tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75087939740725857362024-02-19T06:46:31.525-08:00Santisima Muerte in the Crescent CitySteven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-66134791096983901972016-03-30T05:48:00.000-07:002016-03-30T05:48:10.027-07:00The Curious Case of Rev. Doktor Grey Ravyn<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The following is something I wrote up in 2014, but it seems this particular person is trying his hand at deceiving people once again, so I'll highlight it here, as well as other places.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Since I’ve now had over a dozen people privately contact me about a particular person and his new Facebook group, I’m going to save us all alot of time and put this out here. I rarely do this as I don’t consider myself to be a police of anything unless it’s clear that a person or group is misinforming people.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">There’s a person who goes by the moniker Rev. Doktor Grey Ravyn, and has a Facebook group, as well as a website, called The Monastery de la Santisima Muerte, both created in January 2014. I first saw this person online about a year ago and quickly dismissed him. His stories of who trained him and when have changed slightly over the year that I’ve been aware him. Currently he claims to a Gris-Gris Man, a New Orleans Voodoo Priest, an initiate of a Hereditary Gardnerian Coven, and an initiated priest of la Santisima Muerte. Most of these claims are typical of people who have simply made up their own past or highly embellished small facts about themselves. For the most part I don’t concern myself with his claims as anyone who is serious about hoodoo, Vodou, or La Muerte will eventually, after looking around and talking to more people within these communities, realize that he’s not really initiated into anything legitimate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Generally speaking, the Lwa, Orisha, Mpungos, and other spirits of ADRs (African Diasporic Religions) aren’t going to pay much attention to people who have not been connected to the traditions through a legit house or priest/priestess, so I’m not so worried about anything he may say in those areas. However, the nature of Santisima Muerte is different, and there are some things that he’s saying that potentially lead people astray and could be dangerous. So, I want to address these here. The quotes are from both the website and Facebook group and are in no particular order. As a sidenote, I’d like to point out that I was a member of the Facebook group until I asked him to support his information with sources. Then he kicked me out and banned me, after saying that the information came from his “Abuelita’s” teachings. Allegedly, he learned from a Mexican lady, and she initiated him...despite that until recently his story was that he learned everything over the phone from a friend’s grandmother who was from Mexico. Let’s see how this holds up against a bit of historical evidence and other Santa Muerteros’ experiences.</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Grey Ravyn: “Our first topic of discussion is going to try to clear upthe confusion between what is deemed "The Cult of La Santisima Muerte" and "The religion of La Santisima Muerte." Basically all us devotees are in The cult of La Santisima Muerte, but not all are in the True religion of La Santisima Muerte. Confused yet? The difference in the Cult and the Religion is simple, those of us in her True Religion, worship her as the bringer of all things, as a Goddess of ancient times and as the one whom God himself even bowed too and later through her mercy released. The cultists amongst us invariably look on her for her powers of revenge or to help them in desperation, viewing her as nothing more than a "Mysterio" to be prayed too as any other Spirit or Saint. Some of hercultists are found in the pop-culture and gangland of Mexico, seeing her as the patroness of Drug Dealers,murderers and Prostitutes.”</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">So, he’s a little confused. In most Spanish accounts, the devotion of Santa Muerte is referred to as “el culto.” In Spanish the word “culto” does not have the negative connotations that “cult” has in English, which he’s playing with to suggest that those big meannie drug lords clearly can’t have the same level of spiritual devotion that an Amercian white boy has. But let’s focus on the more obvious problem, which of course is that there are no accounts of there ever being a “True Religion” of Santa Muerte, at least not until the last ten years or so. On Halloween of 2001, Doña Queta unveiled her public shrine to La Flaka, in Tepito, Mexico City, the very first public shrine of Santa Muerte. After this more and more people began to follow her example. Self-declared Archbishop David Romo, in 2003, included Santa Muerte in his non-sanctioned yet legally recognized church, while in the same year Santiago Guadalupe founded Santuario Universal de Santa Muerte. Andrew Chesnut, in his "Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte the Skeleton Saint" has one of the best historical accounts of Santa Muerte in English. Prior to this, there are no records and no one had even heard of an organized church or religion for La Santisima with any type of clergy. Before these events, Santisima’s devotions and magical workings were passed teacher to student, mainly in the case of the magical aspects, or inherited through the family, typically for the devotional side (of course the lines between these can be blurred.)</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Grey Ravyn: “She is a Folk-Saint aspected Goddess, brought into Catholicism in Mexico and Brazil by the local Mestizos and other tribes who were forced into catholicism. Until the past twenty years or so she was actually recognized by the Diocese in Mexico as a Saint and many churches were built and sanctioned in her name, but as is often the case she became too powerful and the church banned her from their saints and burned her churches, saying she was an invention to cover up murders, drug dealers, and the cartels. Many of her worshippers in the past ten years have been murdered in explosions of her shrines and churches throughout Mexico, which both the Diocese and Policia consider her veneration and religion to be witchcraft and is against both church and federal law in Mexico. Punishable by imprisonment and the like if the laws are enforced, I can attest to the bombings and such by the Policia as my Abuelita who taught me about Santa Muerte was gunned down while trying to enter a small church dedicated to her.”</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">First...what the heck is a “Folk-Saint aspected Goddess?” Historically, it’s either folk saint or goddess, not both. And I’m not sure how he’s using the word “aspected,” but I get the feeling he’s not sure himself. In any case, he’s making this up. Oh, and, Brazil? Well, isn’t it just all part of that Central/South American conglomeration of Latin language-speaking people? No. His geography is way off here, not to mention that Mexico and Brazil are two very different countries, separated by different languages, cultures, and colonial histories. Also, there are no accounts of Santisima Muerte being in Brazil until very recently...if she’s even really there now. Next on this list of historical inaccuracies is that Santisima Muerte has NEVER been recognized by any Diocese of the Catholic Church, and there have never been sanctioned Catholic churches built in her name. Ever. Period. In addition, no worshippers have been killed in the blowing up of either shrines or those non-existant churches. Worship of Santa Muerte is NOT illegal in Mexico, and people are NOT being imprisoned simply because they honor her. Hundreds of thousands of people walk around everyday in Mexico proudly displaying Santa Muerte clothing and jewelry, and if it was illegal then none of the shrines and (non-sanctioned) churches that have been built recently would be in existence. It’s all rubbish. There have been Catholic-supported government demolitions of some of her shrines, but these have been politically motivated and nothing to do with any laws that are in place. These are the statements I asked him to support with evidence, which got me kicked out and banned from the group. As for his Abuelita being gunned down, if this actually happened and isn't a cover-up for the possibility that she never existed, it's much more likely a case of gang violence and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I highly doubt a police officer or other government official would gun down an old woman because she went to a particular religious shrine.