Mexican Folk Narratives

Through our Chicanx 044 class, we expand our view of Latinx culture in folktales and how they have travelled through time. #CHST44WINTER2020

[divinum-pacis]

The Many Different Colors of Death: The Symbolism of Santa Muerte

Each different aspect of Santa Muerte is depicted as a skeleton wearing a robe of her respective color. In the case of a seven-color statue, all seven colors are displayed; below these colors are listed in the order they appear from top to bottom on a typical seven-colored statue: White: This color of Santa Muerte is used principally for purification and is called on at the inception of major projects, both mundane and magical. She is also used for certain types of healing.

Blue: This color of Santa Muerte is the patroness of the activities of daily living and the relationships on which our lives depend. This aspect increases social wisdom and increases patience. She is used to build long-term relationships and so is used to repair broken family ties, improve business partnerships, and gain new friends.

Green: This color of Santa Muerte is associated with justice, ethics, and law. She helps restore balance, imposes fairness, and can affect the judgement of both law courts and your peers. Because many people who pass through the criminal justice system are affected by addiction and mental illness, the green aspect of Santa Muerte is petitioned for issues resolving behavioral health issues.

Gold: Mining gold from deep within the ground is a dangerous occupation that can easily maim or kill; many gods of the underworld are associated with wealth and money for this reason, since mining was seen as taking gold from the pockets of the gods. As a goddess of the underworld, Santa Muerte has this relationship with money, and through it, vitality. The golden Santa Muerte is used to attract money and luck, create fortune in gambling and business, and heal where infusions of vitality are needed.

Red: The red aspect of Santa Muerte has a definite martial feel, governing issues regarding sex, lust, and passion as well as aggression and physical dominance. She also improves or impairs relationships, being commonly called on for this purpose.

Purple: The purple aspect of Santa Muerte is that of a goddess of both magic and initiation. She assists not only with spells but also with the direct understanding of magic. This Santa Muerte also acts as a gatekeeper between different ethereal and astral realms.

Black: This color of Santa Muerte is very Saturnian, overseeing all forms of cessation, negation, decay, dissolution, and denouement. The black Santa Muerte is used to negate bonds and barriers, as well as destroy or dissolve spells, curses, or hexes. She is also used for necromancy, such as speaking with the dead.

Source: Santa Muerte: The History, Rituals, and Magic of Our Lady of the Holy Death by Tracey Rollin.

[chicanx-folktales]

La Santa Muerte is a stereotyped deity that is often linked to brujeria. She is quite the opposite however she is a deity that combats brujeria/ hechizos and she helps many prosper in new work opportunities. To many she is seen as a fresh start, a chance to come back into religion after the rejection from the church and society.

[desmadroso]

hasta la muerte

[chicanx-folktales]

Since 2016 we have seen a massive following and a rise in popularity of saint death. We are used to seeing her in many southern border cities like El Paso, Laredo, and Los Angeles. Today we see her in cities like New York and New Orleans and many other cities where the population is mainly white.

[randallhellfyre]

A beautiful depiction I found of La Santa Muerte

[chicanx-folktales]

Most Chicanos/Latinos are of Christian/Catholic belief. As the catholic belief does not acknowledge saint death as part of their religion they see her as an unholy character and is considered blasphemy. 

[rossmcdonnell]

Altar de la Santa Muerte. Tepito, Mexico City. 2012

[chicanx-folktales]

When informed, La Santa Muerte is not an evil spirit but rather a religious icon that provides protection and acceptance to many when they have been neglected by their society and roots. Whether it be in Mexico or the United States, both religion and the justice system has been infiltrated to make the life of certain individuals much harder than it already may be. Whether it be stemming from Aztec roots or a Spanish hybrid, death is a natural part of life that many have to face. La Santa Muerte will be the saint that will be met when the time comes, regardless of social class, gender, sexuality, age, and race and truly embraces the fatalistic culture that was once held by many indigenous people in the Americas. Regardless of the negative stigma traced to La Santa Muerte, many individuals have felt compelled to trust in her and to keep her alive as a sense of identity and protection from a world that has shunned Latinos and outcasts out due to prejudice.

