Santa Muerte
She is the mistress shared by notorious drug dealers and the desperate people who either fear them or admire them. She has many pet names -- la flaca (the skinny one), la niña blanca (the white girl) -- but when she is worshipped, as is increasingly the case throughout Mexico, she is always Santa Muerte, or Saint Death.
In a country where a violent war among drug cartels claims lives every day, the popularity of the Santa Muerte death cult among...
more »Santa Muerte
She is the mistress shared by notorious drug dealers and the desperate people who either fear them or admire them. She has many pet names -- la flaca (the skinny one), la niña blanca (the white girl) -- but when she is worshipped, as is increasingly the case throughout Mexico, she is always Santa Muerte, or Saint Death.
In a country where a violent war among drug cartels claims lives every day, the popularity of the Santa Muerte death cult among Mexico's working classes has soared in recent years. Santa Muerte worship, which is closely associated with so-called narco-culture and denounced by the Roman Catholic Church, was once confined to small private ceremonies in homes or neighborhoods. But veneration of the pervasive skeleton and sickle has quickly crossed into the public domain with large-scale public festivals, most notably in Mexico City.
Worshipers cradling skeletons dressed in religious robes and wedding dresses descend on Tépito, a rough neighborhood in the center of Mexico City, on the first of the month to pray at the altar erected in a window at the home of Enriqueta Romero Romero. The site has become the main shrine for Santa Muerte followers.
Followers -- many of whom make the last part of the journey on their knees -- leave offerings from cash, to candy, to a joint of marijuana. There is a strong tradition of smoking marijuana with the saint.
Romero leads the raucous festival in Mexico City, but in small towns outside Mexico City, the Santa Muerte celebration is a very local and spiritual affair.
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