It's kind of strange to think about, because she's been so integral to my life at this point that it really doesn't seem that long.
It's been a fascinating journey watching other people work with her and discover her.
When I first began praying to her and working with her, there was almost nothing available in English. I mostly had to learn how to work with her by asking questions to people in person. When her presence was more online, I started to see how others both in Mexico and America worked with her, and see the changes and trends over time.
I think one of the reasons she's so easily become part of my spiritual practice is that from the very onset is that one of the strongest elements of religious devotion in my own family growing up was the folk catholic veneration of the holy souls in purgatory. This devotion essentially became hybrid with Spiritualism, and so I pretty much grew up with the idea that the dead were not gone, and that death was not inherinetly bad or frightening.
Most of the most important saints in my family (St. Rosalia, St. Gerard Majella, etc) are constantly depicted with skulls and bones, and the idea that the Angel of Death wasn't a daunting or scary figure was ingrained in me at a very young age. So when she came into my life she wasn't scary, unusual, or exotic, she was incredibly deeply familiar.
I've decided that through out the year I'm doing to write a few different posts and musings about Santisima Muerte. So stay tuned for that!
