La Santa Muerte: A deep dive into Holy Death
- spoiled bean dip
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
Santa Muerte, a figure whose name conjures images of narco-cartels in real life and in media like Breaking Bad, she alone has easily become one of the most recognizable and controversial figures in religion/spirituality today. But why is she so taboo in many communities and how despite being death itself is beloved by millions? In this monthly article I will like to cover her origins, functions, and how such jarring symbol of death can be so useful nowadays.
The Origins of our Lady of Holy Death:
The name Santa Muerte literally means "Holy Death" in Spanish, but other common names for the saint include the skinny lady (La Flanca), the godmother (La Madrina), or even the white girl (La Niña Blanca).
Despite the status that she holds today her popularity really only emerged within the last 30 years from the time of this article being published- before this any historical mentions of the Holy Death saint from before the 20th century are scarce, leaving her many devotees and scholars in the dark with her origins. Many of the top scholars on the subject believe she has pre-columbian origins that are linked with indigenous death deities like the aztec goddess Mictecacihuatl, but some also suggest mayan or various other origins from Central America. Under Spanish rule the native people couldn't openly practice their ancestral practices and traditions so they disguise them using their ruler's iconography in a practice known as religious syncretism. This method allows for continued pre-conquest practices whilst adopting new traditions for it- with one of these new traditions from Europe being the image of the Grim Reaper, but more specially the Spanish feminine form of death La Parca (not to be confused with the wrestler of the same name).
The only mention of there ever being a "holy death" being worshipped comes from two reports from 1793 and 1797. Professor Andrew Chestnut, one of the leading experts on Santa Muerte, states that Spanish Inquisitors were sent to Mexico to solve rumors of some "Indian idolatry" of a skeletal figure being worshipped for miracles and favors whilst calling the effigy Santa Muerte. It was reported that once the Inquisitors confirmed the rumors to be true they destroyed the figure and the small temple surrounding it, thus casting the folk saint off the historical grid for over a century and a half until the 1940s. Some of the earliest written references of the saint in the 20th century were mentions of her being used by women exclusively for love magick, where those who petitioned for her aid asked the saint to cut off any women seducing their husbands or boyfriends lest they also receive the bad side of her scythe. Red candles were and still are the most popular color to petition towards the saint, not for blood or harm, but simply for love and passion.
Up to this point the largest demographic of her cult following were and still are those who are marginalized- people whose professions carry risks and dangers just to make ends meet. This does include cartel members, but it also includes prostitutes, factory workers, firefighters, prisoners, and even law enforcement. Just like with many other folk saints, she is viewed as amoral and can be asked for anything- however during the 1980s her altars and shrines were beginning to be discovered in drug safe houses by cartel members, which panicked both the catholic church and the Mexican government. In between this chaos she first was publicly revealed in 2001 by a quesadilla seller named Enriqueta Romero who claimed that the saint had freed her son from jail, which in turn made the woman place her La Santa statue outside of her home to express her gratitude.
Following this her popularity exploded publicly, with another one of these early public devotees being Jonathan Legaria Vargas (also known as Commander Panther). He was one of the most outspoken pioneers in the growing Santa Muerte movement, and even erected a large 75 foot tall statue dedicated to her in his temple "Templo de la Santa Muerte," which sits in Fuentes del Valle near Mexico City.
However in 2008 his life was tragically cut short at the hands of unnamed assassins who gunned down him in his car. This unfortunate event then converted his own mother, Enriqueta Vargas, into the La Santa movement as she felt that her son's death was left unjust especially since the people involved with the shooting where not imprisoned; so after a series of events that led her to fully believe that the saint had brought her justice, she dedicated her life towards the folk saint and promoted the hell out of Santa Muerte's miracles until her death in 2018. The temple and its services are continued by her daughter Kristhel Legaria Vargas.
Sadly later on during the mid-2000s, Santa Muerte became Mexico's public religious enemy number #1 after former Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared war on the cartels- sparking a nationwide panic as thousands of shrines and altars were destroyed by the Mexican Army near the border simply out of fear. This portrayal has since tainted her image, although within the past couple of years it has been getting better as more and more people convert to her throughout the Americas.
