Devoción satanizada: La muerte como nuevo culto callejero en la Ciudad de México

Abstract

Santa Muerte, a new urban cult that took to the streets of Mexico a little over a decade ago, is often seen as a symptom of the loss of ethical and cultural values, or as an expression of a new criminal religiosity. The media usually embellish their reports on crime and narco-violence with the image of Santa Muerte, the churches are scandalized by its popularity. This brief essay (also visual) proposes to look, without pre-judging, at the emerging world of this new urban religiosity, distinctly popular and radically syncretic. At the center is the «hypervisibility» of this stigmatized belief, death incarnated as the highest spiritual authority, which went from the domestic sphere through the prisons to culminate in the now famous sanctuary of the Tepito neighborhood. Some possible reading clues are suggested, such as the diversification of religious markets and the new social traumas, products of the precariousness of daily life. What seems to distinguish the cult is its inclusive character, which does not demand any kind of renunciation or repentance from the devotee, offering "shelter" to all kinds of "helpless people".

Keywords

• urban culture
• public space
• photography
• popular religiosity
• santa muerte