Brujas Feministas: A brief history of witches

This is a storytelling session about witches. Do witches possess supernatural powers? Who are witches according to the collective imagination informed by Disney and the media? Who gets to name themselves a witch? Are witches magical creatures or early anti-capitalist organizers framed as "evil women" by the state and church?
In this knowledge share we will talk about witches, the witch hunts and the historical processes that allowed for the torturing and killing of witches. From a feminist and political perspective, we will take a look at what gave rise to the witch burnings. We will touch on the generational trauma of the witch hunts and the current reclamation of the term bruja/witch. We will decenter witch-talk and focus on Andean Witches and the impact of the Extirpacion de Idolatrias in Andean territories.
Beyond the witch-industrial-complex created by Instagram, the goal of this talk is to share about witches through a political and queerstorical lens.