[tradcatmaria]

[chicanx-folktales]

Rejection of La Santa Muerte was sparked mostly due to the fact that for obvious reasons, it's a form of rebellion against traditional religious views. Astonishingly, the “Holy deaths” following and religion is a major competition to the church.It is also noted by Regnar Kristensen, that La Santa Muerte is very appealing to Catholics, rather than Christians, due to a critical element of separating the vitality of religious icons and humanizing them, as what happened with La Santa Muerte.

[the-satyr-king]

[chicanx-folktales]

This is an example of a shrine to La Santa Muerte. This is the perfect depiction of her mercifulness to the LGBTQ+ community as well as providing a sense of identity to Chicanos. 

[thrifterror]

i unironically love this?????

Hmm. Does it still count if you use secondhand votives to worship, or does the spiritual credit go to the person who used the candle first?

[Cultural note: If you didn’t know, Santa Muerte is a significant figure in some Mexican cultural and religious practices, a result of the collision of Catholicism (the veneration of saints) and Mesoamerican folk religion (a reverence toward death).]

[chicanx-folktales]

In North America, La Santa Muerte seems to be more accessible than in other regions. She can be spotted in shelves in stores. Crossing the border back to Mexico, La Santa Muerte may sometimes only be found in respectable ofrendas with offerings. The reason she may be more easily found in Northern America is the acceptance of religious freedom and the necessity of protection needed to survive in an area where discrimination is high. 

[lydiacreative]

[chicanx-folktales]

La Catrina: La Parca is the Spanish origin of La Santa Muerte. La Parca is a hybrid of La Catrina and La Muerte. However, La Santa Muerte is really a modernized hybrid of mesoamerican religion and Hispanic Catholic rituals, though some may have issues with the Catholic rituals because La Santa Muerte is not a branch of the Catholic Church and deserves her own place in religious practices.

[chicanx-folktales]

https://www.dememoria.mx/nacional/el-mochaorejas/

Daniel Arizemendi Lopez aka el Mochaorejas is a criminal who was worshipper of the Santa Muerte before she started gaining popularity in 2001. They call him the Mochaorejas because he used to kidnap people then cut off their ears  and send them to their loved ones so he could collect ransom money.

[chicanx-folktales]

This is Mictecacihuatl, to the left, and Quetzalcoatl to the right. As a baby, Mictecacihuatl was sacrificed and sent to the underworld, where she began to rule the underworld alongside her husband Mictlancihuatl. She is celebrated during the July-August time for 3 days through Aztec rituals like Danza and offerings to protect their ancestors, as indigenous culture was very fatalistic.

[lovespremonition]

The Rise of the Narco-Saints

ut Santa Muerte, or “Saint Death,” is more than just a morbid decoration. She is the central figure of what some scholars say is the fastest-growing religious movement in North America. Los santos de los narcos, or “narco-saints,” are informal patrons of Mexico’s chief illicit trades: money laundering, smuggling, and, of course, drug trafficking. A product of religious syncretism—specifically, a blending of Iberian Catholic and Mesoamerican traditions—Santa Muerte has never been canonized.

[chicanx-folktales]

La Santa Muerte has a big following in the narco world and is seen a protector. Many shrines along the U.S./Mexican border have been destroyed due to her relation to narcos. The Mexican government and many groups see her as evil for the malice they see in drug trafficking but to her followers see her as a symbol of protection not as a symbol of evil. She also plays a big role in the lives of everyday individuals she is not just a saint for drug traffickers.

[toqueyrol]

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/22710/109369460

[chicanx-folktales]

Enriqueta Romero or Doña Queta as many followers of the Santa Muerte call her is the person who is credited for the massive exposure of this belief. On Halloween day 2001 Doña Queta placed a life size statue of La Santa Muerte outside of her house bringing to light a cult following that not that many people practiced or knew about. Nowadays Doña Queta takes care of her shrine in her the Mexico City’s neighborhood of Tepito.

[death-black666]

[chicanx-folktales]

La Santa Muerte is a protector against enemies. Many seek help from her for protection of witchcraft, for a safe passage and secure jobs. Culturally, she provides space for outcasts in communities, where they may gain recognition, validity, protection and presence.