Description
THIS LISTING IS FOR A REPRODUCTION ON CANVAS OF MY ORIGINAL LA SANTA MUERTE OIL PAINTING
Unconditional Love and Protection
La Santa Muerte, for protection, unconditional love, acceptance without judgment and peace with both life and death… the Holy Mother you call on when you need to be loved exactly as you are.
She has so many names… La SantÃsima Muerte, the Most Holy Death… La Flaquita, the Skinny One… La Niña Blanca, the White Girl… La Huesuda, the Bony One… La Madrina, the Godmother… and La Señora de la Noche, the Lady of the Night. Her devotees give her pet names the way we give them to someone we love and trust, because she is beloved family.
And I believe, as so many do, that long before she had any of these names, she had another. Mictecacihuatl (meek-teh-kah-SEE-wahtl)… the Lady of the Dead of the Aztecs, queen of Mictlan, the land of the dead, which she ruled with her husband, Mictlantecuhtli. She watched over the bones of the ancestors and was honored in the great Aztec festivals for the dead… festivals that live on today in DÃa de los Muertos.
When the Spanish arrived, the missionaries brought their own image of death to teach the new faith… the skeleton with the scythe, La Parca, the Grim Reaper. They meant it as a warning. But when the people looked at that skeleton, many of them recognized someone they already knew. They saw their own Lady of the Dead… and instead of fearing her, they began to pray to her.
The Church did not approve. In the 1790s, Inquisition records from central Mexico describe people being punished for honoring a skeleton they called Santa Muerte, and her images were destroyed. So she went into hiding. For more than two hundred years, she lived on secret altars in private homes and in medallions worn underneath the clothes, close to the heart, where no one could take her away. Her devotees dressed her in robes and veils like the Virgin Mary… and like a mother, she waited.
On November 1, 2001, a woman named Enriqueta Romero, known to everyone as Doña Queta, placed a life-size statue of La Santa Muerte outside her home in Tepito, Mexico City, for the whole street to see. People came… first a few, then hundreds, then thousands. Today she is honored by millions of people, in Mexico, in the United States and all over the world.
Why do some people fear her? Because she accepts everyone. The rich and the poor, the faithful and the doubting, the ones the world has turned away from… no one is too broken to come to her. Death comes for all of us in the same way, and so she sees all of us in the same way. She does not judge. She simply opens her arms.
A word from Claudia
I did not plan to paint her. She came through my paint unexpectedly, the way the goddesses always do… and I was a little …uhmmm… surprised. Like so many people, I had only heard scary things about her. So I studied her, her history and the people who pray to her… and the more I understood her, the more I loved her. What I found was not a monster. What I found was a Mother.
Her altar
Give her a space of her own on your altar or ofrenda, with a white candle, a glass of fresh water, roses or marigolds, bread and an apple, copal or incense, and a written note with your request… and bring her whatever you have been carrying in shame. She will hold it.
A meaningful gift for a devotee of La Santa Muerte, someone building their first ofrenda, a friend with Mexican roots, a dark goddess devotee, or anyone who has ever felt judged and needs to know they are loved.
About your reproduction
• Painted intuitively by Claudia Olivos as an original oil painting on canvas. This is a reproduction
• We make all reproductions in our studio ourselves, to ensure clarity and accuracy of the image
• Archival-quality canvas printed with archival inks for long-lasting color and tonal fidelity
• Gallery-wrapped finish with the image continuing neatly around the sides for a seamless, frameless presentation
• Hand-stretched over wood in our studio, ready to hang
• Choose your size from the Canvas Size menu
• The hand-painted frame shown in the photos is not included. It is sold separately as our Handmade Solid Wood Picture Frame, in your choice of stain
• Care: keep out of direct sunlight to preserve color; dust with a soft, dry cloth
The original oil painting
My original La Santa Muerte, oil on canvas, is available. If she is calling you, please email the studio and I will share the details with you personally.
All my art is made with great intention and prayer to bring you Love, Peace, and Joy.
Receive a lifetime 20% off discount code
Join my Collector Circle to receive your BLISSFUL20 code for 20% off art on canvas and pendants… including La Santa Muerte… plus my New Moon and Full Moon letters, and be the first to meet every new goddess.
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