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The Santa Muerte cult could probably best be described as a set of ritual practices offered on behalf of a supernatural personification of death.
Chihuahua state attorney general's office spokesman Julio Castaneda said the latest mutilated person was found Saturday with the body in the trunk of a car, both arms amputated in the back seat, the genitals on the street and the severed head on the hood of the Dodge Intrepid.
The heads of 11 decapitated bodies discovered in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula last week may have been burned in a ritual, investigators said.
Police said they found an altar to the skeletal figure of the "Santa Muerte," an unofficial patron saint of death, in the home of two men arrested in connection with the slayings, while several scorched spots were discovered in a nearby clearing.
Police suspect the heads were burned in the clearing...
Decapitations have become more frequent in battles between Mexico's powerful drug cartels.
RELIGIUS CEREMONIES OF SANTA MUERTE, WE SPEAK ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD EVERY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY THE PRIEST SYSIPHUS IS WELL RECOGNIZED ON THE SANTA MUERTE CIRCLE.
When a Mexican drug lord gets busted, what happens to his emerald-encrusted pistols?
The answer lies at a little-known branch of the Finance Ministry that manages the over-the-top mansions, armor-plated Hummers and other assets seized in the Mexican government's escalating war on drug cartels. The agency is called the Asset Administration and Disposal Service, or SAE as it's known for short in Spanish. ...
Ricardo Hernandez, a 36-year-old SAE agent, says he is still unnerved by what he saw at a house in one of Mexico's roughest neighborhoods, where kidnappers held the sister of a famous Mexican singer.
The dingy house was decorated as a monument to evil. A painting of the Last Supper hung on the wall, the faces of Jesus and his disciples distorted in horrifying ways, he said. One room appeared to be a shrine to Santa Muerte, a grim reaper figure worshipped as a saint by Mexican criminals. Bizarre elf figurines were placed about.
"I don't like seeing kidnappers' houses," Mr. Hernandez says. "That really affected me."
If Santa Muerte is associated with one crime in particular, it seems to be kidnapping.
Police detained six people in connection with a shooting that involved an off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent and his daughter Wednesday morning in Mission (Texas).
Police believe the two men were immediately involved in the shooting, which occurred about 1 a.m. Wednesday ... said Sgt. Jody Tittle, a Mission police spokesman.
The off-duty agent told police he noticed a vehicle had followed him late Tuesday night from northern Hidalgo County to Mission, Tittle said.
The men following the Border Patrol agent confronted him and displayed a gun near the parking lot of IHOP ... police said.
The agent displayed his weapon and one of the men fired one round from a pistol into the agent's dashboard, police said. The suspects then fled the area.
No one was injured in the shooting ...
Further investigation into the case led police to detain three men and three women Wednesday afternoon ...
Information that investigators gathered led them Wednesday morning to a house on Lindberg Avenue in McAllen, where police seized three pickup trucks, according to authorities.
Inside the house's garage were several Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, statues and candles - objects often affiliated with drug or immigrant stash houses. No drugs were seized from the McAllen house late Wednesday morning, police said.
A former female wrestler, accused of killing 11 elderly women in the Mexican capital, had an altar to the skeletal, scythe-wielding Santa Muerte death cult figure in her home, newspapers said.
Police searching the home of Juana Barraza, 48, after her arrest this week found a statue of Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, who is popular with thieves and drug smugglers, Reforma newspaper said.
She has confessed to several murders, police said.
Barraza, accused of being the feared "Mataviejitas," or "Little Old Lady Killer," sought by police for years, left offerings for the figure and also had a dead snake preserved in a jar in her home, papers said.
Barraza was arrested on Wednesday after she was spotted fleeing the home of an 82-year-old woman who had been strangled with a stethoscope. Barraza has been charged in the woman's death.
Police say fingerprints link her to the murders of 10 other old women in the capital since 2000 and say she may have murdered another 30 people, most of them elderly women.
Santa Muerte is a centuries-old pagan cult which has seen a resurgence in recent years and now claims some two million faithful in Mexico. Followers range from elite politicians to kidnappers.
The Catholic Church frowns on the cult.
A muscular woman with short ginger hair, Barraza once fought professionally as a wrestler under the name The Silent Lady.
She had recently worked as a popcorn vendor at the wrestling shows.
Santa Muerte is a rapidly growing Mexican grassroots folk devotion or religion that originated among Mexico's most poor, miserable, humble and downtrodden populations. Beyond that point, agreement breaks up
Mexico City appears to be the hub of the Santa Muerte cult, with ten shrines. These include one shrine at 12 Alfareria Street (between Mineros Street and Panaderos Street), a shrine at the corner of Matamoros and Peralvillo Streets, another at Villa de Guadalupe in the Plaza de Peregrino, a fourth at 16 Canarias Street, another shrine at 352 Retrograbados Street in Colonia 20 de Noviembre, and a sixth at the Parish of the Suffering and Sanctuary of Santa Muerte at 35 Bravo Street, Colonia Morelos. There are reportedly at least four shrines at other locations in the city and 120 altars where her figure is venerated.
Within Mexico City itself, these shrines are concentrated within one particular neighborhood: Tepito. Tepito is not just any neighborhood, however. Also known as Tepis, Tepiscoloya, and Tepistock, Tepito is without doubt the most infamous barrio in Mexico. Its tough reputation dates back to pre-Hispanic times. The neighborhood market is the black market - knockoff goods, drugs, and weapons are sold openly on the street. The police are seen as unable to control the crime. Indeed, it is in the poverty and desperation that her cult seems to thrive. Thus, the very heart of the cult is a place associated with poverty, crime, and defiance.
