Controversial 'Saint Death' Now Revered on Both Sides of US-Mexico Frontier John Burnett - NPR.org
go to original March 20, 2014

La Patrona, a botanica owned by Senora Tina in Matamoros, Mexico, sells statues, candles and mini figurines of Santa Muerte. Senora Tina says the cult of Saint Death is growing fast north of the border, where she has many clients who travel to Matamoros for consultations. (Kainaz Amaria/NPR)

The intrepid tourist who visits the market in the border city of Matamoros will find her between the onyx chess sets and Yucateca hammocks. She looks like a statue of the Grim Reaper dressed in a flowing gown. She is Santa Muerte, or Saint Death.

The statue — holding a scythe in one hand and the world in another — is displayed prominently in Spanish-speaking flea markets and botanicas, religious curio shops in the Southwest.

Devotion to Santa Muerte remains controversial in Mexico because while she is regarded as an all-purpose deity to many working-class Mexicans, she is considered the patron saint of violent drug mafias.

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On the first day of each month, thousands of people flock to a house in Mexico City. They bring offerings of candles and fruit, tequila and marijuana. They've come to worship at the alter of Saint Death. (Journeyman Pictures)

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