Local business brings Santa Muerte worship to Long Beach
While most people shrink away in fear at the concept of dying, inside Deja Vu Flower & Botanica Shop in Long Beach death and the dead are honored and loved.
Since opening the shop eight years ago, Maribel Rosas has developed a close personal connection with Santa Muerte, the Latin American saint of death.
“I [didn’t] believe in the Santa Muerte before,” Rosas said. “Like, when I [started] having this business, I started to believe in the Santa Muerte because everything I asked her, it went through.”
Santa Muerte can be seen all over Deja Vu Flower & Botanica Shop, in the storefront windows, the shelves and counters, carved into sculptures or printed on candles.
Santa Muerte is often depicted as a skeletal figure dressed in a long robe and holding a scythe. She is worshipped as a saint throughout Latin America, although she is not canonized by the Catholic church. Immigration brought the worship of Santa Muerte to the United States.
“I started feeling love for her,” Rosas said. “And I just made her like my friend, my best friend. She’s my best friend.”
Different colored Santa Muerte’s are considered to have varying traits. Rosas has a relationship with the white Santa Muerte, which she described as “good.”
However, the black Santa Muerte is often associated with the criminal underworld and is known to be worshipped by cartel members who ask for her protection over their crimes.
“They’re for bad,” Rosas said. “For protection for bad, the black one.”
On top of a glass counter on one side of the store, also sits a Santa Muerte dressed in a flowing red robe, who stands for love.
Rosas wasn’t expecting to find so many followers of Santa Muerte in Long Beach when she first opened her shop.
“I never thought it was going to be a lot of people,” Rosas said. They like the Santa Muerte. They like it so much.”
Rosas makes offerings of candles, flowers, bread and rum to Santa Muerte.
According to Rosas, since opening her shop she has seen around 20 of her customers become new devotees of Santa Muerte.
Rosas believes Santa Muerte chooses her followers.
“You don’t know, it just happens,” Rosas said. “You don’t have control, if you want her or not. If she wants you to fall in love with her, you’re going to do that. I mean it’s going to happen, and you don’t even know, it’s just happening.”
According to Rosas, Santa Muerte watches over the living and the dead, including Rosas’ own ancestors.
Rosas says she can sense the presence of these same ancestors around her as Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, draws closer.
“I feel them, you know, they’re like around,” Rosas told the Signal Tribune.
While Rosas makes regular offerings to Santa Muerte throughout the year, she will make a special temporary altar for her ancestors for Dia de los Muertos.
The Dia de los Muertos altar, or offrenda, will be used to offer bread, liquor, flowers and coffee to those who have passed, which includes Rosas’ grandparents, parents and some of her friends.
“I believe that they visit us,” Rosas said.
Another staple of Dia de los Muertos offerings, marigold flowers, can be found in large bouquets in the flower fridge near the back of the shop.
Rosas has over two decades of experience creating intricate flower arrangements for her customers, and went to the Santa Monica School of Floral Design.
Spiritual services offered at botanica
Many of Rosas customers come in looking for spiritual help with problems in their lives.
In turn, Rosas offers them a wide variety of products and services meant to give them release.
To some she’ll sell a plant, candle or oil from the hundreds of colorful options she has lining her store walls. For others, she’ll offer a spiritual cleansing known as a limpia.
Some of her customers are true believers in the spiritual world.
“Some people, they feel the bad energy,” Rosas said. “They’re sensitive, and they know when something is wrong, and they have to look for help. They’re like ‘oh you know what, I need something.'”
Others are skeptics who have had something happen in their lives that has made them willing to at least try a spiritual solution to their problems.
“They’re like ‘[…] I don’t really believe but it’s weird what happened.’ You know, this and that,” she said. “They’re like, “Give me something, I need to get better.”
For example, if someone finds that they can’t find any opportunities in their life, and that all options are closed to them, Rosas will perform a ceremony asking the saint Elegua to “open the roads” for them.
Depictions of numerous saints and Orishas can be found inside Deja Vu. While Rosas doesn’t personally follow all of them, she keeps a wide range available for her customers.
Sometimes when she sees someone is really suffering and doesn’t have money, she will offer them a spiritual tool or service free of charge.
According to Rosas, faith is a crucial part of the practices she observes.
“If you don’t believe and you think it’s not gonna work, don’t waste your time,” Rosas said. “Don’t waste your money, don’t waste my time.”
Deja Vu Flower & Botanica Shop is located at 2628 E Anaheim St. and is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information call 310 883 3902 or by emailing Mariguizar123@gmail.com.