Andrew Chesnut on Santa Muerte

tonygill — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 08:00:06 +0000

Many people are familiar with the Virgin of Guadalupe and an object of faithful devotion within Mexico, but fewer folks know about Santa Muerte, the “skeleton saint,” which has witnessed a growing devotion within the past two decades. Prof. Andrew Chesnut, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, is one of the very few scholars to write about this fascinating folk saint and he joins us to talk about his book Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint (being released in its second edition later this year). After a bit of reminiscing about UCLA, where both Tony and Andrew were contemporaries in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Prof. Chesnut discusses how he came upon this research topic. While initially wanting to write about the Virgin of Guadalupe, his passion took him in another unexpected direction. Andrew then explains how a folk saint differs from an official Catholic saint, and gives us a sense of how devotion to Santa Muerte has grow in recent years, reaching upwards of an estimated 10 – 12 million devotees worldwide. He also covers all the various nicknames of the saint (including Bony Lady, Bald Lady, and even “Bad Ass”), as well as how she came to grow in popularity in recent decades. The deeper history of Santa Muerte is rather murky, though, and Prof. Chesnut notes that some of the earliest mentions of the name date back to the late 18th century. There are parallels between some of the “grim reaper” imagery found in Spain at the time, and this may have transferred over to the Spanish colonies and became part of the syncretist form of religion that was practiced amongst a wide swathe of the population. We then talk about how individuals interact with Santa Muerte, focusing on the variegated purposes this folk saint has and the different colored candles used in devotions. Black candles are frequently used for supernatural protection and/or vengeance and have given Santa Muerte the reputation of being the “narco-saint” for its use by criminals and within the Mexican penal system. Despite this more malevolent reputation, Santa Muerte is also the focus of a number of other devotionals revolving around healing and consecration (white candle), love and marital problems (red candle), prosperity (gold votive), justice (green), and enlightenment (brown), to name just a few. Andrew also relates the story of David Romo who founds the first Santa Muerte temple in Mexico City in 2003 and how he eventually ends up being arrested for running a kidnapping ring. We finish off with some final reflections on what Andrew has learned over the decades he has been studying Latin American religiosity, noting how he was surprised to find how much faith healing matters to individuals, and we also review what his next research project will be focusing on, namely Catholic death culture. Recorded: May 19, 2017.

Tony Carnes on Jesus’s Auto Body (and Soul) Shop, Blessed Pizza, and NYC Religions Part II

tonygill — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:00:49 +0000

Get ready to go on a journey — a fascinating, inspiring, and sometimes unusual journey — through the spiritual life of New York City. Following up on a previous podcast interview with Tony Carnes, who created and runs a research/journalism project known as A Journey Through NYC Religions, we walk through the various boroughs of Gotham to discover a circle of Korean limo drivers holding Bible study, a famous Harlem hat maker who helps troubled souls via a small chapel in her store, and an award-winning hair salon that favors spiritual healing over gossip. We also find out how (East Coast) Tony discovered a prayer group meeting on a Friday night in one of the seediest parts of the Bronx and located in Jesus’s Auto Body Shop, named after a certain envangelist who did his preaching two millenium ago. Our conversation begins with how Mr. Carnes started his journalistic investigation some three years ago and almost immediately stumbled upon an odd little church with a Spanish-speaking minister who came from a Russian Orthodoxy tradition. And in another part of town, he was also amazed to find an Afghan-Hispanic Muslim cooperating with a Chinese-American Jew to teach African-American kids strong morals. Our conversation not only covers these specific manifestations of New York religiosity, but also covers broader trends. We hold a fascinating conversation about how many studies of religion underestimate spiritual activity byfocusing only on churches or similar houses of worship that we tend to be familiar with. Add to this that many of these surveys and censuses are affected by under-reporting by African-American and immigrant churches that stay below the sociological radar for a variety of reasons. We also discuss how and why 1978 was a pivotal year for church growth in NYC and how religious life further changed in the 1990s under Mayor Giuliani. We then highlight some of the recent stories that Tony Carnes’s website has featured recently, including a look at Jackie Robinson’s religious background, an aspect of his life that was not covered in the recent movie, “42.” This prompts (West Coast) Tony to ask about the hubbub surrounding Tim Tebow and the New York Jets over the past year. A fascinating conversation ensues drawing in the likes of former Knicks guard Jeremy Lin and the pastoral route that former Jets’ lineman Michael Faulkner took with his life. This is when our conversation then turns to how religiosity has manifested itself in the world of small business in NYC, with our focus turning to Harlem’s Heaven (hat shop), Divine Connection Hair Salon, Blessed Pizza, Jesus’s Auto Body Shop, and a group of Korean limo drivers who hold Bible study sessions at 4 a.m. Tony Carnes makes several important observations at this point, namely that it is not often elites that change our social culture, but rather grassroots outsiders like all the folks we just mentioned. Moreover, we note that the recent discussion of the rise of “religious nones” in society is not picking up much of this unconventional religious behavior that goes on in the city. If you are only looking in the established pews of church buildings, synagogues, or mosques, you are likely to miss a great portion of the story. Tony discusses how his team of journalists will stop and investigate any store that has a Quran in the window or any business with a spiritual sounding name to see what is happening behind those doors. As this entire interview reveals, there is a great deal of religion that is occuring on a daily basis. Tony finishes the interview describing what his organization is up to, including plans underway to expand this model of investigative, data-driven journalism and the various workshops he offers to high school and college students as well as anyone else who is interested in what he is doing. Recorded: May 15, 2013.

Research On Religion » exorcism

Andrew Chesnut on Santa Muerte

Tony Carnes on Jesus’s Auto Body (and Soul) Shop, Blessed Pizza, and NYC Religions Part II