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Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint
R. Andrew Chesnut offers a fascinating portrayal of Santa Muerte, a skeleton saint whose cult has attracted millions of devotees over the past decade. Although condemned by mainstream churches, this folk saint's supernatural powers appeal to millions of Latin Americans and immigrants in the
U.S. Devotees believe the Bony Lady (as she is affectionately called) to be the fastest and most effective miracle worker, and as such, her statuettes and paraphernalia now outsell those of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude, two other giants of Mexican religiosity. In particular, Chesnut shows
Santa Muerte has become the patron saint of drug traffickers, playing an important role as protector of peddlers of crystal meth and marijuana; DEA agents and Mexican police often find her altars in the safe houses of drug smugglers. Yet Saint Death plays other important she is a supernatural
healer, love doctor, money-maker, lawyer, and angel of death. She has become without doubt one of the most popular and powerful saints on both the Mexican and American religious landscapes.
U.S. Devotees believe the Bony Lady (as she is affectionately called) to be the fastest and most effective miracle worker, and as such, her statuettes and paraphernalia now outsell those of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Saint Jude, two other giants of Mexican religiosity. In particular, Chesnut shows
Santa Muerte has become the patron saint of drug traffickers, playing an important role as protector of peddlers of crystal meth and marijuana; DEA agents and Mexican police often find her altars in the safe houses of drug smugglers. Yet Saint Death plays other important she is a supernatural
healer, love doctor, money-maker, lawyer, and angel of death. She has become without doubt one of the most popular and powerful saints on both the Mexican and American religious landscapes.
232 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2011
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August 31, 2016
This is a useful corrective to the rather hysterical media image of the Mexican cult of Santa Muerte as little more than a religion of death for narco-criminals.
Instead, Professor Chesnut re-positions it as an understandable, almost pragmatic, response to poverty, uncertainty and the complexities of gender relations under near-lawless conditions.
The interest of narco-gangsters in the cult is real enough but it does not belong exclusively to them nor do narco-gangsters worship only the 'Bony Lady'. Attempts at linkage are misdirection by forces of order.
Chesnut has studied the emergence of pentecostalism and other forms of charismatic religions in the emerging world and sees many similarities of condition.
Modernisation is more than disruptive. It is terrifying in its uncertainty as young populations scrabble to make a living within 'bourgeois' legal cultures built on little more than force.
The Catholic Church is not speaking to these people because it is not delivering the goods in terms of life improvement or security in this world. The new religions are nothing if not pragmatic.
We, in the West, should be very nervous of these developments because their appeal is, in fact, unanswerable. We have nothing for them. They want welfare and a secure job and not an ideology of 'rights'.
Western liberals are evasive on this question. They have developed a malign theory that somehow welfare and justice will come out of democratic chaos.
The reason for this is not hard to find - a 'socialist' solution is now unacceptable in Western society and the alternative of order to permit the growth to provide rights unacceptable.
Instead, a gulag of injustice is slowly being built up on both sides of the Mexican border while young men have to be part of the delivery of psychic salves to the wealthier north simply to survive.
This is a world of dangerous slums, vulnerable women, prisons and the dangerous business of crossing borders where deportation, incarceration and death are regular challenges. NGOs just get in the way.
'Santa Muerte' is the religious response. It strikes this reader that, though we educated northerners may affect to despise its magical thinking, it serves a purpose because we have abandoned these people.
Their revenge will come as the pragmatics of all these new religions get a foot-hold in the West (as they are clearly doing) and enforce an equally ruthless and pragmatic politics within our democracies.
Chesnut thus provides an invaluable interim guide to what is a moving cultural feast. In theory, the cult could disappear as quickly as it came but this now looks unlikely.
'Respectable people' might be inclined to give it more of a wide berth as bad publicity increases under Catholic pressure but this may merely strengthen its appeal amongst the masses.
It appears to be a deviant form of Catholicism with folk and santeria characteristics. There is no hierarchy or organisation. Whether it will shift from cult to organised religion is another matter.
Chesnut's approach, which justifiably makes use of personal and family testimonies to help fill out the lack of research by others, is to use the coloured candles of the cult to throw light on its functions.
To cut a long story short, he dismisses the Mexican nationalist narrative about its origins and sees it as something that the folk have constructed out of European ideas of death and love.
However, the death has been 'detourned' by the local believers into something the very opposite of Europe's 'Grim Reaper' and what was an innocent love cult as recently as the 1970s is very different now.
In essence, the Bony Lady gives you what you want if you believe enough in her, undertake the right rituals (which are Catholic derivatives) and keep the promises you made when you needed her.
Given the placebo effect, the role of coincidence and the power of the unconscious to make things happen if indirectly willed (the A O Spare view of things), practical successes are going to be evidenced.
She is displacing God in a way quite easy to do within the Catholic tradition which has often permitted intermediation to flourish in a way not acceptable to Protestants.
Magical protection and (in effect) cursing, relationship management, economic security and healthcare all come within Her territory - to which Chesnut adds the peculiar demands of the drugs war on justice.
The rise of Santa Muerte has emerged not coincidentally with the civil war conditions created by the war on drugs and with the effects, always worst on the poor, of the global economic downturn.
The cult is not a bad thing in the world despite what Catholic Bishops think but a solution to the problems of people affected by the current crisis in late capitalism and an insane progressivist drugs war.
If you take away hope of economic progress and create conditions for random gang and state terror, people will turn to something they can cling to - this obscurantist cult does no bad service in this respect.
Similar Reviews - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Instead, Professor Chesnut re-positions it as an understandable, almost pragmatic, response to poverty, uncertainty and the complexities of gender relations under near-lawless conditions.
The interest of narco-gangsters in the cult is real enough but it does not belong exclusively to them nor do narco-gangsters worship only the 'Bony Lady'. Attempts at linkage are misdirection by forces of order.
Chesnut has studied the emergence of pentecostalism and other forms of charismatic religions in the emerging world and sees many similarities of condition.
Modernisation is more than disruptive. It is terrifying in its uncertainty as young populations scrabble to make a living within 'bourgeois' legal cultures built on little more than force.
The Catholic Church is not speaking to these people because it is not delivering the goods in terms of life improvement or security in this world. The new religions are nothing if not pragmatic.
We, in the West, should be very nervous of these developments because their appeal is, in fact, unanswerable. We have nothing for them. They want welfare and a secure job and not an ideology of 'rights'.
Western liberals are evasive on this question. They have developed a malign theory that somehow welfare and justice will come out of democratic chaos.
The reason for this is not hard to find - a 'socialist' solution is now unacceptable in Western society and the alternative of order to permit the growth to provide rights unacceptable.
Instead, a gulag of injustice is slowly being built up on both sides of the Mexican border while young men have to be part of the delivery of psychic salves to the wealthier north simply to survive.
This is a world of dangerous slums, vulnerable women, prisons and the dangerous business of crossing borders where deportation, incarceration and death are regular challenges. NGOs just get in the way.
'Santa Muerte' is the religious response. It strikes this reader that, though we educated northerners may affect to despise its magical thinking, it serves a purpose because we have abandoned these people.
Their revenge will come as the pragmatics of all these new religions get a foot-hold in the West (as they are clearly doing) and enforce an equally ruthless and pragmatic politics within our democracies.
Chesnut thus provides an invaluable interim guide to what is a moving cultural feast. In theory, the cult could disappear as quickly as it came but this now looks unlikely.
