The Mexican equivalent of momento mori - a reminder that our time here is short as the candle.
The candle is consumed, but the light it gives off illuminates… The sacrifice of time and the rewards of eternity.
“That which is as universal as death must be a benefit” - Friedrich Stiller
These distinctive Santa Muerte prayer cards are offerings crafted with love and devotion by Hoodoo Moses, with prayers and images curated by Ed Calderon of Ed's Manifesto.
We conceived of these unique prayer cards while collaborating on our La Santa y El Monje project. The image presented on these collects distinctively Norteño - and particularly Tijuana-based - symbols important to the reverence of the Santa Muerte, including the offerings of the upside-down flower bouquet and broken arrow.
The card is a durable laminated prayer card, featuring silver foil embossing, dressed with a tincture prepared from black frankincense, black myrrh, black copal, white copal, powdered roses, powdered human bone and tinctured owl.
Each ingredient was selected as much for its symbolic potency as its aromatic qualities. The black forms of the sacred resins incorporated - black frankincense, black myrrh and black copal - yield deep aromas, and are said to carry potent spiritual virtues of protection. White copal is sacred to Mexican Catholicism in general, and the cult of Santa Muerte in particular. Roses symbolize devotion; they are offered to the Santa Muerte by hanging them upside down. The bone dust is ritually compounded in honor of La Santa as the Mother of Bones. The owl is assigned to the Santa Muerte to move between worlds, to carry the soul after the flame of life has been extinguished - this owl has been tinctured for more than three years in grain alcohol, imparting its essence and its virtues.
These ritually made cards are intended as talismanic keepsakes, devotional offerings, for altar ritual, and for prayer and meditation.
