Shopping for witches brew.

• Author: Suro, Federico
• Position: Botanicas, spiritual supply shops

THE SEXUAL PROWESS of Porfirio Rubirosa, international playboy par excellence and sometime-diplomat from the Dominican Republic, is the stuff of legends. His innumerable liaisons from Evita Peron to Joan Collins and his mind-boggling incredible techniques fascinated the public in his day as well as now. What is perhaps not so well known is that, according to several Dominicans, one of his aphrodisiacal secrets was a beverage called Pega Palo, a delirious concoction guaranteed to do the astounding. Let us not forget that the fabled Rubi was nicknamed Toujours Pret (Always Ready) by the French and that in the 1950s when you said "Please pass the Rubirosa" you were referring to a pepper mill. The Pega Palo beverage consists of rum that has been left in a curious blend - almonds, raisins, a small piece of liver, shrimp and/or fish, assorted herbs like cobrita, molasses, brazilwood, the member of a tortoise, spices such as cinnamon and cloves. The essential ingredient is the Pega Palo plant, which gives the drink its name and an interesting, almost smoky taste. It can be purchased at your local botanica: den of iniquity to some and life-saving haven to others.

A simple definition of a botanica would be a store that deals in witchraft, or in a more euphemistic vein, a shop selling religious articles. However, a more accurate description might be a kind of general store geared towards all things magical and spiritual. In reality, it is a gathering place where simple people, for the most part, seek realization of their dreams and aspirations or protection from forces beyond their control. Ultimately, a botanica could be seen as a microcosm of one of the most microcosmic areas of the world - the Caribbean basin. the diversity of the region in terms of synthesized cultures - blending of races, languages, religions - is without precedent as a global melting pot and the botanica is a perfect reflection of this phenomenon.

Every city in the United States where there is a substantial Hispanic population has at least one botanica. In the greater metropolitan. New York area, there are many. One of the oldest and most comprehensive is Almacenes Justo, located at 134 East 104th Street. Subtitled El Arte Espiritual, it was established in 1930 and includes a vast assortment of plants, incense, candles, books, images, statuary and other paraphernalia all related to the magical and occult in its unabashed form or in the guise of the spiritual. In sum, all the necessary ingredients for the Latino-African rituals prevalent in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Central America, Mexico and Haiti.

Jorge Vargas Ranjel owns and runs the shop that was started by his father Justo, a former merchant marine. A pleasant man of ample girth, Jorge is knowledgeable and will give generous advice to the numerous customers who constantly visit his shop. He is a native of Puerto Rico, like his parents, although his father was brought up in Cuba and his mother was a Mexican at heart. There are interesting stories about how his father became familiar with the magical Afro-Cuban world through laborers in the sugar refineries where he worked as a young man and how it was in the songs of the blacks that he first heard about Oshun, Babalu-Aye, Yemaya and Chango. Jorge feels strongly that this peculiar folklore, with its accompanying magical rites, is the force which kept the Caribbean blacks united and gave them their identity. He believes that it...