Alvis 1

To many Americans, a skeleton wearing a robe is a symbol of horror, the Grim Reaper, a
terrifying reminder that death comes for us all. But for many Meicans, especially those involved with
various aspects of the drug trade or simply those who eist on the vast fringes of modern Meican
society, a skeleton wearing robes has taken on a very different understanding! "nstead of the terrifying
Grim Reaper, instead we find #anta Muerte$%oly &eath! #he is a uni'ue ob(ect of folk devotion! )nlike
virtually all other *atin American folk saints, there appears to have no living person upon which she is
based! "nstead she appears to be an amalgamation of a variety of +uropean and indigenous
conceptuali,ations of death blended with a variety of -atholic, indigenous, and syncretic religious
elements! The cult of #anta Muerte shows up in documents from the "n'uisition in 1./. but due to the
-hurch0s deep antipathy to the cult it only began to truly be celebrated openly in 1221! "t is not (ust the
-hurch in Meico which has a strong disdain for the #kinny *ady and her followers! "n recent years the
Meican government has moved against the cult as part of a broader effort against what it sees as a
saint dedicated to criminals and an integral part of the 3narco$culture!4 Most of her followers though,
point out that they are far from drug lords and that the government0s interest in the suppression of the
#anta Muerte cult has more to do with the 5A6 government0s ties with the traditional -atholic
hierarchy! 7hat then is the truth behind this Meican *ady of &eath8 "s she the satanic narco$saint
wielding vengeance against her enemies, a 5rotectress of the &rug -artels and their crimes8 9r is she
something else, is she more of an epression of a group of people who live on the fringes of society and
-hurch, who constantly surrounded by death decided to simply embrace it as one of their own!
)nlike *atin America0s other skeleton saints, Rey 5ascaulo and #an *a Muerte, who have well
defined origin stories :in the case of Rey 5ascaulo even tracing his origin back to an official -atholic
#aint;, #anta Muerte0s beginnings are much more open to interpretation!
1
According to some of her
1 R! Andrew -hestnut, Devoted to Death:Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint, 9ford, )<= 9ford )niversity 5ress,
1211, 1.
Alvis 1
followers she was a 5urepacha indian, born to a couple in 1>
th
century as a beautiful full grown
woman!
1
Accused by the "n'uisition of witchcraft, she was taken and burned at the stake but
miraculously her skeleton survived intact!
?
+ven at the beginning in this version of the tale, #anta
Muerte was defying the -hurch! But perhaps the more common eplanation for #anta Muerte0s origins
is that she the personification of &eath created by God himself!
@
This version of her origin story also
serves to emphasi,e her immense power! #erving as the spirit of death created by God himself, she
occupies a place in the celestial hierarchy above all other #aints, the Airgin, and according to some
Besus himself!
C
7hether the magical daughter of natives or God0s archangel of death, #anta Muerte draws on a
variety of cultural traditions in her iconography and powers!
>
&eath is typically represented as a male
figure throughout Germanic influenced cultures!Meico however lay outside the sphere of German
influence! The A,tecs worshipped a powerful goddess of death, Mictecacihuatl, who ruled over the
underworld and intriguingly also aided her followers in their earthly pursuits!
.
7hile not a death
goddess like Mictecacihuatl, the #paniards, like the Drench and "talians, personified death as
female!
E
#anta Muerte then was born of syncretic blending of two cultures with female personifications
of death! The powers of Mictecacihuatl were blended with the -hristian theology of the #paniards
creating a syncretic folk saint of enormous power! But it is also worth noting that death and Meico
have always been inseparably linked! &uring the time of the A,tecs war and human sacrifice were
common elements of day to day life for common people! The importance of death in religious rituals,
which so horrified #panish sensibilities truly paled in comparison to the orgy of death unleashed by the
1 -hestnut, 1E
? ibid.
@ <evin Dreese, The Death Cult of the Drug Lords Mexicos Patron Saint of Crie, Criinals, and the Dis!ossessed,
122C, Doreign Military #tudies 9ffice,Fhttp=GGfmso!leavenworth!army!milGdocumentsG#anta$MuerteGsanta$muerte!htmH
:accessed Buly ?, 1211;
C -hestnut, >2
> -hestnut, 1E
. -hestnut, 1.
E -hestnut, 1E
Alvis ?
con'uest!
/
7hether by disease or slavery millions of natives were to die as a result of the arrival of the
#panish! This massive and prolonged period of death left an indelible mark on Meican
culture!
12
Destivals like the &ay of the &ead and the prevalence of death images within even mainstream
Meican society attest to the fact that Meico is a culture founded in many ways on
death!
11
)nderstanding the centrality and commonality of death and death images in Meican culture is
key in appreciating how such an arresting image and concept of death came to be the ob(ect of such
intense veneration!