</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Grey Ravyn: “Today I thought we might discuss a bit about what it means when we say "Initiation" into her mysteries. Now there is some confusion on this subject, many will tell you there is no Initiatiatory system when dealing with SM and that really is not true. Basically any who work with SM have went through a initiation through her. In tradition there are actually two types of initiation and while all must go through the first type the second is optional and dependent on who your teacher, if any is. Every member of SM's cult must before working her mysteries, be intiated by her. This is done relatively easily as follows; The process takes 9 consecutive nights of prayer at midnight. One begins by setting a small table in the West where the sun can touch at sunset an d the moon and stars can touch at night. On this table one will place a Black cloth which reaches the floor on all four corners. Next one places an image, statue,or candle of SM in the center, On her right is placed a silver ring and a clean small round mirror, on her left is placed a ring of copper and a small mirror made of Onyx. On the side in front of the mirror on the right is placed a Glass of Clear cool water, Next to this in front of her image is placed a incense burner, 2 lit sticks of incense and also a few grains of copal. On the left is placed a fresh Bollito(Sm. French Bread Loaf) or a broken tortilla. Now the candle(white) is lit and the following prayers are said; 3 Our Father's, Nicene Creed, 3 Hail Mary's followed by the Asking prayer which I will post shortly as a doc. After this one begins(at Midnight this all takes place) with the first night of the Novena de la Santisima Muerte. This ritual is done progressively over the course of the next 9 nights, if she accepts you then on the 9th night you will complete the prayer with no interruption, if however she refuses then you will be interruopted and unable to complete the 9th night prayer. If this happens then one must wait a total of 9 days and then start again. If one decides after being accepted by her to go into the 2nd stage initiations and one has found a Abuelita and Madrina that will do this, then one must consult SM to see if it is right, the Abuelita or the Madrina will perform a simple divination to see if they can proceed to the Initiation of the 3 deaths. If not then the prospirant is refused and must wait a cycle of 9 months before one can re petition SM. All this I have discussed is of utmost importance for if this is not done before one begins to work with SM then one may think that they are working her mystery but instead are working something different and far more dangerous, that of the "Lone Soul."”</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Oy vey! Where to even begin with this one? Let’s keep it simple, shall we? Suffice it to say that the ritual described above was made up by him, as it resembles a New Age-influenced novena. Although it's also possible that someone else made it up and passed it to him. Either way, it’s not an initiation ritual, it's a novena. Novenas are quite common with Santisima Muerte and can be used for a wide variety of situations. As for Initiation into the mysteries of Santa Muerte, we can get very theological and say, like another Sta Muertero I know, that true initiation for The Most Holy Death...is...wait for it...yeah, death. When you die. However, there are some who say that birth into a life that is certain to end, is an initiation into an inevitable death, and therefore every living person is in a way already initiated as Santisima Muerte will come for each and every one of us when it’s our time to meet her in that way. But let’s look at this outside of the realm of theology and spiritual speculation. He’s suggesting here that unless a person does this so-called initiatory novena thing then they’re not going to be dealing with the true Santa Muerte, but a creature he calls the “Lone Soul.” More on this “Lone Soul” later, but think about it. There are millions of people, upwards to about 12 million, right now who are praying to and having their prayers answered by a folk saint called Santa Muerte (or any of her various other names). Are all these millions of people being deceived by this “Lone Soul?” Well, shit, I better start praying to her as she’s clearly the more prominant and powerful spiritual being in this equation! Right? No! It makes no sense whatsoever! </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">But, wait! Later he says this:</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“Note though: That we Initiated Priest/esses don't hold a true degree we have been passed through the "degrees" of the Initiation of the 3 Deaths by both an Abuelita and her assistant(Madrina). at least in the family tradition I was taught. Again with SM it is all very variable depending on who is teaching and how you choose to practice.”</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">LOL! So, what’s all the doom and gloom warnings about if it all depends on who you receive your information from? No, seriously, with that statement he’s just negated all of the statements and insinuations that if you’re not doing it the way he does then you’re not doing it right, that the rest of us don't know what we're talking about, that he has all the secrets, and that oogie boogie Lone Soul is gonna get ya! I’m know you’re still wondering who this Lone Soul is, but just be patient. We’re coming to that. Right now, however, let’s discuss something which is way too prevalent in (the online) spiritual communities and how it’s affecting the learning experiences of people just starting out. The ADRs have definitive initiatory systems with lineages, and it’s relatively easy to find out if someone really is who and what they claim to be. With folk systems like hoodoo and Latin American folk traditions, it’s much more difficult. It’s usually teacher to student or family-based, and these systems vary widely, though usually having a very similar core. This is good in some ways, but it’s bad in that it opens the door for someone to come onto the scene, declare themselves the student or initiate of So-And-So, grand magic person who is from a foreign country...who naturally no one in the U.S. has ever heard of and who may or may not still be alive, and as long as he tacks “I learned it from my teacher/initiator/Abuelita” at the end of everything he says, it simply can’t be questioned. Right? Wrong. There are always cultural hallmarks and central core beliefs and tenants in these traditions and systems that, if absent, scream very loudly the mating call of the frauds and charlatans. An example is when he said this in the quote above:</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“...as a Goddess of ancient times and as the one whom God himself even bowed too and later through her mercy released.”</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">This is the only instance where I’ve encountered Santa Muerte being raised above God. That’s just not how she’s viewed in Mexico or anywhere else. God is God. The Creator of all. Santisima Muerte, as a manifestation of Death, cannot create, only take away. Some see her as the second most powerful force, for whatever God creates, she can take away. However, it’s universal throughout the land in which Santa Muerte manifested, that nothing and no one is more powerful than God. La Santisima Muerte (Look. At. Her. Name. It’s Spanish and Catholic. And despite what someone may say, she doesn't have a "secret" name.) is not the continuation of a “Goddess of ancient times.” And on that note, which goddess is he referring to I wonder? He never says. If he’s referring to the Aztec underworld goddess Mictecacihuatl, then there’s a problem. The Aztecs didn’t come onto the scene in that region of the land until sometime around 1200 A.D. Not exactly ancient times, and also that gives the god of the Catholic Church at least a millennium on the Aztec Lady (well, much longer if you see this god as the same God of the Jewish people.) Also, let's keep in mind something pointed out to me by another Sta Muertero. Remembering that the Aztecs came into dominance around the 1200s and their height of power was the late 1400s, what happened in the 1500s? Yep. Spain. It’s didn’t take long, what with the epidemics and all, for colonial Spain to become the dominant force, and with it the Catholic Church. So. Two centuries of Aztec religion and over four (and counting) of Catholicism. History’s a bitch, huh? As for the whole "Santisima Muerte has been around forever because Death has been around forever" argument, again getting into the theological realm, Death manifests in different cultures under different names with different characteristics, depending on the religion and culture you're talking about. So, no, La Santisima Muerte, as the mestizo folk saint and currently rising power has not been around forever, no matter how you want to look at it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Let's back up a second and talk about something I mentioned just above. I talked about how difficult it is to find out if someone is legit or not within these non-initiatory folk systems. The glaring question you should be asking (if you don't already know me) is "hey, Steven, how can we trust what you're saying?" Good question! I was taught by a man named Nick Arnoldi (he took the Facebook name of Hechicero Nick, which is why I sometimes refer to him as that.) Nick lived in Mexico in 2001 and apprenticed with an hechicero (kind of a more Native-influenced sorcerer) called Don Gilberto who lived south of Tijuana. Have I ever met Don Gilberto? No. Is he on Facebook or the internet? Not to my knowledge. So, then how do I know that Nick was telling the truth about Don Gilberto? Easy. I've spoken to several other people who have worked with la Santisima for longer than I have, and guess what? Much of what I received from Nick matches up with what they were taught. In fact there's a book by E. Bryant Holman, called "The Santisima Muerte: A Mexican Folk Saint" published in 2007 that describes devotion and working with La Muerte much in line with what I got from Nick. Details differ, but that's to be expected with folk traditions. It's ultimately, though, up to whether or not a person is able to develop a strong connection with La Flaka based on the teacher's information and instruction. So, then is it possible for Grey Ravyn and anyone he instructs to form a connection and be successful? We shall see. But that's not the point of all this. My intention is to show that whatever it is that Grey Ravyn is doing is not old, traditional, or some super secret religion with a grandmother story (didn't we all learn our lesson with the grandmother stories of those within modern witchcraft and Wicca?) Let's move on.