For my final discussion before my concluding post, I wanted to look at a very recent development in Mexico regarding death: Santa Muerte. Although she is not directly associated with the festivals known as Los Dias de Los Muertos, Santa Muerte expresses some of the themes that I have looked at throughout this semester particularly the relationship of life and death. She has garnered media attention only within the past decade, but has quite a long and colorful history that resembles that of the Day of the Dead festivals. Santa Muerte has several different incarnations, but for the purpose of this blog I will only focus on the aspects that are the most relevant. Yet, if anyone wishes to learn more about her in greater detail I will provide a link below that is quite informative.
Santa Muerte
There are a variety of saints that represent death within the Americas, but Santa Muerte holds certain distinctions that others do not have. First and foremost, "Santa Muerte stands alone as the sole female saint of death from Chile to Canada." (Chesnut 7) Along with this distinction, she has become quite popular in the past decade throughout Mexico and has begun to invade the U.S. Within Mexico, she has gathered around five million devotees. (Chesnut 8) These are impressive feats for religious beliefs and should definitely be recognized.
With that said, many of you would be asking how does a saint that personifies death connect with the Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead? This has to do with a theme that Mexico has sought to understand since Pre-colonial times: the duality of life and death. The Day of the Dead represents the reverence for the dead by the living for a couple of days a year and Santa Muerte is the representation of death devoted to by the living. In fact, "...one of the great paradoxes of the cult is that a saint who is the very personification of death is charged with preserving and extending life through her awesome healing powers." (Chesnut 24) Along with this, the Day of the Dead seek to revere their deceased family or any spirit of the dead. Likewise, Santa Muerte has become a figure so revered that she has become almost an adopted family member to the Mexican people. Probably the most visual comparison between Santa Muerte and the Day of the Dead would be the presence of the altar similar to the holiday. In fact, "...adherents view her as in some ways a supernatural version of themselves. Tequila, beer, cigarettes, and chocolate are placed at her altars in the belief that the White Girl [Santa Muerte] likes consuming the same food, drink, and smokes that devotees enjoy." (Chesnut 56)
As the previous paragraph demonstrated, Santa Muerte has a relationship with her devotees and sometimes involves recreational drugs, narcotics, and alcohol. This has become a part of the negative image that Santa Muerte has developed because she has been associated with drug cartels. One of the primary purposes that drug traffickers use her image is for some form of protection. That is why, "as a defensive weapon, the Godmother's steel scythe shields tens of thousands of Mexicans emploed by the various cartels from the bullets fired by rival cartel members and cops and soldiers and from knives, machetes, and even vats of acid employed by syndicate assassins." (Chesnut 98) She is also used by prisoners as a hope for early release during their sentence often resulting in having a tattoo of her or other form of devotion. Similar to an ofrenda during Day of the Dead, "lines of cocaine, prison, moonshine, cigarettes, and marijuana joints figure among the common offerings at her altars." (Chesnut 15) Yet, Santa Muerte has been used by those on the other side of the law, including police officers, prison guards and members of the army, hoping for a similar protection against the drug cartels and death. One surprising fact about this is that, "a giant portrait of the skeleton saint stands at the entrance of the barracks of an elite police commando unit in Mexico City." (Chesnut 107) Much like Day of the Dead, Santa Muerte seems to be devoted by those from opposite walks of life.
Although Santa Muerte has several purposes for her devotees, I wanted to look at one last aspect of her: healing abilities. She is willing to help those that are ill, but it comes at the cost if the commitment is not kept. In fact, "if she is considered by many to be the most potent worker on the religious landscape, in similar fashion she has a reputation as a harsh punisher for those who break their contacts with her..." (Chesnut 63) Most of the time this will include some type of devotion whether a medallion with her image or some offering, but many are willing to do such like the Day of the Dead. This is because many of her devotees rely on manual labor and need to be healthy, so they will turn to her to insure that they stay healthy or recover quickly if unhealthy. (Chesnut 168) Along with healing powers, Santa Muerte is also sought to help people with any addiction they possess or at least ask for her protection if they use drugs or alcohol. In fact, "devotees who aren't ready or willing to give up their habit can ask the Godmother [Santa Muerte] to watch over them as they drug themselves." (Chesnut 170) Overall, in this role Mexican people hope to use her abilities to prolong their lives, which adds to the duality of using death or the representation of death to help prolong life.
Chesnut, R. Andrew. Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.
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