Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte, often shortened to Santa Muerte, is a new religious movement, female deity, Folk-Catholic Saint, and folk saint in Mexican folk Catholicism and Neopaganism. A personification of death, she is associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife by her devotees. Despite condemnation by the Catholic Church and Evangelical pastors, her cult has become increasingly prominent since the turn of the 21st century.
Close-up of a Santa Muerte statue south of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
Devotees praying to Santa Muerte, Mexico.
Mictēcacihuātl (or Mictlancihuatl) the skeletal Aztec goddess of death.
One of José Guadalupe Posada's Catrina engravings (1910–1913).
Folk Catholicism can be broadly described as various ethnic expressions and practices of Catholicism intermingled with aspects of folk religion. Practices have varied from place to place and may at times contradict the official doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church.
Vodou altar celebrating Papa Guédé in Boston, Massachusetts, featuring offerings to Rada spirits, the Petwo family, and the Gede. In the center is a golden monstrance.
Participants at one of the Simbang Gabi masses.
Neapolitan crib figures.
Candelore for the feast of Sant'Agata in Catania.
