Posted on 01/17/2014 2:19:13 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
BROWNSVILLE - Matamoros residents are worried that more violence may spark after the destruction of Santa Muerte altars throughout the city.
The residents said Matamoros' new mayor ordered the demolitions, but there is no official word from authorities to back up those claims.
"They've taken down too many altars of the Santísima Muerte," Matamoros resident Daniel Hernandez said.
The Catholic Church does not recognize the folk saint. It is commonly revered by those involved in criminal activities.
"Taking them down is a bad idea on the mayor's part. Everyone has their own religion," Hernandez said.
Still, Hernandez supports the change.
At least nine people have died in Matamoros since Jan. 1 in clashes between soldiers and armed civilians.
"Right now there's competition. It's like different soccer teams, except they have guns ... and they're serious," said Dr. Antonio Zavaleta, director of the Center for Border and Transnational Research.
"You have at least two drug cartels, the marines, the state police, all trying to keep order," he said.
Zavaleta said removing the altars will not cause any more violence.
"The people who are believers in the Santa Muerte, they don't want you to know who they are. It's not like they're going to gripe and complain," Zavaleta said.
Zavaleta said there are other factors stirring up violence.
"I'd like to say that I see things changing soon, but I don't. The president, Enrique Pena Nieto, hasn't been in office long enough for us to see what's going on," he said.
He said efforts by local governments, like demolishing Santa Muerte altars, will have no impact on the turmoil.
Calls to mind the day that Cortez threw down the death-cult altars. When he wasn’t struck dead, the tribes backed him and overthrew their overlords.
***When he wasn’t struck dead, the tribes backed him and overthrew their overlords.***
People forget that Cortez had a few hundred men and 20,000 Indian allies when he attacked the capitol.
The Catholic Church does not recognize the folk saint. It is commonly revered by those involved in criminal activities.
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Gee, ya think?
Santa Muerte - The Death Saint.
Any time I see Matamoros in a headline, I remember Mark Kilroy.
http://www.kveo.com/news/20th-anniversary-of-mark-kilroy-death-cult-killings
I never heard of La Santa Muerte (The Bony Lady) until about a year ago. But when I researched the mythology surrounding her, I was so inspired that I painted a canvas of her. I incorporated all of her symbols: The owl, the scythe, the gold coins, the skulls, the hourglass, the elaborate key, and the globe of the Earth. I displayed it at a local art show, and several wealthy Mexicans actually argued over it and almost came to blows. The canvas was only 28” x 30” inches, but I got 1,200 dollars for it. Later I learned that several famous Latin American artists have created images of her that sold for big bucks.
By the way, she is the “patron saint” of drug dealers, prostitutes, criminals and the desperately poor. And she is also the modern incarnation of an ancient Aztec death goddess. Some modern-day Mexicans actually have her image tattooed onto their skin, and some Mexicans build shrines to her in their homes to bring them good luck and protection from the police.
This kind of stuff is one of the reason I could never be a Catholic.
I have been very concerned about the Saint Death cult, as not only is it of clear descent from a pagan god that required human sacrifice, but death cults as a whole are often very bad news.
The most prominent of these were the Thuggee in India, who terrorized the entire nation with indiscriminate murder, until the British, using early modern criminal forensics, and some good old fashioned butchery, slaughtered the Thuggee, twice, effectively wiping them out. A good thing, as far as all other Indians were concerned.
To have such a death cult in North America would be nightmarish.
What about Santiera? That freaky Catholic-voodoo cult out of Cuba has been sacrificing goats and black roosters in the middle of metropolitan Miami for the last 40 years or so.
Well, that’s kind of dumb. It would make more sense to say that’s one reason you could never be a vodouisant.
Around here, those sort of skull and rose designs are not unusual. Some locals are still very into The Grateful Dead music, or the latest incarnations of this type of band. I was never much into that band. Most their songs sound as though the same song played in slightly different ways. Dire Straits same story, I get nothing from them but mild boredom. Some folks use this sort of grunge or trance music, as they get high. Some have remained Goths, in the way they dress, even after high school. The Burning Man fans like it too, makes every day like Halloween.
Same here, when I hear of Matamoros I think of Mark’s death. Wow happen almost 24 years ago, but still hard to believe what they did to his bodies. Also another reason BUILD THAT DAM WALL. Americans especially students need to be real careful when heading to Mexico even at the border or near to it.
Here is another way of dealing with Santa Muerte in another part of Mexico: exorcisms
Related post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3112908/posts
This includes links to a recent BBC program.
Burning Man is a harkening back to the old European pagan rituals.
I’ve wondered how long it will be before they burn someone in it.
I wondered what had inspired The Burning Man in the first place. It reminds me of that giant goat made of sticks that the Swedes build every Xmas, in order to allow someone to sneak during the night and “surprise!” burn it down, year after year.
Soccer fans are known to be serious and violent, too, even without guns.
The roots of this cult can be traced all the way back to ancient Babylon. La Santa Mueta is the Owl goddess Lilith, who is none other then Nimrods wife Semiramis.
I wish I could say these Pagan rituals were limited to South of the border but our country has become infatuated with Paganism and the Occult!
This particular Idol was very often associated with child sacrifice and is pure evil.
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