The veneration of #anta Muerte is attested from as early as 1./? in the documents of the
"n'uisition! The "n'uisitors tell of mysterious native rituals carried out in the dead of night under the
hollow eyed ga,e of a robed #anta Muerte! The primary focus seems to have been dancing, praying,
and lighting black candles to the #aint of &eath! The -hurch branded the cult as heretical in 1./. and it
seems that the devotion then went underground!
11
&uring this underground period, #anta Muerte seems
to have developed a focus on performing love based rituals! 7hen the cult was rediscovered by
outsiders in the 1/@2s helping women with love issues was the primary focus of #anta Muerte! This
new focus also featured red candles instead of black, although devotions were still performed in the
dead of night!
1?
The cult then went unstudied and apparently unnoticed until the creation of the first
public altar to #anta Muerte in the Tepito barrio of Meico -ity in 1221!
1@
#ince the public appearance
of the cult in 1221 #anta Muerte has eploded onto the Meican religious scene as the multipurpose
#aint of Meico0s marginali,ed!
&evotions to #anta Muerte toady are focused around seven color coded elements! Red for love,
white for purity, protection, and thanksgiving, purple for healing, gold for prosperity, green for (ustice,
/ -laudio *omnit,, Death and the "dea of Mexico, Brooklyn, 6I= Jone Books, 122C, >C
12 *omnit,, >.
11 *omnit,, 1>
11 -hestnut, ?1
1? -hestnut, ??
1@ Dreese
Alvis @
blue for insight, and black for vengeance and protection from enemies!
1C
This color coded devotional
code bears little resemblance to anything from standard -atholicism and probably hales from -uba and
the syncretic #anteria cult!
1>
According to informal surveys based on candle sales and interviews with
practitioners it appears that the primary focus of the #anta Muerte devotions remains within the sphere
of her red and white colors, perhaps belying somewhat her status as a vengeful satanic spirit!
1.
But
perhaps the most infamous and evocative is black! 7hat other #aint would welcome prayers for
vengeance and what other #aint could promise death for enemies! "t is this aspect of #anta Muerte that
is perhaps the strangest and most shocking to the sensibilities of those outside the cult! And yet it is also
perhaps the key to her ever increasing popularity! #anta Muerte understands and responds to the actual
needs, wants, and desires of these marginali,ed Meicans in a way that more standard devotions
cannot! This is reflected in the offerings that her devotees tender to her, a typical devotional offering to
#anta Muerte might be cheap te'uila, beer, chocolate, or tobacco products!
1E
#anta Muerte then reflects
the people who venerate her far more closely than standard saints! This commonality with her devotees
is an important point when considering her growing popularity!
A common refrain amongst the followers of #anta Muerte is that 3she does not discriminate4, a
powerful idea in a society as stratified as that in Meico!
1/
7hether drug dealer, prostitute, police
officer, or lawyer all become e'ual in the eyes of death! The followers of #anta Muerte, comprised as
they are from the fringes of Meican society have furthered the image of the cult as something
unsavory!
12
7hen added to the somewhat shocking iconography and somewhat occult devotional
practices mainstream Meican society has come to view the cult as something to be feared! The
1C http=GGlasantamuerte!netGvelasyveladoras!html
1> -hestnut, 1@
1. -hestnut, 1/C
1E Murry 5age, KThe Rituals #urrounding #anta Muerte,K The Ma#atlan Messenger, April /, 1211,
Fhttp=GGwebcache!googleusercontent!comGsearch8'Lcache=,uA->puBy%MB=ma,messenger!comG1211G2@G2/Gthe$rituals$
surrounding$santa$muerteGMNcdL1@NhlLenNctLclnkNglLusH :accessed Buly ? 1211;
1/ -hestnut, 1..
12 Reed Bohnson, KA 0saint0 of last resort!K Los $ngeles Ties, March 1/, 122@,
Fhttp=GGarticles!latimes!comG122@GmarG1/GentertainmentGet$(ohnson1/H :accessed Buly ?, 1211;!
Alvis C
-atholic -hurch has long denounced the cult as heretical and satanic!
11
And the -hurch now has a
powerful ally in the Meican Government!
11
The rise of #anta Muerte in 1221 came shortly after the
election of Aincente Do, of the conservative 5A6, as president of Meico in 1222!
1?
5A6 was founded
by conservative -atholic interests and has long been seen as defenders of -atholicism in Meico!
1@
Do
himself rarely directly threatened the cult! "n fact in 122? the Do government granted official
recognition to an attempt to organi,e the cult as a church!
1C
But in 122C after several years of protest
from official -atholic sources, this recognition was pulled for poorly eplained technical
reasons!
1>
Then in 122> came Delipe -alderon, also of the 5A6 and his war on the drug cartels and
3narco$culture4 in general!
1.
But you cannot fight a war against the culture of Meican drug cartels
without fighting a war against #anta Muerte!