Shunned by the Vatican and the Mexican government, the Holy Death sect, which claims to have 5 million faithful in the world, celebrated its seventh anniversary with Masses, baptisms, confirmations, first communions and weddings.
Scores of believers gathered Sunday at the Mexico City mother church of this Christian sect that worships the "Santa Muerte," or Holy Death, represented by the figure of a woman with white skin, fine features and long hair.
Throughout the day, the self-proclaimed archbishop and primate of the Mexico-U.S. Traditional Catholic Church, David Romo, called on his followers to strengthen their faith against all the criticism ...
Candles and apples, the faithful tattooed with images of Holy Death, floral offerings and mariachis ... enlivened the afternoon ...
The sect, a product of poor neighborhoods, is not approved of by the Vatican nor by the Mexican government, which cancelled its registration as a religious organization in 2005.
...se cree que la santa muerte nacio' en la era prehispanica, hay creencias donde era llamado el dios de la muerte o el dios descarnado, se le adoraba en dias dedicados a ella dandole ofrendas sacrificando desde animales hasta personas pensado que con esto iban a poder descansar en paz...
Mictlantecuhtli y Mictecacihuatl fueron sin lugar a dudas las deidades a quienes se encomendaban a los muertos pero tambien eran invocados por todo aquel que deseaba el poder de la muerte. Su templo se encontraba en el centro ceremonial de la antigua ciudad de Mexico Tenochtitlan, su nombre era Tlalxico que significa "ombligo de la tierra", hileras de craneos.
La Santa en Mexico ha tomado vuela y se encumbra a las alturas de la Virgen sagrada de Guadalupe.
Especial dedicacion a mi santa muerte
Por protegerme y proteger a toda mi gente
Por ser justa entre las cosas
Por dejarme seguir vivo
Por darme la fuerza para castigar al enemigo
Por la vendicion a mi fiero pulso sertero
Y por poner a mi lado una jauria de fieles perros
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
Estoy listo para cuando usted guste y mande
Santa Madre no quiero molestarle
Yo llegue para quedarme
En el recuerdo de mis dos familias
La de sangre
Y la que se le conoce en las esquinas
Mi jauria
Banda que crece en soledad
Que muchas veces aunque tienen a su jefes
No saben lo que es una familia de verdad
Usted abre nuestros ojos a la realidad
Dicen que morir es despertar
Yo no se si hay un cielo o un infierno
Pero lo unico seguro en esta vida es usted es solo entiendo
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
Santa muerte cumplo con mi ofrenda
Y solo la inspiracion cumple con el favor
Por que eso va hacer que mi disco venda
Que mis perros entiendan
Que usted es la puerta la nueva aventura
No se si lo que creo es producto de mi locura
Pero si me voy yo primero alla los espero
Para seguir quemandonos la pastura
Rompan las ataduras y todos los prejuicios
Si les preocupa su cuerpo midanse con los vicios
Despertar debe ser como ir callendo a un precipicio
Donde al llegar al suelo te das cuenta de que estas en el inicio
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
No tengo miedo a brincarme ya de aqui
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi
Especial dedicacion a mi santa muerte
Por protegerme y proteger a toda mi gente
Por ser justa entre las cosas
Por dejarme seguir vivo
Por darme la fuerza para castigar al enemigo
Por la bendicion a mi fiero pulso sertero
Y por poner a mi lado la jauria de fieles perros
Cuando usted me invite nos vamos por ahi.
Color itself seems to be very important in the Santa Muerte cult. Statues dressed in particular colors represent certain powers or attributes. Similarly, when a devotee lights a candle, or a combination of candles, to Santa Muerte, the color of the candle used corresponds to the desired result. Gold represents economic power, success, and money. Devotees maintain that this color is suited for businessmen and merchants. The natural bone color is believed to promote peace and harmony, particularly among neighbors, and is intended for homes and businesses. The color red is associated with love and passion, as well as emotional stability; it is recommended for couples. White represents purification and defense against negative energy, particularly in situations where there is envy among relatives. Blue is used to help improve mental concentration. Green is the color used to help people with legal problems or matters of justice; it is the color used most often by lawyers. Yellow is the color used for healing from diseases. It is frequently used by alcoholics and drug addicts who are undergoing rehabilitation. The color purple is also purported to bring health. Black represents complete protection, particularly against black magic and hostile spirits assorted with Santeria, Palo Mayombe, or voodoo. Black is also the color used by sorcerers to cause harm to their enemies.
The color symbolism in the Santa Muerte is distinct from other esoteric practices. Although other religious/occult traditions use candles in ceremonies, especially in Afro-Caribbean traditions, the association of a particular color of candle with a particular intention seems more akin to the practices of European occultists, especially Wiccans. There is even some direct correspondence in certain colors. However, this is not consistent, suggesting possible influence but not direct heritage. Furthermore, the parallel is limited specifically to the color of candles, not the vestments of the statuary. Finally, the functions of the colors themselves consistently although not without exception, have applications for crime: lust, power, help with legal power, cursing enemies, defending against curses from enemies, and help with drug addiction. Although these benefits may have applications for any follower, they would particularly appeal to those who live in a world of drugs and crime.
Other aspects of Santa Muerte iconography have significance as well. Devotees of the saint interpret the sickle, often carried in the right hand, to represent justice, while the globe, often in the left hand, represents dominion over the world. Sometimes, an image of Santa Muerte is holding an ear of corn, which apparently represents generosity. Such symbols are very useful for identifying cult iconography. Whereas the image of the Grim Reaper is a relatively common image and in and of itself does not signify any cult association, when the Death figure is displayed with an ear of corn, a crown, or possibly a globe or scale, it does indicate a Santa Muerte association.