Amulets against diseases of livestock (Spain)

Domestic livestock was very important for family subsistence farming. For example, as it was impossible to replace draught animals which became ill or died, essential tasks could not be carried out at the right time. The death of other domestic animals and their young meant a reduction in the scanty family income. That was why amulets were also used to protect animals.

In Corunna, in the sanctuary of San Andrés de Teixido, colourful votive offerings have long been made with bread crumbs and offered to the saint to cure people and animals.  Nowadays, pilgrims who visit the monastery continue to buy them, especially young people, for adornment as the existence of vets has meant that they have lost their original symbolic meaning.

Photo, Francisco Rodríguez Pérez