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Ok, ok, fine, let's look at this "Lone Soul" figure now. You're an impatient lot, aren't you?</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Grey Ravyn: “For now suffice it to say "The Lone Soul" is an entity that when people ask SM to commit murder or vengeful acts that go against her commandments and then the prayer is answered and the act is committed it is not SM that has done this but rather "The Lone Soul" this is what we mean in the true religion of SM, when we say to commit acts of violence and darkness causes something else to appear and not SM this is what we are talking about. There are many stories of what this "Lone Soul" is and we will get into this at a later time, suffice it to say it is responsible for most violence and murder associated with us followers of SM's religion.”</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Ok, The Lone Soul. Quite clearly this is as English translation of Anima Sola, the Catholic image of a soul in purgatory with chains on her arms and surrounded by flames. Without getting too deep into this, as I'm not an expert, Anima Sola can be petitioned to do spiritual work that you wouldn't necessarily go to a Saint about. Different traditions have their own interpretations and practices. However, the type of workings he's referring to here are those that traditionally fall to La Negra, tha is Santisima Muerte of the black robe. When wearing the black robe, Santa Muerte can do many things usually reserved for brujos and brujas (witches), but she can also be petitioned to protect someone from malicious sorcery. So, what seems to be going on here, is that he's trying to white wash Santisima's reputation for whatever reason. Substituting The Lone Soul for the work of La Negra is yet another thing I've encountered no where else, and I've not heard any other Santa Muertero speak of this. Oh, and did you notice where he mentions "her commandments?" More on that in a bit. However, he goes on to say:</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“Thus strengthening your protection not necessarily from Santisima Muerte but rather from the "Lone Soul." This is who these Amparos are truly created to protect against when dealing with SM not SM herself but rather "The Lone Soul." Vile and dangerous it is without the Amparo in place.”</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">That would be another no. While the amparo is a very important piece of working with La Muerte, it's because She is Death. We are living. Working too much with her can have negative effects. It's like being constantly exposed to harmful radiation. So, the amparo is in place as a safeguard. Ask any other person who works within a traditional system of La Flaka and see what they say.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">By now I should've made my points quite clear. But I'd be remiss if I didn't address a few more inaccurate statements.</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Grey Ravyn: “The other colors though not strictly traditional came from various influences of the modern pagan candle colors and beliefs. As the Mexicans began learning of European Witchcraft traditions in this country they then instead of using the various colors in candles converted them instead into clothing for Santisima Muerte's robes for the same purposes. This is how I was taught anyway and then the Mexicans woukld migrate back to Mexico and they would take these new color forms back with them, now in Mexico you will see alot of the non-traditional triad colors all over.”</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">First off, the older and traditional system that evolved works with Santisima Muerte wearing only three colors: white, red, and black. It's a complete system in and of itself. However, over the last decade there's been a rise in Santa Muerte statues in various colors, and even one version that has seven colors. There are several lists for what each color is for, it's certainly not a universal system. However, the idea that these originated from a cross-pollination between Mexicans and U.S. pagans and witches is ridiculous. The vast majority of the people in the U.S. who practice the various forms of witchcraft have historically not been found mingling with the often insular Mexican and Latino immigrants. There's the socio-economic gap, and then there's the language divide, as most U.S. witches (pagans, Wiccans, etc.) are monolinguists (this is much kinder than I was originally going to put it.) No, the Mexicans did not learn about the different colors from this side of the border. Why? Well, it seems to have completely missed Grey Ravyn, but there are much more reasonable sources for the color systems that's right there in Mexico. There are the ADRs. Cubans have immigrated to Mexico, taking their Lukumi and Palo religions with them. There are the spiritual merchants, those who seek to make a profit from selling religious items. And there's the internet, an unlimited source of New Age and magical misinformation that never sleeps. There are other sources, too, but you get the picture, and that picture does not include the fictional account proposed by our dear Reverend Doktor.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Remember those 10 Commandments he mentioned? Well here they are:</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">1. Venerás a La Santa Muerte con todo respeto.(Thou shalt venerate La Santa Muerte with all due respect.)</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">2. No tomarás el nombre de ella en vano.(Thou shalt not take her name in vain.)</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">3. La adorarás los dias de sus fiestas.(Thou shalt observe her Feast Days.)</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">4. Honrarás a todos tus hermanos de la religión.(Thou shalt honor all your brethren of the religion.)</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">5. No le harás daño a nadie.(Thou shalt not do harm to anyone.)</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">6. No cometerás actos que perjudiquen nuestra religion de adorar a La Santa Muerte.(Thou shalt not commit acts that endanger our religion of adoring La Santa Muerte.)</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">7. No abusarás de tus conocimientos espirituales.(Thou shalt not abuse your spiritual knowledge.)</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">8. No dirás falsos testimonios relacionados con ella.(Thou shalt not give false testimony about her.)</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">9. No tendrás pensamientos que te hagan lucrar con ella.(Thou shalt not think to make a profit off of her.)</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">10. No desearás las riquezas de otras personas.(Thou shalt not covet the wealth of others.)To these traditional ten...or sometimes as an alternative to the traditional ten...I like to add two commandments:</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">11. Respetarás todo lo que vive y todo lo que está muerto.(Thou shalt respect all that lives and all that is dead.)and</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">12. Usarás tus conocimientos para servir a la familia, la comunidad, y toda la Creacíon.(Thou shalt use your knowledge to serve the family, the community, and all of Creation)</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">No, he doesn't try to take credit for these. In fact they've been floating around the internet for a while and can be found in the book "La Biblia de la Santa Muerte" published anonymously in Mexico in 2010. Well, the original 10 are found there, and someone added the other two. Simply put, these are new. A modern invention for those who have recently decided to boldly take Santa Muerte where no Santa Muertero has gone before. Oh, and by the way, this isn't the only version, as I've seen others. All new. All good advice, most certainly, but not traditional.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Ok, one last thing and I'll be done...for now. Grey Ravyn likes to sign many of his posts with “Salve Regina Muerte.” Yes, you read that right. A little bit of Latin, a tiny dash of Spanish, and a whole heap of him hoping no one pays too much attention to his language skills...or lack thereof. