Looked at Troy again. Then I thought, why is it all with beards, and Brad Pitt, who is Achilles, without a beard? It seemed that among the Greeks, it was indecent for a mature husband to sparkle with his bare chin. I went to reread the Iliad, various articles on the topic and dictionaries. I discovered ... I don't know how widely it is known, but I gathered everything that interested me in a pile.
It's still funny when they try to sculpt something big and whole from different sources.
Achilles and Elena the Beautiful.
Achilles - (I will focus on this, more familiar to me, Latinized version of his name) is the youngest of the heroes of the Trojan War, therefore, in the overwhelming majority of images, he is drawn without a beard. The story with the bone of contention, with which, in fact, the whole war began, did not happen anywhere, but at the wedding of King Peleus and the nymph Thetis, the parents of Achilles. Achilles himself has not yet been in the project.
At this time Paris, in the American film, the young and also beardless Orlando Bloom, no longer only grazed the flocks, but also lived a non-Platonic life with the nymph Enona. That is, he was already 15 years old. But, judging by the story with the apple, he didn't have a lot of brains, or he thought something completely different. Well, would a sane person agree to exchange the goddess who loves him, then a simple shepherd, for a mere mortal woman who had already been kidnapped once and who had already had at least two men before him and whom he had not even seen, just because some- then another goddess said that she is more beautiful than everyone! And to believe that there is something even more beautiful after three great goddesses, among whom was the goddess of beauty herself, appeared to him in the costume of Eve!
By the way, Enona continued to love him even after Paris cheated on her with Elena and committed suicide when he died. Enona was also involved in the death of Paris, because she could save, but did not want to. But there is nothing else to think about when you ask your ex for help.
All the Achaean leaders, except for Achilles, at one time managed to get married to Elena the Beautiful and were once her suitors. And they went to Troy because they were bound by an oath to observe the honor of Elena's future husband. This oath was invented by the cunning Odysseus, so that Elena's suitors would not cut each other out of jealousy.
Achilles' friend Patroclus is also named among Elena's suitors. Although in the film he is slightly younger than Achilles and is even his student, the Iliad suggests that he was older. And, going to Troy, he received an order from his father to slow down the too young and hot Achilles in urgent cases. It is also mentioned there that Achilles, a pupil of Chiron, introduced Patroclus to the medical knowledge that the centaur revealed to him. Their ability to heal wounds and knowledge of medicinal herbs came in handy in the war.
It seems that despite the passing years, Elena remained just as beautiful, so after her death the gods decided to give her to Achilles as his wife, although he did not ask them about it at all, and there were more than enough others who wanted to. She was 20 years older than him, if not more, and had already been married three times, and if her return to Menelaus was considered a separate marriage, then four times.
Age of Achilles.
How old was Achilles? As already mentioned, he and his son Neoptolemus are the youngest heroes of the Trojan War. Despite the abundance of many powerful men in the Achaean camp, their soothsayers for some reason could not imagine victory without the participation of the teenager Achilles and almost the child of Neoptolemus in the war. And a local Katsura named Odysseus is doing everything so that they are under Troy and, in pursuit of glory, personally killed almost half of its population. This is not counting the surroundings.
Unlike the rest of the heroes, Achilles still wore long hair - a youthful hairstyle. On the day of his majority, he had to cut them off and sacrifice them to the local river god. (River Sperhiy in Thessaly, where he was born.) But when he went to war, he was not yet an adult, so he promised to give his hair to God when he returned. He did not fulfill his promises, cutting his hair as a sign of mourning for Patroclus and putting it in the hand of his deceased friend before burning. Nowhere did I find what time of age came of age in Phthia, but it is known that in Athens this one was at 18 years old, in Crete - at 17.
One more nuance. The nymph Thetis hid Achilles from the war on the island of Skyros among the daughters of King Lycomedes, and Odysseus, sent to search for him, could not identify him among the girls. This means that by the beginning of the Trojan War, Achilles looked gentle and graceful enough to resemble a girl. But at the same time, he was already mature enough so that Deidamia, one of Lycomedes' daughters, could conceive a child from him.
The Iliad says that from the moment of the abduction of Helena to the arrival of the Greeks near Troy, 10 years also passed. It took so many years for Menelaus and Agamemnon to gather troops and find a way to Troy. The war itself lasted ten years. This means that Achilles was 14-15 years old when Odysseus came to call him to the war, 15-17 years old when it began, and 24-27 when he died. But this is my personal teapot calculations. The Russian version of the wiki, for example, believes that he was 35 at the time of his death.
At least 8-10 years passed from the moment of the story with the apple to the kidnapping. This figure is derived from the age of Achilles' son, Neoptolemus. Achilles went to war before he was born. The Trojan War lasted 10 years, but in the end he managed to take part in it, and his father's armor was just right for him. Even if we assume that Neoptolemus was an accelerator, he should have been no less than thirteen years old. Add up the smallest probable ages of father and son, subtract twenty years from the abduction of Elena to the fall of Troy. It turns out seven to eight years, at least. It took so much for Aphrodite to reward Paris. However, "the gods have nowhere to hurry, they have eternity ahead of them."
Achilles and women.
With women, as I understood, Achilles was usually kind and gentle, but women were terribly unlucky with him.
- The already mentioned daughter of Lycomedes Deidamy, gave birth to a son to the hero and raised him alone. When his son grew up a little, he also went to war. The return of her lover Deidamia did not wait.
As a reward for his future participation in the war, King Agamemnon promised Achilles his daughter Iphigenia as his wife. But Artemis was angry with Agamemnon. Priest Kalhant said that there would be no tailwind to Troy until Iphigenia was sacrificed. Reluctantly, Agamemnon summoned his daughter under the pretext of a wedding with Achilles. Upon learning of the impending murder, the young man tried to save the bride, promising to slaughter anyone who touched her. To avoid strife among the Achaeans, Iphigenia herself ascended the sacrificial altar. At the last moment, Artemis spared the girl, replacing her with a deer, and she herself transferred Tavrida to the Crimea, where she made her a priestess, whose duties were to sacrifice all foreigners who fell into those lands. She did not see Achilles again.
