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 roles: 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.

Santa Muerte is a complete ritual guide to working with this famous and beloved Mexican folk saint. Death welcomes everyone. This is the foundation for the veneration of Santa Muerte, or "Holy Death." Considered to be the female personification of death, she is associated with protection and safe passage to the afterlife. She is also the patron saint of people who live on the fringes of society and often face violence and death. In recent years her constituency has expanded to include the LGBT community and people who are marginalized or whose jobs put them at significant risk of death such as military and police personnel. Santa Muerte is hailed as their potent and powerful protector, capable of delivering them from harm and even granting miracles. Santa Muerte is a complete ritual guide to working with this famous--and infamous!--Mexican folk saint. It takes us beyond the sensational headlines to reveal the truth about why Santa Muerte is so beloved by so many. Author Tracey Rollin presents simple, straightforward methods for working with Holy Death that may be used alone or easily incorporated into your own magical practice.

La Santa Muerte, Most Holy Death, Angel of Death, Bony Lady, Archangel of Light, Holy Death, la Flaquita, la Niña Blanca, Our Holy Lady, The Most Beautiful Girl, Mother Death, White Rose. Many people can easily see the growing popularity of la Santa Muerte. The number of Her images is amazing - a skeleton dressed in feminine robes holding a scythe in one hand and the globe in the other, covered with white makeup, the face of a beautiful hooded women or veiled skull appear on T-shirts, tattoos, graffiti, movies, figurines, stickers, jewelry, drinks and even sweets. Along with the increase of Her popularity in pop culture, the figure of the Holy Death is better and better recognized all over the world. There are few materials about la Santa Muerte in Poland. The book contains basic informations about la Santa Muerte, which can be helpful to people who want to get to know Her. I present who la Santa Muerte is and the cult of the Angel of Death according to Catholic tradition, as I was taught and how I first met la Nuestra Señora worship through my Mexican friends and associates in Tarragona, Spain. Book is an introduction to la Santa Muerte’s path of devotion, the basis for working with Our Lady, and contains informations which everyone can develop to strengthen their bond with la Niña Hermosa, the Most Beautiful Girl.

The White Sister... The Bony Lady... The Godmother... The Pretty Girl... This is Santa Muerte, personification of death. A veiled skeleton with an unquenchable thirst for destruction, Santa Muerte is Mexico’s grim and vengeful goddess. She is worshipped by outcasts and sinners, those for whom the traditional Christian deities of Jesus and the Virgin Mary have no place. For the notorious drug cartels, Santa Muerte is venerated as the saint who does not judge. She provides divine protection against authority and from rival gangs, demanding human sacrifice in return. The cult of Santa Muerte has become inextricably linked to the Mexican cartels over the past decade, resulting in barbaric rituals that have escalated the tide of violence across the streets. Bodies of cartel members are executed en masse at Santa Muerte shrines, and rumors abound of even worse atrocities in the name of magical protection. This book is the story of unholy alliance, of drug gangs and Santa Muerte, and a galvanic passion for blood and death.

"This is a practical handbook on how to connect with the mysterious Mexican folk saint of death. Drawing from authentic Mexican sources and traditions, it details secret, esoteric knowledge that will allow for a deep connection with the Saint of Death. The book covers the fascinating history of this revered folk saint, as well as prayers, spells, and rituals for a wide range of needs"--

In this provocative book, Małgorzata Oleszkiewicz-Peralba examines untamed feminine divinities from around the world. Although distant geographically, these divine figures are surprisingly similar-representing concepts of liminality, outsiderhood, and structural inferiority, embodied in the divine feminine. These strong, independent, unrestrained figures are connected to the periphery and to magical powers, including power over sexuality, transformation, and death. Oleszkiewicz-Peralba offers a study of the origin and worship of four feminine deities across cultures and continents: the Slavic Baba Yaga, the Hindu Kālī, the Brazilian Pombagira, and the Mexican Santa Muerte. Although these divinities have often been marginalized through dismissal, demonization, and dulcification, they continue to be extremely attractive, as they empower their devotees confronting them with the ultimate reality of transience and death. Oleszkiewicz-Peralba examines how these sacred icons have been adapted and transformed across time and place.

This book examines La Santa Muerte's role in people's daily lives and explores how popular religious practices of worship and devotion developed around a figure often associated with illicit activities.