'Respectable people' might be inclined to give it more of a wide berth as bad publicity increases under Catholic pressure but this may merely strengthen its appeal amongst the masses.
It appears to be a deviant form of Catholicism with folk and santeria characteristics. There is no hierarchy or organisation. Whether it will shift from cult to organised religion is another matter.
Chesnut's approach, which justifiably makes use of personal and family testimonies to help fill out the lack of research by others, is to use the coloured candles of the cult to throw light on its functions.
To cut a long story short, he dismisses the Mexican nationalist narrative about its origins and sees it as something that the folk have constructed out of European ideas of death and love.
However, the death has been 'detourned' by the local believers into something the very opposite of Europe's 'Grim Reaper' and what was an innocent love cult as recently as the 1970s is very different now.
In essence, the Bony Lady gives you what you want if you believe enough in her, undertake the right rituals (which are Catholic derivatives) and keep the promises you made when you needed her.
Given the placebo effect, the role of coincidence and the power of the unconscious to make things happen if indirectly willed (the A O Spare view of things), practical successes are going to be evidenced.
She is displacing God in a way quite easy to do within the Catholic tradition which has often permitted intermediation to flourish in a way not acceptable to Protestants.
Magical protection and (in effect) cursing, relationship management, economic security and healthcare all come within Her territory - to which Chesnut adds the peculiar demands of the drugs war on justice.
The rise of Santa Muerte has emerged not coincidentally with the civil war conditions created by the war on drugs and with the effects, always worst on the poor, of the global economic downturn.
The cult is not a bad thing in the world despite what Catholic Bishops think but a solution to the problems of people affected by the current crisis in late capitalism and an insane progressivist drugs war.
If you take away hope of economic progress and create conditions for random gang and state terror, people will turn to something they can cling to - this obscurantist cult does no bad service in this respect.
Similar Reviews - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 30, 2020
The first English-language academy study of La Flaquita, R. Andrew Chesnut's Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint is an important corrective to the growing mischaracterization of Mexico's rapidly expanding new religious movement. Blamed for the most brutal acts in the unending drug war, Santa Muerte and her devotees have become a way for both Mexican and American politicians, law enforcement, and media can avoid the real truth about the drug cartels: that they only exist because of the Americans' obsessive and useless war on drugs. Chesnut reveals the many other, more popular aspects of her cult which has reached so many due in large part to how the Bony Lady does not discriminate. Whether trans sex workers in Queens, New York, men on both sides of the bars fearing for their safety in dangerous Mexican prisons, or mothers in Michoacan lighting white candles for La Flaka to protect their children, Santa Muerte welcomes all into her bony embrace.
The only problem this short and accessible book has is its repetition. Some sentences are repeated verbatim throughout the text. A tighter edit would've vastly improved the book. But still, it is a foundation English-language text on the study of devotion to this intriguing Mexican folk saint.
The only problem this short and accessible book has is its repetition. Some sentences are repeated verbatim throughout the text. A tighter edit would've vastly improved the book. But still, it is a foundation English-language text on the study of devotion to this intriguing Mexican folk saint.
February 10, 2017
The book is a slim 200 pages. It divides itself up into chapters based on the different coloured candles you can buy, and the different purposes they serve. Cute. Except maybe a more traditional, chronological format would have worked better. While there is a lot of information in here, the author repeats himself over and over again. And just when I thought I was almost done reading, the last chapter summarizes everything already discussed. How many times do I need to hear about the wrecked shrines and that one Mexican movie about Santa Muerte?
I found the book helpful mostly as a pointer to other sources I could look at online. There are some good stories and interviews. The repetition of the text drove me crazy. The book felt padded, because of this.
The author also talks about his own dabblings with Santa Muerte. I think it would have been interesting to learn more about his relationship with the skinny lady. This feels a bit like a missed opportunity.
An interesting, if frustrating book. The author mentions the hundreds of photos his wife has taken of shrines and skeletons. None are in this book. Which was again, frustrating.
I found the book helpful mostly as a pointer to other sources I could look at online. There are some good stories and interviews. The repetition of the text drove me crazy. The book felt padded, because of this.
The author also talks about his own dabblings with Santa Muerte. I think it would have been interesting to learn more about his relationship with the skinny lady. This feels a bit like a missed opportunity.
An interesting, if frustrating book. The author mentions the hundreds of photos his wife has taken of shrines and skeletons. None are in this book. Which was again, frustrating.
September 6, 2019
So repetitive that if it had been properly edited, it would probably be a pamphlet. Unsure how an author could make this topic tedious and boring, but I suppose that’s a skill unto itself.
December 11, 2017
THe cult of Santa Muetrte has grown by leaps and bounds since Dona Queta publicised her in her quesadilla stand in 2001. Before that he worhsip was kept under wraps with only a few people activelyfollowing her. Santa Muerte is a local homegrown Mexicn saint that is not CANONIZED by the Catholic Church. Most of her devotes are Catholic yet this movement seems to have the potential to break off into its own religious movement.
There are many saints that Mexican will pray to . THe most noteable one is the Virgin of Guadalupe, which was who the author was researching. Something was missing, a certain enthusiasm and after all theVirgin had been written about many times. Inspiration came when the author heard of the Mexican government destroying like over 40 shrines dedicated to the most holy death. This was part of an ongoing war against the drug cartels and Santa Muerte is a narco saint.
Many of her devotees are criminals, drug dealers, prisoners and also prison guards, policemen and soldiers. She is the most popullar saint, surpassing all of them in terms of sales items. But what is the story of this saint or this Grim Reapress. THe books is divided into chapters based on the color of candles her devotees will work with. Black is often the color most associated with her. Black is used for protections and cursing enemies. Back in the 80s and 90s when drug dealers kidnapped an american tourist and sacrificed him in a mixed palo mayombe ritual. Another case hapended in the 90s when a bust displayed Santa Muerte with black candles. The colors that are most popular to work with are white and red.
Thee first chapter is based on the brown candle. Brown is used for knolwdge and Enlightenment. This chapter discusses hsitory of Santa Muerte and her possible origins. THe chapter also covers offerings, the hsitory of Dona Queta and David Romo. Dona Queta opened a shrine to Santa Muerte from her quesadilla stand in the crime ridden neighborhood of Tepito. David Romo was allied with the Traditional Catholic Church and he opened up a church dedicated to Santa Muerte. David Romo has since been victimized by the government and was charged with kidnapping. The origins of Santa Muerte are hazy. Some are saying that she is a Mexican version of the Aztec goddess of the dead. But this cannot be because not all Indians were aztecs. Rather she is the Grim Reapress from Spain, who was La Parque or the parched one.
The next color they talked about was the black candle. In this chapter the author discusses how she is associated with cursing and protection. The drug dealers will ask her to help them with drug shipments or getting rid of legal authorities. Black is not a popular color but it is one most publicly associated with her. Thanks to cinema and media. White is for protection. Here the author discusses how the Saint protects her followers from witchcraft and other foul magic. Santa Muerte is as much a death bringer as she is a mother, healer and love doctor.
Red is the love candle. Most of her petitions are love petitions, especially jilted women who wanted their wayword husbands to change their ways. This has been her traditional roll historically. The other candle are green for justice, good for money, purple for healing. Finally the rainbow for all purposes. If you love Santa Muerte then get this book.
