La evolución mística de Antonio Ferrera: Entre el simbolismo barroco, la cosmovisión maya y el flamenco

The present paper explores the relationship between religion, spirituality, and mysticism in bullfighting. To illustrate this, it focuses on the Spanish bullfighter Antonio Ferrera, considering the later years of his career, specifically between 2017 and 2023, during which he expressed an interest in spirituality. This interest is evident not only through the paintings and embroidery on his capes and costumes (the use of colours and symbols that adorn them) but, more importantly, in the way he performs a ritual ceremony, during which he completely abandons himself in order to become the receptor of the bull’s power and divinity. The ritual is divided into several stages: a) physical and mental preparation before the bullfight; b) withdrawal when the bullfighter is dressing up; c) his entrance into the bullring when his face reflects uncertainty and bravery; d) the first part of the fight in which the bull manifests his power and totemic qualities, while the bullfighter looks for the point of connection with him; e) the second part, or the liminal point when the powers of the bull and the bullfighter become equalised; f) the last part, when the bull progressively loses his totemic and divine qualities, while the bullfighter obtains them and transmits them to the audience. (To reach this goal, the bullfighter must lose his own being/self); g) ecstasy during the death of the bull. To understand psychological processes taking place in the bullfighter’s subconsciousness, we will draw on the 16th-century alchemical treatise Rosarium Philosophorum (1550) and the interpretation of C.G. Jung, which will help us to understand the transmutation of the soul that the torero experiences while he is performing the ritual.   The rest of the article focuses more concretely on the vicissitudes of the bullfighter and on the mystical path. Specifically, chapters 3, 4 and 5 talk about the relationship with the public, the consolidation of Ferrera’s mystical bullfighting with the help of flamenco, and the abandonment of his cuadrilla and apoderados, as well as the seclusion that he experienced during the last season 2023.