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
Santa Muerte Color Correspondences
The Santa Muerte is often depicted wearing cloaks of different colors. These different colored cloaks represent different aspects of the Santa Muerte, rather than distinct individual entities. In other words, they are all the same Santa Muerte.
Technically, because all cloak colors represent the same energy, you may pray and petition to any aspect of Santa Muerte that you wish. The different colors are more for your benefit than for the Santa Muerte, as they can be useful when trying to focus your intent for one specific goal, which in turn may help to make your magick more powerful. In the petition rituals that I write, I generally introduce the color correspondence through the offering candle, and try to match the candle color to the intent of the petition. You may also introduce altar cloths of different colors and various accessories of different colors, like markers and burn plates. How you choose to incorporate the color correspondences are up to you, but they are as follows:
White: Believed by followers to be the most neutral energy to work with, the white Santa Muerte is called on to purify, cleanse, invite peace, and instill harmony. She is known to protect against accidents and misfortune.
Black: The most potent energy to work with, the black Santa Muerte can be called on both to send curses and break curses. Also associated with repelling negative energy.
Red: The Santa Muerte of love, passion, sex, and attraction. Lovers may pray to the red Santa Muerte for a healthy and long lasting relationship. Single people may pray to the red Santa Muerte for a spouse or casual lover, while people already in committed relationships may pray for the fidelity of their partner.
Pink: Having dominion over what you see in the mirror, this aspect of the Santa Muerte may be petitioned for matters relating to beauty and love of self.
Gold: If it's money and material success you want, it's the gold Santa Muerte you should turn to. Work with the gold Santa Muerte to attract money, business success, material wealth, and prosperity. It’s common to see the gold Santa Muerte in markets and places of business.
Silver / Copper: For the kind of success hoped for by gamblers and card players. This is the aspect of Saint Death who you pray to when you need a stroke of luck, and before you head to the casino.
Green: The green aspect of the Santa Muerte is typically associated with justice and the legal profession, but it is also associated with fertility. The green Santa Muerte is a patron saint of attorneys and judges, but you may call on her for help in legal matters, when you want to avoid court / attention from law enforcement, or when you require justice but don't have the means to go to court or to pay for representation. Green is the color of land, which itself represents legal jurisdictions (as in "the law of the land"), and personal property (which is at the center of many lawsuits). As a fertility symbol, the green Santa Muerte can be petitioned when you need something to grow and flourish, such as when you're trying to have a baby.
Blue: Wisdom and creativity are the energies most associated with the blue Santa Muerte. She is frequently revered by students, educators, academics, and artists. Work with the blue Santa Muerte for comprehension, understanding, and inspiration.
Purple: The color purple in Santa Muerte magick is associated with psychic abilities and intuition. Work with the purple aspect of the Santa Muerte when you want to divine the future, for increasing psychic abilities, for prophetic dreams and other forms of dream work, and for finding spiritual peace and harmony.
Yellow: The realm of health and healing is associated with the yellow Santa Muerte. A symbol of both physical and mental health, she is the patron saint of both healers and the sick, medical staff and their patients. Transparent amber is often considered the color of addiction and rehabilitation.
Brown: The color of dirt, which fittingly represents the grave, brown is the aspect of Santa Muerte dealing in matters of the realm of the dead, necromancy, and spirits. She is who you should invoke and work with when attempting to communicate with or petition the dead. Remember to always go through the Santa Muerte before working with the dead, and to use divination to determine whether or not you have permission to proceed with your magickal work beyond the veil of the living. This is considered advanced work and should not be performed by novices.
Multi-Color: If you do some searching online for images and depictions of the Santa Muerte in various colors, you will no doubt come across rainbow and multi-colored Santa Muerte statues. The multi-colored cloak is just a way to receive the positive effects of each color without the need for several statues on a single altar. When you don't have the space or the funds for several different statues, or when you want to work with the Santa Muerte on different aspects of your life, a multi-colored statue offers a solution.
Technically, because all cloak colors represent the same energy, you may pray and petition to any aspect of Santa Muerte that you wish. The different colors are more for your benefit than for the Santa Muerte, as they can be useful when trying to focus your intent for one specific goal, which in turn may help to make your magick more powerful. In the petition rituals that I write, I generally introduce the color correspondence through the offering candle, and try to match the candle color to the intent of the petition. You may also introduce altar cloths of different colors and various accessories of different colors, like markers and burn plates. How you choose to incorporate the color correspondences are up to you, but they are as follows:
White: Believed by followers to be the most neutral energy to work with, the white Santa Muerte is called on to purify, cleanse, invite peace, and instill harmony. She is known to protect against accidents and misfortune.
Black: The most potent energy to work with, the black Santa Muerte can be called on both to send curses and break curses. Also associated with repelling negative energy.
Red: The Santa Muerte of love, passion, sex, and attraction. Lovers may pray to the red Santa Muerte for a healthy and long lasting relationship. Single people may pray to the red Santa Muerte for a spouse or casual lover, while people already in committed relationships may pray for the fidelity of their partner.
Pink: Having dominion over what you see in the mirror, this aspect of the Santa Muerte may be petitioned for matters relating to beauty and love of self.
Gold: If it's money and material success you want, it's the gold Santa Muerte you should turn to. Work with the gold Santa Muerte to attract money, business success, material wealth, and prosperity. It’s common to see the gold Santa Muerte in markets and places of business.
Silver / Copper: For the kind of success hoped for by gamblers and card players. This is the aspect of Saint Death who you pray to when you need a stroke of luck, and before you head to the casino.
Green: The green aspect of the Santa Muerte is typically associated with justice and the legal profession, but it is also associated with fertility. The green Santa Muerte is a patron saint of attorneys and judges, but you may call on her for help in legal matters, when you want to avoid court / attention from law enforcement, or when you require justice but don't have the means to go to court or to pay for representation. Green is the color of land, which itself represents legal jurisdictions (as in "the law of the land"), and personal property (which is at the center of many lawsuits). As a fertility symbol, the green Santa Muerte can be petitioned when you need something to grow and flourish, such as when you're trying to have a baby.
Blue: Wisdom and creativity are the energies most associated with the blue Santa Muerte. She is frequently revered by students, educators, academics, and artists. Work with the blue Santa Muerte for comprehension, understanding, and inspiration.
Purple: The color purple in Santa Muerte magick is associated with psychic abilities and intuition. Work with the purple aspect of the Santa Muerte when you want to divine the future, for increasing psychic abilities, for prophetic dreams and other forms of dream work, and for finding spiritual peace and harmony.
Yellow: The realm of health and healing is associated with the yellow Santa Muerte. A symbol of both physical and mental health, she is the patron saint of both healers and the sick, medical staff and their patients. Transparent amber is often considered the color of addiction and rehabilitation.
Brown: The color of dirt, which fittingly represents the grave, brown is the aspect of Santa Muerte dealing in matters of the realm of the dead, necromancy, and spirits. She is who you should invoke and work with when attempting to communicate with or petition the dead. Remember to always go through the Santa Muerte before working with the dead, and to use divination to determine whether or not you have permission to proceed with your magickal work beyond the veil of the living. This is considered advanced work and should not be performed by novices.
Multi-Color: If you do some searching online for images and depictions of the Santa Muerte in various colors, you will no doubt come across rainbow and multi-colored Santa Muerte statues. The multi-colored cloak is just a way to receive the positive effects of each color without the need for several statues on a single altar. When you don't have the space or the funds for several different statues, or when you want to work with the Santa Muerte on different aspects of your life, a multi-colored statue offers a solution.