Every day the Holy Death has more devotees and the jealous Church does not see this with good eyes.
It is important to know that by asking the Holy Death, you unleash great forces which magnitude and power must always be handled with a lot of respect and faith. A misuse of everything revealed in this book, is the responsibility only of those who misuse them. If you decide to use them for the dark side, sooner or later they will revert to you for evil, making you guilty for yourself.
Normally, the images of the Holy Death and her cult in general are treated with sincerity and for offering company, something very different from the usual fear of religious rituals. The thing is to treat the image as a member of your family and to appear before it without fearing or disrespecting her.
It is said that once, a sanctuary where the Most Holy Death was being worshiped disappeared because it was annoying some people. To avoid this, believers have different options: hide her image, or replace it with a white rose.
As a curiosity, there is the famous image of Jose Guadalupe Posadas called La Catrina that is currently in prints, small paper cards, chains, rings, medals and figures of bulk of different shades and sizes.
There is a legend that emerges from her, in a place called San Pantaleón. In this place hundreds of people professed their faith in this image, which apparently had been destroyed in a fire ironically caused by a candle that one of the worshippers lit for the image. In that same town, another loyal devotee made a new image using a wooden log and placed it near the temple where people worshipped the image and showed their devotion every July 27. The inhabitants of the town carried small figures of the Holy Death round their necks, and worshipped the image with absolute faith in their houses. The miners entrusted themselves to the Holy Death before going down to the mines, so that day after day she would bring them back to their houses and there would be no tragedies. Every day she had more devotees because the people’s petitions were heard. After some time, the production of minerals stopped and the people left the town. Nothing was ever heard about the image they worshipped.
During my visit to Mexico I heard about a person with great devotion: Mrs. Enriqueta Romero Romero. Everything people explained me about this woman (although I could not meet her personally) was kindness and love. She was the founder of the first shrine to the Holy Death, and she assures that her worship is not related to any kind of witchcraft, sorcery or Satanism. On her altar people only pray, ask and make offerings to La Santísima (the Most Holy).
Her parishioners are Catholic and in their demands and prayers God, Christ and the Virgin of Guadalupe are always invoked, ‘because the Most Holy is no stranger to the Christian religion’, although the Catholic Church does not recognise her cult. The shrine of the Holy Death is placed in front of her house, surrounded by floral and fruits offerings (mainly apples, which symbolize abundance), votive offerings, candles, toys, notes, coins, sweets, cigarettes, cigars, alcoholic beverages in glasses and bottles.
In this place, the sculpture of the Most Holy -also called Señora de las Sombras (Lady of the Shadows), Señora Blanca (White Lady), Señora Negra (Black Lady), Niña Santa (Holy Nina), La Parca, La Flaca (The Skinny) – is two metres high. Her traditional figure is the skeleton of the Day of the Dead, but dressed as a virgin and saint with different coloured costumes, each of which has a special meaning. Bracelets of pearls, gold and silver with embedded gemstones hang from her neck, clothes, scythe, scale, metal arms and phalanges. These are offerings and gifts of those who thank her for some miracle or favour.