While the Cult of Santa Muerte remains shrouded in mystery to many inhabitants of the western hemisphere, her following continues to grow. Renaissance woman and spiritualist Janel Longoria has been an aid in helping many people of the English-speaking world and novices alike learn more about Santa Muerte. She is a beautiful soul and her spiritual insights are lessons on life that all of us can find beneficial. Enjoy!
Warlock Asylum: Before we begin, I would like to extend my gratitude and thanks for the time you have taken out of your busy schedule to share some of your wisdom and insight with our readers. I am very impressed with your work and platform. However, for some of your readers who may not be familiar with your work, please introduce yourself. Who is Janel Longoria?
Janel Longoria: Well, Hello there! As you may know, I’m Janel Longoria and I am from deep south Texas. I reside about 35 minutes from the border and have lived here all my life. I’m a bit of a seeker in the sense that I feel I’m always going to be a spiritual student. I come from a Catholic family and from very religious women. I live in an area that’s very deep into folk Catholicism and unknowingly so embraces the native practices in their everyday lives. I’m very open-minded to all belief systems and faith and take knowledge from everyone and everywhere. Thank you for the opportunity.
Warlock Asylum: What was life like for you growing up?
Janel Longoria: As the daughter of a teacher and police officer, my life growing up was very sheltered. I wasn’t allowed to engage in much, but oddly enough my mother was a horror enthusiast as well as a dabbler in native practices. She would take me with her to get egg cleansings. We also had friends of the family that would perform cleansing rituals like these as well except a bit more in-depth. There were a few occasions when I wasn’t allowed to follow my mother because she was having private workings done by her friends within these practices. These practitioners were also curanderas, always being women. A curandera is someone who heals. This is where my fascination grew.
From a young age, I was very much close to the other side and always having otherworldly encounters which weren’t always so pleasant. This sparked my interest in ghost hunting as a teenager. I wanted answers. There would be days when I’d wake with scratches, bruises, and cuts which I believe to be a sort of “exposure therapy” for my future spiritual endeavors.
Adolescence is when most of us awaken to our latent psychic abilities. At this time I feel I’d experienced every kind of spiritual encounter short of seeing unicorns. As time went on and I got closer to graduating high school the encounters diminished significantly but the longing for answers remained. From around 21 years old until 33 years of age, I considered myself nondenominational as I felt Christian, but didn’t want to pick a specific branch of Christianity. That all changed when I turned 33.
Warlock Asylum: How did you first get involved in spiritualism and what inspired you to pursue the alchemy and devotional path of Santa Muerte?
Janel Longoria: When I turned 33 I woke up with a longing I couldn’t quite place. I felt I needed spiritual intervention, unlike anything I’d wanted before. My questions got deeper. I explored Wicca, paganism, witchcraft, eastern philosophies, African tribal religions, and a plethora of other Latin-based spiritual systems of belief. I found truth in them all but didn’t feel at home, completely. During my seeking process, I began to channel goddess I worked with closely named Hekate. I asked her to allow me to find a place somewhere I could feel closely linked and feel settled. It was during this channeling in which I experienced Santa Muerte for the first time.
I was sitting on my couch writing my channeling down and while my eyes were closed my mind’s eye saw and felt a swirling black mist cloud coiling behind me at the bottom of my couch. It wavered in circular patterns as it started to form a robed figure in black standing about 7 feet tall. I could feel eyes on my back. I opened my eyes and looked behind me reluctantly, of course, and there was a dark cloaked figure completely void of features glaring at me. There was no emotion, gender, humanistic features, or audible voice. Even without these elements, I could still feel I was being observed as I started in the blackness where a head would be. I wrote down in my spiral notebook what I felt and saw trying hard not to run away and hide. I knew I had to hold my own in this situation. But I’d never felt anything that intense before. The best I could describe was that it felt void and neutral. This was my first encounter with Santa Muerte.
Warlock Asylum: The name Santa Muerte conjures up many things in the mind of the general public. Based on your experience, how would you define Santa Muerte?
Janel Longoria: My personal definition of Santa Muerte is a bit unorthodox. In a nutshell, I feel she is a summation of the Mexican citizen’s core being. She is their trials, their pride, their love, their woes, and their triumphs. She is a necessary being giving hope and miracles to those on the constant verge of life and death whether known or unknown. I don’t think she’s just one’s death, itself. I actually feel she’s the chauffeur from this life to the next as well as a caretaker of man.
