NEW YORK: Standing before an elaborate altar in her living room in New York, Arely Vazquez explains the pledge she made to Santa Muerte — or Saint Death — after surviving pancreas surgery 17 years ago: that she would honor her 'little skeleton' by throwing a festival of thanksgiving each year.
Vazquez is the main priest, or 'madrina,' in the United States of a growing faction of devotees to the skeleton saint revered in Mexico, often alongside traditional Catholic saints.She calls the movement a 'faith, a devotion' that 'helps us get out of difficult situations.'For her followers, Santa Muerte — often portrayed carrying a scythe, a globe or a rose — takes on special virtues or powers depending on her clothing and other characteristics.
'I believe that something that does good... can't be anything evil,' said Vazquez, who hopes to open the first chapel in the United States dedicated to Santa Muerte.For now, the vast majority of Santa Muerte followers have their own skeleton saint figurines displayed in their homes, where they offer gifts such as flowers, alcohol, tobacco and food.
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