As devotional traditions surrounding Santa Muerte continue to evolve, it is fascinating to see what aspects emerge from both sympathetic and oppositional accounts in the media. A recent documentary short from MonsterTV, a media collective based out of Mexico City, provides a good view of how La Nina Bonita’s strong roots in the realm of folk Catholicism are quickly being obscured by New Age influences in popular practice, pulling Her tradition, in some minds, farther into solidarity outside of the Catholic church.
Hosted by DJ and performance artist, Lola Palmers, the documentary contains conversations with Dona Queta, caretaker of the Santa Muerte shrine located in Tepito, and La Madrina Enriqueta Vargas, caretaker of a shrine in Tultitlan, as well as other shrine holders, locals, devotees and Catholic clergy, each of whom provides a unique vision of La Nina Blanca. As you will see, the image of Santa Muerte that forms from their reflections is a diverse, effective and powerful figure of veneration in the Americas, both feared and revered by those whose lives are lived under Her shadow.
Most Holy Death 