Warlock Asylum: What were some of the life challenges that you had to overcome in order to make room for Santa Muerte in your life?
Janel Longoria: Life changes are an understatement and I write that with chuckles. Although I did learn from a former spirit to not fear death and to do certain kinds of inner reflection as well as methods of self-empowerment, it was Santa Muerte that gave me pride in my heritage. She gave me insight into the things I feared about my own culture.
She allowed me to see the beauty within my own blood and homeland. I began to see it as vibrant and beautiful and equally just as mysterious and awe-inspiring. She taught me to not judge, to be a messenger for her, to work on myself, and to be firm on my purpose and place in this world.
Warlock Asylum: How does your work and experiences with your present path differ from other things that you have explored spiritually?
Janel Longoria: Being part of Santa Muerte’s cult has given me a community that I very much needed and never felt fulfilled within other systems. As much as I wanted to be a part of a religion so that the experiences of others could be a blueprint for my own spiritual journey, she helped me realize that religion isn’t for me. She helped me see the beauty of spirituality versus religion.
Warlock Asylum: How has your work with Santa Muerte affected your relationships with friends and family?
Janel Longoria: My work with her is no surprise to my family as it was to be expected by the black sheep. They really wish I didn’t practice with her but a certain part of them is grateful that there are at least Catholic elements in my practice. It surprises me when friends from high school are surprised at my practice. I wonder if they ever really knew me.
Warlock Asylum: Congratulations on the success of your YouTube channel. Can you share with us some of the reasons why you started doing commentaries on YouTube?
Janel Longoria: The YouTube channel as a whole started as an online blog. I had no
clue it was going to take off the way it did. It’s by no means the biggest source on Santa Muerte in English. I didn’t intend it to be. I was quite shocked it picked up the way it did. I just wanted to share my experiences with her in English as there were only a handful of YouTubers who had done the same in recent years.
Warlock Asylum: What advice would you give to someone who was once a devotee of Santa Muerte and now seeks to renew the relationship after a long period of non-practice?
Janel Longoria: Bluntly? Kiss her ass all over again. Rekindle the relationship as if you went through a breakup. That’s pretty much what has to happen no matter what way you slice it. You’ve got to build up that energy and trust all over again. Start fresh as you would an old relationship. As much respect as you want back, you’ve got to put in.
Warlock Asylum: Many of our readers are practitioners of the Art of Ninzuwu and the Necronomicon Tradition. What are some of the universal spiritual truths that you’ve learned from your work with Santa Muerte that can be of benefit to people in general?
Janel Longoria: I’m not versed in those traditions but one thing I can say is that she’s very open to anyone no matter what you believe. So long as you don’t try to change who she is and what she’s all about then she’s open to anyone as long as they give her undivided attention that she very much deserves.
Warlock Asylum: Does a person have to be a Catholic in order to be accepted or even called by Santa Muerte?
Janel Longoria: No, a person doesn’t have to be Catholic at all. They can be any faith
or religion. The key is she chooses who she works with, not the other way around. She’s attracted to the person’s energy.
Warlock Asylum: I’m sure that many subscribers of your YouTube channel would like to know if you are accepting students?
Janel Longoria: At this time, I don’t feel ready to teach as I have much more to learn, but the YouTube videos are the best way I know to express what I’ve learned thus far.
Warlock Asylum: What are some “legitimate” reasons why a person would enter the path of Santa Muerte? What advice would you give to someone who is interested in this
work?
Janel Longoria: Legitimate reasons are vast in wanting to work with Santa Muerte. The majority of her followers are simply looking for protection as they don’t know if they’ll see the next day. After the necessities of life, the people that petition her are looking for love, health, luck, justice, wealth, and acceptance. The best advice I can give is to remember you get what you give. Treat her with respect and she’ll reciprocate.
Warlock Asylum: Thanks once again for sharing a portion of your reality with us. Where do you see Janel Longoria five years from now? Any final thoughts?
Janel Longoria: Thank you very much for allowing me to share my story. I see myself continuing a path of self-discovery as well as sharing messages with the masses. I’ll always be a student, never a master.
