The cult appears to be closely associated with crime, criminals, and those whose lives are directly affected by crime. The origin of the cult is uncertain it has only been expanding recently. These bear some resemblance to other traditions. The cult involves prayers, rituals, and offerings, which are given directly to Santa Muerte in expectation of and tailored to the fulfillment of specific requests. To believers, the entity exists within the context of Catholic theology and is comparable to other purely supernatural beings, namely archangels. The personification is female, probably because the Spanish word for death, muerte, is feminine and possibly also because this personification is a sort of counterpart to the Virgin of Guadalupe. The Santa Muerte cult could probably best be described as a set of ritual practices offered on behalf a supernatural personification of death. This is, perhaps, no more clearly evident than in the cult of Santa Muerte. Because of the underground nature of organized crime, it transcends the boundaries of conventional business and emerges as a distinct subculture, indeed a number of subcultures, complete with all of the various accoutrements thereof. Nevertheless, it offers an interesting glimpse, from the point-of-view of Hollywood cinema, into an intriguing facet of Mexican organized crime. The film received mixed reviews and it appears that the allusion escaped the comprehension of much of the audience. There’s a curse on you.” The statement was intended as a subtle reminder of the notorious Mexican kidnapper known as El Mochaorejas, who was a devotee of Santa Muerte, a corruption (some would say perversion) of the cult of the Blessed Virgin in Mexican Catholicism. ![]() ![]() In one scene, as Creasy revisits the actual location of the kidnapping, Reforma journalist Mariana (played by Rachel Ticotin) picks up an amulet off the ground and says to him, “It’s Santa Muerte. In Tony Scott’s 2004 action film Man on Fire, the haunted protagonist John Creasy (played by Denzel Washington) seeks revenge against a gang of kidnappers that, he believes, has murdered a little girl he was hired to protect. Santa Muerte Has Following in Major Criminal Organizationsįigure 1 Santa Muerte in the Zocalo, Mexico Cityįigure 3 Imprisoned Cult Practitioner with Tattooed Santa Muerte and Tattooed Amuletįigure 4 A Prisoner's Tattoo of Santa Muerteįigure 5 Santa Muerte devotee displays amuletįigure 15 Aerial Photograph of Tepito Marketįigure 17 A Worshipper inside the Santa Muerte National Sanctuary The Skeleton in the Family Closet Was Santa MuerteĬriminals Carry Accoutrements of Santa Muerte ![]() The Death Cult of the Drug Lords Mexico’s Patron Saint of Crime, Criminals, and the Dispossessed by Kevin Freese,įoreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, KS.
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