It was assumed that in exchange for Iphigenia and to strengthen ties after the victory over Troy, Achilles would receive one of the three remaining daughters of Agamemnon as his wife. But he did not live to see this happiness.
Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons who fought on the side of Troy, was in love with Achilles (according to another version, fell in love at first sight). Perhaps this love during their duel with Achilles prevented her from winning, the Achaean pierced her chest with a spear. Taking off the helmet from the dead girl, he saw her beauty (according to other versions, he recognized in her that unknown girl whom he had recently met and fell in love with) and was very sad. Achilles took his head off to the ugly and idiot Tersitus, who dared to laugh at him and desecrate the body of Penthesileia, to all the Greeks. However, there are later versions of the myth, where Penthesileia kills Achilles in love, but Zeus resurrects him at the request of Thetis. As for Thersite, he was a freak only because the ancient Greeks simply could not imagine a bastard with a beautiful body.
Henry Justice Ford. Achilles and Penthesilea.
Under Troy, Achilles met the daughter of King Priam, Polixena, and killed her little brother in front of her. According to another version, he did not kill anyone, but simply met and fell in love with her, was going to marry and end the war. But either Agamemnon ruined everything again, or the Trojans killed the hated Achilles during an attempt at peace negotiations. Be that as it may, after the fall of Troy, the shadow of Achilles appeared to the Achaeans and demanded that Polyxenes be sacrificed to him, which was done by his son Neoptolemus. Polyxena calmly met death, seeing in her deliverance from slavery and a possible connection with Achilles. According to one version, she took her own life.
There is nothing special to say about Briseis, and so everyone knows that her seizure from Achilles (again Agamemnon tried) led to the fact that the Trojans killed almost all the Greeks and almost burned their ships. Achilles did not plan to marry her. She was beloved, but only a concubine. It seems that after the death of Achilles, her fate was also unenviable.
In addition, other women are mentioned who became the hero's military prey, lived in his tent, performed various chores and served for the pleasure of the owner of the tent, his friends and guests. For example, in the absence of Briseis "... Achilles rested inside a strong-winged forest. A lesbian full of him lay down with him ..." And having returned Briseis, Agamemnon gives Achilles 7 more lesbian girls who are skilled in needlework. Gee, in the 19th century, the last word was still used in its original meaning. In the same one in which the words "Muscovite" or "Parisian" are used. For 10 years of standing near Troy, the warlike Achaeans actively ravaged neighboring cities and environs. They also visited the nearby island of Lesbos, so lesbian slaves were found in the Achaean camp in great numbers.
What else can you say about Achilles?
He is not a demigod, he is a 3/4 god. If not more. His paternal great-grandfather and great-grandmother were Zeus himself and the nymph Aegina. And according to one of the mythical versions, Poseidon could have been the great-great-grandfather. 
As in the film, in The Iliad, Achilles was blond and Hector was dark. The translators call Achilles' hair "light brown curls", but on Skyros, where Achilles was hiding under the guise of a girl, he bore the female name "Pyrrha", which means "Red-haired". The name "Pyrrhus" - "Redhead" was the original name of his son Neoptolemus.
According to the Iliad, Achilles had an increased fluffiness. Veresaev's translation refers to the "shaggy chest", while Gnedich's translation refers to the "hairy Persians of the hero."
As for the Achilles' heel, in early versions of the myth, the invulnerable hero does die from a heel wound. In later and more realistic versions, Paris's arrow, hitting Achilles in the heel, only immobilizes him, and he dies from a second arrow aimed at the chest. Just like in the movie, when Paris, stabbing him in the heel, then shoots him in cold blood.
Fulfilling the prediction of the Delphic oracle, Achilles healed the non-healing wound of Telephus, the king of Mizia, which he himself once inflicted with his spear, simply by attaching this spear to the wound. In gratitude, Telef showed the Achaeans the way to Troy.
Achilles and company sailed to Troy on black ships. Just like Matthew Perry's squadron to Japan.
Unlike Achilles, the horses driving his chariot are immortal. Once they were titans, and their mother was a harpy. Under the guise of horses, they hide from the revenge of their own kind. Poseidon gave them to Peleus for his wedding. The horses are called Xanthus (the name means "red, brown, light golden") and Baliy ("spotted"). Xanthus also knows how to speak and has the gift of prophecy. After Xanthus said that it was not they who were to blame for the death of Patroclus, but the vengeful gods, and predicted a quick death to Achilles, the hero became angry, and the evil Erinyes forever shut up the talking horse. From now on, Xanthus preferred to keep quiet.
Only Achilles himself, his friend Patroclus and another of his friends, Automedon, who was Achilles' driver, could drive the immortal horses. The latter became so famous for dashing driving a vehicle that his name became a household name.
Hector's horse was also named Xanthus, but no oddities were noticed behind him.
Achilles has a constant epithet "swift-footed" in Homer, but during the pursuit of Hector, when they ran around the walls of Troy four times, he was never able to close the gap and catch up with the enemy. And they ran a lot. Even if Troy were as small as the Moscow Kremlin, they would have covered about 9 kilometers. And if there was at least a kilometer between the opposite walls, then this distance would increase to 12 - 16 km. Achilles could not catch up with the enemy despite the fact that he fled in a narrower circle, trying to push Hector away from the wall from which the Trojans could shoot him, Achilles. Hector, on the other hand, ran along the outer path. He was not afraid of the enemy's arrows, because Achilles forbade his own to shoot and steal the glory of victory from him. However, the fleet-footed Achilles could not catch up not only with Hector. He did not even catch up with the turtle. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles_and_turtle
By the way, about permanent epithets. Hector remains gleaming helmet even when he puts on his head a trophy helmet belonging to Achilles. Achilles' helmet did not shine. Maybe Hector chalked it up before going into battle?
