Santa Muerte has been heavy in Her Red. At first I was like “Really?” but considering where we are right now in my work, that actually makes a lot of sense. I have a slightly different view of Her Red though. Commonly, people say the Red is about Love, Passions, Sex, and Sensuality. This is true but I am a Crane Practitioner and Death Emissary, we go deeper, see the Dualities, to find the core. For me the deeper part of Santa Muerte’s Red is: Deep Emotions, Devotion, Dedication, and Faithfulness. It incorporates the other perceptions but includes the reason “why” behind them.
Since I have recently made a shift and decision with Her, the Red is very spot on. I never left, but I was experiencing and exploring from a different perspective. Now though is a time to deepen the bond between us, to feed that, and step into that decision with my whole self. Thus the Red.
There are many ways I am doing that work…
Morning Routine
The glass of Water has returned to the altar. The water fountain is great for flow, for spirits, for memory and change, but Her glass is specific to just Her. Every morning I am rinsing and giving fresh water. In the beginning it is crystal clear and spotless – after doing our morning chat and prayer though it is covered in tiny bubbles which for me, is a nice sign of Her presence. I feel Her energy and hear Her, but it is also nice to get some physical representation outside of myself as well.
There are three ways our morning chat goes. I grab my cup of tea, light Her candle, burn some incense, and either A) Have a question on my mind I want to ask Her about – B) I just tell Her whatever is on my mind – or C) I let Her just tell me anything She wants to tell me. I use a combination of my own divination tools, pendulum, tarot, and trance depending on the situation and what I am feeling.
After that I usually say the Prayer Her and I created for the Red – Devotion and Dedication. I say usually because occasionally I will say it at night instead of the morning but I find saying it in the morning though really sets a tone for my day which I like.
Then after all that, I will either sit with Her a bit or get up and start my day.
Flowers
We both love flowers. It is that aspect of Life, Growth, and Eveutally age and Death – but the beauty in those things as well. I live in the country by a very small town with not a lot of options, so Walmart it is. It has been awhile since we have done flowers on the altar, so we had to rearrange a bit to find the right spot, but I’m happy we have gone back to this tradition. It feels “joyful” having them there.
Her Rosary
I grew up Catholic, came from a very devout Catholic family, went to Catholic school, but I left that religion behind personally when I was very young because I saw too many inconsistencies. I have no personal trauma from the church, or ill will, it just wasn’t my connection or experience. I am also not saying the church and hierarchy isn’t flawed and hasn’t done horrible things either – but that is hierarchy in many religions. We can go deeper into that another time, but it is to say when I first started working with Santa Muerte a few years ago I chose to design different rosary prayers for Her instead of using Catholic prayers. That was ok, but still didn’t feel like my mode, so I switched back to the mala which was a common tool in my practice for many Deities and Spirits.
When the Red aspect of Her shifted this time to my deeper perspective of it though, the pretty little pink/violet colored rosary on my spirit altar just kept pulling my attention. So I decided to add one of Her medallions on the end of it and try it again. Using my own divination tools (Runes from my rune journeys, bones, Soul Runes, and the Fates dice – I’ll have to do whole other article on that I suppose) Her and I created a new rosary prayer just for Her, geared specifically towards strengthening and deepening our bond together.
Here is the prayer for anyone who would like to try it. The picture shows the number for each bead, correlating to the number of the prayer.
1. La Santa Muerte, Mother Death. Mother of Souls, Sacred Weaver of the Web,
Guide me forward, teach me your Wisdom, and reveal your secrets.
From the Waters of eternity, to the lands of the people, your footsteps leave a trail.
Awaken the Will with fire, rooted deep within our Unity and carried on the wind to heal, to grow, to know.
Blessed Santa Muerte, awaken my soul, let the knowing flow, and let the Love between us grow.
2. I am the Tree – you are the soil, the sir, the water, the sun, and the moon,
You feed and nourish my growth, I grow showing your strength and Love.
3. I have experienced what was.
4. I am witnessing what is
5. Together we are creating what will be
6. I am the Tree – you are the soil, the sir, the water, the sun, and the moon,
You feed and nourish my growth, I grow showing your strength and Love.
7. La Santa Muerte, hear my prayers, feels my love, and stand with me (you can also add “in this work” if you are specifically working on something with Her)
8. (each bead of the decade) La Santa Muerte, I stand fearless in your strength of your power, for it is the abundance all around me.
