It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come. – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (II, ii)
As I mentioned in yesterday’s column, in Mexico today is El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), a festival honoring the departed. And though it takes place on the Catholic observance of All Saints Day (continuing into tomorrow, All Souls Day), it is a far more important and popular holiday in Mexico than in other Catholic countries because it is in reality a descendant of the Aztec festival of the goddess Mictecacihuatl. As we’ve discussed a number of times before, nearly every Christian holiday is an older pagan observance reconsecrated to the newer religion, and many pagan gods are still revered as holiday figures (such as Santa Claus or Befana) or Christian saints (such as St. Brigit). But in the Americas, Christianity never completely replaced the native religions as totally as it had in Europe, and many peasant religious practices in Latin America are fusions of Catholic teachings and pagan beliefs in much the same way as Voodoo and Santeria are combinations of Catholicism with African and Caribbean beliefs. For example, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a syncretism of the Blessed Mother with the Aztec mother-goddess Tonantzin (“Guadalupe” is a Hispanicized pronunciation of one of her titles, Coatlaxopeuh); it is even possible that her cult was an artificial one designed by Catholic clergy as an aid in converting the natives. But while the Church was happy to allow the festivities of Mictecacihuatl to be transferred to All Saints Day, it had no use for the death-goddess herself; her worship therefore went underground and did not reappear in public for centuries. Her modern name is Santa Muerte (“Saint Death”) and today is her feast day.
Since Christian theology has no place for apotheosized Death, the Church could not convert Mictecacihuatl into an official saint or folk figure; like so many pagan goddesses she was therefore condemned as a devil and her worshippers persecuted as witches or Satanists. But the Aztecs had a strong reverence for death that could not be ground out of them by the conquerors’ religion; most Mexicans were satisfied with the elaborate Day of the Dead festivities, but others continued to venerate La Señora de las Sombras (The Lady of the Shadows) in secret. Researchers have discovered relics from hidden temples and references to suppressed rites dating back to the early 18th century, and the cult began to emerge into public view during the political unrest of the late 19th century. The cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada created a secularized representation of her called La Calavera Catrina (The Elegant Skull) which has become popular in association with the Day of the Dead, but worship of the goddess was still harshly suppressed by the Church until the 1940s, when it began to appear in poor neighborhoods of Mexico City. By 1965 many of her devotees started openly declaring themselves, and by the 1990s they numbered about two million. The first public shrine to Santa Muerte was established in Tepito in 2003, and since then others have sprung up all over Northern Mexico and in Mexican communities in the United States; a full-sized church to her is supposed to be built in Mexico City.
Santa Muerte appears as a skeleton in a robe or dress, usually white but sometimes other colors depending upon what the devotee wishes to invoke her for. She usually carries a scythe and a globe, or sometimes an hourglass. Her rites are borrowed from Catholicism and include praying the rosary; sometimes her images are placed alongside those of Jesus, Our Lady of Guadalupe, or even Jesús Malverde, a Robin Hood-like folk hero revered by many Mexicans as a saint. Candles maybe burned as prayers to her, and believers also offer her small gifts of fruit, flowers, cigarettes, coins, etc. Santa Muerte is particularly revered among the very poor and those whose lives are more dangerous than those of others, especially those who work at night or feel unwelcome in traditional churches because they live outside the law. She is extremely popular among prostitutes, taxi drivers, bartenders, policemen and soldiers, but also among petty thieves, drug traffickers, smugglers and prisoners. Though criminals are the minority of her worshippers, the Mexican government has sometimes used the association (and the Church’s condemnation) as an excuse to persecute the sect and to consider the presence of a Santa Muerte shrine or altar as “evidence” of criminal behavior, just as the Pima County, Arizona Sheriff’s Office tried to claim that a picture of Jesús Malverde was “evidence” that José Guerena (who was murdered by the Pima Country SWAT team last May 5th) was connected to a “narcotics ring” on the grounds that Malverde is revered by drug traffickers (and also immigrants and those who have been robbed, but obviously that’s not important).
