The Materiality of Magic: African Amulets and Synchretic Ritual Practices in the Canary Islands (16th-18th centuries)
Example of an amulet preserved at Peabody Museum of Harvard University, Purse or amulet case, “mufhadali”, 14-12-50/85506.
The Canary Islands, one of the earliest hubs of the transatlantic slave trade, served as a key point of contact between Europe, Africa and the emerging Atlantic world and became a site of profound cultural exchange and adaptation during the early modern period. Enslaved Africans, forcibly displaced to this archipelago, carried with them an intricate heritage of spiritual and material practices. These traditions were not merely transplanted but reshaped and reimagined to confront the harsh realities of their new colonial environment. Within a system of pervasive violence that sought to suppress African identities and impose foreign social and economic structures, ritual objects emerged as more than tools of devotion: they became vessels of memory, resistance, and cultural survival. This blog post examines the materiality of African ritual practices through the use of amulets in the Canary Islands during the early modern period.
Often crafted from locally available materials, amulets functioned as personal tools for protection against physical and spiritual threats, embodying a belief system that resisted the standardizing pressures of Catholicism and the Inquisition. The materiality of magical objects represents a key to understanding the cultural and spiritual dynamics of enslaved African communities in the Canary Islands during the early modern period. The most commonly used amulets in the Canarian archipelago were small pouches, referred to by Europeans with bolsas. As bolsas de mandinga, they have been extensively studied in various Atlantic contexts, demonstrating their importance as tools of spiritual protection and cultural symbols. Foundational works, such as by Daniela Buono Calainho, Vanicléia Silva Santos, Matthew Rarey, Lexie Cook, Andrea Guerrero Mosquera, and Cécile Fromont highlight how these practices were monitored by inquisitorial institutions, revealing the complex interactions between African culture and colonial power. In her blogpost within this series, Lexie Cook focuses on trials of the Portuguese Inquisition and how mandigueiros often performed their protective powers to the physical body.
Despite the crucial role of the archipelago as a hub in Atlantic trade routes, Canarian bolsas have received little scholarly attention so far. This historiographical gap represents an opportunity to incorporate the analysis of Canarian bolsas into the broader debate on the Black Atlantic, highlighting the Canary Islands’ contribution to the formation of transatlantic cultural identities.
Compared to other and better-known Atlantic contexts, the Canary Islands differ in two aspects: First, the adaptation and hybridization of ritual practices are already evident in the earliest sources mentioning amulets after the conquest (1496). Second, the production and distribution of bolsas was a distinctive female activity. Witness records from the Holy Office reveal that small pouches, or bolsas, were used for “witchcraft” by women of African origin (both enslaved and free) as well as native women. Made from various materials, their contents—such as nails, hair, stones from altars, ferns, prayers, and saint images—symbolized the blending of African and Catholic-European cultural elements, providing material evidence of transatlantic connections and syncretic practices.
For this blog post, I want to set the focus on the bolsa as a material source, and what its inclusion in a Catholic ritual can tell us about the deep cultural significance it carried, by acting as a bridge between African origins and the colonial world and thus ensuring the continuity of traditions and the survival of community identities under oppressive conditions.
As Arjun Appadurai has suggested some time ago, objects can be seen as dynamic actors actively participating in social, cultural, and economic processes.[1] This approach, known as the social life of objects, invites us to examine objects not as static entities but as elements endowed with a biography, whose meanings transform over time and space depending on their contexts. As such, it enables to see how objects actively contributed to the construction of cultural meanings and the dynamics of adaptation and resistance.
The Green Pouch Under the Altar: Syncretism, Suspicion, and Persecution in the Canary Islands (1638)
Archival records from the Canarian Tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition shed light on how these objects reveal the persistence of African spiritual traditions and their hybridization with Catholic practices. An emblematic case can be found in the denunciations made in 1638. Fray Juan Rodríguez, a young clergyman of 26years old, approached the Holy Inquisition to report what had occurred on an ordinary mass day at the convent of San Agustín, in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife. The altar of San Nicolás de Tolentino, a centre of devotion and spirituality, was prepared to receive the faithful. Fray Juan Rodríguez was about to celebrate the mass when he noticed something unusual. Beneath the altar stone, hidden from view, he discovered a small green pouch, a bolsilla, which contained a mysterious prayer.
The object, as he recounted to the Commissioner of the Spanish Inquisition, was not entirely unfamiliar to Fray Juan. In the days prior, he had observed a woman furtively loitering near the altar—a behaviour that, while not immediately suspicious, now came to mind with a different meaning. The bolsilla was described as being made of abaço de potranca (likely referring to the spleen of a young horse), suggesting not only its probable leather composition but also its crafted durability and portability. The material would have provided a robust casing for the ritual items, while the shape of the pouch—small and easy to conceal—allowed for discreet use in both private and communal rituals.