#anta Muerte is a cult based around death and there is no greater source of death in Meico
today than the drug cartels which hold her in especial devotion!
1E
%er altars have been found in the
homes of virtually every ma(or cartel kingpin and other ma(or criminal figures!
1/
5art of the allure of
#anta Muerte is that she is a saint who does not discriminate, and her promises of prosperity,
protection, (ustice, and vengeance must seem especially attractive to those engaged in criminal
enterprise! 9nce imprisoned the devotion of her narco criminals does not decrease! "n fact #anta
Muerte is now likely the most popular saint in Meican prisons! According to one Meican corrections
official 3if Guadalupe is +mpress of Meico, #anta Muerte is 5rotectioness of Meico0s prisons!4
11 KArchdiocese of Meico -ity issues clarification about #t! Bude and the O#t! &eathP!K Catholic %e&s $genc', 6ovember
?, 122E,
Fhttp=GGwww!catholicnewsagency!comGnewsGarchdioceseQofQmeicoQcityQissuesQclarificationQaboutQst!Q(udeQandQtheQ
st!QdeathGH :accessed Buly ?, 1211;!
11 -hestnut, @C
1? Bo Tuckman, Mexico: Deocrac' "nterru!ted, 6ew %aven, -T= Iale )niversity 5ress, 1211, 1
1@ Tuckman, C>
1C -hestnut, @?
1> ibid.
1. Tuckman, 1
1E Ben #mith, Michigan #tate )niversity, K6arco$religion!K Accessed Buly ?, 1211,
Fhttp=GGhistory!msu!eduGiss??2cGlecturesGC$1GH
1/ -hestnut, 121
Alvis >
#anta Muerte0s association with cartels and criminals has had a detrimental effect on opinions of
the cult throughout Meico and the border area of the )#! #he is considered by many to be nothing
more than a semi$satanic narco$saint, offering protection and aid to the most violent of criminals! As
part of it0s war on drugs and 3narco$culture4 in 122/ the Meican government bulldo,ed over ?2
roadside shrines to #anta Muerte!
?2
"n return, followers staged a large protest in Meico -ity, parading
images of #anta Muerte in front of the Metropolitan -athedral!
?1
5resident -alderon has also personally
overseen the destruction of thousands of weapons embla,oned with #anta Muerte0s image!
?1
But in
contrast to the actions of the top tier levels of the Meican state, the #anta Muerte cult is growing
incredibly fast amongst police officers, prison guards, and soldiers!
??
Those who are fighting on the
front line against the cartels then are turning towards the saint most followed by them! -learly then
#anta Muerte is not simply a saint for criminals and the dispossessed if the very law enforcement
apparatus charged with defeating her is turning more and more to her veneration!
)nderstanding Meico0s fascinating cult of #anta Muerte is becoming more and more important
in the )nited #tates as her devotion spreads ever farther into the )nited #tates!
?@
Dar from being the
criminal satanic saint depicted by media, the -hurch, and the Meican government! #he is a fascinating
and uni'ue cultural development born of Meico0s uni'ue focus on death and its highly stratified social
structure! As many of Meico0s marginali,ed found standard saints and religion lacking in terms of
providing for their spiritual needs they created a syncretic blend of from -atholicism, indigenous
religions, and #anteria to fulfill them! )nfortunately for #anta Muerte and many of her law abiding
followers, her blend of powers including that of death as vengeance has led to her large and powerful
?2 Bo Tuckman, KMeican 0#aint &eath0 cult members protest at destruction of shrines!K The (uardian, April 12, 122/,
Fhttp=GGwww!guardian!co!ukGworldG122/GaprG12Gsanta$muerte$cult$meicoH :accessed Buly ?, 1211;!
?1 ibid.
?1 KArmas decoradas con Malverde y la #anta Muerte, destruidas!K )xcelsior, Debruary 1>, 1211,
Fhttp=GGwww!ecelsior!com!mGinde!php8mLnotaNseccionLglobalNcatL1?NidQnotaLE112/1NphotoL1H :accessed
Buly ?, 1211;!
?? -hestnut, 12.
?@ Bill *eovy, K#anta Muerte in *!A!= A gentler vision of 0%oly &eath0!K *os Angeles Times, &ecember ., 122/,
Fhttp=GGarticles!latimes!comG122/GdecG2.GlocalGla$me$muerte.$122/dec2.H :accessed Buly ?, 1211;!
Alvis .
following amongst Meico0s drug cartels! The Meican government and -atholic -hurch have declared
war on #anta Muerte, but they would be better served to declare war on the poverty and disassociation
from mainstream society felt by so many of her followers! #anta Muerte is not in and of herself evil,
while some of her followers certainly are horrific criminals of the worst kind most are simply people,
who marginali,ed and impoverished have turned to Meico0s constant companion$&eath$for aid!