Intuition, Passion, and Deep Emotion is the natural pulse and flow of Self Mastery,
Loyalty, Justice and Sacrifice creates Harmony between us,
Harmony creates Unity
Unity break the old by creating new.
9. From the Waters to the Earth,
From the Fires to the Air,
Santa Muerte hear my prayers.
*Once you have completed the rosary and arrive back at the #7 bead/token, you can either just thank Her or if you are working on something you can add a personal prayer/ plea here.
I have been deeply feeling and loving this daily practice. There are also deeper lessons within the lines of the prayers, giving me more to think about and ponder as I move through my day. It is also doing exactly what I wanted – that feeling of strengthening back up and deepening the bond between us for this next evolution of my own growth.
As I said, sometimes I am doing it at night, but I really feel it does me best when done in the mornings. It has been a great way to set my mind and soul for the day ahead.
Motivation
I get asked this question a lot: “How do you find time to do everything you do?” because I teach Death Emissary/ Death Doula courses, write books and articles, run the Temple of the Crane and doing monthly workshops there, on top of just my living life and raising triplets… The answer is simple though “We make the time for the things that are important to us.”
I wake up at 6am because my family doesn’t get up until 7:30/8. This gives me complete quiet and a peaceful atmosphere to devote to my spiritualism. Does it suck? Yeah, sometimes it does. Sometimes I don’t get to bed until 1 or 2am. Sometimes I am just tired or not feeling great. And I am not a morning person – have never been a morning person – I am a night owl – but I wanted that complete quiet time and no interruptions, so mornings it is. It took awhile to get my body and my mindset shifted to where I looked forward to getting up instead of dreading it, but all change takes time.
For me, my spirituality, my connections, my magic – my path – is extremely important to me. It is a big part of my everyday life and it has given me so much, so it is a priority for me, just like taking care of my kids, my work commitments, and my relationship with my husband – so I make the time even if that means I have to cut out other things like entertainment/ movies/ social time.
I hear people often say that when life gets busy, the first thing that is put off/ put on hold is their spiritual and magical practice. I don’t quite understand that because it seems like that would be the time you need it most – but it comes down to what are you willing to sacrifice for it. Time is our greatest currency in this life – time is what everyone is vibing for and wants from you – time is energy, and energy is power. I am more than willing to sacrifice time in one area to ensure this one holds its priority. I am like this though because of what it has given me, how it has changed me, thus changing my life. I know the power that can be touched if you dedicate the time and effort.
I wanted to be able to actually hear my Guides/Deities and Spirits. Full on conversation as if talking to a friend. It required me to develop that Soul Sense (physic sense/clair). I spent at least an hour and half every single day, using the mala technique and a specific mantra to do just that. It started slow, a whisper, a word, a few words, and then full on- back and forth – conversation. I can not do it with all spirits but I can with the ones I create that bond with. It took a year or so to get there – of everyday practice and dedication – retraining my brain to process the soul sense – and then to hone that skill when it started emerging. It didn’t matter if I was sick, not feeling it, tired, carving into my sleep time – I really wanted this and so it was a priority for me. I am not saying others will be like this – but it is what is required of me to get the returns I want.
That is just one example of what this journey has given me, and not even the largest by far, but one that is tangible and easily explained to those who have not experienced it yet. To me, tangible results are important. If I am not getting something out of the investment – if it is not helping me, my life, or my growth – then perhaps it is the wrong investment. It takes time though – it takes real dedication and making it a priority and doing the work consistently, but so does anything else we want to develop, learn, or create.
So if you feel like you are spinning your wheels, stuck, not getting anything from your practices, ask yourself “what do I really want?” What is it you are really after and why – be honest about it and don’t sugar coat it. Than make it a priority and do the work needed to get it/ get there. Depending on what you really want, will depend on what that looks like.
Closing thoughts
This went on longer than anticipated, with the rant at the end, but it felt right to add it. My spiritualism is extremely important to me, but it is important because of the experiences within it – what I have experienced – and what has grown in me from it.
People talk about Faith – but to have Faith, you must first have belief – and for me, belief comes from actually experiencing. I have experienced my Deities – my Guides – Spirits of the Dead – Ancestors and others Spirits/Entities. I have seen how the work has transformed me as a person and transformed my life because of the way I am moving through it. I have witnessed miracles, impossibilities, magic, and things that can not be explained in any other way. Those experiences created belief, that belief created my Faith. It will never be proof like science proving, because it is my experience – soul experience – personal experience – and I don’t need to prove that is real to anyone except myself, and neither do you.
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