There are many saints that Mexican will pray to . THe most noteable one is the Virgin of Guadalupe, which was who the author was researching. Something was missing, a certain enthusiasm and after all theVirgin had been written about many times. Inspiration came when the author heard of the Mexican government destroying like over 40 shrines dedicated to the most holy death. This was part of an ongoing war against the drug cartels and Santa Muerte is a narco saint.
Many of her devotees are criminals, drug dealers, prisoners and also prison guards, policemen and soldiers. She is the most popullar saint, surpassing all of them in terms of sales items. But what is the story of this saint or this Grim Reapress. THe books is divided into chapters based on the color of candles her devotees will work with. Black is often the color most associated with her. Black is used for protections and cursing enemies. Back in the 80s and 90s when drug dealers kidnapped an american tourist and sacrificed him in a mixed palo mayombe ritual. Another case hapended in the 90s when a bust displayed Santa Muerte with black candles. The colors that are most popular to work with are white and red.
Thee first chapter is based on the brown candle. Brown is used for knolwdge and Enlightenment. This chapter discusses hsitory of Santa Muerte and her possible origins. THe chapter also covers offerings, the hsitory of Dona Queta and David Romo. Dona Queta opened a shrine to Santa Muerte from her quesadilla stand in the crime ridden neighborhood of Tepito. David Romo was allied with the Traditional Catholic Church and he opened up a church dedicated to Santa Muerte. David Romo has since been victimized by the government and was charged with kidnapping. The origins of Santa Muerte are hazy. Some are saying that she is a Mexican version of the Aztec goddess of the dead. But this cannot be because not all Indians were aztecs. Rather she is the Grim Reapress from Spain, who was La Parque or the parched one.
The next color they talked about was the black candle. In this chapter the author discusses how she is associated with cursing and protection. The drug dealers will ask her to help them with drug shipments or getting rid of legal authorities. Black is not a popular color but it is one most publicly associated with her. Thanks to cinema and media. White is for protection. Here the author discusses how the Saint protects her followers from witchcraft and other foul magic. Santa Muerte is as much a death bringer as she is a mother, healer and love doctor.
Red is the love candle. Most of her petitions are love petitions, especially jilted women who wanted their wayword husbands to change their ways. This has been her traditional roll historically. The other candle are green for justice, good for money, purple for healing. Finally the rainbow for all purposes. If you love Santa Muerte then get this book.
February 10, 2022
This book is a great informative on Santa Muerte. I gave it 3 stars because the depth of the author’s research is evident, and his effort to look at the religion inclusively and impartially. As someone who had never come across Santa Muerte before (until being in the class I’m in now where I had to read it), I took a lot of information away. My only complaint is that a lot of the information was repetitive throughout. I felt like I could have gotten the gist of everything I needed to know from the introduction and the conclusion. Chapters 1-3 however also had substantial information expanding on the introduction. Chapter 1 being history and origins. Chapter 2 being beliefs and practices. And chapter 3 being protection and harm, going more in detail with how Santa Muerte became so connected with drug cartels and condemned as satanic by the mass media and Catholic Church. Definitely read those chapters as well.
I think the repetitiveness comes from the desire to emphasize that the black candle (protection and harm) isn’t the main focus or only focus of Santa Muerte. Especially in public spaces of dedication to her where it’s evident devotees go to her for other needs. This book was an attempt to discover why Santa Muerte has been painted so negatively and inform readers and researchers of the true meaning she has for devotees.
I think the repetitiveness comes from the desire to emphasize that the black candle (protection and harm) isn’t the main focus or only focus of Santa Muerte. Especially in public spaces of dedication to her where it’s evident devotees go to her for other needs. This book was an attempt to discover why Santa Muerte has been painted so negatively and inform readers and researchers of the true meaning she has for devotees.
December 4, 2022
Olay şu: Meksika'da Azrail'in kadın versiyonundan bir halk azizesi yaratılmış ve bu da Katolik inancına karşıt bir tutum olarak algılanmıyor - Katolik Kilisesi bu tarikatı heretik ilan etmiş olsa da. Kitabın büyük bir çoğunluğu, 2000'li yıllarda bu inanışın geniş bir popülerlik kazanması üstüne ve günümüzdeki ibadet pratiklerini sayıp dökmeye odaklandığı için, açıkçası hayal kırıklığına uğradım. Ben daha çok, "Ölüm Hanım" figürünün kökeni üstüne ve daha geniş öl��ekte, Latin Amerika'da ölümün kişileştirilmesi fenomeni üstüne antropolojik/tarihsel bir inceleme bekliyordum ve kitabın ilk bölümü haricinde, aradığımı bulamadım. Belki güncel folklor araştırmacıları ilginç bulabilir.
March 21, 2024
As other reviewers have mentioned, this book can get a bit repetitive, especially in the essentially superfluous final chapter. However, it's dispassionate and informative, so it's basically exactly what I was looking for.
July 16, 2019
Well, I really wanted to really like this book, but it wasn't to be. R. Andrew Chesnut just didn't really have enough material for a book. Some of the passages are repeated near verbatim in different parts of the book 2 or 3 times, like he needed filler. He includes conversations with devotees of the Bony Lady, though some of these have an awkward placement in the text. He's also included stories from people he knows personally, though one of them is not a devotee but lit a candle and said the inscribed prayer on a whim, which created a tone that he has basically written about a hobby topic that he & his wife took a bunch of photos for, though there aren't that many pictures included and they are all black & white. This gets annoying because he references a few of these B&W pics in the text, referring to colors & detail that , at least I couldn't, discern from the pics. It also bugged me that the picture he uses to demonstrate what is typical, even atypical for an altar for the Pretty Girl is one from a drug dealer's house in Texas. Again, though he says there is much more to the this skeleton saint than the drug dealers & other criminals that implore her favor, he constantly undermines that idea by constantly using narco altars & testimony as examples throughout the book. Chesnut really needed a bonified editor.
Supposedly he's been researching this unsanctified saint of the people for almost a decade and yet almost nothing is known (that he states) about her origins and her rise to being more popular in Mexico than the Virgin of Guadalupe. He has structured the chapters based on the multicolored candles one can buy for this saint's altar and covering how she is viewed, different prayers etc used to get the devotee's desired results, regarding each of these colors: blue, brown, white, black, red, gold, purple, and green. He spends a lot of time contrasting her with 2 skeleton saints, deemed her male counterparts, which may have seemed like a good idea, but again it muddled his points and again felt like he needed filler so this book would be 200 pages.
Pretty much the useful text is the concluding chapter where he recaps the colors and their aspects. Truthfully, I was expecting some more mythological as well as historical information. All in all until he has a lot more information on Santa Muerte, only the conclusion should be printed as a booklet.
Supposedly he's been researching this unsanctified saint of the people for almost a decade and yet almost nothing is known (that he states) about her origins and her rise to being more popular in Mexico than the Virgin of Guadalupe. He has structured the chapters based on the multicolored candles one can buy for this saint's altar and covering how she is viewed, different prayers etc used to get the devotee's desired results, regarding each of these colors: blue, brown, white, black, red, gold, purple, and green. He spends a lot of time contrasting her with 2 skeleton saints, deemed her male counterparts, which may have seemed like a good idea, but again it muddled his points and again felt like he needed filler so this book would be 200 pages.
