Witches' Brew: A uniquely Galician tradition

Total darkness, except for the flickering blue fire being stirred round and round. His voice rises, chanting the age-old incantation over the cauldron. He spoons the fiery liquid up, presenting it to the somber-faced onlookers. When the fire and chant gradually diminish, everyone bursts into cheers and grabs a cup for a taste. This is a Galician queimada, or witches' brew.

My good friend Carmen invited me home to A Coruña, Galicia for Christmas in 2013, where I had the incredible opportunity to experience a truly Galician Christmas. Among the very unique Galician traditions I participated in, the queimada truly left its mark on me.

After the Christmas meal, Carmen's father took out a big cauldron and placed it on the table. He poured into it aguardiente, a homemade liquor (of which each Galician family has its own recipe), sugar, orange peels, and red wine [1]. When he lit the alcohol on fire, he began chanting the traditional incantation of a queimada, sung to chase away evil spirits. I wish I'd understood the Galician words, but I was still enchanted by the ceremony. Here are the lyrics, both in Galician and then in English, of a traditional queimada:

Galician [2]:

Mouchos, coruxas, sapos e bruxas. Demos, trasnos e diaños, espíritos das nevoadas veigas. Corvos, pintigas e meigas, feitizos das menciñeiras. Pobres cañotas furadas, fogar dos vermes e alimañas. Lume das Santas Companhas, mal de ollo, negros meigallos, cheiro dos mortos, tronos e raios. Oubeo do can, pregón da morte, foucinho do sátiro e pé do coello. Pecadora lingua da mala muller casada cun home vello. Averno de Satan e Belcebú, lume dos cadáveres ardentes, corpos mutilados dos indecentes, peidos dos infernais cus, muxido da mar embravecida. Barriga inútil da muller solteira, falar dos gatos que andan á xaneira, guedella porca da cabra mal parida. Con este fol levantarei as chamas deste lume que asemella ao do inferno, e fuxiran as bruxas a cabalo das súas basoiras, índose bañar na praia das areas gordas.

¡Oíde, oíde! os ruxidos que dan as que non poden deixar de queimarse no augardente, quedando así purificadas. E cando este brebaxe baixe polas nosas gorxas, quedaremos libres dos males da nosa alma e de todo embruxamento. Forzas do ar, terra, mar e lume, a vós fago esta chamada: se é verdade que tendes máis poder que a humana xente, aquí e agora, facede cos espíritos dos amigos que están fóra, participen con nós desta queimada.

English [3]:

Owls, white owls, toads and witches. Evil demons and devils, spirits of the snowy vales. Crows, salamanders and witches, charms of the healers. Rotten, holey canes, home of worms and vermin. Flame of condemned souls, the evil eye, black witchcraft, the smell of the dead, thunder and lightning. Dog howls, death-knell, Satyr's nose and rabbit's foot. Sinful tongue of the evil woman married to an old man. Satan and Beelzebub’s Inferno, fire of burning corpses, mutilated corpses of the immoral, farts of infernal arses, roar of the rough sea. Useless womb of the unmarried woman, meow of cats in heat, dirty coat of the misbegotten goat (da cabra mal parida). With this ladle I will raise the calls of this flame to resemble those of hell, and witches will flee on their broomsticks, going to bathe at the beach of thick sands (na praia das areas gordas).

Hear, hear! The roar of those who cannot stop burning in the fiery aguardiente, thus becoming purified. And when this brew slips into our throats, we will be free of the evils of our spirit and all enchantment. Forces of the air, earth, sea and fire, unto you I make this call: if it is true that you have more power than human beings, here and now, bring the spirits of friends who are far away to join us here in this queimada.

[1] I found similar recipes on other websites, namely: http://www.spain.info/es/reportajes/la_queimada_la_bebida_magica_de_galicia.html, http://www.delmorrazo.com/gastronomia/origen-conjuro-receta-queimada.html, https://www.vinetur.com/201008091052/la-queimada-una-historia-de-sapos-e-bruxas.html

[2] http://galicia.swred.com/a_queimada.htmhttp://galicia.swred.com/a_queimada.htm

[3] For the English version, I translated from the Galician and Spanish versions (with the help of my Galician boyfriend).