Santa Muerte is a very Mexican manifestation of Italian, Spanish and Indigenous currents/conceptions of Death. They are from two different countries, which have different histories of colonization. Of course they’re related in some way, due to similar colonial powers, but they’re also different. I wouldn’t mix the two.
If you want some cool reading on Santa Muerte, there’s a book by a white anthropologist whose name I forget. There’s also another called Devoted to Death by Chestnut (also white). Be mindful when you’re investigating these traditions of the inevitable snarkiness from so-called “descriptive” white scientists who value their supreme intellect over the traditions of brown folks. It happens. Also be mindful that she cannot be taken from her cultural context without being something completely different. She just can’t be grafted onto whatever culture or religion you hold dear. She is Mexican and she is Catholic. She loves her rosaries, tequila and pan. And the way she’s venerated and viewed is a very Mexican Catholic way of veneration.
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