Santa Muerte - The Cult Of Holy Death: Documentary

Last edited Sun Mar 10, 2013, 02:52 PM - Edit history (2)

Many more articles here: Link

Santa Muerta began her popularity in the Mexican Drug cartels.

The number of believers in Santa Muerte has grown over the past ten to twenty years, to several million followers in Mexico, the United States, and parts of Central America. Santa Muerte has similar male counterparts in the Americas, such as the skeletal folk saints San La Muerte of Argentina and Rey (King) Pascual of Guatemala.

The worship of Santa Muerte also attracts those who are not inclined to seek the traditional Catholic Church for spiritual solace, as it is part of the "legitimate" sector of society. Many followers of Santa Muerte live on the margins of the law or outside it entirely. Many drug traffickers, street vendors, taxi drivers, vendors of pirated merchandise, street people, prostitutes, pickpockets, and gang members are not practicing Catholics or Protestants, but neither are they atheists.[2] In essence, they have created their own new religion that reflects their realities, identity, and practices, especially since it speaks to the violence and struggles for life that many of these people face.[2] Conversely, however, both police and military in Mexico can be counted among the faithful who ask for blessings on their weapons and ammunition.
Mexican authorities have linked the worship of Santa Muerte to prostitution, drug trafficking, kidnapping, smuggling, and homicides.[1][2][11] Criminals, among her most fervent believers, are likely to pray to her for successful completion of a job as well as escaping from the police or jail. In the north of Mexico, she is venerated along with Jesús Malverde, the so-called "Saint of Drug Traffickers". Altars with images of Santa Muerte have been found in many drug houses in both Mexico and the United States
Source Wiki