In researching Santa Muerte, and being in almost daily contact with leading Santa Muertistas such as Enriqueta Vargas and Martin George through the auspices of digital media, it never ceases to surprise me when I see the strange biases that crop up in mainstream media stories surrounding the tradition. While it would be understandable to … Continue reading The Scythe That Divides – Thoughts on Santa Muerte and mainstream media bias
The last enemy to be defeated is death – Clarification on the Catholic Church’s rejection of Santa Muerte
"Adorar a la santa muerte es un error grave y si algún creyente o católico sigue esto será por ignorancia o porque ya dejó la fe católica." "Worship of Saint Death is a grave error and if any man, woman or Catholic continues this, it will be through ignorance or because they already left the … Continue reading The last enemy to be defeated is death – Clarification on the Catholic Church’s rejection of Santa Muerte
Mexico’s Trinity of Death: Santa Muerte, Day of the Dead and Calavera Catrina, An Illustrated Overview
The season of death is at hand. Halloween and the Mexican death trinity of Day of the Dead, Catrina Calavera (Skeleton Dame), and Santa Muerte (Saint Death) engage millions of South and North Americans in rituals that reconnect us with our own mortality. Leaving aside the jack-o-lanterns and trick or treating of our own childhood … Continue reading Mexico’s Trinity of Death: Santa Muerte, Day of the Dead and Calavera Catrina, An Illustrated Overview
A Mother’s Love and a Soldier’s Devotion – Santisima Muerte in Perspective
(Originally published at ModernMythology.Net) When you stare into the empty eyes of La Nina Blanca do you feel the resonant warmth of a mother's love? It's there, if you look deep enough, at least for those who pay her true devotion. Even those coming from a more objective distance can't help but notice the prevalence … Continue reading A Mother’s Love and a Soldier’s Devotion – Santisima Muerte in Perspective
Death to Santa Muerte: The Vatican vs. the Skeleton Saint
It was the declaration of Santa Muerte as an enemy of the Mexican state by former president Felipe Calderon that first sparked my interest in the skeletal folk saint. Identifying Santa Muerte as a "narco-saint" responsible for protecting certain drug cartels, the Calderon administration ordered the army to bulldoze some 40 shrines along the U.S.-Mexican … Continue reading Death to Santa Muerte: The Vatican vs. the Skeleton Saint
Santa Muerte: A Familiar Death
"For most devotees Santa Muerte is neither grim nor satanic. Instead, she is a saint who is as familiar to Mexicans as death itself. And her familiarity is reflected in her most common nicknames: Skinny Lady, White Sister, Godmother, Co-Godmother, White Girl and Pretty Girl. As godmother and sister, the saint becomes a supernatural family member, approached with the same type of intimacy Mexicans would typically accord their relatives. Much, of course, has been written about the uniqueness of the concept of death in Mexican culture. In his illuminating book on the subject, "Death and the Idea of Mexico," anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz even argues that death is totemic of the nation itself; that along with the Virgin of Guadalupe and 19th-century president, Benito Juarez, the figure of Catrina Calavera, the "playful skeleton." is one of the three great totems or powerful emblems of Mexicanness."
Orthodox Prayers for a Holy Death
Although the Catholic church has denounced most of the folk traditions which sanctify death, there is a long standing tradition within Catholicism that includes prayers for a holy death. While most of these prayers keep the process of dying firmly outside of saintly personhood, this is not always the case. The much beloved Francis of Assisi gave … Continue reading Orthodox Prayers for a Holy Death
Selling Holy Death – From Grim Reaper to Skeletal Virgin, A Brief Look at Commercializing an Emerging Iconography
"In all of this, if we are really searching for the White Flower, we have to ask ourselves if we are truly seeing the face of Holy Death that Her devotees see..."
Santa Muerte: Mexico’s Devotion To the Saint of Death
(This article originally appeared in January, 2012 on Dr. R. Andrew Chesnut's Huffington Post blog along with a photo essay. Click Here to see the original article and photos.) While tens of thousands of Mexicans have lost their lives in the ongoing drug war, millions more have become devoted to death. Saint Death (Santa Muerte) … Continue reading Santa Muerte: Mexico’s Devotion To the Saint of Death
She comes from the West with flowers in Her hair…
"Santa Muerte...hears prayers from dark places...She was sent to rescue the lost, society's rejects...She understands us, because she is a cabrona like us. We are hard people and we live hard lives. But she accepts us all, when we do good and bad." - Hayde Solís Cárdenas, a 65 year old street merchant and devotee … Continue reading She comes from the West with flowers in Her hair…
Most Holy Death 