sad news

Dear readers,

Some of you who study Mexican folk magic traditions may have encountered Bryant "Eduardo" Holman, aka E Bryant Holman, in a few places over the years. He ran a yahoo group called curanderismo, and has contributed over the years to the Hyatt and Conjure yahoo groups, and to several archived pieces at the lucky mojo site dealing with such topics as amparos, limpias, and the Santisima Muerte.

He was a "lay anthropologist;" a researcher of folkways in his beloved Mexico, the Mexico from which his wife came and in which he was buried earlier this month; a tireless defender of Mexican culture against what he saw as the encroachment of fraud, neopaganism, and "spiritual imperialism;" and a folk artist (one of his San Cipriano nichos is in my icon for this post). He recently wrote a book on Santisima Muerte and he dedicated a great portion of his life to exploring and explaining the folkways of Mexican curanderismo to the curious. He stood tirelessly by his ideals, and he took great pains to share his knowledge and experiences. His contribution to the information available in English on curanderismo is inestimable, both through his own writings and translations, and through the curanderismo group he started, which has attracted a scant but solid handful of knowledgeable, traditionally-minded members over the past few years.  The folk magic community will feel his loss.

He died on the first of this month and was buried in Ojinaga, Mexico on June 6.

I have pasted his obituary below; it appeared on the web version of the Big Bend Sentinel on June 16, 2009, but has been removed now that it has gone into print.  I neglected to nab the photo when I grabbed the page, I’m sorry.
 

Holman

Edward Bryant Holman, 58, of Presidio passed away June 1, 2009 at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa.

He was born November 19, 1950 in Houston to Edward Bryant Holman and Rose Mary Taylor. He was raised in Roswell, New Mexico.

He was a mud logger for the oil and gas industry. He also managed Fausto’s Art Gallery in Ojinaga and promoted the Presidio/Ojinaga area with his website Ojinaga.com and with he writings. He loved the Big Bend area and was involved in everything related to art and culture in this area.

Survivors include his wife, Dr. Beronica Perez Holman of Presidio; his sons, Waylon Holman of Roswell, New Mexico, and Michael Holman of Presidio; a daughter, Bonnie Holman of Sierra Vista, Arizona; a brother, Michael Stinchcomb of New York, NY; a sister, Trina Juestal of Candervan, Australia; and a step-father, Herbert Avery.

Services were held in Ojinaga, Chihuahua on Saturday, June 6. He was buried at El Ultimo Refugio Cemetery in Ojinaga.

Memorials in Mr. Holman’s name may be made to Casa Hogar de Ojinaga, PO Box 1705, Presidio, TX 79845.