Mexico's St. Death! (souls, America, atheism, worship)
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"Among many of the poor and desperate of Mexico it is becoming popular to venerate Saint Death. There are statues of the Grim Reaper, amulets of protection, and offerings of food or liquor"
Location: The world, where will fate take me this time?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WildWestDude
Think I am kidding?
"Among many of the poor and desperate of Mexico it is becoming popular to venerate Saint Death. There are statues of the Grim Reaper, amulets of protection, and offerings of food or liquor"
Nope you aren't, it is true that there is some people who worships the death in Mexico, but more than the poor and desperate, she is popular among gangsters and drug dealers.
It is really that much more outlandish than many of our holiday's? Don't get me wrong, St.Death is pretty far out there. But so long as it doesn't become something where mass killings ensue, it can't be all that bad...
Location: The world, where will fate take me this time?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cleatis
It is really that much more outlandish than many of our holiday's? Don't get me wrong, St.Death is pretty far out there. But so long as it doesn't become something where mass killings ensue, it can't be all that bad...
I agree, so far it's been more than a fad, and as far as I know, no one has been hurt, this has been going on for some years, like 10 or so maybe more
I agree, so far it's been more than a fad, and as far as I know, no one has been hurt, this has been going on for some years, like 10 or so maybe more
There was a mass murder in Matamoros where the victims were barried alive in the name of St Death. The murderes/dealers thought that they would be immune to anything.
Actually, many beliefs in that area of the world are often a combination of voodoo and Christianity (among other tribal religions). The people were impressed with the Christian religion when the missionaries brought it to them and basically adopted it carrying along much of their own religious beliefs creating an interesting mix of customs and beliefs.
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So did the Celts....that's why the Celtic Cross has a round sun behind the cross itself. It was how the Druid sun worship (nature worship) combined with the Christian Cross.
Saw this article, and was not familiar with it. Is this a Saint for the 'lost souls'? Kind of like Satanism? It mentions prostitutes and drug dealers as followers, which I consider two very different types of crime.
Saint of Death casts pall | StarTribune.com (http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/wellness/121131814.html - broken link)
I agree, so far it's been more than a fad, and as far as I know, no one has been hurt, this has been going on for some years, like 10 or so maybe more
It's longer ago than that. It was already well established when I first lived in Mexico, and that was more than 10 years ago. I even bought a Santa Muerte statue at a market, not to venerate or anything but because it looked cool and I've always appreciated a good memento mori.
The way I had it explained to me was that it was all about realization and acceptance of your own mortality. Latin Americans and Mexicans in particular are not squeamish about death and death-related images, but rather see it as just another part of life. And since it's bound to happen, the thinking goes, it's important to have a good death. One Mexican euphemism to say someone has died is "se nos adelantó", which literally means "s/he went ahead of us". So it's important to keep that in mind- those who've died have gone ahead, but not that far ahead. Personally, I think it's a healthy attitude.
I don't know if all the stuff with the narcos and the underclass is a recent development or if it was something I didn't hear about at the time.
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