On behalf of Warlock Asylum International News, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to you and the best of prosperity in all your earthly and spiritual endeavors. You have an extended spiritual family here! Readers can learn more about Janel Longoria by her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGraveGhoul Subscribe today!
Warlock Asylum: Before we begin, I would like to extend my gratitude and thanks for the time you have taken out of your busy schedule to share some of your wisdom and insight with our readers. I am very impressed with your work and platform. However, for some of your readers who may not be familiar with your work, please introduce yourself. Who is Janel Longoria?
Janel Longoria: Well, Hello there! As you may know, I’m Janel Longoria and I am from deep south Texas. I reside about 35 minutes from the border and have lived here all my life. I’m a bit of a seeker in the sense that I feel I’m always going to be a spiritual student. I come from a Catholic family and from very religious women. I live in an area that’s very deep into folk Catholicism and unknowingly so embraces the native practices in their everyday lives. I’m very open-minded to all belief systems and faith and take knowledge from everyone and everywhere. Thank you for the opportunity.
Warlock Asylum: What was life like for you growing up?
Janel Longoria: As the daughter of a teacher and police officer, my life growing up was very sheltered. I wasn’t allowed to engage in much, but oddly enough my mother was a horror enthusiast as well as a dabbler in native practices. She would take me with her to get egg cleansings. We also had friends of the family that would perform cleansing rituals like these as well except a bit more in-depth. There were a few occasions when I wasn’t allowed to follow my mother because she was having private workings done by her friends within these practices. These practitioners were also curanderas, always being women. A curandera is someone who heals. This is where my fascination grew.
From a young age, I was very much close to the other side and always having otherworldly encounters which weren’t always so pleasant. This sparked my interest in ghost hunting as a teenager. I wanted answers. There would be days when I’d wake with scratches, bruises, and cuts which I believe to be a sort of “exposure therapy” for my future spiritual endeavors.
Adolescence is when most of us awaken to our latent psychic abilities. At this time I feel I’d experienced every kind of spiritual encounter short of seeing unicorns. As time went on and I got closer to graduating high school the encounters diminished significantly but the longing for answers remained. From around 21 years old until 33 years of age, I considered myself nondenominational as I felt Christian, but didn’t want to pick a specific branch of Christianity. That all changed when I turned 33.
Warlock Asylum: How did you first get involved in spiritualism and what inspired you to pursue the alchemy and devotional path of Santa Muerte?
Janel Longoria: When I turned 33 I woke up with a longing I couldn’t quite place. I felt I needed spiritual intervention, unlike anything I’d wanted before. My questions got deeper. I explored Wicca, paganism, witchcraft, eastern philosophies, African tribal religions, and a plethora of other Latin-based spiritual systems of belief. I found truth in them all but didn’t feel at home, completely. During my seeking process, I began to channel goddess I worked with closely named Hekate. I asked her to allow me to find a place somewhere I could feel closely linked and feel settled. It was during this channeling in which I experienced Santa Muerte for the first time.
I was sitting on my couch writing my channeling down and while my eyes were closed my mind’s eye saw and felt a swirling black mist cloud coiling behind me at the bottom of my couch. It wavered in circular patterns as it started to form a robed figure in black standing about 7 feet tall. I could feel eyes on my back. I opened my eyes and looked behind me reluctantly, of course, and there was a dark cloaked figure completely void of features glaring at me. There was no emotion, gender, humanistic features, or audible voice. Even without these elements, I could still feel I was being observed as I started in the blackness where a head would be. I wrote down in my spiral notebook what I felt and saw trying hard not to run away and hide. I knew I had to hold my own in this situation. But I’d never felt anything that intense before. The best I could describe was that it felt void and neutral. This was my first encounter with Santa Muerte.
Warlock Asylum: The name Santa Muerte conjures up many things in the mind of the general public. Based on your experience, how would you define Santa Muerte?
Janel Longoria: My personal definition of Santa Muerte is a bit unorthodox. In a nutshell, I feel she is a summation of the Mexican citizen’s core being. She is their trials, their pride, their love, their woes, and their triumphs. She is a necessary being giving hope and miracles to those on the constant verge of life and death whether known or unknown. I don’t think she’s just one’s death, itself. I actually feel she’s the chauffeur from this life to the next as well as a caretaker of man.