Pretty much the useful text is the concluding chapter where he recaps the colors and their aspects. Truthfully, I was expecting some more mythological as well as historical information. All in all until he has a lot more information on Santa Muerte, only the conclusion should be printed as a booklet.
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January 20, 2024From the forward: 'No matter how far [Santa Muerte] moves into the public space, however, the question of "what can a gringo know about la Nina?" remains a legitimate challenge to those who would divorce her from the complex environment of Latin America. Culture and language are intimate partners, and no amount of translation can capture the power of Santa Muerte as she lives and breathes on her native soil. This is not to limit her to Mexico as she is born from the diverse spiritual landscapes of the New World, and as shown by the growth of her tradition, anyone who approaches her can quickly enter into a powerful relationship with the Godmother. However, those who approach with the assumption that they can adapt her to their own understanding will quickly find themselves in the midst of a living tradition that changes with the swirling tides of culture adapting to the needs of her devotees with little regard for comfortable orthodoxy.' (xi-xii)
From Ch. 2, Beliefs and Practices: 'As strange and esoteric as some of credos and rituals of [Santa Muerte's] cult may seem, they are at their core highly utilitarian. In other words, their purpose is to compel Saint Death to act on behalf of her devotees. More specifically, adherents engage in ritual acts designed to elicit miraculous intervention on the part of the Powerful Lady. The miracle, or palpable manifestation of supernatural wonder, can be as small as the sale of a few extra quesadillas a day by a street vendor or as big as having a multimillion-dollar shipment of methamphetamines arrive safely in Atlanta, for example. Despite her skeletal appearance, which suggests death and dormancy to the uninitiated, Sant Muerte is a supernatural action figure who heals, provides, and punishes, among other things. She is the hardest-working and most productive folk saint in the Americas.' (51)
From Ch. 2, Beliefs and Practices: 'As strange and esoteric as some of credos and rituals of [Santa Muerte's] cult may seem, they are at their core highly utilitarian. In other words, their purpose is to compel Saint Death to act on behalf of her devotees. More specifically, adherents engage in ritual acts designed to elicit miraculous intervention on the part of the Powerful Lady. The miracle, or palpable manifestation of supernatural wonder, can be as small as the sale of a few extra quesadillas a day by a street vendor or as big as having a multimillion-dollar shipment of methamphetamines arrive safely in Atlanta, for example. Despite her skeletal appearance, which suggests death and dormancy to the uninitiated, Sant Muerte is a supernatural action figure who heals, provides, and punishes, among other things. She is the hardest-working and most productive folk saint in the Americas.' (51)
June 27, 2025
Over the last two decades, interest in a skeleton saint has grown in both Mexico and Latino communities north of the border in the U.S.A. In fact, the popularity has begun to spread outside of Latino communities too as different ethnic groups become familiar with each other. This saint is called Santa Muerte and it has also begun to attract media attention because of its popularity with Mexican drug cartels and other people associated with the underworld. What the media doesn’t tell you is that Santa Muerte’s appeal is wider than realized and in fact most of her devotees are ordinary people without any nefarious intentions. Anthropologist R. Andrew Chesnut sets the record straight in his study of this fledgling religious movement in Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte the Skeleton Saint.
After stating his intention to save the Santa Muerte community from negative publicity, Chesnut examines the history of this saint. He starts by discussing the Uto-Aztecan death goddesses. But he is more convinced that the image of Santa Muerte was not part of pre-Conquest culture and actually arrived with the Spanish invaders and the Catholic church. They brought over images of the Grim Reaper which sprung up during the Black Plague. The intention was to scare the people of Mexica into submission, but secretly some people were secretly putting the Grim Reaper on altars and making sacrifices to him for favors. Similar traditions have proliferated in Central America and Argentina, but these involved a male Grim Reaper and appear to be unrelated to the current phenomenon of Santa Muerte. In recent years, due to syncretism with African diaspora religions like Candomble, Vodou, and Santeria, Santa Muerte has emerged from hiding and taken on a new life.
In Mexico City, a grocery store with a shrine to Santa Muerte started attracting so much attention that the owner began offering monthly prayer and worship services complete with mariachi bands. Another chapel called the Temple of Death opened and the cult has been snowballing in membership ever since. Chesnut uses the word “cult” in the Latin sense of the word “cultus” which means “religious community” and in no way applies to the more current usage indicating authoritarian, high control groups led by charismatic leaders.
Each chapter in this book is about the different ways Santa Muerte is worshiped and petitioned for favors with some commentaries on who her devotees are along the way. Whether people are making offerings for money, work, love, or protection from harm, most ceremonies are relatively benign and innocent. Offerings of candles, incense, food, and drinks are common. The most controversial gifts include alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Animal and human sacrifices are mostly the stuff of urban legends and media sensationalism.
While there are Santa Muerte devotees from all walks of life, a quick survey of the book reveals that most of them are working class mestizos like truck drivers, small business owners, police, and prison guards. There are, however, some upper class and educated followers too. Some are lawyers, some are teachers, and some are celebrities or corporate businessmen. A couple people the author interviews are goths with black clothes, nose rings, and tattoos. It should be considered that some people from a counter-culture like that might be pre-disposed to being receptive to a saint whose appearance is that of the Grim Reaper in women’s dress. And while Chesnut does rightfully downplay the media’s negative association of Santa Muerte with criminal activity, he does provide a chapter detailing the appeal of Santa Muerte to drug cartel members and organized crime gangs since altars to the Mother of Death are commonly found on their premises during police raids.
While the author does provide a lot of details regarding the practices and culture of the Santa Muerte cult, he doesn’t do any heavy theorizing and there is only minimal explanation as to why it has grown in popularity. He does identify some causes though. One is that Santa Muerte is available to everybody regardless of class, gender, ethnicity, or position in life. Santa Muerte is also amoral in a way that has caused the Catholic church to condemn her; she is believed to do favors for good or bad purposes without passing judgment on the devotee and that is why doctors as well as drug kingpins can approach her. Santa Muerte has a strong presence in the ambient popular culture too. She appears in novels, TV shows, horror movies, song lyrics, tattoos, and t-shirts. Finally, Santa Muerte is believed to be more powerful than other saints, especially those approved of by the church.
Chesnut doesn’t explain much beyond that. You are left to your own thoughts as to the proliferation of the Skeleton Saint. Personally I feel that the issues of power and condemnation from religious leaders are a part of the appeal. The skeptic in me that doesn’t believe in magic says that there is an equal statistical chance of any saint, spirit, or deity delivering what a devotee asks for in exchange for ritual offerings. There would be a random chance of obtaining the desired outcome no matter who or what is prayed to. But the perception that any one of these supernatural entities is more powerful than the others is what matters to the believer. Therefore as more people align themselves with the cult of Santa Muerte the more stories of successful rituals will circulate socially making it appear that she is the most powerful of them all. Meanwhile, people are more likely to remain silent about the ceremonies that fail creating a socially derived illusion that Santa Muerte ceremonies have a higher rate of success than they really do.
There might also be a subversive element in the worship of Santa Muerte. Since she is not recognized by the church, interacting with her could be a way of rebelling against traditionally accepted authority. This trend might be wider than Santa Muerte since the author points out that Evangelical Christianity is currently catching up in popularity to the Catholic church while African diaspora religions and secular humanism are also making inroads into Mexican society. This would indicate that Mexico is in a time of social transition and attraction to Santa Muerte is one manifestation of that change in answering to people’s needs.
