ITEMS

Memento Mori - Santa Muerte Graphic

2017

08 Memento Mori - Muerte.pdf

Santa Muerte

Santa Muerte (“Saint of Death” or the “Holy Death”) is a Mexican folk saint. Drawing from both the Aztec and Catholic traditions, Santa Muerte straddles the line between Saint and personification of death. Although a skeleton, depicters often dress her as the Virgin Mary or other catholic saintly figures. Despite condemnation by both the Mexican government and the Catholic Church for her association with cartel activity along the United States/Mexican border, Santa Muerte endures as one of the most popular religious figures in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Portrayals of the Saint draw inspiration from popular imagery of the skull, known as the Calavera, in rites associated with All Soul’s Day (the Day of the Dead), a celebration observed across Mexico and the Unites States (including Utah).
Examples of Day of the Dead celebrations and Santa Muerte can be explored in the Fife Folklore Collection in USU’s Special Collections and in engravings by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada, whose La Calavera Catrina (the dapper skull) is seen below. Santa Muerte,


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Muerte#/media/File:Santa-muerte-nlaredo2.jpg
Calavera Catrina, Utah State
University, Merrill-Cazier Library,
MLCNE546pP6B471972