- curanderanounChapter 1 →
A traditional folk healer, usually a woman, who uses herbs, rituals, and spiritual knowledge to cure illness and lift curses in Hispanic communities.
“Take the boy, he will be safe with me, and he must learn the ways of the curandera.”
- afterbirthnounChapter 1 →
The placenta and membranes expelled from the womb after a baby is born; here it is buried in the earth as part of a ritual to bind a child to his people's land and spirit.
“Take the baby's afterbirth and bury it in the earth of the llano… so that he may always have the strength of his father's people.”
- llanonounChapter 1 →
A vast, flat, open grassland or plain, used throughout this novel to refer to the wide New Mexico prairie that shapes the Márez family's identity and way of life.
“Take the baby's afterbirth and bury it in the earth of the llano… so that he may always have the strength of his father's people.”
- vaqueronounChapter 14 →
A Spanish-speaking cowboy or cattle herder of the American Southwest and Mexico, associated here with a free, restless spirit tied to the open plains.
“The men of the llano were vaqueros, and the men of the valley were farmers, and there was always a little friction between them.”
- whirlwindnounChapter 3 →
A rapidly spinning column of air; used here to describe the overwhelming rush of supernatural energy Antonio feels when Ultima takes his hand.
“She took my hand and I felt the power of a whirlwind sweep around me.”
- tortillanounChapter 3 →
A thin, flat round bread made from corn or wheat flour, a staple food in Mexican and New Mexican cooking; Antonio's lunch of tortillas marks him as culturally different from his Anglo classmates.
“The lunch my mother had packed was a folded tortilla with beans, and I was ashamed of it.”
- ¿Cómo te llamas?phraseChapter 4 →
A Spanish phrase meaning 'What is your name?' — spoken by Antonio's teacher on his first day of school, catching him off guard and prompting him to answer in Spanish without thinking.
“¿Cómo te llamas? the teacher asked, and I answered in Spanish without thinking.”
- catechismnounChapter 11 →
Formal religious instruction in the basic beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church, typically given to children preparing for First Communion.
- golden carpnounChapter 6 →
In the novel, a sacred fish believed by some characters to be a pagan god who watches over the people of the river; it represents a spiritual worldview that exists outside and alongside Catholicism.
“The golden carp, a new god? I could not believe that. There is only one God—but Samuel had said the golden carp was a god.”
- paganadjectiveChapter 6 →
Belonging to a religion or set of beliefs that is not one of the major world religions, especially not Christianity; here it describes the folk belief in the golden carp as a god outside the Catholic faith.
- sinnounChapter 6 →
An act that breaks a religious law or moral code, especially as defined by the Catholic Church; Antonio worries repeatedly whether witnessing or doing certain things makes him guilty before God.
“Was it a sin to listen to Samuel's story?”
- mournfuladjectiveChapter 9 →
Expressing or causing deep sadness and grief; used here to describe the sorrowful, lamenting sound of the wind through bare tree branches in winter.
“The wind was singing its mournful song through the bare branches of the elm trees, and the cold crept into my heart.”
- bilenounChapter 10 →
A bitter, yellow-green digestive fluid produced by the liver; here it appears as part of the foul, cursed matter that Lucas vomits up during Ultima's healing ritual, symbolizing the evil being expelled from his body.
“The ball of hair and green bile that Lucas retched up seemed to pulse with a life of its own before Ultima threw it into the fire.”
- retchedverbChapter 10 →
Made the convulsive movements and sounds of vomiting; here it describes Lucas violently bringing up the cursed matter that Ultima's healing ritual draws out of him.
“The ball of hair and green bile that Lucas retched up seemed to pulse with a life of its own before Ultima threw it into the fire.”
- pastenounChapter 10 →
A thick, soft mixture made by grinding or blending herbs together; Ultima instructs Antonio to prepare it as part of her curandera healing treatment.
“Take the herbs and make a paste, she said, and I did as I was told.”
- wastedadjectiveChapter 8 →
Severely thin and weakened from illness or starvation, with the body reduced to almost nothing; used here to describe how drastically Lucas's body has deteriorated under the curse.
“I looked at the man on the bed and I did not know if it was a man or a bundle of rags, so thin and wasted had he become.”
- curenounChapter 11 →
A successful healing or remedy that restores someone to health; here it specifically refers to Ultima's earth-based folk healing as distinct from the cures offered by doctors or the Church.
- frictionnounChapter 14 →
Tension, conflict, or disagreement between groups of people with different ways of life or values; here it refers to the ongoing rivalry between the cattle-herding Márez people of the plains and the farming Luna people of the valley.
“The men of the llano were vaqueros, and the men of the valley were farmers, and there was always a little friction between them.”
- innocencenounChapter 12 →
A state of being sheltered from harsh or troubling knowledge about the world; here it refers to the protected, naive understanding of life that Antonio's schooling tried to preserve but that his experiences of death and doubt are destroying.
“The innocence which our education had sheltered could not last forever.”
- mercynounChapter 12 →
Compassionate forgiveness and kindness shown to someone who deserves punishment; Antonio contrasts a God of strict justice with the God of mercy he personally needs and searches for.
“I had been taught that God was a just God, but the God I sought had to be a God of mercy.”
- junipernounChapter 13 →
A hardy, twisted evergreen shrub or small tree common on the New Mexico plains; in the novel it appears at moments of death and spiritual significance, including where Narciso is shot and where Ultima's owl is buried.
“The snow swirled around the dark figure of Narciso and made him seem like a black, twisted juniper tree of the llano.”
- swirledverbChapter 13 →
Moved in a spinning, circular pattern; here it describes snow whipping around Narciso in the blizzard, creating a chaotic, disorienting scene at the moment of his death.
“The snow swirled around the dark figure of Narciso and made him seem like a black, twisted juniper tree of the llano.”
- First CommunionnounChapter 22 →
The Catholic sacrament in which a baptized person receives the Eucharist (consecrated bread and wine) for the first time, a major religious milestone for children raised in the Church.
- moral compassphraseChapter 1 →
An inner sense of what is right and wrong that guides a person's choices and judgments; Ultima encourages Antonio to develop his own rather than simply accepting what the Church or his parents tell him.
- witchcraftnounChapter 9 →
The use of supernatural or magical powers, especially for harmful purposes; Tenorio accuses Ultima of practicing it and blames her for the deaths of his daughters.
“They have said that Ultima is a witch. They have said that she is evil. But I know that she is good.”
Bless Me, UltimaNovel by Rudolfo Anaya