The over-age child Achilles always complains about his misfortunes to his mother, the goddess. Mom immediately appears, pats him on the head, consoles him, and then begins to correct the situation. Considering that her connections are cooler than those of the ladies from the committee of soldiers' mothers, those who offend Achilles afterward are terribly sorry.
From the age of nine, Achilles knew that victory at Troy was impossible without him. From early childhood and almost until his death, all fortune-tellers and soothsayers, including the talking horse, told him that he would die under Troy. He has no personal interests in Ilion. He only needs glory and for some reason he prefers this glory to a long life.
Achilles, the character of the Iliad, almost resigned himself to the fact of his imminent death. Therefore, he does not value his life. Just like the lives of other people. "And, anyway, sooner or later we will all be there." The bitterness of his best friend's death makes him even more cruel.
In later versions of the myth, the hero looks much more humane.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, in Nikopol, scientists have discovered the bones of the legendary warrior of antiquity - Achilles. The son of the ruler of the Myrmidons Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis, who bathed the baby in the waters of the underground river Styx, thanks to which he was known as invulnerable in the Trojan War. Alas, the "unbeaten streak" of Achilles' victories was interrupted by an arrow of Paris, which hit the hero exactly in the heel. It was this heel with traces of an arrow wound that archaeologists discovered.
The Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is not inclined to associate the remains found near Nikopol with the legendary warrior. However, the less authoritative, but numerous falsifiers of world history are rather rubbing their hands. Say, Schliemann was wrong: Troy really should have been sought not in Asia Minor, but ... in Ukraine! In particular, where are the ruins of the legendary Olbia, which is not far from the glorious hero-city of Odessa.
The correspondent, naturally, could not pass by such a loud opening. Therefore, I immediately contacted the Nikopol State Museum of Local Lore.
- Is it true that the expedition with your participation discovered the grave of Achilles?- I ask the deputy director of the museum for scientific affairs Miroslav Zhukovsky.
- Not true.
– ?…
- What is written in some Moscow newspapers does not entirely correspond to reality. Today we can assume that we are keeping the "Achilles' heel". Part of a body that belonged to an ancient warrior.
- Is the find fresh, judging by the noise and din created around it?
- How can I tell you ... The burial, in which, presumably, there was a warrior similar to Achilles, was discovered in February 2007.
- Why did no one know about him before?
- You see, the 2006-2007 season for Ukrainian archaeologists turned out to be "fruitful", because of this, in Kiev, at the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, a long "queue" was formed for the delivery of anthropological material for serious scientific examination. And in the capital - the only qualified body dealing with anthropological expertise. While we were waiting for the result, we thought that only one person was buried (after all, we arrived at an already destroyed burial place ...); it turned out that there were three bodies.
- Why do Ukrainians so defend the version about a specific "star" belonging of the remains of an unknown warrior?
- As you probably know, the information about Achilles available today is gleaned exclusively from the epic and myths. The classics of ancient and world literature in general cite, in fact, one and only concrete fact: that Achilles died from an arrow shot by Paris on the advice of Apollo.
Any anthropologist who has studied the places of ancient burials knows that people died, say, from being hit by a stone, hitting the head with a hammer, or being hit by an arrow. These same arrows were found in the vertebrae, in the bones, in the limbs. But never until now has any of my respected colleagues been able to confirm or deny that a person can die from an arrow in the heel.
The discovery that we are talking about consists precisely in the fact that a person died from just such a blow. This is the first aspect.
The second aspect: for some reason in our area the cult of Achilles was very widespread. 20 km from the place where we found the find, there are the ruins of a Scythian city, the so-called Chertomlyk mound, explored in the 19-20 centuries. A golden burner was found there (an overlay for an arrow quiver). This gold plate depicts scenes from the life of Achilles by an unknown top-level jeweler.
Similar bronze matrices were found in the 70s in the Melitopol mound, as well as in Greece, in the tomb, which is attributed to Philip the Second of Macedon.
- Can we say that Achilles was not only a mythical person?
- The same doubts may arise regarding Homer himself, the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey: did the blind poet actually exist, in what period did he create, whether he was the sole author of poems, or was it actually written by a collective of authors under the generalized “ an epic name "?
- In the burial in question, besides the warrior, there are other remains ...
- The man, fatally wounded in the heel by an arrow, was 40-45 years old, a young woman - 18 years old and another adult whose gender could not be determined. During his lifetime, the warrior was very developed physically ...
- How is Brad Pitt, the performer of the role in the movie "Troy"?
- I would not compare them. If only because it is still a feature film. Nevertheless, the fact is suggestive.
I emphasize once again: we found the "Achilles heel" of a man killed by an arrow - but not the grave of Achilles itself. However, such coincidences do not happen very often. Today it is actually the first ...
- It is known that on about. Serpentine, near Romania, once housed the largest temple of Achilles in Europe. It was there, according to legend, that the soul of a warrior went after his "treacherous death" ...
- In my opinion, this is another reason to defend Zmeiny as an integral territory of Ukraine.
- Were you not embarrassed by the discovery of a burial at the site of a cesspool?
- And here the newspapers lied a little! In fact, the excavator dug a hole for the equipment of the future sewage system. But I ended up on this burial. In my opinion, there is nothing surprising in this. The entire right, "root" bank of the Dnieper from the central part of Nikopol (present-day Victory Park) right up to the village. Alekseevka, that is Chertomlyka, is 14 km, known in the world scientific literature as "Nikopol Kurgan Field". There were hundreds, if not thousands of graves from the most ancient burials of the Neolithic times - to the "bronze" of the legendary Aryans and nomads. In 2000, our expedition discovered in the Victory Park, literally 300 meters from the museum, an undisturbed burial of a Polovtsian woman of the 12th century. We carefully took out the amber, the intact bones, sent it to Kiev for examination, which confirmed the identity of the buried.
When the Nikopol pipe plant was being built, the possibilities of exploring the area were difficult. Only part of the mounds, the largest, managed to "work out". In addition, the peasants, wanting to increase their own areas for crops, did not hesitate to destroy the 3- and 4-meter mounds.