I don’t ever recall reading that the Catholic Church was reviled during Prohibition because most Mafia members were Catholic (many Americans were anti-Catholic due to their protestant upbringing but that isn’t the same thing). But as traditional religion has decreased in importance to many people, governments have become increasingly emboldened to persecute people on religious grounds. This has nothing to do with the government itself or its members being less religious; states with official religions are perfectly happy to oppress members of minority religions as well. But for those regimes, the official religion serves the purpose of social control, just as the state-sanctioned religions called “political parties”, “feminism”, “socialism”, etc do today. It is only minority religions which oppose the status quo or encourage private, personal behavior of which the state disapproves that are targeted for suppression nowadays, and if a few members of the religion are violent outlaws, it provides a convenient excuse for persecution of the entire group. Those who revere Santa Muerte have not been singled out for vigorous suppression yet, but given her popularity among those who live outside of middle-class society in both Mexico and the U.S., it’s only a matter of time.
One Year Ago Today
“Amsterdam” is a short history of prostitution in the famously-tolerant city.
Santa Muerte – she’s a bit too skinny for me, I like women some meat on their bones. 😛
Pretty much why I don’t belong to any organized religion – this is some strange stuff, but then again – it’s no “stranger” than the pedophilia scandals in the Catholic Church. Also, it’s not “stranger” than the protestant televangelists in the 80’s and 90’s who were stealing people’s money. Come to think of it – I believe Tammy Faye Baker looked a lot like this Santa Muerte gal. Hmmmm …
I just don’t get it all – but I’m fine with whatever people believe. My wife is a pagan and she casts “spells” and stuff – I read one of her books and it was some strange reading but I DID kind of dig the chapter on “sexual spellcasting” in which you use sex to generate sexual power and then use that for magical goodness. I offered to help her with that … but she simply told me my mind wasn’t in the right state, and that I was less interested in the magic than I was with the sex! She said it wouldn’t even be worth trying. 🙁
But I think she actually DOUBTS her ability to control any sexual power she generates with me! That’s what I tell myself anyway.
Anyway – it would just be nice if folks just left well enough alone and let people believe whatever they want. This life is too short to be “dictated” to or degraded because of one’s beliefs. Hell, I had to once make a “prayer room” for a suspected terrorist we were holding on my ship – it wasn’t a problem for me.
Santa Muerte has also become even more popular along border towns among people who are the innocent bystanders of the drug cartel violence there since law enforcement is pretty much looking the other way. Also related, from what I’ve been told, is an increase in eyewitness reports of La Llorona.
Hello, Maggie! Greetings from a long-time reader.
What a cool thing! I learned about Dia de los Muertos in school when I was younger, but I’d never heard of this cult of worship before. Your article sent me on a Wikipedia hopping spree. I want to respond, though, to the thoughts in your final paragraph:
“But as traditional religion has decreased in importance to many people, governments have become increasingly emboldened to persecute people on religious grounds.”
I understand your concern that governments will persecute worshippers of this goddess (as a pretext for discouraging other “undesirable” activity, like prostitution). I wonder, though, whether the US government could get away with that. I’m not speaking out of naive belief in the moral caliber of US courts but in reference to legal precedent. The first clause of the First Amendment says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” People site to that clause when they complain about religious ideology interfering with the law (abortion cases, for instance, or gay marriage). The law was written, however, not to defend the state from the church but the church from the state, and that’s often how it’s used in courts. The example that comes to my mind is one that’s up right now: a woman in Ohio was fired from her job as a teacher at a religious school because she has narcolepsy. She wants to sue the school for discrimination, and the courts don’t know whether they are allowed to rule in her favor because the school (a religious organization of sorts) is within its rights to decide who its “ministers” are. The US government, far from being bold about religion, is tentative about it. For this reason, religion has thrived in the United States and will probably continue to do so (I argue). Religious organizations in America have far more leeway than they do in other countries–for the better AND the worse.
My first-ever comment! Phew!
As far as the US goes, I think you’re looking in the wrong place for governmental action against smaller religions.
US Tax Code would have to be the primary instrument to go after the unpopular “cults”, with the IRS being their primary enforcers. The tax exempt status enjoyed by religions is a de facto (arguably de jure) governmental approval or disapproval of whatever given religion. This becomes even more evident when you look at the standards of enforcement: a small religion can be examined thoroughly and if any member (notice the singular nature) shows signs that they are not absolute believers and can be construed to be using this small religion as a tax dodge–even in minuscule amounts–that religion can be effectively quashed through financial penalties, seizures, jail time for the leaders, etc.
