Incantation

The arrests begin in Encaleflora with the Arrias family, the deMadrigals’ neighbors. The father, Juan, is beaten and the mother dragged out while screaming. The little girls are taken from their home. Estrella’s grandmother explains that the girls could be given away to Christian families and that the Arriases have been accused of secretly being “marranos,” a dirty word for Jews. She frightens Estrella by telling her that the soldiers will cook the marranos like pigs and burn them alive. The Arriases were “Conversos” (new Christian converts), and Estrella’s grandmother says that it is traitorous for them to have continued their old faith in secret after converting. This disturbs Estrella because this family goes to her church (later revealed to be an entirely crypto-Jewish community). 

Estrella’s grandmother warns her not to leave the house, and her grandfather forbids anyone from washing away the blood that was spilled outside. When Estrella vomits in the garden and tries to clean it, she sees that the brick is stained with the blood of the neighbors. Though comforted by her pig, Dini, the horrible thought of people cooking him upsets her. Looking at the Arrias house, she sees a