Santa Muerte
Clandestine
for over fifty years, the worship of Death
today extends to the entire city. From the center to the periphery, street altars, tattoos, and posters proliferate, and on the first day of each month 5,000 people congregate in the streets of one of the working-class neighborhoods that surround the center to pray the rosary to Death. Linked with illicit activities and violence as a result of having so many followers in the prisons, the origins of this cult are still disputed. Some claim that it is an inheritance of pre-Hispanic times while others relate it to the Afro-Caribbean Santería religion, for it was in Mexico City’s witchcraft market where the first images began to appear in the 1950s. In any case, both the rituals and the prayers seem to be a reflection of the social discontent dominating a broad section of society, not only criminals. The devotees, skeptical of the economic and judicial systems, turn to the altars of Saint Death not only to pray for fair trials for those who languish in prison, or for protection for those in risky jobs, such as prostitutes, but also to ask for work and for the strength needed to carry on in adverse circumstances. In this sense, there are those who suggest that Saint Death represents the death of the state, since she is linked to the roles that the state has ceased to fulfill, such as the delivery of justice and social welfare. On the other hand, in opposition to the attitude of resignation advanced by Catholicism, the worshipping of Saint Death has become a form of protest. While not rejecting Catholic tradition, it has aggravated the crisis in credibility of the Mexican Catholic Church in the wake of numerous corruption and paedophilia scandals. Moreover, the devotion to Saint Death, characterized by tolerance, expresses a key element of contemporary urban identity. The Traditional Catholic Church MEX-USA, one of the promoters of this cult, is a good example since its very name encompasses This cult also finds itself in confrontation with local authorities, who in 2005 started a campaign to dismantle all the street altars, arguing that they are an invasion of public space. Today, there are more than 900 altars in the city’s streets as well as a 22-meter high Saint Death which, like the Corcovado Christ of Rio de Janeiro, reigns not only over the north of the Metropolitan Area, but also over a form
Counterpoint
the fact of the increasing migration to the United States.
of social expression which has emerged in the public space and needs it to articulate itself. ≥ Citámbulos, 2008. (Photo / Foto).
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