SantaMuerte

Santa Muerte, also known as Our Lady of Holy Death, is a goddess from the Southwestern United States and Mexico whose worship has spread like wildfire. Her worship has increased drastically in the past decades, claiming worshippers all over the world. She is usually depicted as the personification of death — as a skeleton draped in a cloak with a hood. Santa Muerte sometimes holds a scythe and/or a globe.

Apparently, her saintly title isn’t quite legitimate: the Catholic Church has been trying for years to dissuade people from worshipping her, but her pull is so much greater. Some posit that her worship is so attractive because, unlike the church, “she is said not to punish for traditional sins.” Her worshippers remark upon her kindness and protection for the living.