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Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte or, colloquially, Santa Muerte (Spanish for Holy Death), is a female folk saint venerated primarily in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. A personification of death, she is associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife by her devotees. Despite opposition by the Catholic Church, her cult arose from popular Mexican folk belief, a syncretism between indigenous Mesoamerican and Spanish Catholic beliefs and practices. Since the pre-Columbian era Mexican culture has maintained a certain reverence towards death, which can be seen in the widespread commemoration of the Day of the Dead. Elements of that celebration include the use of skeletons to remind people of their mortality. The worship of Santa Muerte is condemned by the Catholic Church in Mexico as invalid, but it is firmly entrenched among a small percentage of Mexican culture.〔 Santa Muerte generally appears as a female skeletal figure, clad in a long robe and holding one or more objects, usually a scythe and a globe. Her robe can be of any color, as more specific images of the figure vary widely from devotee to devotee and according to the rite being performed or the petition being made. As the worship of Santa Muerte was clandestine until the 20th century, most prayers and other rites have been traditionally performed privately in the home.〔 Since the beginning of the 21st century, worship has become more public, especially in Mexico City after Enriqueta Romero initiated her famous Mexico City shrine in 2001.〔〔Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint, R. Andrew Chesnut, OUP, 2012〕 The number of believers in Santa Muerte has grown over the past ten to twenty years, to several million followers in Mexico, the United States, and parts of Central America. Santa Muerte has similar male counterparts in the Americas, such as the skeletal folk saints San La Muerte of Argentina and Rey Pascual of Guatemala.〔 ==Name and eponyms== The deity's Spanish name, ''Santa Muerte'', translated into English as "Saint Death" or "Holy Death", although religious studies scholar R. Andrew Chesnut believed that the former was a more accurate translation because it "better reveals" her identity as a folk saint. A variant of this is ''Santísima Muerte'', which is translated as "Most Holy Death", while devotees often call her ''Santisma Muerte'' during their rituals. Santa Muerte is also known by a wide variety of eponyms: the Skinny Lady (''la flaquita''), the Bony Lady (''la Huesuda''), the White Girl (''la Niña Blanca''), the White Sister (''la Hermana Blanca''), the Pretty Girl (''la Niña Bonita''), the Powerful Lady (''la Dama Poderosa''), and the Godmother (''la Madrina''). Santa Muerte is referred to by a number of monikers such as ''Señora de las Sombras'' ("Lady of the Shadows"), ''Señora Blanca'' ("White Lady"), ''Señora Negra'' ("Black Lady"), ''Niña Santa'' ("Holy Girl"), ''Santa Sebastiana'' (St. Sebastienne) or ''Doña Bella Sebastiana'' ("Our Beautiful Lady Sebastienne") and ''La Flaca'' ("The Skinny Lady"). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Santa Muerte」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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