The issue of power might also say something about who follows Sants Muerte. Occupations involving criminal activities on both sides of the law are extremely high risk. Life is just as dangerous for prison guards as it is for prisoners. People who work in construction, poorly regulated factories, the sex industry, or the taxi business are risking their safety every time they go to work. An unemployed man on the verge of going homeless would have extreme levels of anxiety. Santa Muerte, the most powerful saint, often appeals to those whose lives have put them on the front line of danger or despair so it would make sense that they would petition and desire to placate the representative of death to bless them with the gift of life. As for more mundane concerns like winning a poker game, passing an exam, or attracting a lost lover back, those desiring such favors might as well turn to the most powerful saint available. Why turn towards weaker saints? But otherwise the widespread devotion and rapid spread of Santa Muerte’s cult might be an indication of growing social anxiety. If magic is about power and control, than the growing popularity of a religion involving magic might indicate that wide sectors of society feel as though they have little or no control over the circumstances of their lives. While that lack of control could be present at any given time throughout history, the beginning of a new cultural practice addressing that anxiety might be a sign that the old ways are failing and the younger generations are searching for something more effective. Widespread anxiety might be commonplace, but changing cultural practices could indicate that a precarious rupture with the past might be happening.
R. Andrew Chesnut’s intentions here are to clear up misconceptions about Santa Muerte and advocate for the variety of people who are attracted to her rising popularity. It is written for the general reader. This is good because clarifying the beliefs and practices should encourage people to tolerate something about Mexican culture that they don’t understand. It’s too bad Devoted to Death doesn’t go deeper into an analysis and explanation for what is happening on both the south and north sides of the border though. It would be nice to have heard a professional anthropologist’s views on what this says about Mexican society. He just leaves you hanging to draw your own conclusions.
Anyhow, the next time you see a veladora decorated with an image of Santa Muerte, probably beside candles depicting the Virgen de Guadalupe, in a grocery store, a market, or a bodega you can ask the people selling it how to do a ritual. My experience with Mexicans and Chicanos has been that they are usually eager to talk about their culture with non-Latinos like me if you show a sincere interest. You might open some doorways, make some new friends, and maybe, if you’re lucky, you might even be blessed with good fortunes from the Skeleton Saint herself.
After stating his intention to save the Santa Muerte community from negative publicity, Chesnut examines the history of this saint. He starts by discussing the Uto-Aztecan death goddesses. But he is more convinced that the image of Santa Muerte was not part of pre-Conquest culture and actually arrived with the Spanish invaders and the Catholic church. They brought over images of the Grim Reaper which sprung up during the Black Plague. The intention was to scare the people of Mexica into submission, but secretly some people were secretly putting the Grim Reaper on altars and making sacrifices to him for favors. Similar traditions have proliferated in Central America and Argentina, but these involved a male Grim Reaper and appear to be unrelated to the current phenomenon of Santa Muerte. In recent years, due to syncretism with African diaspora religions like Candomble, Vodou, and Santeria, Santa Muerte has emerged from hiding and taken on a new life.
In Mexico City, a grocery store with a shrine to Santa Muerte started attracting so much attention that the owner began offering monthly prayer and worship services complete with mariachi bands. Another chapel called the Temple of Death opened and the cult has been snowballing in membership ever since. Chesnut uses the word “cult” in the Latin sense of the word “cultus” which means “religious community” and in no way applies to the more current usage indicating authoritarian, high control groups led by charismatic leaders.
Each chapter in this book is about the different ways Santa Muerte is worshiped and petitioned for favors with some commentaries on who her devotees are along the way. Whether people are making offerings for money, work, love, or protection from harm, most ceremonies are relatively benign and innocent. Offerings of candles, incense, food, and drinks are common. The most controversial gifts include alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Animal and human sacrifices are mostly the stuff of urban legends and media sensationalism.
While there are Santa Muerte devotees from all walks of life, a quick survey of the book reveals that most of them are working class mestizos like truck drivers, small business owners, police, and prison guards. There are, however, some upper class and educated followers too. Some are lawyers, some are teachers, and some are celebrities or corporate businessmen. A couple people the author interviews are goths with black clothes, nose rings, and tattoos. It should be considered that some people from a counter-culture like that might be pre-disposed to being receptive to a saint whose appearance is that of the Grim Reaper in women’s dress. And while Chesnut does rightfully downplay the media’s negative association of Santa Muerte with criminal activity, he does provide a chapter detailing the appeal of Santa Muerte to drug cartel members and organized crime gangs since altars to the Mother of Death are commonly found on their premises during police raids.
While the author does provide a lot of details regarding the practices and culture of the Santa Muerte cult, he doesn’t do any heavy theorizing and there is only minimal explanation as to why it has grown in popularity. He does identify some causes though. One is that Santa Muerte is available to everybody regardless of class, gender, ethnicity, or position in life. Santa Muerte is also amoral in a way that has caused the Catholic church to condemn her; she is believed to do favors for good or bad purposes without passing judgment on the devotee and that is why doctors as well as drug kingpins can approach her. Santa Muerte has a strong presence in the ambient popular culture too. She appears in novels, TV shows, horror movies, song lyrics, tattoos, and t-shirts. Finally, Santa Muerte is believed to be more powerful than other saints, especially those approved of by the church.
Chesnut doesn’t explain much beyond that. You are left to your own thoughts as to the proliferation of the Skeleton Saint. Personally I feel that the issues of power and condemnation from religious leaders are a part of the appeal. The skeptic in me that doesn’t believe in magic says that there is an equal statistical chance of any saint, spirit, or deity delivering what a devotee asks for in exchange for ritual offerings. There would be a random chance of obtaining the desired outcome no matter who or what is prayed to. But the perception that any one of these supernatural entities is more powerful than the others is what matters to the believer. Therefore as more people align themselves with the cult of Santa Muerte the more stories of successful rituals will circulate socially making it appear that she is the most powerful of them all. Meanwhile, people are more likely to remain silent about the ceremonies that fail creating a socially derived illusion that Santa Muerte ceremonies have a higher rate of success than they really do.
There might also be a subversive element in the worship of Santa Muerte. Since she is not recognized by the church, interacting with her could be a way of rebelling against traditionally accepted authority. This trend might be wider than Santa Muerte since the author points out that Evangelical Christianity is currently catching up in popularity to the Catholic church while African diaspora religions and secular humanism are also making inroads into Mexican society. This would indicate that Mexico is in a time of social transition and attraction to Santa Muerte is one manifestation of that change in answering to people’s needs.
The issue of power might also say something about who follows Sants Muerte. Occupations involving criminal activities on both sides of the law are extremely high risk. Life is just as dangerous for prison guards as it is for prisoners. People who work in construction, poorly regulated factories, the sex industry, or the taxi business are risking their safety every time they go to work. An unemployed man on the verge of going homeless would have extreme levels of anxiety. Santa Muerte, the most powerful saint, often appeals to those whose lives have put them on the front line of danger or despair so it would make sense that they would petition and desire to placate the representative of death to bless them with the gift of life. As for more mundane concerns like winning a poker game, passing an exam, or attracting a lost lover back, those desiring such favors might as well turn to the most powerful saint available. Why turn towards weaker saints? But otherwise the widespread devotion and rapid spread of Santa Muerte’s cult might be an indication of growing social anxiety. If magic is about power and control, than the growing popularity of a religion involving magic might indicate that wide sectors of society feel as though they have little or no control over the circumstances of their lives. While that lack of control could be present at any given time throughout history, the beginning of a new cultural practice addressing that anxiety might be a sign that the old ways are failing and the younger generations are searching for something more effective. Widespread anxiety might be commonplace, but changing cultural practices could indicate that a precarious rupture with the past might be happening.