Warlock Asylum: What were some of the life challenges that you had to overcome in order to make room for Santa Muerte in your life?
Janel Longoria: Life changes are an understatement and I write that with chuckles. Although I did learn from a former spirit to not fear death and to do certain kinds of inner reflection as well as methods of self-empowerment, it was Santa Muerte that gave me pride in my heritage. She gave me insight into the things I feared about my own culture.
She allowed me to see the beauty within my own blood and homeland. I began to see it as vibrant and beautiful and equally just as mysterious and awe-inspiring. She taught me to not judge, to be a messenger for her, to work on myself, and to be firm on my purpose and place in this world.
Warlock Asylum: How does your work and experiences with your present path differ from other things that you have explored spiritually?
Janel Longoria: Being part of Santa Muerte’s cult has given me a community that I very much needed and never felt fulfilled within other systems. As much as I wanted to be a part of a religion so that the experiences of others could be a blueprint for my own spiritual journey, she helped me realize that religion isn’t for me. She helped me see the beauty of spirituality versus religion.
Warlock Asylum: How has your work with Santa Muerte affected your relationships with friends and family?
Janel Longoria: My work with her is no surprise to my family as it was to be expected by the black sheep. They really wish I didn’t practice with her but a certain part of them is grateful that there are at least Catholic elements in my practice. It surprises me when friends from high school are surprised at my practice. I wonder if they ever really knew me.
Warlock Asylum: Congratulations on the success of your YouTube channel. Can you share with us some of the reasons why you started doing commentaries on YouTube?
Janel Longoria: The YouTube channel as a whole started as an online blog. I had no
clue it was going to take off the way it did. It’s by no means the biggest source on Santa Muerte in English. I didn’t intend it to be. I was quite shocked it picked up the way it did. I just wanted to share my experiences with her in English as there were only a handful of YouTubers who had done the same in recent years.
Warlock Asylum: What advice would you give to someone who was once a devotee of Santa Muerte and now seeks to renew the relationship after a long period of non-practice?
Janel Longoria: Bluntly? Kiss her ass all over again. Rekindle the relationship as if you went through a breakup. That’s pretty much what has to happen no matter what way you slice it. You’ve got to build up that energy and trust all over again. Start fresh as you would an old relationship. As much respect as you want back, you’ve got to put in.
Warlock Asylum: Many of our readers are practitioners of the Art of Ninzuwu and the Necronomicon Tradition. What are some of the universal spiritual truths that you’ve learned from your work with Santa Muerte that can be of benefit to people in general?
Janel Longoria: I’m not versed in those traditions but one thing I can say is that she’s very open to anyone no matter what you believe. So long as you don’t try to change who she is and what she’s all about then she’s open to anyone as long as they give her undivided attention that she very much deserves.
Warlock Asylum: Does a person have to be a Catholic in order to be accepted or even called by Santa Muerte?
Janel Longoria: No, a person doesn’t have to be Catholic at all. They can be any faith
or religion. The key is she chooses who she works with, not the other way around. She’s attracted to the person’s energy.
Warlock Asylum: I’m sure that many subscribers of your YouTube channel would like to know if you are accepting students?
Janel Longoria: At this time, I don’t feel ready to teach as I have much more to learn, but the YouTube videos are the best way I know to express what I’ve learned thus far.
Warlock Asylum: What are some “legitimate” reasons why a person would enter the path of Santa Muerte? What advice would you give to someone who is interested in this
work?
Janel Longoria: Legitimate reasons are vast in wanting to work with Santa Muerte. The majority of her followers are simply looking for protection as they don’t know if they’ll see the next day. After the necessities of life, the people that petition her are looking for love, health, luck, justice, wealth, and acceptance. The best advice I can give is to remember you get what you give. Treat her with respect and she’ll reciprocate.
Warlock Asylum: Thanks once again for sharing a portion of your reality with us. Where do you see Janel Longoria five years from now? Any final thoughts?
Janel Longoria: Thank you very much for allowing me to share my story. I see myself continuing a path of self-discovery as well as sharing messages with the masses. I’ll always be a student, never a master.
On behalf of Warlock Asylum International News, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to you and the best of prosperity in all your earthly and spiritual endeavors. You have an extended spiritual family here! Readers can learn more about Janel Longoria by her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGraveGhoul Subscribe today!
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