By Guest Contributor Javier Bermúdez-Prado*
Ok… So, the historian/folklorist/religious studies nerd in me is about to start a potentially controversial conversation:
Someone posted that Madonna is dressing as Santa Muerte on stage, and singing songs in ways that imply she is our Santísima. I don’t actually know the details, and they’re actually irrelevant to what I’m about to ask because I’m more interested in the feelings it sparks in Muerteros of different stripes.
This kicked off a lot of anger in the comments, and condemnation of blasphemy. This raises a LOT of questions, regarding where folks specifically stand, on Her, in a way that is brought up by Andrew Chesnut ‘s history of Her veneration.
For context, this is what Madonna has always done… she was boycotted or protested by the Catholic church and other Christian groups a few times for performing or having videos in ways that were deliberately provocative and used religious iconography: from using her first name, Madonna (“My Lady”, an epithet of the Virgin Mary’s), as her professional name, to puns like song titles that build off of her name, as in Like a Virgin, and calling an album the Immaculate Collection. She has depicted herself in videos kissing saints and displaying stigmata.
So… if Madonna really is doing this (I have not seen evidence to suggest she is), then it’s nothing new for her.
But for it to be blasphemy, we need to ask ourselves in what context we see Santa Muerte, and how that relates to divinity, sainthood, and our own spirituality.
My questions are the following: Do you see yourself as strictly a Muertero/a? Or as Catholic? If you do see yourself as Catholic, do you see yourself as a Catholic first, and a Muertero second?
If Catholic first, why are you upset now, and not then? If you were just as upset then, and are a staunch Catholic, how do you reconcile being a Muertero given the Church’s position on Her?
If you’re not a Catholic but still have a relationship with Her, how do you intepret Her? Is She a Catholic Saint that you speak to despite not being not being Catholic? Is she older than humanity, or is she the first h.Sapien that died? Is She Mictláncihuatl to you- Mexica goddess of the underworld? Is She syncretized with Mary, in your mind? Is She syncretized with other Goddesses? Kali? Isis? Ereshkigal? Nona/Atropos? Hela?
Is She Death Itself, on a universal scale: The Death of All Things? If so, is she EVERY death Goddess? Every Mother Goddess? Is she More, or Less, than that, to you?
How do you relate Her to your own practice/spirituality?
If you’re not Mexican, how do you avoid misapproriative behaviour and practices when engaging with Her in your non-Mexican/Non-Catholic practice?
If you’re Mexican, how do you feel about Her *being* syncretized in the past? How do you feel about the syncretization that is occurring now as She spreads around the world?
Obviously nobody has to answer any of this- but I am fascinated to hear where we all stand on this.
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Full disclosure: I am Nicaraguan, not Mexican. I am not Catholic, though I was raised that way and have been in a Church more recently than most folks I know would assume.
I see myself as a syncretic animist- bit of a “World Soul” type, without all the Platonic baggage about a Chain of Being.
I, personally, *do* see Her as Death Itself- Entropy (in the sense meant by physicists), Destruction, and ultimately the engine of Creation and the force behind Life itself. I see all Goddesses as aspects of Her, but I also see Her as an aspect of all other Goddesses, and see Her reflected in all religions, one way or another.
I see the face we use for Her as being one interpretation of Divinity itself, because there is no way for us to encompass Divinity. And I don’t imagine that the Death of All Things, universally, across billions and billions of light years and untold stars and planets in the full vastness of space, just *happens* to look like a h. Sapien skeleton, or use a strictly Spanish or Nahua name.
But Hers is the face that makes the most sense to me. And She brings me comfort.
When talking to Her, though, I stick to Spanish or Latin. I use predominantly rituals and prayers that would not be out of place in Mexico and Latinoamérica. I use symbols, and offerings, and candle colours, that come from Mexican, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx heritage.
But do I think that this is Her only face? No.
When it comes to Madonna? If this claim is true, then this is what she’s always done. I would be no angrier at her for doing it to ‘us’ than I have been when she did it to ‘them’- and ultimately that’s not very angry: frankly, if she did do something like this, it might lead more people to mi Santísima.
*Javier Bermúdez-Prado is a historian by education, with a lifelong fascination with religion, philosophy, folklore, and mythology. He divides his time between researching and practicing historical martial arts, studying the occult, and creating art in various media. His published translation of a 17th Century fencing manual, Comprensión de la Destreza, can be found here. Follow him on Instagram.
Most Holy Death 