Contrast this with larger religions where it is known that there are people who attend/donate for purely financial reasons. The tentativeness of government only really shows up when they go against one of the big three (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam)–even then it is only reserved for the blandest flavors of each.
It also becomes rather interesting when you look at things such as the legal protection often enjoyed by kosher butchering, but not by ritual animal sacrifice.
I also take slight issue with your reading of the First Amendment, but in light of not turning this into the nightmarish debate it has been, I’ll leave some reading that might change your views, or might not.
Modern guiding Supreme Court Opinion
The first sentence in this is important to understanding the significance of Article 11 of this.
If I remember correctly, the US Supreme Court did uphold the right of ritual animal sacrifice back in the late ’80s.
There is still a lot of persecution of small religions in this country, unfortunately– polygamist Mormons are a good example. But overall, the US still has a better record than most other Western countries. Several European countries actually ban Kosher and Halal slaughter, for instance.
What’s really interesting is to read the history of the Supreme court over the past century and learning that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have probably done more for the cause of Liberty than anybody else.
Your comment made me look back into it because admittedly it’s been ages since I sat that con law class, but it’s more or less what I thought it was (and poorly articulated). The case in question was a 1993 ruling in the case of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah. From my understanding of the ruling (as I’m no lawyer), it did not in any way imply that animal sacrifice was legal, only that it was not possible for laws to be passed that specifically outlaw animal sacrifice.
While on the surface that seems one in the same, in reality it’s not as you can still be prosecuted for things such as cruelty to animals, violation of some law about butchering animals, improper disposal, slaughtering an animal in an area not zoned for such, etc. Thus by codifying what’s acceptable methods of slaughtering animals, the conditions of the facility in which it can take place, and the like states and communities can outlaw such practices without actually outlawing it. In a very real way, it’s akin to cities bending over backwards to rezone everything such that there is literally no place left where something like a strip club, adult book store, toy shop, or the like can be opened.
But yeah, when speaking about Constitutional heroes, you run into some really strange bedfellows. I mean, when else would it make sense to bring up Larry Flynt, Howard Stern, and the Jehovah’s Witness, and all in a positive light?
Oh, and the last link in my post above was to the text of the 1796-1797 treaty with Tripoli. A quick google search can pull it for those who are interested.
Maggie, if I’m being too long winded feel free to tell me to shut up.
Hi, Abby; thanks for joining in the discussion! 🙂
Though in Mexico religious organizations can be openly persecuted, in the United States the government has to be sneakier; that’s why it uses excuses like “bigamy”, “prostitution” or “drugs” to persecute religious groups. But minority believers who are hounded and imprisoned using the excuse of consensual “crimes” are just as persecuted as if the excuse were their beliefs. For myself, I don’t much care what excuse people use for hating and harming me; it’s their actions which concern me, not their words.
Aubade
I work all day, and get half-drunk at night.
Waking at four to soundless dark, I stare.
In time the curtain-edges will grow light.
Till then I see what’s really always there:
Unresting death, a whole day nearer now,
Making all thought impossible but how
And where and when I shall myself die.
Arid interrogation: yet the dread
Of dying, and being dead,
Flashes afresh to hold and horrify.
The mind blanks at the glare. Not in remorse
– The good not done, the love not given, time
Torn off unused – nor wretchedly because
An only life can take so long to climb
Clear of its wrong beginnings, and may never;
But at the total emptiness for ever,
The sure extinction that we travel to
And shall be lost in always. Not to be here,
Not to be anywhere,
And soon; nothing more terrible, nothing more true.
This is a special way of being afraid
No trick dispels. Religion used to try,
That vast, moth-eaten musical brocade
Created to pretend we never die,
And specious stuff that says No rational being
Can fear a thing it will not feel, not seeing
That this is what we fear – no sight, no sound,
No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with,
Nothing to love or link with,
The anasthetic from which none come round.
And so it stays just on the edge of vision,
A small, unfocused blur, a standing chill
That slows each impulse down to indecision.
