Saturday, October 31, 2009

La Santa Muerte

When I first began to work on high level Mexican narcotics trafficking matters, I learned that many of the most prominent drug kingpins and their attorneys had, "made a pact with death". The concept didn't surprise me because so many of them find themselves dead at an early age. However it went a lot deeper than my initial superficial understanding.





Shrines to La Santa Muerte or Senora de la Noche "Lady of the Night" can be found in the homes and offices of the attorneys who defend the narco-traffickers. This is the way they explained it to me. They have made a pact with death to extend their mortal lives and to give them power over others in the process. La Santa Muerte (the Saint of Death) is able to grant favors such as causing the death of others who are interested in killing you. Frequently the weapons wielded by both the police and the criminals in Mexico are blessed ritually by the Saint of Death. Worship of the Saint of Holy Death is said to bring fortune to her devotees and the narco-attorneys are all about fortune.


This cult worship of The Saint of Death has made this Mexican saint the de-facto patron saint of prostitutes, taxi drivers, police officers, soldiers, street vendors and people who work at night or "in darkness". Even though the ritual worship of this saint mirrors the rituals of the Catholic Church, the church condemns its practice as devil worship.

The Saint's Day is celebrated on November 1, August 15 (or both).

For more information about the rituals associated with La Santa Muerte, there is a forum where it is discussed (CLICK HERE ).

A serious religion, fantasy cult, dangerous black magic, or whatever it is, I found it very interesting that highly educated men and women put a lot of effort into worshiping this particular saint.

9 comments:

Opus #6 said...

Is this the same as Dia De Los Muertos, as shown in the movie, Volver?

LL said...

Dia de Los Muertos is the "Day of the Dead" which seems to me to be a cross between Halloween and a church service. (The day when the dead walk the earth and you howl at the moon in fear.) The worship of the Saint of Death is a daily thing. I never saw the movie VOLVER so I don't know what they portrayed.

Coffeypot said...

I thought the patron saint for the Mexicaqn drug cartel is St $.

LL said...

In a sense it is St $$.

You make a pact with the devil to make more $$ in this particular faith.

Xmichra said...

I found that interesting as well, didn't know that.

Daily worchip sometimes is behind the most prominant and successful, just *insert diety of choice here* and that seems to be the root of all success.

In my little world, today is celebrated as a remeberance of the loved ones in life who have passed on. Tomorrow is a day of silence and purification. But to my children, it's all about the candy...lol...

Anonymous said...

Is this Santeria?
When I lived in Puerto Rico, one of my friends in my class was a witch and she was super strange. She told us about very strange rituals she did with her grandma. Also she had to walk home at lunch and take a bath everyday. She wasn't allowed to eat the school food either (which was delicious).

LL said...

VL - I asked the same question, being familiar with Santaria. It's something equally bizarre, but different. It's a pact with death where you promise to do things for the Saint of Death in exchange for a prolonged life including blood sacrifice.

Julia@SometimesLucid said...

I think it's funny that "taxi drivers" are among prostitutes, etc...

Susannah said...

speaking of creepy (vampires)...

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