mercoledì 29 febbraio 2012

NOSTRA SANTA, SANTISSIMA MUERTE!




The Santa Muerte also known as Santisima Muerte is the beloved goddess of death who's origins date to the Pre Hispanic period of Mexico. The Mexica knew her by another name MICTECACIHUATL "Lady of the Land of the Dead" another spelling may be MICTLANTECIHUATL, she was believed to be a protector of souls residing in the dark underworld. Mistress to MICTLANTECAHTLI Lord of Mictlan Land of the dead Lord of Darkness.

The Mexica depicted Mictecacihuatl as a woman in traditional Mexica female garb adorned or decorated with flags which were put upon corpses prepared for cremation, she wears a skull mask with a beak portruding from the nasal cavity of the skull mask, or perhaps it is a knife or blade thereof. I will try to focus on the Lady of the Land of the Dead, and in another essay I will cover more in depth the symbolism and special aspects of LORD MICTLANTECAHTLI with the exception of noting some of his icons and how they relate to Mictecacihuatl and her current form the Santa Muerte. Mictecacihuatl is the goddess that is connected to the sacred Day of the Dead in Mexico Dia de los Muertos, originally the holiday fell at the end of the month of July and the beginning of August, dedicated to the children and the dead.

The holiday was moved in post-conquest times by the Spanish Priests to coincide with All Hallows Eve, a vain attempt by the priests to convert this sacred day to a Christian holiday. Never the less the Day of the dead retains its ancient roots honoring the Lady of the Land of the Dead. It is said that the old Gods are not dead but sleeping and can awaken through faith and prayer. Both Mictecacihuatl and her lord Mictlantecahtli were given blood offerings by the Mexica asking in exchange for a favorable or peaceful death when the time came to die. Tradition states that for one to receieve a favorable fate when making an offering the one would have their right hand covered in blood to insure the favor of Lord Mictlantecahtli. Because blood offerings were considered of utmost importance the color red became intimately associated with the Lord of the Land of the Dead and as an extension the color is attributed to his mistress because of her connection with her Lord. Of importance is the fact that both Mictlantecahtli and his mistress Mictecacihuatl were believed to live in total darkness.

Although there exists no specific reason as to why the goddess of death gained so much popularity my theory is that she survived the post conquest times due to both her role as a protector and her very important role the dia de los muertos celebration.

A holiday dear to the heart and soul of every Mexican that has a love for our ancestors and a reverence for our ancient forefathers and the deities they once revered.

It is said that the old gods are not dead just forgotten but waiting to be awakened by the fire of the faithful, I believe this is true with Mictecacihuatl. The Lady of the Dead did not suffer the same fate as Virgen de Guadalupe who was originally a Mexica Goddess known as Tonantzin (Moon Goddess & milder aspect of Coatlicue) did not suffer the wrath of the missionaries whom tried to christianize Tonantzin stating that she was the Virgin Mary in their idigenous image come to lead the heathens to christ. Mictecacihutal retained her true guise albeit her image changed via syncretism as in her current form the Santa Muerte.

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