R. Andrew Chesnut’s intentions here are to clear up misconceptions about Santa Muerte and advocate for the variety of people who are attracted to her rising popularity. It is written for the general reader. This is good because clarifying the beliefs and practices should encourage people to tolerate something about Mexican culture that they don’t understand. It’s too bad Devoted to Death doesn’t go deeper into an analysis and explanation for what is happening on both the south and north sides of the border though. It would be nice to have heard a professional anthropologist’s views on what this says about Mexican society. He just leaves you hanging to draw your own conclusions.
Anyhow, the next time you see a veladora decorated with an image of Santa Muerte, probably beside candles depicting the Virgen de Guadalupe, in a grocery store, a market, or a bodega you can ask the people selling it how to do a ritual. My experience with Mexicans and Chicanos has been that they are usually eager to talk about their culture with non-Latinos like me if you show a sincere interest. You might open some doorways, make some new friends, and maybe, if you’re lucky, you might even be blessed with good fortunes from the Skeleton Saint herself.
September 21, 2016
In many ways, Andrew Chesnut's ethnographic, sociological, and historical study of one New-World folk saint's meteoric rise is about the overlapping economies surrounding and embedding this figure of personified, beatified Death. The socioeconomics of the pan-American drug war, no less than those motivating devotees to enact spouse- or job-seeking prayer rituals, see her name invoked by a rapidly growing demographic that transcends class and nationality. Recognition of her power in these domains has propagated a thriving industry in merchandise mediating the faithful's relation to their object of devotion – fitting for a supernatural intercessor who, as Chesnut points out, is typical of folk saints in relating to her devotees primarily in a businesslike, transactional manner.
Santa Muerte also participates in the open religious marketplace of the Americas, where her nonjudgmental attitude, moral flexibility, and vast array of miraculous capacities has attracted the spiritual investment of millions. Indeed, the saint's multifariousness is a theme to which Chesnut constantly returns, emphasizing that her association with criminality – so often highlighted by sensationalist journalism – is more incidental than essential, and reflects only one aspect of her all-embracing, if sometimes contradictory, activity.
Santa Muerte also participates in the open religious marketplace of the Americas, where her nonjudgmental attitude, moral flexibility, and vast array of miraculous capacities has attracted the spiritual investment of millions. Indeed, the saint's multifariousness is a theme to which Chesnut constantly returns, emphasizing that her association with criminality – so often highlighted by sensationalist journalism – is more incidental than essential, and reflects only one aspect of her all-embracing, if sometimes contradictory, activity.
August 19, 2019
The book is repetitive and a little clumsily written (and unusually for an academic text it includes the author and his family in the narrative, which is a style choice that is not always interesting or helpful) but it's still a completely fascinating dive into the Santa Muerte folk religion that covers both its history and its current practice and dispels a lot of hysterical myths about the faith.
The paperback edition includes pictures, but unfortunately they're black and white and low-res, so not particularly useful for a book which uses colour as its organising principle. As academic texts go, though, Devoted to Death is both short and readable (and I believe it's the only comprehensive guide in English) so I recommend it for anybody with even a casual interest (like mine!) in folk religions and Catholic syncretism.
The paperback edition includes pictures, but unfortunately they're black and white and low-res, so not particularly useful for a book which uses colour as its organising principle. As academic texts go, though, Devoted to Death is both short and readable (and I believe it's the only comprehensive guide in English) so I recommend it for anybody with even a casual interest (like mine!) in folk religions and Catholic syncretism.
March 16, 2019
It's clear Andrew Chesnut did his research in this book.
It is well-organized, well-written, and debunks many of the myths about the mysterious skeleton saint. At one time the cult worship of Santa Muerte was believed to be the faith of drug cartel members and criminals. The Catholic Church condemns it as blasphemous, evil and satanic. But Chesnut details how The Skinny Lady now appeals to all walks of life.
People flock to her for protection, healing, prosperity and love.
It is perhaps the most scholarly book to date on the folk saint of death. A must-read for all devotees.
It served as a great reference book for my horror release, Freaky Franky, a dark tale about the horrifying consequences of worshiping Santa Muerte with evil intentions.
It is well-organized, well-written, and debunks many of the myths about the mysterious skeleton saint. At one time the cult worship of Santa Muerte was believed to be the faith of drug cartel members and criminals. The Catholic Church condemns it as blasphemous, evil and satanic. But Chesnut details how The Skinny Lady now appeals to all walks of life.
People flock to her for protection, healing, prosperity and love.
It is perhaps the most scholarly book to date on the folk saint of death. A must-read for all devotees.
It served as a great reference book for my horror release, Freaky Franky, a dark tale about the horrifying consequences of worshiping Santa Muerte with evil intentions.
March 10, 2012
This is a useful book for dispelling the rumors and stereotypes surrounding Santa Muerte while providing a concise discussion of how the folk saint functions in the lives of believers. Chesnut uses an ethnographic approach that includes a decent amount of autobiography. However, the book is light on theory. I would have liked to see him reference some of the recent theoretical work being done in religious studies that addresses transnational religion. In my opinion, this would have given his book a bit more depth. As it stands, his book is accessible to a popular audience provided they have a basic grasp on either Mexican history, or the role Catholicism plays in the country.
April 24, 2016
It's really hard to find information in English on La Santa Muerte, and a lot of what's available is tacked-on New Age rubbish produced purely for profit. Welcome then, is R. Andrew Chesnut's "Devoted to Death...", which takes a more ground-roots view of La Flaquita's rapid rise to religious prominence. I would have liked a little more information on the pre-2000s history of La Santa Muerte, but I understand how sparse that information is. The only other thing was the large amount of repetition through the book, but considering what else is out there on the topic, 'Devoted to Death...' is still a great, and welcome, study of Our Lady of the Shadows.
March 13, 2012
I was asked to review this book, something that I rarely do. I'm really interested to learn so much about a phenomenon that I mostly missed during the years I spent in Mexico, but the author doesn't do much to make that an easy experience. (See my full review in the Spring 2012 issue of Wilson Quarterly.)
January 5, 2024
This is NOT a very "good" book in that it is written with an absolute dearth of style and a total ineptitude at structure. While it might seem *cute* to organize the work around the "seven candle colors" of La Santisima Muerte veneration/worship (some do, indeed, worship) the end product is a sloppy, jarringly repetitive, expository mess. To echo MANY other reviews, this could have been a very good, 40 page essay in an anthology about Latin American folk Saints.
However, I cannot totally throw it on the dust pile for two reasons. First, I really DID learn something form someone who, despite the errors listed above, is very passionate and learned on the subject. Second, it is NOT a work of crass sensationalism yet it DOES not come across as a book by some sort of syncretic "booster" of the cult. The devout, yet perhaps, misguided Catholics AND the drug dealers are both presented here.
If you read this, please read up until the point wherein you find yourself going over the same material again and again (probably about half-way through) and then put it down. You learned what you wanted to.
