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 Make a Contract with Santa Muerte
A contract is a bargain with Santa Muerte for her to grant one specific miracle in exchange for you to perform one specific deed in return. The difference between a petition and a contract is that when you make a petition, you are making an offering at the time of the request, where a contract reserves the offering until the Santa Muerte has delivered.
The beauty of the contract is that your obligation to Santa Muerte does not come due unless you get what you want. This is good if you are not a devotee because it allows you to make the request without feeling like you owe anything. You will know if the Santa Muerte accepted your offer because you will have what you asked for. Once you have what you asked for, your end of the bargain will come due, and you should work to accomplish whatever it was that you promised within a reasonable amount of time.
To make the contract with Santa Muerte, you need only document what it is that you want and what it is that you are willing to do in return if you get it. This can be as simple as writing on a piece of paper or typing into a digital document, “Santa Muerte, if you grant me the miracle of ABC, then I will perform the deed of XYZ.” Mark the document with your full name and the date of creation.
If for some reason you change your mind after making the offer to Santa Muerte, you can revoke your offer if she has not yet fulfilled your request. No harm, no foul. This is accomplished by destroying the documentation of your contract. If she has already fulfilled your request and you are unable or unwilling to keep up with your end of the bargain, then you run the risk of your favor or miracle turning sour.
In regard to what you should offer in return for a miracle or favor granted by Santa Muerte, that’s entirely up to you, but I find that big requests require big deeds, and small requests can be satisfied with small deeds. What is big and what is small? That’s all relative to you and your life. Asking for a child may be a big or small request, depending on how difficult it is for you to conceive. Asking for a new job or financial opportunity may be a big or small request, depending on how dire your financial situation.
What you offer in return will also be relative to your life. If you promise to donate cash to a Santa Muerte altar or other Santa Muerte related project, is $100 a lot of money to you, or is it a little? If you promise to donate your time to a charity that brings comfort to the dying, does 100 hours seem like a lot of time, or a little? If you promise to recite prayers of devotion to Santa Muerte, does 100 consecutive days of prayer seem like a lot, or does it seem like a little? In my experience, your conscience will know whether you are making a suitable promise or coming up short. If you get the nagging feeling that you’re coming up short, then consider increasing what it is that you will promise in return.
This being said, you should never promise more than you are able to deliver. Just as your conscience will know whether you’re offering too little or just enough, your conscience will also know whether you are actually capable of delivering. If you are simply not emotionally strong enough to volunteer at a place that brings comfort to the dying, then you should not make the promise in the first place.
Once you make the contract, there is the possibility that Santa Muerte will not deliver. I recommend you give the Santa Muerte three months to fulfill your request. If the request is not fulfilled by the end of three months, then you can consider the contract rejected by Santa Muerte. If this happens, you can adjust the terms of the contract - perhaps ask for something slightly different and possibly increase what you were offering in return - or destroy the original contract and walk away. If the Santa Muerte did not provide what you were asking for, then you do not owe anything in return.
The beauty of the contract is that your obligation to Santa Muerte does not come due unless you get what you want. This is good if you are not a devotee because it allows you to make the request without feeling like you owe anything. You will know if the Santa Muerte accepted your offer because you will have what you asked for. Once you have what you asked for, your end of the bargain will come due, and you should work to accomplish whatever it was that you promised within a reasonable amount of time.
To make the contract with Santa Muerte, you need only document what it is that you want and what it is that you are willing to do in return if you get it. This can be as simple as writing on a piece of paper or typing into a digital document, “Santa Muerte, if you grant me the miracle of ABC, then I will perform the deed of XYZ.” Mark the document with your full name and the date of creation.
If for some reason you change your mind after making the offer to Santa Muerte, you can revoke your offer if she has not yet fulfilled your request. No harm, no foul. This is accomplished by destroying the documentation of your contract. If she has already fulfilled your request and you are unable or unwilling to keep up with your end of the bargain, then you run the risk of your favor or miracle turning sour.
In regard to what you should offer in return for a miracle or favor granted by Santa Muerte, that’s entirely up to you, but I find that big requests require big deeds, and small requests can be satisfied with small deeds. What is big and what is small? That’s all relative to you and your life. Asking for a child may be a big or small request, depending on how difficult it is for you to conceive. Asking for a new job or financial opportunity may be a big or small request, depending on how dire your financial situation.
What you offer in return will also be relative to your life. If you promise to donate cash to a Santa Muerte altar or other Santa Muerte related project, is $100 a lot of money to you, or is it a little? If you promise to donate your time to a charity that brings comfort to the dying, does 100 hours seem like a lot of time, or a little? If you promise to recite prayers of devotion to Santa Muerte, does 100 consecutive days of prayer seem like a lot, or does it seem like a little? In my experience, your conscience will know whether you are making a suitable promise or coming up short. If you get the nagging feeling that you’re coming up short, then consider increasing what it is that you will promise in return.
This being said, you should never promise more than you are able to deliver. Just as your conscience will know whether you’re offering too little or just enough, your conscience will also know whether you are actually capable of delivering. If you are simply not emotionally strong enough to volunteer at a place that brings comfort to the dying, then you should not make the promise in the first place.
Once you make the contract, there is the possibility that Santa Muerte will not deliver. I recommend you give the Santa Muerte three months to fulfill your request. If the request is not fulfilled by the end of three months, then you can consider the contract rejected by Santa Muerte. If this happens, you can adjust the terms of the contract - perhaps ask for something slightly different and possibly increase what you were offering in return - or destroy the original contract and walk away. If the Santa Muerte did not provide what you were asking for, then you do not owe anything in return.