Santa Muerte: Mexico's Fastest Growing Religion
Most people know about Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos, a day that unites the living and the dead. On November 1-2 offerings are made to the deceased on family altars and family picnics are held with the departed at cemeteries, followed by special cakes and hot chocolate at home.
What you’re less likely to know about of is another manifestation of folk catholicism, one which has grown to be Mexico’s fastest growing religion: the cult of Santa Muerte (Holy Death). Santa Muete is Mexico’s second most popular saint after St. Jude. Unlike the other saints, however, she is not seen as a dead human being.
The folk saint goes by a dozen names including The White Girl, Lady of Shadows, and Skinny Lady. She likely goes back to ancient religious practices in Mexico, maybe even tracing back to Aztec and Mayan death gods or to ancient European traditions. One recent theory holds that she was a virgin penitent who prayed for death to escape a forced marriage. Her petition was granted. She died of a fever a few days later and achieved a local following as a saint which grew to other areas.
According to Catholic News Agency, Santa Muerte is mentioned twice in the historical records of the Inquisition. Other historians cite that when Spanish conquistadors brought images of the Grim Reaper to the New World, indigenous groups turned the reaper into a saint. When the church realized this, they destroyed the shrines, forcing the saint underground for centuries, until the 1940s when she resurrected in a reinterpreted form.
Devotees today are commonly found among the working class, especially those who are exposed to the dangers of working at night; soldiers, cab drivers, police officers (who may ask for blessing of their weapons) as they believe she can protect against assaults, accidents, gun violence and other types of violent death.
I first heard about Santa Muerte from an Uber driver, who claimed she saved him when he was attacked by men with knives as he left a party one night in Monterey. He wore both a large tattoo in her image on his forearm and a Santa Muerte beaded rosary around his neck. Both common practices among her adherents.
Items of veneration are often found in narco traffickers' homes, which has given infamy to the practice, however, devotees exist in all strata of Mexican society. The military and police officers that are employed to dismantle drug bosses’ shrines make up a large portion of her devotees. Despite condemnation, followers call her a mother, life partner and friend who has been there in crucial times, as my Uber driver did.
As they ask her their wishes, believers understand that she does it in exchange for favors. She “never fails them,” said one in an interview. "I don't ask for anything bad. Just for her to bless my family and give me a fair shot at life." Most plead for help in love, money, health and other non-criminal things.
Santa Muerte is revered as a protector of the LGBTQ communities in Mexico since they are rejected by the Catholic Church. Many LGBTQ+ people ask her for protection and to help them find love. The Church of Santa Muerte (Iglesia Católica Tradicional México-Estados Unidos) recognizes gay marriage and performs religious wedding ceremonies for homosexual couples.
The colors that she wears, and the colors of the votive candles lit for her, represent the nature of the devotees' petitions. Amber or dark yellow for example, indicates health. Images with this color can be seen in rehabilitation centers, especially those for drug addiction and alcoholism. Red is very popular and relates to petitions for love.
The saint carries a scythe and globe. The scythe represents the moment of death, when the scythe cuts a silver thread, or can also represent prosperity and hope. The globe represents death’s power over the earth. Other symbols of Santa Muerte are the owl (the ability to navigate in the darkness), scales (impartiality), the lamp (intelligence, lighting the way through darkness) and the hour glass (patience). Owls in particular are associated with mesoamerican death deities.
Santa Muerte is believed to influence financial well-being. The color gold in vestments and offering signifies economic power, success, money, and prosperity. Blue candles and images of the saint represent wisdom, which is favored by students and those in education. More recently black, purple, yellow and white candles have been for healing of and protection from coronavirus.
Most devotees are young people, who feel that the Catholic Church and its traditional saints haven’t helped them but still consider themselves Catholic. The Church itself condemns the practice of invoking Santa Muerte but stops short of labeling it heresy, instead calling it heterodoxy - a belief that deviates from orthodox views.
In spite of its attempts to undermine the devotion to Santa Muerte in Mexico and Latin America, the cult of Santa Muerte had a steady growth since the mid-20th century, and is considered by scholars of religious scholars to be the single fastest-growing new religious movement in the Americas.
About the author:
Kerry Baker is the author of books for people considering expat life, whether full time or a “mini life”.
If Only I Had a Place is the absolute guide to renting in Mexico - far different than you’d think. Don’t be fooled by realtors. The Mexico Solution: Saving you money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico, tells you how to set up for part-time life and the cultural surprises you will encounter along the way.
Her most recent work, The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico is a cookbook for travelers, snowbirds and expats. In Mexico, you must cook to maintain a healthy diet. This book shows you how.