I’m always on the lookout for new English language materials on Santa Muerte. When I heard about Santa Muerte: The History, Rituals, and Magic of Our Lady of the Holy Death by Tracey Rollin I ordered a copy and promptly devoured it. This informative, respectful, and well written book is a must have for anyone looking to work with Santa Muerte.
There are several features of this book that make it stand head and shoulders above other English language books on Santa Muerte - the most significant being that it is written by an actual devotee of Santa Muerte. As of October 2017, many of the books on Santa Muerte that are available in English are written either by academics or people who have worked with/interviewed devotees of Santa Muerte but are not Muertistas themselves. Rollin writes from the perspective of someone who truly venerates Santa Muerte and has the experience of having worked with her for years. When she writes of her experiences and practices there is a feeling of “rightness” in her words that is so often lacking. I had several experiences while reading the book of looking over to my altar and having the distinct impression that my Santa Muerte statues were smiling as if in agreement with what I was reading. Her approval of this book was palpable and rather impressive.
Another thing Rollin gets right is her extensive inclusion of cultural and historical backgrounds for her material. This book delves deeply into the cultural context of Santa Muerte’s possible histories and practices, giving the reader a significantly better understanding of the whys and wherefores than any other work I’ve found. Rollin takes a very objective stand on the possible origins of Santa Muerte herself and her cultus, giving the historical information available without necessarily favoring any one over any other. This allows the reader to make their own decisions and choose their own interpretations based on what resonates for them rather than trying to persuade them to the author’s views. As a long time practitioner with some pretty strong opinions on these topics, I greatly appreciate that respect.
The book offers the readers several concrete devotional and magickal practices to try for themselves. Most of the techniques in the book are based either on rosary or novena practices. Rollin is the first author I’ve found that doesn’t assume the reader already knows enough about the Catholic faith to intrinsically understand either rosaries or novenas. She does a great job explaining the methods and the reasoning behind them that any practitioner can use either practice confidently. Rollin favors the seven color version of traditional Santa Muerte practices, rather than the simpler three color version, and suggests using that as a basis for daily practice - one color per day of the week. I particularly liked the daily prayers she offered for each color. I normally cannot use prayers or spells written by others without tweaking them to my own purposes, but the ones in this book really resonated with me and I feel no compunction against using them as is. That’s never happened before.
If you have any interest in Santa Muerte I cannot recommend this book enough. The information is easily approachable and reasonably comprehensive enough to give new practitioners a good idea of how to approach Santa Muerte. There’s also enough new information and different approaches to have value for even the most experienced practitioners. Ten of ten - will read again.
There are several features of this book that make it stand head and shoulders above other English language books on Santa Muerte - the most significant being that it is written by an actual devotee of Santa Muerte. As of October 2017, many of the books on Santa Muerte that are available in English are written either by academics or people who have worked with/interviewed devotees of Santa Muerte but are not Muertistas themselves. Rollin writes from the perspective of someone who truly venerates Santa Muerte and has the experience of having worked with her for years. When she writes of her experiences and practices there is a feeling of “rightness” in her words that is so often lacking. I had several experiences while reading the book of looking over to my altar and having the distinct impression that my Santa Muerte statues were smiling as if in agreement with what I was reading. Her approval of this book was palpable and rather impressive.
Another thing Rollin gets right is her extensive inclusion of cultural and historical backgrounds for her material. This book delves deeply into the cultural context of Santa Muerte’s possible histories and practices, giving the reader a significantly better understanding of the whys and wherefores than any other work I’ve found. Rollin takes a very objective stand on the possible origins of Santa Muerte herself and her cultus, giving the historical information available without necessarily favoring any one over any other. This allows the reader to make their own decisions and choose their own interpretations based on what resonates for them rather than trying to persuade them to the author’s views. As a long time practitioner with some pretty strong opinions on these topics, I greatly appreciate that respect.
The book offers the readers several concrete devotional and magickal practices to try for themselves. Most of the techniques in the book are based either on rosary or novena practices. Rollin is the first author I’ve found that doesn’t assume the reader already knows enough about the Catholic faith to intrinsically understand either rosaries or novenas. She does a great job explaining the methods and the reasoning behind them that any practitioner can use either practice confidently. Rollin favors the seven color version of traditional Santa Muerte practices, rather than the simpler three color version, and suggests using that as a basis for daily practice - one color per day of the week. I particularly liked the daily prayers she offered for each color. I normally cannot use prayers or spells written by others without tweaking them to my own purposes, but the ones in this book really resonated with me and I feel no compunction against using them as is. That’s never happened before.
If you have any interest in Santa Muerte I cannot recommend this book enough. The information is easily approachable and reasonably comprehensive enough to give new practitioners a good idea of how to approach Santa Muerte. There’s also enough new information and different approaches to have value for even the most experienced practitioners. Ten of ten - will read again.
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