Example of an amulet preserved at the Museo delle Civilità in Rome, containing ritual elements. This object was often associated with spiritual and magico-religious practices. Borsa-amuleto, Inv. n. 25084 della Collezione di Arti e Culture Africane, Museo delle Civilità, Roma
The bolsilla contained various items, among them prayers that Fray Juan was unable to fully comprehend, likely due to the nature of the writing or an inexperienced hand at writing. He decided not to act alone and called upon Fray Pedro Thomás, a fellow friar, for assistance.
Fray Pedro, arriving promptly, examined the small bolsa closely. Inside were some papers, a stone, and an ointment—elements that, taken together, seemed to indicate a ritual intent. Fray Pedro recalled a popular belief circulating in the archipelago since he was a child that such objects should be hidden near an altar and accompanied by the celebration of three masses. This memory, combined with his companion’s testimony, also brought to Fray Pedro’s mind the image of a woman seen hastily leaving the area shortly before a service. However, the woman’s identity remained unknown, and the investigation ultimately did not proceed further.
This very uncertainty regarding the woman’s background—whether she was a native islander, of African descent, or of an origin impossible to determine from the sources—offers a telling example of how ritual objects and practices were not confined to a single community but circulated widely across cultural and geographical boundaries. The ambiguity surrounding her identity is not merely a gap in the records but a reflection of these entangled exchanges, where objects, beliefs, and practices moved fluidly between different groups. This case illustrates how spiritual and magical traditions adapted to new contexts in the Atlantic world while preserving elements of their diverse origins.
This episode, though localized, opens a window into a syncretic universe that traversed the Canary Islands during the early modern period. The presence of a bolsa beneath a Christian altar revealed the persistence of ritual practices intertwining elements of indigenous, African, and Catholic spirituality. It symbolizes how popular cultures had found ways to coexist—and at times merge—with institutional religiosity. The connection with the celebration of masses suggests a propitiatory intent, a desire to attribute sanctity to rites that would otherwise be considered heretical or magical.
Although the friars effectively filed a complaint against an unknown perpetrator, they nevertheless identified the suspect as a woman. Even in the absence of concrete evidence, ‘racialized’ women were often at the centre of accusations, perpetuating a tradition of persecution that reflected society’s need to control their perceived subversive potential.
As a material example of the African diaspora within the Canary Islands, the bolsas serve as tangible evidence of intercultural connections and processes of hybridization. Their “social life” demonstrates how they travelled across the Atlantic, adapting to new cultural and religious contexts while preserving traces of their African origins.
Transcription of the document AMC/INQ-020.006, Inquisición de Canarias, preserved at El Museo Canario
/fol. 1r/
En la isla de Thenerife y ciudad de La Laguna, en ocho días del mes de abril […] mil y seis cientos treinta y ocho años sería como a las nueve de la mañana ante el Señor Licenciado Francisco Garcías Sanchez consultor y comisario del Santo Officio de este partido [...], ante mí el presente notario, pareció sin ser llamado un religioso de la orden de S. Agustin […] en el convento de esta ciudad que dijo ser sacerdote y llamarse Juan Rodríguez y de edad de veinte y seis años, y natural de las islas de avajo[1] y aviendo jurado in verbo sacerdotis y prometido dezir verdad y guardar el secreto dijo que ayer por la mañana que se contaron siete del presente mes yendo […] a dezir missa en su convento, llegó a selebrarla, en el altar del Nicolas de Tolentino, después de la Communicanda[2] vaxandose a vesar la piedra de ara y puso los de […] a los lados y en el uno de ello supo[?] una cossa blanda y reparando en que sería, alçó los manteles de el altar y halló en el lado de la misma arapegado a ella un bolsico de un pieotillo[?] verdoso y dentro de el una bascosidad que no save lo que es enbuelto en un papel cosido escrito por todas partes de unas oraciones, y lo sacó y dio al corista que le ayudava a missa que se llama fray Matheo Milar para que lo guardasse, y de la manera que lo guardó y haze manifestacion de el y lo entrega a su md. para que se hagan las diligencias que convengan siendo casso que toque a la Inquisición; preguntado si sospecha o tiene noticia qué persona, hombre o muger pudiesse poner essa bolcita en el lugar donde la halló y si quando […] abía al rededor o por allí algunos hombres o mugeres y las conoció, […] si tiene sospecha que será o a qué effeto se pondría allí, y que en ella sea la dicha bascosidad y de que se compone[?], dixo que no tiene noticia, ni puede saver que persona tal hiziesse, ni vido […] quien estuviesse allí oyendo sy missa, y que la dicha vascosidad no save afirmativamente /
/ fol. 1v/
que cossa sea más de que aviéndolo mostrado a fray Pedro Thomas, religioso de dicha orden, dijo parecía baço de potranca o potranca. Preguntado si otras personas saven o vieron dicha bolcilla y lo comunicó con ellos de manera que corriese voz de averse hallado en el dicho altar junto al ara, o si está este negocio en secreto para que se pueda bolver a poner en el mismo lugar y expiar si alguien le buelve a buscar, dixo que no reparó en ello, ni en tener secreto, ni advirtió para la dicha diligencia, y assi corrió luego voz entre todos los frayles […] que estaban en el convento, fuese[?] a dicho ver la letra de estas oraciones y declare si la conoze o sospecha cuya sea, dixo aviéndola visto que no la conoze ni save cuya sea; y esta es la verdad para el juramento que hizo, […] esta delación y dijo estar bien escrita y rectificó en ella y lo firmó y dicha bolsica y papel quedó en poder de su Md. el Señor Comissario.