- Aren't you afraid that crowds of "black archaeologists" will rush into your land?
“They walk around here all the time, looking for places where they can profit. I can't say where the law enforcement agencies are looking ... We regularly give them documents about the traces of grave robberies - either we don't get any answers at all, or they answer: “Due to the absence of corpus delicti, the initiation of a criminal case was denied.”
Achilles, or Achilles, is one of the greatest heroes of the Trojan War, the son of the Myrmidonian ruler Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis. His mother bathed the baby in the waters of the river Styx to make the boy immortal. Only the heel she held him by remained vulnerable. According to legend, Achilles died at the Skean Gate from an arrow of Paris that hit him in the heel.
In the epic television series Breaking Bad (which we called Breaking Bad in a completely fucking way - but this, however, does not apply to the case), among many other things, two silent murderous brothers from the Mexican mafia draw attention. They attract not by themselves, but by their eerie enclosure: to pray and worship a statuette of a skeleton in a cloak, with a scythe and all other attributes of the traditional depiction of Death.
Meet Santa Muerte Blanca -White Holy Death aka White Girl is the main figure of the cult of the same name, which is unusually widespread in modern Mexico, especially in that part of its society that we would call trample - that is, lumpen-marginal and criminal-thug.
Santa Muerte is a somewhat unique phenomenon, because where else can you see this, so that serious-looking people read such a dumb skull with a scythe. That's right: you can only see this in Mexico. Where, firstly, the even more ancient Aztec influence on the fragile minds of the spiritually suffering is strong (Aztec beliefs, as we know, with great reverence treated to death and all its manifestations). Secondly, the drug mafia here is almost as powerful and badass as in Colombia. And in many ways sets the tone for the directions of social thought. Thirdly, the impoverished and downtrodden population (that is, the electorate), often ready to grab hold of any straw, even with an obvious demonic smell.
Tied together, these three factors gave rise to the cult of Santa Muerte Blanca, which emerged from the gangster slums and instantly scattered across the cities and towns. The touching love of the drug cartels for their Saint is simply explained: for those who walk around the edge, there is only hope that the White Girl will spare those devoted to her. And most importantly, Holy Death is just - it treats everyone equally: both the rich and the poor. This, for example, cannot be said about the bourgeois Santa Claus (because social stratification is very noticeable in his gifts).
Worshiping the White Girl seems to be completely legal, but it seems as if it is not completely, you just don't understand. From time to time, there are reports that the Mexican police have found and destroyed yet another secret altars of Santa Muerte - the cult buildings of the drug mafia - but it is impossible to completely eradicate the cult of Holy Death. On the contrary, Santa Muerte is gaining popularity among the people every year, much to the chagrin of the Catholic Church.
According to the data of the most adequate studies, the number of adherents of the White Girl is 4-5 million people and, as already mentioned, has a desire to increase. Before our very eyes, Santa Muerte is becoming a serious social force and an important factor in the political game.
Below is the most detailed and thorough description of this exotic cult that could be found on the Russian Internet. This story, however, is quite biased and one-sided, but this is even more interesting:
“The belief in the omnipotence of death and its power to destroy any obstacle has been inherent in American Indians since pre-Columbian times. And nowadays this belief has taken shape in Mexico, Argentina and other countries of Latin America as a separate religious cult of the White Holy Death. The first temple of Santissima Muerta (this is the name of this saint in Spanish) was opened in Mexico City in 1999, and now this cult has more than two million followers.
When I talked to the locals in Mexico about Spirits, shamans, witchcraft and magic, almost every interlocutor mentioned Santissima, her responsiveness and strength. “You ask - she does. And does not poke your nose into your sins. And do not order to wait and atone for sins for years. She just helps. " The saint helped someone find a job, protected someone from the attacks of enemies, brought wealth to someone or helped to achieve reciprocity in love ... Of course, I could not pass by such a powerful Spirit and went to get to know Her ...
In the temples of Holy Death, there are two images of her: in the form of a female skeleton in savanes with a scythe, an owl and a globe in her hands, or in the form of a pale young girl in a white dress (therefore, Holy Death is also called the White Girl). According to legend, initially people did not know death and, suffering from the burdens of fatigue from endless life, turned to God with a request to bring them deliverance. God appeared to the young beautiful girl he had chosen and said that, according to his will, from now on, she would become Death, an incorporeal spirit, drawing a line under human life and giving respite from the suffering and hardships of the earthly path. And immediately her body disintegrated, her beautiful face turned into a naked skull and Death, having received a scythe from the hands of God, set off on its way along the earth ...
She is often depicted with a scythe, scales and a globe in her hands - this symbolizes that all people on the planet are subject to her. It is equally fair, measures everyone with the same measure: the rich and the poor, those who vegetate and those who stand at the pinnacle of power, the sick and the healthy, the smart and the stupid. It was the justice and impartiality of Santissima Muerta that made her the most popular saint among the poor and those people who feel completely helpless against the attacks of powerful enemies. They turn to her in the most desperate situations, when no one and nothing can help - and Holy Death, having weighed the measure of your sufferings, can wrap them in the same amount of joy. But the most demanded of her "talents" is the ability to bestow money and luck in love to the one asking. In the Mexican markets, on the counter of almost every merchant, you can see a statuette of the Holy Death with dollars glued to it; or it can stand in a box filled with coins. Entrepreneurs receive double help from the Saint: she also attracts money to them, and cuts off the intrigues of competitors and various state punitive bodies. Sheer benefit! Muerta especially patronizes those people who are forced to work at night (this is her time!) Or whose work is associated with dangers: taxi drivers, police officers, drivers, shop assistants, dancers in nightclubs - many of them I noticed the images of the Holy Death or tattoos with her image.
