A Mexican worshipper of Santa Muerte (Saint Death) holds a sacred figurine during the pilgrimage in Tepito, Mexico City, Mexico.
A Mexican worshipper of Santa Muerte (Saint Death) holds a sacred figurine during the pilgrimage to the shrine in Tepito, a violent neighborhood of Mexico City, Mexico, 1 May 2011. The religious cult of Santa Muerte is a syncretic fusion of Aztec death worship rituals and Catholic beliefs. Born in lower-class neighborhoods of Mexico City, it has always been closely associated with crime. In the past decades, original Santa Muerte's followers (such as prostitutes, pickpockets and street drug traffickers) have merged with thousands of ordinary Mexican Catholics. The Saint Death veneration, offering a spiritual way out of hardship in the modern society, has rapidly expanded. Although the Catholic Church considers the Santa Muerte's followers as devil worshippers, on the first day of every month, crowds of believers in Saint Death fill the streets of Tepito. Holding skeletal figurines of Holy Death clothed in a long robe, they pray for power healing, protection and favors and make petitions to ‘La Santísima Muerte’, who reputedly can make life-saving miracles.
Size: 5316px × 3544px
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Photo credit: © Jan Sochor / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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