Santa Muerte Devotion 101: Answers and Explanations for Curious Readers and New Devotees
Digital Web Book by Arnold Bustillo
Buy the paperback at https://amzn.to/41gmMKg
Digital Web Book by Arnold Bustillo
Buy the paperback at https://amzn.to/41gmMKg
How to Build a Physical Santa Muerte Altar
For Santa Muerte devotees, an altar is a representation of our relationship with Holy Death. As stated earlier, a devotee is one who acknowledges Santa Muerte, and building an altar to Saint Death is one way that she can be acknowledged. One type of altar that you can build to Santa Muerte is a physical altar.
The only thing you need to make an altar to Santa Muerte is a depiction or representation of death. This can be a literal representation, such as a statue or painting of Santa Muerte, or a symbolic representation, such as a plaster skull or a sketch of a skull and crossbones. An altar to Santa Muerte can also be constructed covertly, or hidden in plain sight. Remember that Santa Muerte is death itself, so any representation of death can serve as the foundation for an altar to Santa Muerte. For example, a vase of dead flowers or a bowl of dead leaves can serve as the required representation of death, as could a trophy animal skull, the kind that would be mounted on a wall.
Other representations of death that can be used for a covert altar are representations of items associated with Santa Muerte, like the scythe or sickle (which represents Santa Muerte’s power to cut the thread of life), the globe (which represents Santa Muerte’s dominion over every living thing on Earth), the owl (which represents the wisdom of Santa Muerte and her knowledge of magick), the hourglass (which represents the finite nature of life), or the scales of justice (which represent the fact that we are all equal in the eyes of Santa Muerte).
If you were in a pinch, you could even draw a basic skull on a piece of paper and use that as the foundation for an altar. All that matters is that death is represented on your altar - how you choose to represent her is up to you.
When you have your depiction or representation of death, you can place it on whatever surface you have available. It doesn't matter where or how high you put your Santa Muerte altar, but you should place it with respect. This means the area should be clean and safe from random disturbances. You could place your altar up on a bookshelf or mantle, or directly on the floor in the corner of a room. My own altar, as I type these words, is on a section of kitchen counter, overlooking me as I work. Placing your depiction of death on some kind of altar cloth is also recommended, in order to distinguish where the altar begins and where it ends.
There are no size requirements when it comes to building a physical Santa Muerte altar. My very first Santa Muerte altar was anchored by a one inch depiction of Santa Muerte - it was so small because it was intended to hang from a necklace. I placed that small Santa Muerte medallion on a dresser and my first altar was born. You could also anchor an altar around a Santa Muerte prayer card, the kind that fits in a wallet, or even around an image downloaded to a cell phone or tablet.
It would be wonderful if you could keep your altar up all the time, but the Santa Muerte understands that this is not always possible. If you are in a situation where you can’t erect a permanent Santa Muerte altar, you also have the option of creating a temporary Santa Muerte altar that you can put up and take down as required. Any altar can be a temporary altar, so long as you have a way of packing and storing all the pieces that go into it. You can build a temporary altar out of an old shoe box or cigar box, or use a larger plastic bin. Again, the altar should be shown some respect even when stored away and out of view - which is to say that you should not store it in an area of your home cluttered with junk, rather it should be stored with other items that you consider valuable and worth preserving.
There are lots of Santa Muerte altars in the world, from the tiny to the humongous, from the basic to the lavish. Just as each relationship with Santa Muerte is unique and special, so too is each altar that is erected in her name. You should use your altar as an opportunity to express yourself and your creativity. So long as the altar is constructed with the intent of showing your devotion to Santa Muerte, then your altar will be constructed correctly.
The only thing you need to make an altar to Santa Muerte is a depiction or representation of death. This can be a literal representation, such as a statue or painting of Santa Muerte, or a symbolic representation, such as a plaster skull or a sketch of a skull and crossbones. An altar to Santa Muerte can also be constructed covertly, or hidden in plain sight. Remember that Santa Muerte is death itself, so any representation of death can serve as the foundation for an altar to Santa Muerte. For example, a vase of dead flowers or a bowl of dead leaves can serve as the required representation of death, as could a trophy animal skull, the kind that would be mounted on a wall.
Other representations of death that can be used for a covert altar are representations of items associated with Santa Muerte, like the scythe or sickle (which represents Santa Muerte’s power to cut the thread of life), the globe (which represents Santa Muerte’s dominion over every living thing on Earth), the owl (which represents the wisdom of Santa Muerte and her knowledge of magick), the hourglass (which represents the finite nature of life), or the scales of justice (which represent the fact that we are all equal in the eyes of Santa Muerte).
If you were in a pinch, you could even draw a basic skull on a piece of paper and use that as the foundation for an altar. All that matters is that death is represented on your altar - how you choose to represent her is up to you.
When you have your depiction or representation of death, you can place it on whatever surface you have available. It doesn't matter where or how high you put your Santa Muerte altar, but you should place it with respect. This means the area should be clean and safe from random disturbances. You could place your altar up on a bookshelf or mantle, or directly on the floor in the corner of a room. My own altar, as I type these words, is on a section of kitchen counter, overlooking me as I work. Placing your depiction of death on some kind of altar cloth is also recommended, in order to distinguish where the altar begins and where it ends.
There are no size requirements when it comes to building a physical Santa Muerte altar. My very first Santa Muerte altar was anchored by a one inch depiction of Santa Muerte - it was so small because it was intended to hang from a necklace. I placed that small Santa Muerte medallion on a dresser and my first altar was born. You could also anchor an altar around a Santa Muerte prayer card, the kind that fits in a wallet, or even around an image downloaded to a cell phone or tablet.
It would be wonderful if you could keep your altar up all the time, but the Santa Muerte understands that this is not always possible. If you are in a situation where you can’t erect a permanent Santa Muerte altar, you also have the option of creating a temporary Santa Muerte altar that you can put up and take down as required. Any altar can be a temporary altar, so long as you have a way of packing and storing all the pieces that go into it. You can build a temporary altar out of an old shoe box or cigar box, or use a larger plastic bin. Again, the altar should be shown some respect even when stored away and out of view - which is to say that you should not store it in an area of your home cluttered with junk, rather it should be stored with other items that you consider valuable and worth preserving.
There are lots of Santa Muerte altars in the world, from the tiny to the humongous, from the basic to the lavish. Just as each relationship with Santa Muerte is unique and special, so too is each altar that is erected in her name. You should use your altar as an opportunity to express yourself and your creativity. So long as the altar is constructed with the intent of showing your devotion to Santa Muerte, then your altar will be constructed correctly.