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Good night, everybody!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Santa Muertero Steven signing off.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">UPDATE: 01/17/14. The good Rev. Doktor has been unmasked as Roy K. Bradburn of Omaha, NE, who in 2012 was using the name Rev. Merletone Legba. Everything about this person is fraudulent. Here is his profile description from the Monastery website in 2012:</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">"I am a 3rd degree English Traditionalist Gardnerian Wytche and fully Ordained in the Southern United States Creole Voodoo Tradition. I have been a Priest of La Santisima Muerte for over 5 years, I was traine by a friends grandmother who was from Puebla,Mexico, she taught me over the phone and thru correspondence passed to me by her family here in the States. She passed into the sleep of La Blanca in 2009. She was in a shrine to La Santisima and was gunned down in the street by the policia,who thought she was in possesion of drugs or selling or buying them.,not caring or realizing the bag held only a piece of fruit she was leaving as an offering to La Muerte,as she had done every Tuesday and Sunday for years."</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">And here is his profile from the website <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FWitchvox.com%2F&h=hAQF70kUa&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Witchvox.com</a> from 2012:<em>"I have been formally trained in Southern Conjure and Gris-Gris by my mother who was trained by her grandmother and passed down for generations. I have been practicing for over 16yrs. I am also a formally trained New Orleans Voodoo Priest trained by Mambo Milly Charbonneau and Papa Jim LaDeaux both of whom have been practcing for well over 40 years in the bayous and swamps around New Orleans. I have been working with Tarot since I was 12 years old so for about 20yrs. now. I also am a formally trained 3rd degree High Priest of a English Trad Gardnerian Coven in Portsmouth IA. Also am a practicing Thelemite and have been for over 10 years. I have been formally trained in the H.O.G.D. in Denver Colorado and received formal degree of Zelator."</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The "English Traditionalist Gardnerian Wytche" claim is bogus. The only legitimate Gardnerian tradtion is the Gardnerian tradition of Wicca, of which I am a 3rd Degree High Priest with an unbroken lineage back to Gerald Gardner. This sounds like a very recent invention. The "Mambo" and "Papa" he claims are his Creole/New Orleans Voodoo teachers are known to be brought into a newly made system of New Orleans Voodoo. As for the OTO claim, I'm not in a position to say. He's also allegedly a Freemason, but again not my area. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Then he tries to talk about Jesus Malverde:<em>"Now the most famous of these "Narco-Saints" is known as Jesus Malverde, he was a drug runner and dealer who had famous shoot outs with the policia that eventually ended in a bloody stand that cost him his life. However many of Mexico's people saw him as a hero because with his vast fortunes of Drug money he helped the poor,built shelters and Hospitals and was always willing to help a person in need. Of course that being said he was also a murderer and showed no mercy to anyone who crossed him."</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Now, I'm not sure which tv show he got this from, or just confusing Jesus Malverde with Pablo Escobar (a Columbian druglord who died in the manner he describes above) but according to all the of sources out there I've encountered, the legend is that Jesus Malverde, while considered an outlaw by the government, was seen as a Robinhood-like figure, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. He did not smuggle drugs, and he was hanged in 1909 (or thereabouts). Of course, as with all folks legends, there are variants, but Grey Ravyn's is one I've never encountered, and like much of his information about Santisima Muerte seems to come from his very active imagination.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">UPDATE: 02/09/14</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Recently, he's posted this in his Monastery group:</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">"The tributa is as follows:</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Get an unglazed clay vase, put fresh water in it, and put six while flowers, and seven coins in it. Either place it at the feet of the Santisima Muerte (you can set your statue up on something to elevate her a little bit for this) or else do this - Take it to the cemetery and 1. either place it exactly at the threshold of the cemetery or 2. set it on the first grave you encounter</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">When you do this, meditate on the number seven in the sense that there are seven angels who protect us on the seven days of the week from the evils of seven evil spirits, and the six while flowers are the first six angels, and she is numberseven.</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The manda:</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">After your miracle has occured, take your image of her, and light 12 candles all around her - 4 red, 4 black, and 4 white.</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">These items were taught to me by Manuela Porras and Carlos Cisneros, who are both practitioners of the true religion of the Santisima Muerte."</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">This comes straight out of the book, <em>The Santisima Muerte: A Mexican Folk Saint </em>by E. Bryant Holman. And pay attention to the last line where he claims to have been taught by Manuela Porras and Carlos Cisneros. Those were the two people Holman mentioned in the chapter "The Santisima Muerte and actual curanderos in Northern Mexico." The pages aren't numbered or else I'd give them. So, Grey Ravyn is claiming to have been taught by the same two people as Holman in 2001 and 2002? Well, bless his little heart.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Lies. And willfully leading people astray. God help him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">UPDATE: 03/30/14</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">From his facebook page:</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Posted in Hoodoo Happenings:</span></em></div>
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<em style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Greetings and Bon Jou Y'all! As some of ya may have noticed I have changed some things on my wall and also after much deliberation and soul searching have taken down both FB pages to La Santisima Muerte. The reason for these changes are simple, I wish to make peace in my life and in the world and I cannot do so by helping, even with advice on how, people to call on forces that cause harm, retribution, illness or the ilk. As such I also wish ya all to know I am returnin to my Buddhist Practice and thus this page is goin to be the next to be taken down over the coming week or so. Please please please understand I am not abandoning you all, I am just growing and changing spiritually and I have to make this change. I will be starting a new FB group regarding Eastern Philosophy and Meditative practices for any that are interested in joinin me. With this I say. Namaste and Peace. Ce Bon "Doktor Grey-Ravyn"</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">So, the whole thing lasted a little less than three months. Wonderful. I'm going to keep this up, though, in case he decides to try something like this again in the future.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">UPDATE: 04/03/14</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Just for curiosity's sake, I ordered the little paperback book called "The Magical Powers of the Holy Death." Guess what? This book was the source for practically all of that fake Rev. Doktor Grey Ravyn's information. His altar set up, "Don Diego Elf", "Prayer to the Lone Soul", the so-called initiation into the "religion of Santisima Muerte", pretty much everything he said his "abuelita" taught him. He tweaked it all just a tiny bit but not enough.</span></span></div>
Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-22261735118958502002016-01-04T06:46:00.002-08:002016-01-04T06:48:16.393-08:00Steven Bragg<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEherwFnEwNKfZqDMV9XRGXCcYmzjRseKQsNgDEMzi3NSyjElYdRvw-YsR9MvS5jwjArP_XsMc66dTeMCuntT-wFCYrvWsSfQ5Cah31JHzaegtob5VQjxNoG6AYltjhO5sCtDzsgC_h-dz10/s1600/MebyAllan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEherwFnEwNKfZqDMV9XRGXCcYmzjRseKQsNgDEMzi3NSyjElYdRvw-YsR9MvS5jwjArP_XsMc66dTeMCuntT-wFCYrvWsSfQ5Cah31JHzaegtob5VQjxNoG6AYltjhO5sCtDzsgC_h-dz10/s640/MebyAllan.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Steven Bragg, founder of the New Orleans Chapel of the Santisima Muerte. Photo by Allan Spiers, 2015.</span></span>Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-52003174756781828992016-01-04T06:44:00.000-08:002016-04-01T10:23:53.509-07:00On Being Multi-Traditional<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">At times I’m asked why I’ve gone through so many initiations and how do I handle so many different spiritual paths? Sometimes I’m accused of being a “Jack of all trades, master of none” and a title collector. The Biblical concept of not being able to serve two masters also comes up. So, today I’d like to take a moment and explain, from my point of view, why I believe it’s important for some people to go through the initiations and trainings of more than one spiritual path. Hopefully this will serve a good purpose in bringing about a better understanding for folks on both sides of the issue.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">A foundational belief I hold is that all people are born with many spiritual beings around them, connected to them. There are the person’s blood ancestors, spirit guides, higher beings and their potentials, and then finally that person’s dominating spiritual force. But that’s just at birth. If a person becomes spiritually active then he or she may pick up more spirits the further down the spiritual road this person walks. However, if a person never becomes spiritually active, these forces tend to remain in the background, silently attempting to guide the person, sometimes coming through in dreams or as intuition.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">If a person does become spiritually active, and they’re exposed to the right set of circumstances and influences, it may come to light that these different spirits require the person to go through different things in order to bring about healing or elevation or whatever to these spirits, or that they need to be “fed” or empowered in a certain way. Perhaps the person’s long-ago ancestors wish their descendant to be spiritually active in a certain way, but the ancient rites have been lost, so they lead the person to another path in order to be “made” in the way they want them to be and to pick up things similar to the older ways that these ancestors recognize. Sometimes a person has an ancestral debt to pay off, such as with slavery in the South, and the “sins of the fathers” must be dealt with in order to bring about healing for those spirits who were enslaved during life. There are many potential reasons for this to happen, depending on the spiritual make up of the person. Which brings me to my next point.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Today more than ever, and especially here in the U.S., many people are mixtures of different bloodlines, ancestries, cultures, and so on. It stands to reason that a person with varying ancestral backgrounds may, not always but may, need to undergo certain rites in order to lift up those ancestors in ways that they recognize and accept. Some spiritual practices can be universal, but not all them are, and at times it depends on the preferences of the person’s spirits which is the correct way for them. If someone feels pulled to different things, there may be a reason for that. I’d advise reaching out to priests/esses of these different paths, researching before jumping into anything, and taking one’s time. It’s not a race, nor is it a competition. It’s for you, your spirits, and your journey in this life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I’ll use myself as an example for all the things above. When I first started on my personal spiritual journey I was solitary, eclectic Wiccan. I read lots of Llewelyn books. However, I got to a point where it simply wasn’t cutting it. I wasn’t connected to the spiritual world like I felt I should be. Sure, there was some connection, but I knew there was more to it and I knew I needed to seek it out. Why? I had no idea at the time, I just knew I had to. So, before I even had a real concept of working with my ancestors, I prayed to them to lead me to where I needed to go. Shortly after that, I was invited to my first Haitian Vodou ceremony. Of course it was the most impressive thing I’d ever experienced, and every fiber of my being said, “This is it!” Long story short, I ended up on a plane to Haiti to undergo the kanzo (initiation.) Only later did I come to realize the reasons why. It wasn’t because I was supposed to eventually become an Houngan and lead a house. It was because I was in part paying off an ancestral debt incurred by my Southern slave-owning ancestors, also in part so my own spirit could be re-molded in a way only Vodou could do. Once this was done, I found myself in a situation where I could properly (for me, that is) undergo the rites of British Traditional Wicca for many of my blood ancestors. Later I found out that 75% of my blood comes from the U.K., so it was important that I pick up something that was born on British soil.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">After all this was when I was ready for the dominating spiritual force in my life to reveal herself. Enter La Santisima Muerte. After I received my training with her she came to me in a dream and showed me how she’d been around me my whole life. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Have I picked up a great deal in the last two decades? Yes. Am I a master of all of them? No. But then, I don’t believe I need to be a so-called master of everything I’ve picked up, because I wasn’t meant to. I’ve gone through all this for my own spirits, my own ancestors…not to fulfill the expectations of others. But just because I’m not a master at all of them doesn’t mean I’m not damn good at them. I remember when I was in band in junior and high school. I played a different instrument every year, started out with brasswinds and ended up with woodwinds. However, every year I was always the first chair player of whatever section I was in, and I had music scholarships for the three years I played in college. So, maybe I’m not a master in all my spiritual traditions, but I’m still better than a lot of people in these same traditions. In all my journeys I’ve met very few masters. I’ve met a lot of people who think they’re masters, but really they can’t see beyond their own glass ceilings.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Part of my role in this life is to be a guide for other people, opening doors and roads, connecting people to the different paths in order for them to further themselves in their own spiritual journeys. This is reflected in the strong connections I have to the crossroads spirits in most of my traditions. If I didn’t have all these traditions I wouldn’t be able to fulfill this aspect of what I was meant to do.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">As for not being able to “serve two masters” or “serve at two altars,” first of all that originates from a monotheistic, Abrahamic source. I’m not Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, so that doesn’t apply to me. However, going beyond that and addressing the deeper meaning, I’ll say this. None of these spirits that I serve are the Divine Creative Force of the universe. They are spiritual beings, and they are not my masters. I <em>work</em> with these beings; I do not <em>worship</em> them. I give them thanks and appreciation and love, but I don’t see myself as their slave. I do have to juggle my time, resources, and energy, however, because I’ve gone throug the work of establishing relationships with all of them, they understand what it is I have to do in this life, and they know they share me with other beings. I only know of one jealous god.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">One of the advantages I’ve found in being multi-traditional is when someone comes to me with an issue, I can usually pinpoint the nature of the problem more quickly and accurately than others, and I can either take care of the problem myself or refer the person to a reputable priest/worker, instead of sending them on a wild goose chase and them possibly spending lots of time, effort, and money finding someone who isn’t a fraud or out to milk them of as much money as they can.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">So, I’ll close this with saying, everyone has their own reasons for what they do. It’s not my place to sit in judgment of why people may be doing this, that, or the other. That certainly doesn’t accomplish anything positive or helpful in any way. Some people may be collecting titles, and if so that’s their business. I really don’t care. The proof of all this lies in the pudding, and the vast majority of the time the best pudding is made behind closed doors, not out in the public for all to see. The nature of the occult is that it is occult, secret. Readings are done in private; workings are done in private. Public ceremonies are for the community and can provide some things, but the strongest witchcraft and workings are done in private, not really because it has to be super secret, but because this is when you’re affecting change in a person’s life. That is no one else’s business and doesn’t need to be proclaimed far and wide.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Not everyone can or should be multi-traditional, as not everyone can handle it. But for those of us who do, most of us anyway, we do it for our own spirits, our own life journeys, and for the people we help along the way.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Blessings,</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Steven Bragg</span></span></div>
Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-903565276989546502014-12-02T08:44:00.000-08:002014-12-02T08:44:14.311-08:00Is La Santisima Muerte an Aztec Goddess?<div class="MsoNormal">
<em><b><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Is La Santisima Muerte an
Aztec Goddess?<o:p></o:p></span></b></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">By
Steven Bragg<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Many
people claim that la Santisima Muerte is Aztec in origin, and they point to the
Aztec goddess of death and the underworld, Mictecacihuatl. Although it can't be
denied that Mictecacihuatl and la Santisima Muerte share a few similarities,
being represented as a skeleton or with a skull for a head and being a deity
associated with death and the realm of the dead, these seem to be more
superficial than at first glance. Recent evidence has come forward to question
the common belief that la Santisima Muerte is the re-emergence of an Aztec
goddess with a thin veneer of Catholic trappings.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">In
Andrew Chesnut's book, </span>Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte the Skeleton Saint</em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, in the chapter exploring
Santa Muerte’s history, he introduces us to La Parca, the Grim Reapress of
Spain who, along with her male counterpart, the traditional European, bubonic
plague-inspired Grim Reaper, carries the souls of the dead on to their next
destination. The Black Death swept through Europe in the 14<sup>th</sup> century,
leaving in its wake new manifestations of Death within the European mindsets,
which may have still been fresh when Spain began its conquest of the Aztec Empire
in 1519. Add to this that la Santa Muerte has been discovered in the Philippines,
another area colonized by Spain, where effigies date back to at least to the
1850s, according to Chesnut’s June 8, 2014, entry to the blog </span>skeletonsaint.com</em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">. He further says, "</span></em>This discovery, coupled with the existence of skeleton saints Rey Pascual in Guatemala and Chiapas and San La Muerte in Argentina and Paraguay, reinforces the indisputably strong Spanish influence in the origins of Santa Muerte in Mexico." So, it would seem that in many
of the places Spain went and colonized, Catholic death saints and figures manifested
within the indigenous and folk populations.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Briefly
looking below the surface at the Aztec claims, we can see that the Aztec Empire
lasted less than two centuries before Spain arrived, and it only ruled a relatively
small, southern portion of what is now Mexico. The better part of Mexico has
been predominantly Catholic for over four centuries. In addition, Mictecacihuatl
was only one goddess of several deities of death and the underworld. It’s
highly unlikely that one, singular goddess, who wasn’t even honored for that
long or by that many people, managed to survive underground and dodge the
Inquisition in such a small area, and then later re-emerge throughout all of
Mexico and parts of Central America. It is, however, more likely that the
spiritual remnants of the Native underworld deities managed to latch onto the
much larger personification of death brought over by the Spanish and survive,
at least in the minds of the mestizo population. <o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Speaking
of the Spanish Inquisition in Mexico, Chesnut shows us that in the
Inquisitional records of the 1700s there is mention of localized devotion to “la
Santa Muerte,” specifically. Not Mictecacihuatl or any other pre-colonial name,
but the Spanish name Santa Muerte. Although that’s not definitive evidence, it
does show that the religious and linguistic rule of the Spanish colonists had
already heavily affected folk practices as early as the 1700s. <o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">In
his book, </span>The Santisima Muerte: A Mexican Folk Saint</em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, Bryant Holman recounts
an interview with an informant who relays the story from Tehuantepec, Oaxaca,
of the Santa Muerte of that region that rode “a cart creaking and straining as
it was pulled down a cobblestone street.” He points out the similarity to Don
Sebastian of New Mexico who is a “skeleton driving an oxcart, which hauls the
bodies of the dead away.” Death driving a cart is an old tradition throughout
European lore, and the squeaky axle reminds me specifically of L’Ankou of
Brittany, who also drive a squeaky-axled cart to collect the souls of the dead.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Although
I certainly do not discount the possible effects the native, pre-colonial
deities had on the development of la Santisima Muerte, as we see her today, it’s
becoming more and more clear to me, at least, that la Madrina has more European
roots than was previously believed. As a European descendant, this makes a
great deal of sense as to why la Muerte would have come to me so strongly, not
that one has to be of European descent, of course, but everyone who can trace
their blood back to Western Europe also traces their spiritual ancestry back to
the Catholic Church and the veneration of the Saints, who in my opinion are
elevated ancestors. The Church has always had a concept of the Angel of Death,
through the Bible, and Europe is filled with older images and personifications
of Death. It makes perfect sense that these images and forces came together with
the native peoples in the New World (and the Philippines, it seems) to give
rise to la Santisima Muerte.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I
realize that what I’ve mention here is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg,
and I look forward to Professor Chesnut’s next book on la Santa Muerte, where
he says he will go even deeper into her history and possible origins. <o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
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Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-7639000429570286342014-08-03T07:56:00.002-07:002014-08-03T15:42:12.257-07:00Origin of the New Orleans Chapel of the Santisima Muerte<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3;">The New Orleans Chapel of the Santisima Muerte owes its existence to the teachings of Nick Arnoldi, aka Hechicero Nick. A New Jersey native, Nick spent a year in Mexico in 2001 and met an hechicero (native sorcerer) who was known as Don Gilberto within his community. When someone was born with a special gift to work within the spiritual realm for the benefit of the community he was said to have the "don." Don Gilberto passed Nick the system of working with La Muerte which consisted of the three robes of white, red, and black. Nick returned to NJ and maintained his personal connection to la Flaka, working for clients over the years. Nick and I met in MA in 2008, but it wasn't until after I returned to New Orleans that the subject of the Santa Muerte came up. Before returning she had approached me in a dream and offered a solution to a problem I was having. At that point, not having any experience with her, I was hesitant, but I accepted. She fulfilled her end of the bargain, and I repaid her as best I could. She remained content with this until about a year later when she made it known she wanted me to work with her more. I set the condition that she needed to bring me a teacher before I'd go further with her, and right after is when Nick brought his devotion and workings with her. A couple of days later Nick contacted me saying La Muerte came to him in a dream and instructed him to teach me and pass along Don Gilberto's system. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3;">La Muerte wasted no time in responding to my prayers through this system, and she quickly became the dominant spiritual force in my life and practices. Once I got to a comfortable point with her I asked for a major, personal favor. Within a couple of weeks she delivered what I asked for, and I knew then that this relationship was the one I'd been preparing for most of my life. So, in payment I built an outdoor shrine as my way of spreading her devotion. Around the same time, the indoor space I had set up for her grew exponentially, and she eventually took over an entire room in my home. This became the indoor, private chapel. Before I could even put on the finishing touches, Santisima began to bring other people to attend the chaplet services I hold for her, and in two and a half years there is now a very close-knit family of devotees and beginning workers who live in New Orleans and other places. We've been honored to have as guests other traditional workers of La Muerte, as well as Prof. Andrew Chesnut, the leading academic of Santa Muerte in the English-speaking world.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3;">Tragically, Nick's life ended soon after my training in his system was completed. It seemed Santisima Muerte wanted him to pass along his teachings before she came for him. He has an altar in the chapel, and I make certain to keep his memory alive and spirit honored. Without him, none of this would have been possible. I've been blessed to have some of his friends in New Jersey contact me and send me many of his statues and devotional items to continue their service in the New Orleans Chapel. His best friend, Lorraine, who knew Nick since high school and remembers when he was in Mexico has visited, and we've exchanged stories of Nick's personal and spiritual life.</span></div>
Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-56056848560146611092014-08-03T07:55:00.003-07:002014-08-03T15:41:38.090-07:00What to Call Devotees and Workers of La Santa Muerte<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Although there are no universally recognized "titles" for those who devote themselves to la santisima muerte, there are a couple of them that I've seen used. It should be noted, however, that these personal descriptors are not in any way a sign of an established priesthood or organization and can be used by anyone who has developed a strong connection to la muerte. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Quick Spanish lesson for all o</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">f us Anglophones. "La Muerte" is the Spanish word for Death. Although is doesn't have the traditional "a" ending, it is a feminine word, denoted by "la". This may be a contributing factor as to why "Saint Death" has manifested in Mexico/Central America as female. One of many. Maybe, maybe not.<br /><br />"Santa Muertero" for men, "Muertera" for women. Muertero/a is a Spanish word for someone who works very heavily with the dead, the muertos. (When you add "-ero/a" to the end of a word in Spanish, it's kinda like adding "-er/-ess" to the end of an English word, making it "someone who does this.") Now, add "Santa" to Muertero, and you have "someone who is devoted to/works with Holy Death. "Sta" is the abbreviation for "Santa," which I personally like because everyone in the English speaking world thinks of Santa Claus when you write out Santa. Lol.<br /><br />Another descriptor you'll see is "Santa Muertista" which usually only has the "a" ending. Personally, this seems like a borrowing from the term Espiritista as a general Spanish word for a person who works with spirits. Espiritista is used throughout the Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands (but is also found in Mexico, possibly due to the Cuban diaspora, which is also why you see Lukumi and Palo there) as one who is accomplished within the realm of Espiritismo, their version of Allan Kardec spiritism (which is a whole other ball of wax!)<br /><br />So, Santa Muertero/a or Santa Muertista. Take your pick. And I'm sure there are probably others out there I've yet to encounter. La Santisima Muerte is very quickly growing, changing, expanding, and one never knows exactly what to expect from her.</span></span>Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-30539325540530169312014-01-26T12:20:00.003-08:002014-01-30T09:02:57.987-08:00The New Orleans Chapel has a new website! Currently most of the information here has been transferred over to get the site up and going. Whether I continue to post here or not remains to be seen, but be sure to visit for the latest updates.<br />
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<a href="http://www.santisimamuerteneworleans.org/"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">http://www.santisimamuerteneworleans.org/</span></a></div>
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Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-19920944888507583632013-11-20T13:22:00.000-08:002013-11-20T13:23:28.318-08:00“Punishing” La Muerte?<div class="MsoNormal">
Steven Bragg</div>
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I’ve had more than a few people ask me about this lately, so
I thought I’d share my thoughts on a particular matter. Some people say, and
this was even included in my original teachings from my teacher, Nick, that if
you ask Santisima to do something for you and either she doesn’t do it or she’s
being really slow in acting, you can take away her things (scythe, hands,
offerings, etc.) and hide them until she comes through with what you ask. Then
you give her things back to her and keep on going as normal. I’ve heard of
several variations on this, including making her face the wall, turning her upside-down,
putting her in a dark closet, and so on.</div>
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Now, I understand that this is an old practice, and similar
actions can be found all throughout the world, including folk Catholicism and
the African Diasporic Religions. I’ve seen people do it, and I’ve even done it
myself. Twice. Once with a Lwa of Haitian Vodou, and once with Santisima
Muerte. Both times ended disastrously for me. It took two times of being
punished by the spiritual beings I thought I was punishing to realize what a
stupid practice it is, especially when you try to do it with very old and very
powerful beings.</div>
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Practice however you wish, but my experience has been that
although you might get what you ask for (or not!), you might also get something
you didn’t ask for and don’t want. Choose with care.</div>
Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-42935793575271656012013-02-06T13:37:00.002-08:002013-02-06T13:52:30.969-08:00Response to a blog about Santa Muerte<div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't done much with this blog lately, so I thought I'd start
back up with a response to a blog post someone posted on a Facebook account.
The blog entry is an interesting one, and I thought I'd share my views and
opinions. Here's the link:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://mysecrethoodoo.blogspot.com/2012/05/truth-about-santa-muerte.html">http://mysecrethoodoo.blogspot.com/2012/05/truth-about-santa-muerte.html</a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd like to go point by point on this. Since it's been
conveniently numbered, instead of quoting I'll just refer to the number in the
original blog post. However, first I'd like to make it clear that this is not a
critique of the blog author in any way. He states in the entry that he is not
an expert on Santisima Muerte, but he is trying to make clear that Santisima is
not a traditional part of Hoodoo. I agree with this wholeheartedly, and I
encourage more clarification on this matter, and on the matter of who she is in
general, as I'm starting to see a trend where she's becoming more popular among
U.S. and other English-speaking countries where people are "picking up"
her service without any regards to her cultural origin and with no respect to
her traditional practices, which have been in place for quite a while now.
Sadly, this is yet another case of appropriation for the next "spiritual
fad." We've seen this with many traditional spiritual practices within the
last few decades, and with those who never quite get it, those who skim the
surface of a spiritual tradition, get all excited about a few chills, but get
bored because they've hit a roadblock, and then move on to the next thing that
catches their eyes. Rest assured, however, those of us who respect the
traditions that are in place, respect the ancestors of those traditions, and
respect the spiritual beings around whom these traditions have been built are
here and will be once the fad wanes, as it always does. We don't always say
anything, as time has shown that the popular spotlight is always moving on, but
we're here, we watch, we safeguard, and we wait. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With all that said, here are my opinions about the article in question:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) and 2). Correct. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3). Correct in a way. There are two levels of dealing with
Santisima Muerte, from what I've been taught and what I've seen. The terms
"inner circle" and "outer circle" are probably being used
for lack of better terms. First, Sta M will accept devotion from anyone. Anyone
can approach her, like they would any Catholic folk saint, and she will listen
and determine if she wants to help that person. Second are her spiritual
workers, those who do indeed hold her tradition of working with her for a
multitude of reasons for both him/herself and for the people who come to this
person. Generally speaking, there are three main types of spiritual workers in
Mexico: Curanderos(as), Hechiceros(as), and Brujos(as). Curanderismo is the spiritual
practice of healing, traditionally done before modern medicine became more
widely available, but still practiced in conjunction with modern medicine with
an emphasis on spiritual healing. Hechiceria would be more like sorcery, with a
Native bend to it, and can be done for either good or harm. Brujeria is
generally negative work, although it can be done for good. The people within
these spiritual practices are generally the ones who have inherited the
knowledge and gifts they have from their family or from other teachers, and
these are the ones who Santisima Muerte has traditionally worked through. So,
yes, there is an "inner circle" so to speak, but it's not a cohesive
group in any way, and the lines dividing these groups are very fluid. AND there
are regional differences, depending on how the underground practices developed.
