Santa Muerte

Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte (ˈnwestɾa seˈɲoɾa ðe la ˈsanta ˈmweɾte; Spanish for Our Lady of Holy Death), often shortened to Santa Muerte, is a , female deity, and folk saint in folk Catholicism and Mexican Neopaganism. A personification of death, she is associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife by her devotees. Despite condemnation by leaders of the Catholic Church, and more recently evangelical movements, her cult has become increasingly prominent since the turn of the 21st century. Originally appearing as a male figure, Santa Muerte now generally appears as a skeletal female figure, clad in a long robe and holding one or more objects, usually a scythe and a globe. Her robe can be of any color, as more specific images of the figure vary widely from devotee to devotee and according to the rite being performed or the petition being made. The following of Santa Muerte began in Mexico some time in the mid-20th century and was clandestine until the 1990s. Most prayers and other rites have been traditionally performed privately at home. Since the beginning of the 21st century, worship has become more public, especially in Mexico City after a believer called Enriqueta Romero initiated her famous Mexico City shrine in 2001. The number of believers in Santa Muerte has grown over the past ten to twenty years, to an estimated 10–20 million followers in Mexico, parts of Central America, the United States, and Canada. Santa Muerte has similar male counterparts in the American continent, such as the skeletal folk saints San La Muerte of Paraguay and Rey Pascual of Guatemala. According to R. Andrew Chesnut, Ph.D. in Latin American history and professor of Religious studies, the cult of Santa Muerte is the single fastest-growing new religious movement in the Americas. Santa Muerte can be translated into English as either "Saint Death" or "Holy Death", although the professor of Religious studies R. Andrew Chesnut believes that the former is a more accurate translation because it "better reveals" her identity as a folk saint.