The Cult of Santa Muerte - Part 1
Thousands of people including thieves, drug addicts, drug dealers, kidnappers, and murderers are drawn to this dark and mysterious folk saint. Does this saint represent the struggles of city life more accurately than mainstream religion? Or is this just a case of new age nihilism?
In 2016 my father and I travelled to Mexico to see the impressive pyramids of Teotihuacan. An intriguing invitation from an old friend and fellow scholar led to something much darker and yet somehow perfectly representative of the contradictions that dance together to create one of world's most spectacular, and terrifying, cities. This episode is a narrative of our trip to Mexico City and our encounter with Santa Muerte, the Mexican folk saint of death. Along the way we'll eat tacos, drink some mezcal, and try not to let my father break his leg in a Mexican pothole.