In Holy Death I trust:
If you've caught on to my terminology you would've recognized my usage of the word folk saint; a saint that is not officially canonized by the catholic church or similiar religious hierarchy, but has nonetheless been widely accepted within the practicing community. But the underlining question here is why death of all things? Death is force that does not discriminate, it does not see rich or poor, nor does it prefer young or old. Death comes to us all, at one point or another. Perhaps it was due to this simple yet profound concept that many turn to the saint, as the regular everyday Mexican could find death to be more relatable than foreign European saints who died centuries before them. The only exception to this would be Saint Jude, the only official catholic saint whose popularity rivals that of Santa Muerte's. Although the catholic church has condemned multiple times over the worship of the saint, many of her followers consider themselves to be catholics regardless of what the church had said. This is reflected numerous catholic items like candles, rosaries, and even statues bearing her image and even many devotees extending this devotion in tattoo, jewelry, and clothing.
Like I said she could be petitioned for any cause, with different colors signifying a specific role for her to fill. I'll leave a more detailed list later on but a few examples would be green being used for her divine intervention in legal cases and for justice, red as I've stated is usually for love work, gold for prosperity, and although black could be used in curses it is more often used for the banishing of enemies and protection. Some of statues even encompass all these roles at once by bearing multiple colors on her robe.
Working with Santa Muerte today:
If you've gotten this far in the article and are interested in beginning a relationship with the saint then one simple way to start is to light a tealight with a cup of water nearby. Place these two objects in a designated spot and speak out towards her your intentions with her, if you sparks an interest in your purpose then she'll come forth in the form of an omen (many people believe that simply speaking her name out loud will conjure her alone)- but if you notice no signs then don't be offended as its not her avoiding you, but rather she is waiting patiently until it is the right moment to work with you.
Now I want to mention that if you create an altar to the saint and you forget to give it attention, THATS OKAY! There is a strong superstition that if you stop working with the saint for even a moment that bad stuff will come- but this logic is stupid because we are human, therefore we are prone to be distracted with other things in life. Not to mention I am confident this superstition formed from the so so horror movie by Paco de Toro named "Santa Muerte." Another thing many people who come into our shop mention is that Santa Muerte gets jealous if you work with other deities or spirits- I can confirm (as well as the owner of the shop) that she has never showed any enmity towards our other statues or spirits. Lastly I just also wanted to mention that Santa Muerte isn't the only death folk saint out there- as there exists multiple beings throughout Latin America from San Pascualito (also known as El Rey San Pascual), San la Muerte (the male version of Santa Muerte), or even Doña Sebastiana (she is seen as both another personification for death and she may even be seen as another form of La Santa).
So with those discretions out the way let's look into some of her symbols and associations:
Colors: Red (for love & passion), white (purity, protection, peace), black (protection & enacting justice to those who wronged you), green (legal cases & court favor), gold (material wealth & abundance), purple (health), blue (peace as well but was also used for health during the COVID-19 pandemic), multi-colored (contains all of her aspects)
Beasts: The owl (traditional symbols of death in latin cultures).
Symbols: Globes (this represents her dominion over the world), scales (to symbolize justice and the means to bring balance), her timeless scythe, all spaces are considered to be occupied by her presence.
Plants & herbs: A lot of people have noted copal to be a favorite of hers whenever they come into the shop, but she also holds a special affinity towards cigars and tobacco products.
Offerings: The saint will accept a variety of different offerings so any could appease her; she has been given chocolate, marijuana products, flowers, alcohol, and cookies.
I hope this article shed some new light on how you may feel on the Saint, as she isn't an evil or demonic entity but simply a saint for the people. She is that nurturing force that helps her devotees move forward in their daily life, giving something that the world could use a lot more now: hope. If you however are indeed interested in working with the saint, then I encourage you to use this article and many others like it to further your growth and blossoming relationship with our Lady of Holy Death.
Sources:
Devoted to death by Andrew Chestnut
Here is the facebook page of the people who run the Templo de la Santa Muerte: https://www.facebook.com/SantaMuerteInternacional
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