From Wikipedia:
Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte (Spanish for Our Lady of Holy Death), often shortened to Santa Muerte, is a female deity or folk saint in Mexican and Mexican-American folk Catholicism. A personification of death, she is associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife by her devotees. Despite condemnation by the Catholic Church, her cult has become increasingly prominent since the 2000s.
The worship of Santa Muerte is condemned by the Catholic Church in Mexico as invalid, but it is increasingly firmly entrenched in Mexican culture.
Santa Muerte is also seen as a protector of homosexual, bisexual, and transgender communities in Mexico, since many are considered to be outcast from society. Many LGBT people ask her for protection from violence, hatred, disease, and to help them in their search for love.
Her intercession is commonly invoked in same-sex marriage ceremonies performed in Mexico. The Iglesia Católica Tradicional México-Estados Unidos, also known as the Church of Santa Muerte, recognizes gay marriage and performs religious wedding ceremonies for homosexual couples.
Man how did I not know about this magical gay skeleton queen until today?
Yeeeeeaahh… A LOT of her followers are narcos and sicarios (cartel members and hitmen) and in many communities it’s wise to watch out when someone seems to be very devoted to Santa Muerte. Like, not to demonize her cult because she’s also worshipped by the poor and outcast in general but narcos make up a biiiig part of her following and to present her as just this “cool magical skeleton lady” is misguided at best.
Like not to be a buzzkill or anything just please please please please don’t make Santa Muerte into the next cool thing for edgy/quirky gringos just cause skeletons are awesome and she’s LGBT inclusive. It’d be EXTREMELY insensitive and she’s a rough deity.
The rise of her cult is a symptom of a country that has been in sorta-official war against its own people for years as a result of economic desolation through predatory policy and blatant disregard for the life of the poor and minorities. I mean, she’s literally death personified in a country where death is for many an outright business, and not in the abstracted ‘i sell weapons’ or ‘we sacrifice people indirectly through policy’ kinda way but in the very literal ‘kidnappings and executions are a surefire way to get out of poverty’ and ‘disembodied heads and mutilated limbs in public places are very effective messages for your enemies’ kinda way. Also it should be noted that the US has a large share of the responsibility for this situation. So yeah, please don’t idealize Santa Muerte.
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ForLoveFromFear 