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If you have never heard of the new religion that is sweeping Mexico, you soon will. It has spread as far north as California and as far south as Argentina. If a religion can do that in less than twenty years, then crossing the Atlantic should pose no real problem: expect the first shrine to open in Great Britain some time soon.

Little has been written about the Santa Muerte in English, and with one or two exceptions, most of what has been seems to be poorly translated offerings from the original Spanish. Although the name translates as Saint Death, that is really nothing more than a poor transliteration. A better translation would be The Goddess of Death.

What are the origins of this religion? What factors led to its creation? How has it managed to spread itself so quickly? These are the questions that this essay will try to answer.

Various claims have been made for the antiquity of the Santa Muerte cult. It has been claimed that it is a relic of pre-colonial times that somehow managed to remain a secret for 500 years. Veracruz in the early Nineteenth Century is also put forward as a candidate. There it is said that a humble peasant saw the image of the Santa Muerte in the thatched roof of his house; an image that conveniently disappeared shortly thereafter. Finally, the cult is said to have originated in Hidalgo as late as 1965.

The problem that all of these claims have is a complete lack of proof. It may be argued that religions, by their very nature, require faith and not proof, but that is not the point. We have a fair idea of when Christianity was founded; surely we can do the same for the Mexican Death Goddess?

One thing is clear: when this writer moved to Mexico in 1992 the cult was unheard of. By the 7th September 2001, a public shrine was inaugurated at Alfarera 12, in the Colonia Morelos, Mexico City. Clearly, then, the cult's origins are prior to 2001, but are unlikely to be very much earlier otherwise its activities would have been noted.

What could have led to its creation? One factor is the relationship that Mexicans have long had with the whole concept of death. To the Western mind, death is something frightening that we prefer not to think about. The Mexican is just as frightened, but he is also willing to face death's reality, rather than try to pretend that it does not exist. Hence the Days of the Dead, on the 1st and 2nd of November every year. This tradition is so important to Mexican culture that any summary runs the risk of become a bowdlerisation,

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