Since the cult of Holy Death does not preach, like Christianity, humility, forgiveness, patience and other virtues that make people passive and easily controlled by the clergy, and, on the contrary, gives the adept confidence and strength to defend his rights, the Mexican government has an ambivalent attitude to the cult. On the one hand, this cult seems to be disapproved of, like, it is the superstition of the scum of society, people from the lower class, a cultured and educated person, it is shameful to believe in Holy Death and, in order to be decent and socially acceptable, to go to the Catholic Church. But, on the other hand, with the tacit support of the authorities, the cult exists and develops - because these very representatives of the authorities see the power of Holy Death and resort to its help themselves. Information regularly leaks out that one or another who has made a good career or a very rich politician or entrepreneur is an active and loyal follower of the White Girl, and such people will NEVER waste their time and money on something that does not bring them real benefits ...
For the first time, I asked Santissima Muerta to help me in one important matter, rather out of curiosity than with faith in her power ... but when an hour later my enemy came down with a heart attack, I was amazed at her capabilities. I sat in front of the statuette of the Holy Death, surrounded by lighted candles and understood that our * romance * with her is now for a long time ... And now, when I have any need, it is enough just to come to Santissima Muerta with faith and hope and - to ask ... I know when she will bring me a new big house (the fulfillment of my old and cherished dream!) - the first thing I will do in the garden is to erect a large and luxurious altar for her.
An image of her is placed on the altar of Holy Death, in the form of a statue or painting. There are several images:
Santa Muerta in a white robe - symbolizes purity, innocence. She appears in a white dress and with the attributes of the Virgin Mary: the symbolism of purity and innocence contradicts the traditional perception of death as "the fruit of sin." Hence another name for her - White Girl.
Santa Muerto in gold - prosperity.
Santa Muerto in black is the power of overcoming life's obstacles.
Santa Muerta in blue or purple - the awakening of mystical abilities, connection with the world of spirits.
Saying prayers to Santa Muerte, they use the Catholic prayer ritual - "novenas", or nine-day prayers, and create an altar for her. The altar of Santa Muerto is approached only on the knees. Some rituals are performed only by children (usually little girls) (at the suggestion of adults): it is believed that Holy Death is especially favorable to their purity and innocence.
Offerings for Santa Muerto:
1. They put on her altar a lot of fresh flowers - red and white roses, carnations, tuberose, gardenia, tulips, only fresh, wilted ones change immediately. It is believed that this guarantees health.
2. Serve various sweets - chocolate, honey, liquor, sweets, lollipops, and even chewing gum. So that life is sweet and there is no bitterness.
3. The offering can be alcoholic beverages - wine, cognac, tequila, rum, anise vodka, sometimes even beer (they are poured only into glass containers).
4. Cigarettes and cigars - 2 pieces, as a rule. This is done to remove the envy around the supplicant. The altar and face of Santa Muerto is also additionally fumigated with tobacco for a kind of purification.
5. Fruits should always be fresh, especially red apples and yellow fruits (bring prosperity), coconuts, pineapples, mangoes, watermelons, bananas - 3-4 pieces are also used.
6. Pure water (also in glass) is the main conductor of communication with Holy Death.
7. Bread - changed 2 times a week. But the stale one is not thrown away, but belongs to the park under a tree.
8. Incense in the form of a stick or a cone. Frankincense, copal, sandalwood, myrrh, rosemary, muxus are often used. It helps to cleanse negative energy and brings good luck in everything. Basically, two straws or cones are burned to make a wish come true. Also, candles in any quantity will not be superfluous on her altar.
Holy Death is very jealous and does not tolerate images of other saints or Spirits standing next to her. Also, a worshiper of her should carry her image with him as a symbol of the fact that he always remembers about her - usually a keychain. pendant, but many adepts make a tattoo with the image of the Saint on the body.
PRAYERS TO THE HOLY DEATH
MONDAY
Santa Muerte, I ask you to fill my family, my hearth and my work with blessings from the beginning of the week. Protect me from everything bad. May it be so.
TUESDAY
White Girl, I bow down to your feet and ask you urgently, give me health. Remove any disease so that I can move forward. I ask you from the bottom of my heart.
WEDNESDAY
On this day that has begun today, I am not asking you for anything. But I am grateful to you for the protection that you give me and my beloved creatures. Continue to keep us at your fingertips.
THURSDAY
Today, before leaving, I ask you to open all the roads that lead me to a calm life, I do not ask you for luxury, but only for the essentials so that I can live without worries. I put my faith on you.
FRIDAY
White Sister, I ask you that you, through the owl that always accompanies you, give me prudence to guide my children (family), and that they always behave like good creatures. I trust you.
SATURDAY
Thank you, my Lady, for allowing me to see the light of a new day, and in gratitude I will think of you and dedicate this call to you so that my requests will be heard. My trust is for you.
SUNDAY
Thank you, Holy Death, for being close to me all 7 days of this week. Thank you for giving me protection and moving away from me and my hearth all the bad things that creep in. My devotion is yours forever.
PRAYER OF HOLY DEATH FOR FULFILLMENT OF DESIRE
(santa muerte de mi corazon brindame senhora tu leaked
cm. de mi amor, librame de qualquier tridor
cm. de mi alma bendIseme con tu kalma
cm. de mi vida consedeme lo ke te pida
cm. de mis pensamientos no me dehes sin sustent
cm. bendita dame felicidad infinita)
Holy Death of my heart, bring me senora your protection
Holy Death of my love, free me from any traitor
Holy Death of my soul, bless me with your calmness
Holy Death of my life, give me what I ask for
Holy Death of my thoughts, don't leave me without food
Holy blessed Death, give me endless happiness.
THE APPEAL TO THE HOLY DEATH BEFORE CONVERSATION TO HER
The Lord, the almighty father, the creator of heaven, earth and all that is visible and not
visible, we ask you for permission to invoke the Most Holy Death, my
white baby, my wonderful rose.
Prayer (Call):
Holy Death, Holy Death, Holy Death, we beg you,
come to us and join the joy we experience when we are with
you, my white girl, my magnificent rose, guide us along
the right path and protect us from all bad.
