It's true. People have asked me why I have chosen to walk the path of the bruja instead of some spiritual tradition perhaps less reclusive and more socially acceptable. I don't find the question offensive--if people don't know, they don't know, and they need to be educated. In any case, I thought I would include here a spontaneous list answering the question as to why I embrace Brujeria.

1. I didn't choose Brujeria. Brujeria chose me.
2. It works for me without fail.
3. The ethic has evolved past good/bad, black/white, which many spiritualities have yet to shed.
4. I find it a beautiful and exhilirating way to celebrate the universe and my life in it.
5. Intuitive ritual and spellwork appeals to me.
6. The complete lack of central organization and even agreement on the practice appeals to me.
7. Many of my friends are brujos, and they are the most wonderful and compassionate people I have ever known.
8. Brujeria is relevant to these lands--the Americas. Now it wears a Spanish name, but it existed so long before the conquest as to have once been unnamed. I feel better working with a tradition from the part of the world to which I am wedded than if I were to utilize a more Western European model.
9. Brujeria reveres Guadelupe, and Guadelupe in turn is symbolic of union and harmony.
10. The path allows for unlimited expansion of the mind.
11. Practice can be as simple or elaborate as I wish.
12. My heart has genuinely been moved.
13. I find Brujeria to be imminently logical. Where logic does not work, intuition takes over.
14. I enjoy the emphasis (at least in my "sect") on healing and learning the powers of flora.
15. Since becoming a bruja, I have been happier, healthier, and imbued with a self-confidence I had never before known.
16. I get the biggest laugh when people confuse me the bruja with the Brujah Clan from Vampire the Masquerade. :)
17. There's no beating the unrestrained joy of a brujo festival. The colors, tastes, smells, sounds, words, ambiance, dancing to the pulse of the earth--it puts me into such a mood that I feel great love for everyone and everything on this planet and this universe.
18. Diving into the world of the Aztecs, coming to understand their spirituality, and seeing how the Aztec tradition lives on is a wonderful thing.
19. Nobody can accuse me of being a pop bruja.
20. There is no hierarchy in a brujo group. Brujos gravitate towards group leadership, but there is nothing like a High Priestess/High Priest.
21. Brujeria can take me to some very interesting places, such as Chitzen Itza, the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, the Templo Mayor, the Sonoran Desert.
22. By its very nature, Brujeria is not overrun by wannabes.
23. There are lessons of fear and terror, and these are accepted as much as anything pleasant and comforting. There is balance in all things.
24. Being a bruja lends great assistance to all aspects of my life.