Celebration of the Cult of 'Saint Death'

[Kazimiera]

Celebration of the Cult of 'Saint Death'

Source: http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles...of-saint-death

"The skinny lady," a skeleton in fancy dress, is an unconventional usher into the afterlife.



Santa Muerte is the unsanctioned folk saint of death within Mexican Catholicism. The icon has been condemned by the Catholic church as blasphemous.

Perhaps because she is one herself, Santa Muerte is considered the patron saint of outsiders. In popular culture she’s been painted as the patron saint of drug traffickers and gangsters, who are drawn to her for her deathly appeal. But she has also come to be known as a representative for trans and queer individuals, as well as undocumented immigrants.

Though Saint Death has been around for some time in Mexico and the American Southwest (some link her to the Aztec queen of the underworld Mictecacihuatl), Santa Muerte sects have sprung up wherever there are Mexican enclaves. This short documentary from AJ+ follows the celebrations of a group of Santa Muerte devotees in Queens, New York who believe that since death comes for us all, it’s best to be on her side when she does.

[Óttar]

I have toasted la Nin~a blanca a few times while drinking. I wouldn't do any rituals with her though. One Goddess of death in my life is enough for me.

[Odin]

[sean]

The Mexican understanding of Catholicism is heavily mixed with nativism, occultism and other highly heretical things. For example, a Mexican woman could pray to Santa Muerte, still say she's Catholic and run a drug business, although the people that follow the Santa Muerte are a tiny minority (its literally a chilango thing).

The veneration of saints ("cultus" in Latin) has been an integral part of Catholic spirituality. But before the Church established a definite canonisation process, exceptionally virtuous and heroic Christians were recognised by popular acclaim rather than ecclesiastical decree.

Without critical investigation of an alleged saint's life, ordinary people depended on legends, myths, romances, and tradition for saintly biographies or "hagiographies."

While there is a possibility that some indigenous Aztec practices survived Spanish colonisation and persisted into modern times, the cult of Santa Muerte itself is historically a recent development (some say Santa Muerte is actually the Aztec goddess Mictēcacihuātl, the goddess of the dead, and Queen of Mictlān).

Similar to Saint Gertrude, patron of the recently dead, who host the recently departed on their first night after dying, as they begin their three days journey to where they will stay till Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead. Then on the second night do they become a ward of Saint Michael the Archangel.

According to an in-canon explanation, Santa Muerte, much like the Aztecs themselves, was an Aztec false god/demon who converted to Catholicism rather than be sent back to hell (the fate of Baal and his kin). She now works as a penitent, aiding the outcasts in a way similar to other angels and saints. Who she was in her past life is unimportant after finding her redemption, as it is for all beings under God, whether they be human or fallen angel.

Like other syncretist traditions around the world that harmonised local beliefs with imported ideologies, the cult surrounding Santa Muerte has an uneasy relationship with the Catholic Church. Some theories link Santa Muerte with an Indio diety that was snuck under the Church's legal radar.

It's like how the Haitians slipped African Voudun dieties into Catholicism as 'folk-saints', and continued to worship the African dieties as well as the Christian trinity within a socially acceptable frame work. Thus, we get the religion of Voodoo.

Another hypothesis is that she is simply Indio skeletal art that was applied to the catholic Mary, and represents equality before the eyes of God - we all die, we all turn into skeleton, ugly, poor, rich, pretty, white, non-white - we all have the same bones in the end.

Santa Muerte, 99% of the time, is a side-figure to Jesus, and is ultra popular with northern Mexicans who feel betrayed by the Church's asking for money and obedience and political sway, with no real reward for their efforts. She is worshipped by the poor, paraditas, narcos, and the downtrodden masses. It's a way of taking worship back from the ruling class.

Many Mexican groceries sell candles with her picture on the jar for like $2. The worship routine is standard Catholic, but often includes sacrifice, which is like a tortilla, some coins, incense, a shot of mezcal/licor de cana, and includes some prayers. Some home altars get fucking elaborate. The robe colors are supposed to have meaning, but in my opinion, the blue/white/gold Mary robes with a halo looks best.

Its marginal status is perhaps the reason it attracts gangsters, LGBT and mostly women. There's maybe 11 million devotees spread throughout Mexico and the US.

Drug dealers in the north started an ad hoc cult in the figure of a mythical Robin Hood like figure. Jesús Malverde is literally a narco-saint. He is a folk saint just like Marta Dominadora, San Pascualito, Maximón or a host of others. It's not really based on any literature per se and isn't necessarily transmitted in that kind of way. It's what some people call as folk religion.

Spoiler!

Mexican cartels, like La Familia Michoacana and the Gulf Cartel, have even made human sacrifices to Santa Muerte. In 2008, the Gulf Cartel captured members of a rival gang and executed them in front of a Santa Muerte shrine. Other offerings have included human heads, hearts, and skin. Many cartels paint themselves as messiahs for Santa Muerte, giving their foot soldiers religious reasons to follow them.