Holy Death, Holy Death, Holy Death, come we pray
Mother of God to bow to you and honor you and to us
filled with joy, because when you are with us, you give us protection and we do not
we fear nothing, with the virtues that you possess we
overcome all obstacles in our path, Holy Death, do not leave
us and give us your protection.
Holy Death, come, we ask with all our hearts, thank you,
thank you, thank you, Holy Death, for being with us and
in the name of our Lord Almighty, we offer you the following
prayer, thank you white baby, thank you wonderful rose for what
bless you with us.
FAREWELL TO HOLY DEATH AND END OF PRAYER
Holy Death, we thank you for your spiritual presence, and
we are infinitely grateful for the fact that you listen to us and we
We are grateful to you for the fact that you support us and ask you
always respond to our calls and comes when one of us is in
you need, my white baby, accept our gratitude and be
blessed Holy Death, thank you for giving us this
great time of joy.
Thank you, Holy Death,
Thank you, wonderful rose,
Thank you, white girl! "
Mexican Highway 85 is 754 miles long and begins in the north at the city of Nuevo Laredo. Right on the border is the Laredo Bridge, which belongs to both Mexico and the United States. Nothing special, but quite large - four car lanes, footpaths on either side, 309 meters long and almost 13 meters high.
On May 11, 2007, on Friday morning, it was under this bridge that a car moving from the direction of Mexico rolled off. On this section of the highway, on average, about 14 thousand cars pass a day, but this morning (as it later turned out from the registration data) the road was almost empty. Two handcuffed men were taken out of the car, and another was pulled out of the trunk. All three are led to the altar, which stands under the bridge, almost in the middle.
The altar, of course, is very conditional - just some rubbish, ribbons, balls, jewelry are thrown over. The main thing is the statuette in the center. Not very realistic, but easily recognizable figure of a girl with a characteristic make-up, her face is either made of plastic or rubber. It is very difficult to make out something - the girl is wearing a white wedding dress that covers her almost like a burqa. The driver brings a box, puts it near the altar and begins to place the multi-colored candles that were lying nearby. Three, handcuffed, are brought to their knees. The one in the trunk goes into hysterics, falls to the ground and tries to roll. They kill him first. First in the chest, then two bullets in the head. The remaining two are shot only in the forehead. Two bullets are enough. The first one is dragged to the altar so that blood flows from him nearby - that's how it should be. While all this is happening, the driver writes a note on a small orange piece of paper, and then attaches it to the wall next to the altar. Nalistken wrote: “This is for everyone who messes with the Gulf Cartel. Welcome to Nuevo Laredo, bunch of assholes. ” The driver then lights all the candles and straightens the flowers around the altar, after which all three get into the car and drive away. The bodies will be found in a few hours.
David Romo did not spend the night at home on the night of December 19, 2011, so in the morning the special services found only his wife. She was arrested. David was arrested less than an hour later in the company of seven other people. The arrested were taken to the police station, where they were photographed, took testimonies, and then charged with kidnapping and blackmail.
In court, Romo claimed that the police tortured him, kicked him, used a stun gun, that it was all electoral fraud - one of the candidates decided to inflict a political rating on innocent people, and he, Romo, did not commit anything illegal, since he forbids everything illegal his religion. He, one might say, and created.
David, along with his accomplices, was put under house arrest for 30 days during the preliminary investigation. In June 2012, Mexican David was sentenced to 66 years in prison and paid a fine in the amount of 666 minimum wages established in Mexico City for theft, kidnapping and extortion.
Dona Cueta
Enriqueta Romero sways in her chair and smokes a thick filter cigarette. They came to interview her again. “I have been a follower for over 40 years,” says Enriqueta, and drags on. She already said this in a film that was filmed about her in 2007. 13 years ago, in 2001, her son, who had just been released from prison, came to her and put a statue of a skeleton wearing a dress in her shop. A few months later, the human-sized figure was taken out into the street, since a lot of people constantly gathered in front of it, and then they completely removed it behind the glass, building a solid altar around it.
“She loves us and heals us. People come here to ask her for help - if someone has a son in prison, or AIDS, or has nothing to eat, says Romero. - Holy Death is our savior, our light. It is very difficult to explain what she means to us. She protects those whom no one else can protect. " It would not be a big exaggeration to say that Enriqueta Romero single-handedly popularized the Santa Muerte cult. It was after the organization of the altar in Tepito - one of the most disadvantaged districts of Mexico City - that the worship of Holy Death came out of the basements into the streets.
“Holy Death is our savior, our light. It is very difficult to explain what she means to us. She protects those whom no one else can protect. "
Two missing boys
Mexico has the state of Sonora. In this state, there are copper mines, around which the industrial town of Nakosari de Garcia, with a population of ten thousand, is built. When ten-year-old Martin Rios disappeared there in July 2010, no one made a fuss. No case was opened, the law enforcement agencies were not involved in the search.
On March 6, 2011, eight months after the disappearance of Rios, another ten-year-old boy, Izus Martinez, disappears in the same city. His parents turned out to be a little more scrupulous and went to the police on the same day.
There is a local branch of the Church of the Holy Death in Nakosari de Garcia. The altar was located in a house on the outskirts of the town, and both missing boys often stayed in the same house. The owner of the villa and the leader of the cult was Sylvia Meraz Moreno, now 46 years old.
On March 8, 2012, the body of Izus Martinez was searched by the police and the body of Izus Martinez was found hidden under the floor in the bedroom of one of Meraz's daughters. All eight members of the cult were immediately arrested, and the bodies of Martin Rios and Cleotilda Romero were found buried in the suburbs. Meraz Moreno and six of her accomplices were given life sentences, the eighth girl, who was 15 years old at the time of her arrest, is in custody until she comes of age. Her trial is scheduled to take place in the summer of 2015.
