Also Known As: Rey Pascual, El Rey San Pascual, King of the Graveyard, King of the Underworld, and San Pascualito Muerte

San Pascualito is a folk saint found in Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas. Given the skeletal nature of his appearance, he is a figure that bears a strong resemblance to San La Muerte and Santa Muerte.

Warning – San Pascualito’s imagery causes him not to be acknowledged by the Catholic Church. Having a skeleton iconography puts San Pascualito in the same vein as Santa Muerte and San La Muerte and associations with death and crime. Due to not being as well known either outside of where he is venerated, there is still an air of unease among Catholic and other Christian sects.

Attributes

Color: Black, Red, White

Month: May (17^th Feast Day)

Patron of: Curing Diseases, Cures, Death, Healings, Love, Graveyards, Vengeance

Planet: Pluto

Sphere of Influence: Death, Healing

Symbols: Skeleton, Cape, Crown, Wheeled Cart

Depiction

San Pascualito is shown as a skeleton wearing a cape and crown.

Saintly Origins

Tradition holds that San Pascualito’s veneration very likely originates with a Pre-Columbian Death God. As a folk saint, he is strongly associated with Saint Paschal Baylon, a Spanish friar. Though traditions surrounding San Pascualito strongly lean towards a Pre-Columbian death god.

As the historian Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán relates, in 1650, an indigenous Guatemalan man in San Antonio Aguacaliente (now modern-day Ciudad Vieja) was dying of an epidemic fever known as cucumatz in the Kaqchikel language. As the man received his last rites, he had a vision of a tall skeleton dressed in glowing robes appear before him. This figure introduced themselves as “Saint Paschal Baylon.” At this time, Baylon would not be canonized by the Catholic church until 1690, though he had been beatified earlier in 1618.

The figure promised the dying man to intercede and end the cucumatz if he were to be adopted by the community as their patron saint and honor his image. For proof of his identity, the figure predicted that the man receiving the vision would die in nine days, at which time the epidemic would end.

When the appointed time came and the man died, the story of the vision began to spread, and people began putting up images of San Pascualito despite prohibition from the Spanish Inquisition.

Worship

San Pascualito’s major center of worship and veneration is in Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas. There is a major shrine dedicated to him in Olintepeque, Guatemala. In the Church of San Pascualito in Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas, there is a version of San Pascualito as a seated skeleton in a cart. Devotees of San Pascualito will leave thank you notes, offerings of capes, or burn candles.

The color of the candle determines the intent of the request. Red is for love, Pink for health, Yellow for protection, Green for business, Blue for work, Light Blue for money, Purple for help overcoming vices or temptation, White for the protection of children, and Black for revenge.

King Of The Graveyard

One of San Pascualito’s epitaphs or names, King of the Graveyard does link him to being a potential death cult. Unlike other such cults, San Pascualito is more concerned with curing diseases, ya’ know, staving off death. Not yet.

Feast Day

As a Folk Saint, San Pascualito’s Feast Day is held on May 17th, the same feast day as Saint Paschal Baylon.

Syno-Deities

Ah Puch – The Mayan god or lord of death.

Grim Reaper – The imagery of the Grim Reaper and San Pascualito are remarkably similar.

Mictlantecutli – There are very noted, strong similarities between the imagery of the Aztec god of death and San La Muerte.

San La Muerte – A similar figure to San Pascualito found in South America, mainly Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

Santa Muerte – A similar female counterpart found in Mexico and southern parts of the United States.