Most things may never happen: this one will,
And realisation of it rages out
In furnace-fear when we are caught without
People or drink. Courage is no good:
It means not scaring others. Being brave
Lets no one off the grave.
Death is no different whined at than withstood.
Slowly light strengthens, and the room takes shape.
It stands plain as a wardrobe, what we know,
Have always known, know that we can’t escape,
Yet can’t accept. One side will have to go.
Meanwhile telephones crouch, getting ready to ring
In locked-up offices, and all the uncaring
Intricate rented world begins to rouse.
The sky is white as clay, with no sun.
Work has to be done.
Postmen like doctors go from house to house.
Philip Larkin
The US government ignores the Constitution whenever it’s convenient. look at at recent events.
As for persecuting smaller religions, I could easily see it happening because the bigger superstitions don’t want new, upstart competition.
And really, what is the difference between superstition and religion? It’s all just baseless belief in rituals that appease the supernatural. At least the pagans have a connection to the real, natural world we can see and experience.
In this country. I think we protect superstition too much. We allow illogical beliefs to interfere in the good governing and operation of the nation.
After all, one person tells you he’s god, and he’s a mad man. A few people believe him, and it’s a cult. A lot of people believe him, and it’s a religion.
A religion is a cult that got popular.
A cult is a religion with no political power.
In a nutshell. And with a nice rhythm too, did you plan that or is that just your “m4d skillz” as the kids say these days? 🙂
I’d heard both of them from other people, on two different talk shows, years apart.
I can only take credit for putting the chocolate and the peanut butter together.
Cults have no political power? Really? Mormon Church anyone? It’s no coincedence that those who get the votes of the Mormons in Utah have more success than those who don’t. Mormonism is still considered a cult by the experts in the fields of cults. It has a huge membership and is still growing. Many cults have never been popular with many. An example of a religion that gets constant ###*** is Islam which has a huge amount of members. The persecution of the NON-terrorist Muslims (which are the majority) is constant and pure evil and has gone up even more since 9/11.
Pagans don’t have a monopoly on connection to the real world, etc. They never have and no other religion has a monopoly on it either. The truth is in every religion there’s been examples of connection to the real world. Also connection to and proof of the spirit world. If you go to what’s called a “charismatic” Christian church you’ll see these things regularly. I’ve personally seen/heard: speaking in tongues WITH others interpreting it (which is part of the New Testament Biblical record also), healings, what’s called “word of knowledge” and other things. I experience an amazing “word of knowledge” in the 1990’s. This is when a person will give information to people they’ve never met, etc. It’s amazing. I also had 1 in the late 1980’s from a small group of people in a church that I’d never met before. I’ve also had other supernatural experiences. It gets really tiring to hear how people with any beliefs are JUST following superstitions. There’s many in ALL religions who truly STUDY THEIR BELIEFS, etc. I’m 1 of them. I’ve studied mine since my late teens (when I became a Christian). The definition of a “cult” by the experts in that field has nothing to do with popularity and never has in every case. Some cults have always been unpopular with many. Some have also been very small. The Mormon Church has a huge membership but has always been considered a cult by the experts in this field. As far as 1 man saying he’s “god” being automatically crazy, this willfully ignores how 1 man who said it did miracles, raised the dead, rose from the dead Himself, etc. There were many witnesses to this also. If there was NO value to Jesus life, then why in the world after St. Paul saw Him did his (Paul’s) life completely change for the better? I could give many other examples. Thanks for listening.
Who are these experts, and what exactly is their definition.
Whatever the official definition, the general real-world rule seems to be:
If I like my neighbor’s faith, I call it a religion.
If I’m uncomfortable with my neighbor’s faith, I call it a sect.
If I strongly dislike my neighbor’s faith (or my neighbor), I call it a cult.
I have several books on cults I can show you if you like. 1 of my favorite experts on them was Dr. Walter Martin.
[…] accident that sex workers are among the most dedicated worshippers of the Mexican death-goddess, Santa Muerte, and that many of the myths surrounding pagan whore-goddesses (who were sometimes war-goddesses […]
East L.A. Chicana here. While Santa means saint, it also means Holy. So I have always thought of her as “Holy Death”
Also Aztecs believe that this life is a dream. When we die, we wake up to our real lives. Kind of the opposite of how Americans explain death to children.