Fray Joan Rodríguez
Francisco García Sanchez
El dicho dia mes y año, serán a las dies del día poco mas o menos ante su Md. el Señor Comissario, siendo llamado Fray Pedro Thomás, religioso de la orden de San Agustín, de edad que dixo ser treinta y morador en el convento de dicha ciudad y natural de ella, prometi decir verdad y guardar secreto, y se le hicieron las preguntas siguientes = fuele preguntado si sabe o presume la causa para que a sido llamado dixo que /
/fol. 2r/
resume que la causa de averlo llamado es para un caso que sucedió ayer en el convento de su orden estando diciendo missa en el altar de San Nicolas un religioso […]; y respondió que estando el dicho en el claustro con otros religiosos ante del padre fray Juan Rodriguez que le dijo como al tiempo que estava componiendo los corporales […] la mano en una bolcilla y que alçó los manteles de el altar y halló dicha bolsilla y se la mostró, […] y este testigo halló en ella unos papeles de oraciones y dentro de ellos una bascosidad que paresía unguento y siéndole mostrada por su Md. la dicha bolsilla y demás cosas, dijo ser la misma= preguntado que después que la vio y se lo mostró el dicho fray Juan Rodriguez qué sintio de ello y que dixo que paresía era y para qual fin se avía puesto en el lugar que avía sido hallado= Dixo que alló en conversación refirió que le paresía ser lo que estava metido entre los papeles baço de potranco porque aunque no lo conoze, ni lo a visto, a oido decir que algunas personas usan de el baço de potranco para tener buena dicha ponerlo debaxo de una piedra de ara y que se digan tres misas sobre ello, sin que lo sepan los sacerdotes. Y preguntado a qué persona a oydo decir semejante cosa, dixo que no se acuerda de quien, más de averlo oido decir vulgarmente desde muchacho; Preguntado si save que persona llegó al altar de S. Nicolas o estar por allí […] antes que el sacerdote saliesse de su misa, o si sospecha en alguna persona que pusiesse la dicha bolsilla junto al dicho ara = Dixo que no sospecha en nadie, ni reparó en las personas que en la iglesia estavan; - más de que vido hincada de rodillas junto al altar de San Nicolas una muger alta un poco antes que aquella missa saliesse y no save otra cosa.
/fol. 2v/
Fuele preguntado si conoze la letra de que esta escritas las oraciones de el papel en que está embuelto la dicha vascosidad; Dixo que no la conoze ni save cuia puede ser; que esta es la verdad para el juramento que hizo y siendole leído se rectificó que está bien escrito y lo firmó.
Fray Pedro Thomas
Ante del comisario
* The document shows evident signs of humidity stains and deterioration caused by the passage of time, which make it difficult to read. I want to thank Dr. Carolin Schmitz for her invaluable assistance in transcribing some of the most challenging sections, where the text was particularly faded or damaged. Her expertise has greatly contributed to the accuracy of this study.
Claudia Stella Geremia is Research Fellow at Hutchins Center for African and African American Research (Harvard University). She received her PhD in Early Modern History from Florence University and Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 2023.
[1] Arjun Appadurai, ed., The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
[2] ‘Las islas de abajo’ refers to the Azores,an archipelago consiting of nine volcanic islands and belonging to the Portuguese Crown. Manuel Lobo Cabrera and María Elisa Torres Santana, Aproximación a las relaciones entre Canarias y Azores en los siglos XVI y XVII, Boletim do Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira, Vol. XLI (1983): 352-377.
[3] The prayer after receiving the communion. “Comunicanda llaman los eclesiasticos a la oración, que en la Missa se dice despues de la Comunión, o de consumor, y assi la nombran corruptamente Oratio postcomunicandam, de donde fue llamada la Comunicanda.” Franciso del Rosal, Origen y etymología de todos los vocablos originales de la Langua Castellana, 1601-1611. Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, manuscrito Ms. 6929, p. 168.