the vagaries of colonial governance from the territorial capital in Santa Fe, and the contemporary status of the unique Abiquiu land grant that endures yet today.

You may be disappointed if you choose this book primarily for the topic of witchcraft. It's there, but, perhaps, not in the major role you would expect. But, if you are interested in the Southwest--northern New Mexico in particular--and the volatile milieu of peoples who have lived there over the last thousand years, you will be very pleased.

This is not to give the witch trials short shrift! The authors examine the decade-long efforts of a determined, outnumbered and outsmarted Catholic priest in Abiquiu--himself bewitched!--to save his community from the sordid practices of several admitted witches.

I just started into the book and am amazed at the amt of history given. Not only can I see how misconceptions have happened. It has allowed me to understand folklore of this area. I'm very pleased.

Good service. I had read this book and wanted to give it as a gift.

This is the worse edited book I have ever read! Repetition from one chapter to a much later chapter is one thing. Repetition from one chapter to the next should not occur, but it is a frequent event in this book! Repetition in the same chapter is unforgivingly boring, and it is a constant in this tome. But repetition from one sentence to the very next one is a total waste of a reader's time. This book could have been one half its size if edited properly.

If it were not for the fact that this book was the selection for the month by my Book Group, I would have quit reading at least by the second chapter, and tossed the book into the yard sale pile.

By the way, it was the unanimous opinion of my Book Group that this was one boring piece of work!