Despite this, though, there are striking similarities among the workings for
Santisima Muerte throughout all these workers' practices.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second 3). Correct. I've heard the term "The Bride"
used for La Blanca (the white) but not "The Wife/Mother" or "The
Widow." Sounds like someone's interpretation of the three colors. It's neither
here nor there.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4). This statement needs some major clarification. First of all,
there's no traditional "initiation" with Sta M. She chooses her
workers, those who have already gone through some type of
training/apprenticeship with their family or teacher, usually in one of the
three systems mentioned above. There's no need for an initiation, because the
person she's chosen has already been through what is necessary to have her
close to the person. The training is from student to teacher. At least, this is
the way it was until recently, that is within the last decade. I see where
today some people are offering initiations of one type or another. Whether Sta
M is behind this and/or accepting it remains to be seen, only time will tell.
It is true that when great changes occur, the traditional ways of doing things
may (or may not) have to be altered to accommodate those changes. However, this
shouldn't be seen as an excuse to just do whatever one wishes to do. Any change
in a traditional system must be done in a manner of back and forth
communication between the spiritual being(s) and the elders/workers. Secondly,
in response to #4 of the blog, there's no need for any type of family member
sacrifice. As many responded to the original FB posting, Sta M gets everyone in
the end anyway. That's not a real sacrifice. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5). Absolutely correct! Not all, but a good number of eclectic
Wiccans, Neo-Pagans, and New Agers are among those most guilty of cultural
appropriation, superficially swiping elements, techniques, spirits, and deities
and plunking them down into their own systems using pre-conceived notions about
how there is a universal spiritual system that they go by. They usually have
only read books, gotten almost no real instruction from experienced people, and
built themselves a comfortable system, with a revisionist history, that only
brushes the surface of what most traditional systems delve into. Without really
going into this area too much, as that would require a blog, or series of
blogs, I'm just going to say that the most important aspect, as pertains to
this subject, is respect. Respect the tradition; respect the elders/teachers;
respect the ancestors; respect the spiritual beings. In my experience doing
this will get your further along in one year than a decade of do-it-yourself
eclecticism. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6). Correct, mostly. According to the documented evidence that's
been uncovered so far, ever since she manifested in Mexico, Santisima Muerte
has been treated like a Catholic folk saint. Catholic culture and society,
Catholic prayers, Catholic rites. Granted that some of what has been found
borders on pagan-like rituals, but then a lot of Catholic folk practices do, as
well. These are remnants of two merging cultures, however, the dominant
religion is Catholicism. I'm well aware that an overwhelming majority of
Mexicans who serve Sta M will say, if asked, that Sta M is either the
reincarnation or in some way linked to the pre-Christian Aztec goddess.
However, as noted in the blog, the evidence is lacking. Sure the superficial
elements are there. Female divine being ruling over death and the underworld.
Ok, great. But what else? The offerings and rites associated with Santisima
Muerte are commonly found among other Mexican Catholic folk saints. There's a
few elements in her service, which I won't list here, that may be remnants of
pre-Christian practices, but not that many. In addition, there are two European
figures who share striking resemblance to Sta M's current form. La Parca, from
Spain, is a female grim reaper who is a skeleton, with cloak and scythe, and
there is an Italian "Santa Muerte" who is (possibly!?) a version of
the Virgin Mary. Who were the two European powers that conquered (what is now) Mexico? Was it
Spain, with the backing of Rome, which is in Italy? So, yeah, linking Santisima
Muerte with an Aztec goddess of similar nature may be good for Mexican
nationalism, but does that mean Santisima Muerte is automatically the
reincarnation of that goddess? I won't say no, and I won't say yes. It think
it's much more complex than that, however the bottom line for me is that
Santisima Muerte is NOT a goddess. She's made that perfectly clear to me
herself, and I have no reason to try to make her into one.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7). This one I don't agree with. The oldest documented workings we
have of Sta M work is love work, specifically work to bring back wandering
lovers, usually men. The tri-colored system in her traditional practice is
designed to incorporate any type of working that is necessary, worldly or
other-worldly. Yes, Santisima Muerte is petitioned for a good death, but she
can also do so much more.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8). Eh. True in a way. Santisima Muerte goes by her own ethical
system. She helps those she helps for whatever reason and doesn't discriminate.
Without getting into a long discussion about ethics, I'll just leave it at
that...for now.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9). Correct.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10). I personally don't know much about San La Muerte, but I was
told by my teacher not to mix him with Santisima Muerte.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11). As mentioned above, there is an Italian Santa Muerte, who may
by a version of Mary, but yes, Santisima Muerte is considered not only the
Angel of Death, but also the highest of God's Archangels.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, as you can see this is not a bad article, written by someone
who admits to not being an expert. Of course, the word "expert" is a
loaded term, but I think what is meant here is someone who has received
traditional teachings for Sta M. Like I said earlier, I support these types of
writings in order to let other people who, through no fault of their own...most
of the time, know that there is already a traditional system for Sta M in
place. There are devotees, and there are workers. AND there are regional differences
amongst all of these. Devotees are going to serve from their hearts and may
pick up information from family and friends. Some of it will be traditional,
some will not. If Sta M wants a devotee to learn more traditional practices she
will lead that person to a teacher, as she did in my case. Of course, I am open
minded enough to realize that with the recent explosion of popularity, there
may be changes on the horizon, but for me personally these will have to come
directly from Santisima Muerte in a way that I have no doubt she wants me to do
them. In the meantime, I'm going to continue to serve and work with her in the
way that she has brought to me.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steven</span></b><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7508793974072585736.post-73865335738697217642012-09-27T08:46:00.000-07:002014-05-07T11:27:25.345-07:00The New Orleans Chapel of the Santisima Muerte<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsIxQX458PlmsMCLpb3MCYCftpoH8vUk31oYqjiJPwODCkh9MNLbiq0Nqi05xcKluG5WO7S-HSzu9YXzCxiFD8tHg3zWoo1B3dBFWMbtNPngmj9YQj0wUrC3KnwJDwRMvocjh4ZX5tONH/s1600/Flierphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsIxQX458PlmsMCLpb3MCYCftpoH8vUk31oYqjiJPwODCkh9MNLbiq0Nqi05xcKluG5WO7S-HSzu9YXzCxiFD8tHg3zWoo1B3dBFWMbtNPngmj9YQj0wUrC3KnwJDwRMvocjh4ZX5tONH/s320/Flierphoto.jpg" height="210" width="320" /></a></div>
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The New Orleans Chapel of the Santisima Muerte is a non-profit organization registered in the State of Louisiana and Orleans Parish. It is an outdoor, public shrine for la Santisima Muerte. The shrine is located on Palmyra Street, in between S. Olympia and S. Murat Streets, in the Mid City area of New Orleans, LA. Visitors are welcome to pray, leave offerings, give donations, and take pictures of the shrine. The outer-most doors of the three shrines (black, white, and red for the three robes of Santisima) open with a latch on the right side of each door.<br />
<br />Steven Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17527918310766642993noreply@blogger.com1