By Rebecca
Illustration by Will Hobbs
I stumbled across Santa Muerte on the internet, in a beautiful photo journalistic piece on the Global Post website. Santa Muerte, as most of you can guess translates to Saint Death. I wanted to learn more and found out there had been a documentary in 2007 about this very topic.
Who is Santa Muerte? In Eva S. Aridjis’ film “La Santa Muerte” she lays out the closest thing to a known origin of this saint. A statue was discovered in a church that was associated with Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a medieval French saint. Since the Saint was portrayed as a skeleton, the Mexican people viewed it as an image of death. They began to venerate it as a female instead of a male saint, since the pre-Columbian goddesses of death, Mictecacihuatl and Coatlicue, were feminine figures. When the priests realized that the people were worshipping the image as Saint Death, the image was moved to a private dwelling. The Catholic Church does not recognize Santa Muerte as a saint, so people must worship her at home or at public altars.
Santa Muerte is always portrayed as a skeleton, often times looking like the grim reaper, complete with scythe and scales. However, just a quick poke around the internet and you learn that she can take on many looks. Santa Muerte is always a skeleton, but sometimes she is dressed like a queen, or in robes, or as a bride, and just about any other thing you can imagine.
Who worships Santa Muerte? Anyone obviously, but primarily she is worshipped in Mexican communities, with Her stronghold being the most violent parts of Mexico and prisons. Places where people feel death pressing down on them take comfort in knowing that Saint Death is there for them. By showing devotion, in a ritual mix of Catholic worship and what I’m surmising is a throwback to ancient sacrificial offerings (it looked a lot like Voodoo to me), Santa Muerte protects them, provides for them, and when the worshipper’s time is over, She comes for them. Her followers bring Her gifts, such as cigarettes and tequila, burn candles, and say prayers to Her. In the documentary, some had conversations with Her, like you would a mother or confidant. Others would perform a mass.
The Catholic church may not like Her, and the Mexican government may call her followers a “cult”, but I like Santa Muerte. She’s an everyman’s kind of deity. Rich or poor, man or woman, good or evil, we all die. And if Santa Muerte brings comfort to people, especially those living closer to death than myself, more power to Her.
This is clearly demonic.
Worship demons of death at Your own peril – it is Satanic.
And yes Satan has power to answer your ‘prayers’ but it is a snare to real you in.
I am sure that this stuff ‘worked’ but where did the power come from… Heaven or Hell?
Because it definitely did not come from heaven. It came from hell to snare your soul.
Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44
he will lie to you, seduce you, do favours for you, but he will curse your soul and bring you first spiritual death, but before that – pain, suffering and more.
WHEN you feel the darkness close in… and you WILL because you have called on a demon and given him access to your soul…
call out to Jesus – He will hear you, only He can save you.
Jesus said “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
– he wants to bring you life, not death John 10:7
And
“the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”
– Isaiah 30:18
Pray to JESUS and see what happens… I dare you, just try it. If you don’t, perhaps your scared, perhaps your arrogant… what do you have to lose – you have already lost your soul.
Find out who God is… here’s a good site to find a few answers (not related to me, just a good site)
http://www.harvest.org/knowgod/know-god/welcome.html
Jesus answered,
“I am the way and the truth and the life – John 14:6
Just pray now these words,
“Jesus Christ of Nazareth, if you are real – please be real to me, I am here now calling upon your name, please answer me, I seek your face.”
May God be swift to answer you. I am praying for you.
In responce to smiths unsurity as to why santa muerte is female, I have to say that I googled santa muerte for hours and one website stated that, and dont quote me word for word, acording to AZTEC legend she was married, and killed here husband, then carried on on her own as who she is. I will try to find that site and post it so the interested can read it word for word, just in case I may have added or left something out, unintetionally.
After all no one wants to offend la niya blanca (the white girl)
Proper translation for
Santa muerte or satisma muerte to english is HOLLY DEATH.
I think you will find this one particular web site very interesting as it allows you to access the HOLLY DEATH BOOK and its prayers in english.
http://www.subrujeria.com
I have known about her for some time know, but only recently have I called upon here to help me recover a stolen vehicle and certain personal things, I will not mention. It was just a poster I read the prayer from, but the response is so fast, you have to know this is real and not to be toyed with.Im learning everything about the sweet lady tht I can, and am in the proccess of seting up here alter to welcome her in my home. Oh and just for the record, I own a micro residential remodeling bussiness, and pay my taxes. I intend to branch out and expand, as I know she will help.
Best Reguards
Samael Rubio
respectfully to correct you slightly…I vote that the gods of death at the time of the Conquest were Mictlantecutli + Mictecacihuatl, a male+female/husband+wife set-up…Coatlicue was conceptually distinct…since I have started being interested in Santa Muerte, the question of why the female half of the god-pair should have carried on is puzzling to me (unless it was that there were so many statues of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe around, that they just begged to be repurposed)…no doubt you are aware of the Argentine male devotional entity, San La Muerte, similar yet different…for example, one practice is to carve a San La Muerte amulet – out of a baby’s finger bone, or the skull of a little bird, or a decommissioned church bell, or a bullet that has killed a good Christian man, or wood from the coffin of some recently dead person,(et cetera)- and then place said amulet under your skin, cut + slip it in …so as to make you more invulnerable + immune from arrest…