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Santa Muerte is a female deity and folk saint in Mexican folk Catholicism and Neopaganism. A personification of death, she is associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife by her devotees. Despite condemnation by the Catholic Church, and more recently Evangelical pastors, her cult has become increasingly prominent since the turn of the 21st century.

Her present day following was first reported in Mexico by American anthropologists in the 1940s and was an occult practice until the early 2000s. According to R. Andrew Chesnut, Ph.D. in Latin American history and professor of religious studies, Santa Muerte is at the center of the single fastest-growing new religious movement in the world.

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Did you know...

Simon Forman

• ... that Simon Forman once owned a copy of the Picatrix?
• ... that the Twice Told Tarot was illustrated by a theater professor?
• ... that Duke University conducted a study into clairvoyance?
• ... that the decan Hery-ib Wia means "heart of the ship?"
• ... that the demon Leraje is an archer connected to the moon?
• ... that garnet is the gemstone of Aquarius?
• ... that The Star tarot card depicts Sirius?
• ... that the Cathars were massacred to annihilation by the Inquisition?

This month in history The Hieronymus Bosch Tarot 1 November - The Archbishop of Capua sends a letter to Nicolaus Copernicus asking him to explain his heliocentric hypothesis. (1536) 1 November - Nicholas II becomes Tsar of Russia. (1894) 8 November - Gospel riots: Bloody clashes take place in Athens following the translation of the Gospels into demotic Greek. (1901) 10 November - A Goddess of Reason is proclaimed by the French Convention at the suggestion of Pierre Gaspard Chaumette. (1793) 11 November - Paracelsus, Swiss-German physician, botanist, astrologer, and occultist is born. (1493) 13 November - The occult horror film As Above, So Below is released in theaters. (2014) 16 November - LSD is first synthesized by Albert Hofmann from ergotamine at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel. (1938) 17 November - Mary I of England dies of natural causes. (1558) 18 November - Aleister Crowley is initiated in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. (1898) 20 November - Occultist and author Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers dies. (1918) 22 November - Pope Clement V issues the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Knights Templar and seize their assets. (1307) 26 November - Vlad the Impaler defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Báthory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time. (1476) 30 November - The Hieronymus Bosch Tarot is first published by Bloodstone Studios. (2020)

Featured image The Witch of Endor is a woman who, according to the Hebrew Bible, was consulted by Saul to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Saul wished to receive advice on defeating the Philistines in battle, after prior attempts to consult God by throwing lots and other divination means had failed. However, what is summoned, whether the actual ghost of Samuel or a spirit impersonating him, only delivers a prophecy of doom against Saul. Artist: Tony Chen (More Images)

Featured Quote "Magick is the art of causing changes in consciousness to occur in accordance with the will." - Dion Fortune

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