On a final note--as an Orthodox Christian I have a complicated appreciation and disgust for this folk "saint." On the disgust side it is nearly impossible for me to understand how literally praying to personified death for intercession (the way one might for the Theotokos or one's patron) is at all laudable and it also, frankly, sheds some light on a truth about MANY (but by NO means ALL or MOST) Roman Catholics--venerating saints is often far less about following the example OF the saints and more akin to a sad little "folk magic" of "give me stuff." Truly, I cannot tell you growing up as a secular person in a world of Latino Catholicism all around me how OFTEN a saint was "called upon" simply for "STUFF" or being in a class with kids that went to mass every Sunday yet didn't know who the hell Moses was or even the basic NARRATIVE of a single Gospel. Now, for those Protestants who would ESPECIALLY find such practices "part and parcel of evil, Catholic superstition" may I remind you that what many of these people do with St. Death is NO MATERIALLY OR SPIRITUALLY DIFFERENT THAN THE IMMENSELY POPULAR PROSPERITY GOSPEL! The only difference is, on one hand, those folks venerating (or again, literally worshipping) Santa Muerte give their dollars to (perhaps unscrupulous) poor folks who sell a statue or candle whereas those who froth at the mouth for a NEW CAR IN THE NAME O' JESUS at a mega church are doing something FAR more blasphemous and giving their money to rich people who are far, far more demonic than any quesadilla seller.
But what about the appreciation side? Well, again, as an Orthodox Christian, where canonization is a far less informal process, I'm not so agains the concept of "folk saints" and find the Roman Catholic process of canonization rather artificial. Probably the vast majority of Saints began AS folk saints but in Orthodoxy they don't need to "prove" their sainthood within some odd culling process. BUT! It is decidedly ODD to venerate a "concept" and pretend it was a "person." "Love," "Truth," and "Kindness" are not SAINTS because they are not actual human beings who reached a state of theosis. And yet...on a level less of actual veneration (or, God forbid, worship) there is something GOOD about REMEMBERING the primacy and NECESSITY of Death. After all, "Christ is risen from the dead/trampling down death BY DEATH/and upon those in the tombs/bestowing LIFE." The Christian life is a life of CONSTANT DEATH AND DYING TO SELF. Santa Muerte, in that regard, is a powerful "memento mori," that Latin phrase which LITERALLY translates not to "remember you are mortal" but "REMEMBER TO DIE!"
However, I cannot totally throw it on the dust pile for two reasons. First, I really DID learn something form someone who, despite the errors listed above, is very passionate and learned on the subject. Second, it is NOT a work of crass sensationalism yet it DOES not come across as a book by some sort of syncretic "booster" of the cult. The devout, yet perhaps, misguided Catholics AND the drug dealers are both presented here.
If you read this, please read up until the point wherein you find yourself going over the same material again and again (probably about half-way through) and then put it down. You learned what you wanted to.
On a final note--as an Orthodox Christian I have a complicated appreciation and disgust for this folk "saint." On the disgust side it is nearly impossible for me to understand how literally praying to personified death for intercession (the way one might for the Theotokos or one's patron) is at all laudable and it also, frankly, sheds some light on a truth about MANY (but by NO means ALL or MOST) Roman Catholics--venerating saints is often far less about following the example OF the saints and more akin to a sad little "folk magic" of "give me stuff." Truly, I cannot tell you growing up as a secular person in a world of Latino Catholicism all around me how OFTEN a saint was "called upon" simply for "STUFF" or being in a class with kids that went to mass every Sunday yet didn't know who the hell Moses was or even the basic NARRATIVE of a single Gospel. Now, for those Protestants who would ESPECIALLY find such practices "part and parcel of evil, Catholic superstition" may I remind you that what many of these people do with St. Death is NO MATERIALLY OR SPIRITUALLY DIFFERENT THAN THE IMMENSELY POPULAR PROSPERITY GOSPEL! The only difference is, on one hand, those folks venerating (or again, literally worshipping) Santa Muerte give their dollars to (perhaps unscrupulous) poor folks who sell a statue or candle whereas those who froth at the mouth for a NEW CAR IN THE NAME O' JESUS at a mega church are doing something FAR more blasphemous and giving their money to rich people who are far, far more demonic than any quesadilla seller.
But what about the appreciation side? Well, again, as an Orthodox Christian, where canonization is a far less informal process, I'm not so agains the concept of "folk saints" and find the Roman Catholic process of canonization rather artificial. Probably the vast majority of Saints began AS folk saints but in Orthodoxy they don't need to "prove" their sainthood within some odd culling process. BUT! It is decidedly ODD to venerate a "concept" and pretend it was a "person." "Love," "Truth," and "Kindness" are not SAINTS because they are not actual human beings who reached a state of theosis. And yet...on a level less of actual veneration (or, God forbid, worship) there is something GOOD about REMEMBERING the primacy and NECESSITY of Death. After all, "Christ is risen from the dead/trampling down death BY DEATH/and upon those in the tombs/bestowing LIFE." The Christian life is a life of CONSTANT DEATH AND DYING TO SELF. Santa Muerte, in that regard, is a powerful "memento mori," that Latin phrase which LITERALLY translates not to "remember you are mortal" but "REMEMBER TO DIE!"
August 26, 2024
This book was informative and helpful for my current research. Main takeaways:
- Santa Muerte's origins are unclear - many worshipers claim Indigenous heritage, but the author thinks that she came from a version of the Spanish La Parca
- Unlike other saints, she is not a former person, but rather death itself, giving her a power that is simultaneously greater than Jesus/God at times but also more accessible to individuals (she simultaneously represents the "great equalizer" of human life and is perceived as very Mexican [offerings of tequila, cigarettes, water are common])
- Santa Muerte is not recognized by the Catholic church but is worshiped by many self-identified Catholics nonetheless in rituals that mix West African, Catholic, and Indigenous beliefs (lots of votive candles of different colors utilized here, with each color symbolising a different purpose - red for love, white for purity, purple for healing, etc.)
- Often these rituals are for purposes that perhaps you wouldn't ask other saints to help you out with, including protecting gay people or wishing harm upon your enemies (yellow candles for protection from substance abuse)
- Santa Muerte is relatively all-purpose, despite her reputation as the patron saint of drug dealers
- The Mexican government (at the time of publication) was intent on taking down Santa Muerte as a religious figure (likely in large part because of her reputation)
- Worshipers of Santa Muerte are men and women alike, often working class
- Santa Muerte worshipers live in Mexico, but not just in Mexico - increasingly she is worshipped in the US and other countries in Latin America
Reading this book was interesting when paired with my current knowledge about how worship of Santa Muerte has increased post-COVID. The author repeated information frequently, which made for a frustrating read - especially when the final chapter was yet another summary.
- Santa Muerte's origins are unclear - many worshipers claim Indigenous heritage, but the author thinks that she came from a version of the Spanish La Parca
- Unlike other saints, she is not a former person, but rather death itself, giving her a power that is simultaneously greater than Jesus/God at times but also more accessible to individuals (she simultaneously represents the "great equalizer" of human life and is perceived as very Mexican [offerings of tequila, cigarettes, water are common])
- Santa Muerte is not recognized by the Catholic church but is worshiped by many self-identified Catholics nonetheless in rituals that mix West African, Catholic, and Indigenous beliefs (lots of votive candles of different colors utilized here, with each color symbolising a different purpose - red for love, white for purity, purple for healing, etc.)