As it turned out, in June 2010, with the help of her roommate, Meraz opened the veins in the arms of the living Martin Rios longitudinally and poured the blood into a plastic container until the boy died, and then poured it abundantly on the altar in the house. The same operation was performed on ten-year-old Izus Martinez in March 2011, only his head was cut off after opening his veins. Izus was the grandson of Sylvia Meraz, and her roommate - the main accomplice in the murders - had previously met with Rios' mother.
Birth of Holy Death
It was like this: at first people lived and did not know death. Lived forever. We lived and did not die. Never. People are tired of living like this: grief and torment, suffering and disappointment, frustration and deprivation. People came to God and asked him to do something about it. God is all-merciful, glory to him, chose a girl, came to her and said: "By my will, from now on, you will be Death, drawing a line under the life of people and delivering them from torment." Try to argue with God - the girl's body disintegrated, there was a naked skull instead of a face, a braid in her hands, and then you know.
Since Santa Muerte is a skeleton, she is tormented by permanent thirst. Therefore, water is often brought to her as a sacrifice, always in a transparent glass container. It's the same with alcohol. More flowers, bread (which needs to be changed every two weeks), fruits. They love to surround her with candles of different colors and incense, figurines breathe into her face with thick smoke from something smoking - they say she likes it. Holy Death is still a girl, so she cannot walk in one dress all her life. Dresses need to be changed. If you want love or, there, return your husband - put red on the skeleton. You want money - obviously, gold or yellow. There are problems with the law: he killed someone or so, stole a chicken - before the prayer, the robe of the Holy Death must be green. Researchers are mostly silent about the blood of ten-year-old boys.
Santa Muerte is all-forgiving and all-giving. You can leave her forever in a traditional white dress and ask for whatever you want. On the other hand, someone says that if you do not respect her, Holiest Death, she will destroy all your relatives and set you up under the bullets of that squishy from the enemy cartel. And that's all, and you are not. That's it. Dresses had to be changed.
12 heads burned
On the Yucatan Peninsula, in the state of the same name, there is the resort town of Cancun. On August 30, 2008, on the outskirts of Cancun, a short shootout broke out between the police and three people in a car, which the police had intended to stop. One of those hiding was wounded, all three were disarmed. Firearms and a bloody ax were found in the car. Those caught belonged to the Los Zetas cartel. The day before the arrest, these people brought 12 people to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Cancun, chopped off their heads, put them in a circle in a field nearby and burned them. After the arrest, the houses of the accused were searched, all three were found with symbols and figures of Santa Muerte.
The day before the arrest, these people brought 12 people to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Cancun, chopped off their heads, put them in a circle in a field nearby and burned them.
Failed reformation
A year earlier, David Romo, founder of the first official Church of the Holy Death, who would then be imprisoned for kidnapping and blackmail, had attempted a reformation. At that time, his brainchild had already been stripped of the status of an official religious organization, and now it is also a murder under the bridge. Obviously, the newspapers will trumpet about the ritual shooting in the name of Santa Muerte, and this is not at all good for the church.
In the summer of 2007, Romo presents a new image for worship - a pretty brunette with an ordinary human face and huge wings behind her back, now she is called the Angel of Death. He sends out appeals to the owners of local altars and regional branches: "We will now live in a new way," but the flock does not heed. Holy Death is too attractive, and very accustomed to.
A few months later, Romo burst out with accusations against the paraphernalia dealers, they say, it was they, with their mercantile interests, pushed the reformist example into a corner, did not give way, and spoke against the founder of the church. The paraphernalia merchants ignored the cries of the self-nominated archbishop.
Where did Holy Death come from?
The formation and origins of the cult of Santa Muerte are still in question. Most researchers agree that this is such a syncretic thing, formed from a heap of different beliefs, and even more from the Spanish Catholic expansion into Mesoamerican pagan civilizations, in particular, the Olmec, Maya and Aztec tribes.
The personification of death for Mexico and its geographical progenitors is generally very characteristic. The cult of Santa Muerte is not usually associated with Day of the Dead, which is widely celebrated in Mexico, but you cannot be mistaken if you assume that they have the same origins. The Aztecs celebrated every August, a whole month: they offered gifts and sacrifices to the goddess of death Miktlansihuatl - why not Holy Death?
In favor of the religious-syncretic basis of the cult, the practical situation with the attitude of the followers of Holy Death to Catholicism also speaks - the same Enriqueta Romero, to whom the cult owes its popularization, says that she is an orthodox Catholic. That is, Catholicism is separate, Holy Death is separate, and both do not interfere with each other at all. And so almost everywhere. The synthesis of Holy Death with Catholicism should not be taken seriously as an integral and conscious teaching. There is rather schizophrenic confusion, like among Orthodox Russian peasants, who reproduced a bunch of pagan rituals in everyday life.
One person per week
On March 29, 2010, a police officer working in the Baio Flores area on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, lost a pistol. Working moment - well, gone and gone, they will conduct an internal investigation.
Two weeks later, the body of a 27-year-old student of the Faculty of Philosophy, Rodrigo Ezkurro, was found in the same area. On July 22nd, 27-year-old Pablo Villa was killed nearby. On the morning of August 8, that is, two weeks later, witnesses found the body of 48-year-old Georges Mansilla almost there. Pablo Zanuik, 26, and Marcelo Cabrera, 28, were discovered on August 15 in the same neighborhood.
On the last day of summer, 31 August, 22-year-old Marcelo Antelo was detained after a short shootout with the police. A .9 caliber pistol was found on him - the same one stolen from a police officer. According to Antelo, he promised the Holy Death to kill one person a week so that she would protect him and help him find his well-being. As can be understood from the frequency of the murders, Antelo did not fulfill his promise. Apparently, that's why he was caught. The word must be kept.
According to Antelo, he promised the Holy Death to kill one person a week so that she would protect him and help him find his well-being.
Patroness of crime
All these stories of ritual murders in the name of Holy Death sound so monstrous only because they are taken out of a common, much less carnivorous context. To associate this cult with murder is a criminal exaggeration, unless you are a representative of the Catholic Church, then everything is understandable. Santa Muerte has at least six million followers in Mexico alone. And also South and Central America, Canada. Most of the adepts are teenagers and women.
