Like many people, I first heard of Santa Muerte in a news story about Mexican drug cartels. In articles like that one, Santa Muerte is a narco-saint, a goddess of bad men. Obviously, my curiosity was piqued. Misunderstood goddesses, goddesses that have been shunned, and just goddesses with bad reputations are my favorite. And I was certain, that like others that had come to my attention before Her, I would learn that there was more to Santa Muerte than meets the eye. Not to brag, but I was right.
To put it simply, and in the most general terms, Santa Muerte is a death goddess. She represents death and everything that can entail: protection, vengeance, justice, innocence, wisdom, and much more. You can revere Her and pray to Her as a distant goddess, or you can have a transactional relationship where you curry favor and make deals. With all of this going on, Santa Muerte can be a confusing deity to work with. In comes “Secrets of Santa Muerte: A Guide to the Prayers, Spells, Rituals, and Hexes” by Cressida Stone.
If you fall into the middle of the Venn diagram of people interested in Santa Muerte and people who are on Twitter, you’re probably familiar with Cressida Stone. She is a longtime devotee and deferred to Twitter Santa Muerte expert looked to only slightly less than internationally recognized Santa Muerte academic Dr. R. Andrew Chesnut, who coincidentally endorsed this book. Stone has worked with Santa Muerte temples and shrines throughout the world to learn the prayers, symbolism, rituals, hexes, and offerings of Santa Muerte.
“Secrets of Santa Muerte” is a wonderful introduction to the goddess. Stone does an excellent job organizing the vast wealth of Santa Muerte information available. Not only did “Secrets of Santa Muerte” introduce me to all the facets of this goddess, but gave me new ideas of how to work with her. Ideas that I hope to incorporate into my wider divine feminine practice.
You can learn more here.
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