- Often these rituals are for purposes that perhaps you wouldn't ask other saints to help you out with, including protecting gay people or wishing harm upon your enemies (yellow candles for protection from substance abuse)
- Santa Muerte is relatively all-purpose, despite her reputation as the patron saint of drug dealers
- The Mexican government (at the time of publication) was intent on taking down Santa Muerte as a religious figure (likely in large part because of her reputation)
- Worshipers of Santa Muerte are men and women alike, often working class
- Santa Muerte worshipers live in Mexico, but not just in Mexico - increasingly she is worshipped in the US and other countries in Latin America
Reading this book was interesting when paired with my current knowledge about how worship of Santa Muerte has increased post-COVID. The author repeated information frequently, which made for a frustrating read - especially when the final chapter was yet another summary.
September 4, 2024
I find Santa Muerte (Saint Death) an intriguing figure and religious phenomena that I did not know about before. I guess that isn’t fair. I had seen pictures of the Lady Guadalupe as a skeleton before but I did not know that it was a representation of Santa Muerte. Basically, the “saint” is the personification of death, but she is also more than that as she adapts to the needs of the Mexican / Mexican American community. Some portray her simply as a narco saint whom the cartel petition for success, but Chesnut indicates through interviews with cult leaders and lay believers that Santa Muerte is much more than that. She can intervene in relationships, bring unfaithful husbands back on track, provide some sort of monetary luck or success for normal non-cartel people, help criminals and wrongly convicted prisoners get out of prison, and so on. Truly a fascinating character.
Chesnut’s work is methodologically flawed and he appears to have (admittedly?) allow his superstitious beliefs drive this apologetic-like work. He does not necessarily argue for or against Catholic-Muerte syncretism (which does take place) but rather treats her as if she is a real saint who has guided him to study her. I don’t think that’s a great academic approach. The organization of the book is wacky, as other reviewers have mentioned. Lastly, I left wondering why Santa Muerte even cares at all about the practitioners, and why she indiscriminately blesses people even if the purposes are contrary to each other. For example, if a narco guy petitions to not get killed in a shootout and the shooter gets arrested somehow and his family then petitions for that person to be released, what good does any of that do? Is she compassionate? Does she have a moral code? Does she simply appease anyone who indulges her? I found the lack of answers significant, but considering the recency of the Santa Muerte boom, maybe there aren’t any answers and she is simply whomever the believers wish her to be.
Chesnut’s work is methodologically flawed and he appears to have (admittedly?) allow his superstitious beliefs drive this apologetic-like work. He does not necessarily argue for or against Catholic-Muerte syncretism (which does take place) but rather treats her as if she is a real saint who has guided him to study her. I don’t think that’s a great academic approach. The organization of the book is wacky, as other reviewers have mentioned. Lastly, I left wondering why Santa Muerte even cares at all about the practitioners, and why she indiscriminately blesses people even if the purposes are contrary to each other. For example, if a narco guy petitions to not get killed in a shootout and the shooter gets arrested somehow and his family then petitions for that person to be released, what good does any of that do? Is she compassionate? Does she have a moral code? Does she simply appease anyone who indulges her? I found the lack of answers significant, but considering the recency of the Santa Muerte boom, maybe there aren’t any answers and she is simply whomever the believers wish her to be.
December 2, 2019
I used this book as reference material for an article I wrote about Santa Muerte several years ago and decided to re-read it this year during october. This is a really great explainer on who she (Santa Muerte) is and what she can mean to a variety of people.
I also visited the altar in Tepito to talk to followers and can confirm this book accurately depicts that experience.
It's a quick read but very informative and I'd recommend it to people with a deep interest in contemporary Mexican culture, religious studies or narco trafficking. It is unfair to categorize Santa Muerte as a narco saint but it still make sense one would read this to know more about the connection.
I also visited the altar in Tepito to talk to followers and can confirm this book accurately depicts that experience.
It's a quick read but very informative and I'd recommend it to people with a deep interest in contemporary Mexican culture, religious studies or narco trafficking. It is unfair to categorize Santa Muerte as a narco saint but it still make sense one would read this to know more about the connection.
July 8, 2022
This is actually a great book!
Just to start off - I hate santa murte, I despise the santa muerte cult, I am Catholic.
With that being said, this is actually a great book because it is a very objective description of the santa muerte sect - history, practices, interactions with other parts of society, social science analysis. This is an academic book and the author is pretty professional in how they researched this topic. To be clear, this did NOT change my mind in any way (nor was the author trying to), but I did learn a lot that I did not know before. If you want a fair, objective account of the santa muerte cult then read this book.
Just to start off - I hate santa murte, I despise the santa muerte cult, I am Catholic.
With that being said, this is actually a great book because it is a very objective description of the santa muerte sect - history, practices, interactions with other parts of society, social science analysis. This is an academic book and the author is pretty professional in how they researched this topic. To be clear, this did NOT change my mind in any way (nor was the author trying to), but I did learn a lot that I did not know before. If you want a fair, objective account of the santa muerte cult then read this book.
December 18, 2023
Overall an interesting read regarding the modern day worship of Santa Muerte. This book didn't feel like a scholarly read, more like a lengthened blog post. The author had a lot of personal presence in the piece but it didn't make the novel unreadable. This book contains a lot of personal interviews, etc. I think the subject matter of this book is one that is hard to draw a lot of detail from. Because Santa Muerte is so new to popular culture, the history behind her feels vague and phony. Intriguing subject matter but not a fully satisfying novel in my opinion.
February 9, 2025
Laminated Cover
Really interesting look at how Pre-Columbian religions meshed with Catholicism and how people uncomfortable with squeaky clean saints turn to the deities of popular religion to solve their woes. It also was kind of interesting to see marginalized people, outside the mainstream that accepts Catholicism as inseparable from Latino cultures, turn to these deities as an alternative or complementary religion.
Really interesting look at how Pre-Columbian religions meshed with Catholicism and how people uncomfortable with squeaky clean saints turn to the deities of popular religion to solve their woes. It also was kind of interesting to see marginalized people, outside the mainstream that accepts Catholicism as inseparable from Latino cultures, turn to these deities as an alternative or complementary religion.
September 15, 2019
I was excited to get this book and start reading right away, but I was sorely let down. Many anecdotes are repeated multiple times throughout the book. Also I was expecting more visual information, but there were only a couple of photos and they didn't translate well in black & white. It's a shame. The book had the potential to be a stunning journey through this fascinating subject.
April 4, 2022
I was curious what all the fuss was about, so I checked this book out of the library. Andrew Chestnut researches religious icons in Mexico. He gives a good description of the cult of Santa Muerte in the first two chapters and goes into more detail in the later chapters.
If you are interested in Santa Muerta or folk religious traditions in Mexico, this is a good book.
If you are interested in Santa Muerta or folk religious traditions in Mexico, this is a good book.
July 18, 2017
What was there was good but wished this had been more detailed - am not sure if it's a lack of data or lack of time on his part but the book was both repetitive and hinted at much more than it delivered.
November 22, 2021
Love this guide to Santa Muerte, exploring her as a miracle worker across all facets of life's difficulties and aspirations of her wide range of devotees from all walks of life. A good well rounded introduction to this Mexican folk saint.
July 2, 2017
Loved the writing. A bit repetitive but now I'm off to buy a candle
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