On the other hand, Santa Muerte's connection with the criminal world and its popularity among all sorts of delinquents are obvious. The point, of course, is not only in thanatic romance - Holy Death returns to its fans the comfort of a pagan cult. The beautiful Niña Blanca, unlike the strict Catholic Church, does not require righteousness and self-restraint from you, it really does not require anything at all - put some bread and pour some water, and that is not necessary.
The White Girl does not judge you or anyone else. She does not judge at all, this is not part of her duties. It only gives and protects. If Holy Death takes something from someone, it is from your enemy. What if you yourself turn out to be someone's enemy? It's better not to think about this, this is already particular, and why bother clogging your head at all. Such questions in any religion can be raised, or they can be omitted.
The Most Holy Death is without exaggeration the most convenient confession in the world, you can ask for anything you want from it. The progressive intelligentsia will not remain disappointed: in Mexico, it is the Church of the Holy Death that actively supports the LGBT community and freely holds homosexual weddings. Prostitutes, thieves, murderers, drug dealers, again: Holy Death does not judge. Just like the Christianity of the time of Jesus and the apostle Peter.
35 demolished temples
Claudia Rosales has extended nails and a floating tattoo all over her back. She owns a shop, sells shoes and clothes. In early 2009, Rosales, using her own money, erected a statue of the Holy Death on the central highway on the border with the United States in the city of Matamoros. A month later, the statue was declared illegal and demolished. The mayor of the city spoke on television the next day and delicately announced that Mexicans can worship anything, but it is better to do it at home or in temples, without getting into public space.
The Catholic Church has every reason to unite with the authorities to fight the cult of Santa Muerte - its affairs in Latin America, until recently a faithful bastion of faith, have not been going very well lately. People are frustrated with a religion that fails to make them rich and successful. And the Holy Death brings money, here the paraphernalia merchants will not let the paraphernalia dealers lie: for the last three years, the figurines with the bony have been selling much better than the merch of the traditional Mexican Holy Virgin of Guadalupe.
Francisco Batista is a saint father from Mexico City: “About eight years ago we saw a huge cult representation among drug lords and cartel members. Why? Because these people say that Jesus or the Virgin Mary is not able to give what they ask for, namely - protection from soldiers, police and their enemies. " He is convinced that the cult of the Holy Death only increases the scale of violence in Mexico, since Santa Muerte supposedly implies human sacrifice in exchange for his protection. Meanwhile, the queue at the altar of Enriqueta Romero in Tepito is increasing in inverse proportion to the decrease in the flock of Catholic churches.
People are frustrated with a religion that cannot do
them rich and successful.
And the Holy Death brings money.
Mexican Highway 85 is 754 miles long and begins in the north at the city of Nuevo Laredo. On Monday night, March 24, 2009, a municipality bulldozer drove along this highway. The workers had a task - to demolish 35 temples of the Holy Death, built on the border with America. It was along this road that a car with six people had been driving two years earlier. About 20 minutes after the car drove under the bridge, the driver lit candles and straightened flowers around the altar, located near the concrete bridge support. Then all three got into the car and drove away. Three corpses will be found in a few hours.
Each of us has thought about death at least once. What happens after the fateful day? Should we expect the continuation of life in a completely new form, or just accept the fact that you will cease to exist? Since ancient times, people have been interested in the answer to this question. This is perfectly traced in the mythologies of different peoples of the world: in almost every culture there is a God who takes the souls of the dead into the underworld.
However, Santa Muerte is considered to be a really special movement. It originated in Mexico about three centuries ago, the name in translation sounds like "Holy Death". The idea of this cult is the worship of a deity that personifies death. He is presented in the form of a female skeleton, dressed in a bright dress. Mexicans believe that prayers to Santissima protect them from premature death, and are also able to grant wishes.
In general, the cult is widespread and has a large army of adherents to its ideology. Along with other mythologies and beliefs, he found his place in body painting. Even outside of Mexico, Santa Muerte-style tattoos are found these days.
This tattoo trend is popular among "asocial" people: thieves, criminals, moths, drug dealers. Common belief does not divide or even prohibit their activity. In this regard, they turn to other forces, and the drawings on the body only emphasize their worldview.
Consider the meaning of the Santa Muerte tattoo:
- Luck... And so, in most cases, adherents of the cult are socially disadvantaged people. In order to pull off the next thing, they turn to the deity in the hope that luck will be on their side.
- Health... It is believed that the Saint heals from diseases, and also helps to survive even in the most hopeless situations.
- Love... Mexican girls often mention their men and boyfriends they like in their prayers. In their opinion, they are able to return home walking husbands, as well as to make a love spell.
- Justice... Often, a woman - a skeleton is depicted with a balance in her hands. Santissima doesn't give a damn if you're a poor man or a rich man. Whether he is distinguished by intelligence, or extremely stupid. She measures everyone equally. And in the matter of restoring justice, he sometimes even punishes the culprit with a bullet.
- Wealth... The followers of the Saint believe that worshiping her will certainly bring them money and wealth.
Having familiarized ourselves with the value, let's move on to the style in which the image can be executed. Pay attention to the photo of the Santa Muerte tattoo from the article. Drawings are equally good both in black and white and in color. It is noteworthy that, despite the use of bright colors, a certain gloom of the picture remains.
The main plot is a realistic face of a girl, on which elements are clearly traced. This is typical for the nose and eyes: they are painted over in black. Thus, one gets the impression that the woman is half dead.
The picture is also decorated with additional attributes: weights and a ball. The first are power. The ball is a small model of our Earth. The idea of combining these two elements is as follows: death is omnipotent and will come for everyone.
After developing the sketch, you have to choose a place for its application. Everything here will depend on its size and shape. Such drawings look good on the forearm, hands. You can improvise the sleeve, or do a work where the image will flow from the upper arm to the chest.
