Mexican Santo Nicho - San Martin Caballero

San Martin Caballero (Saint Martin of Tours) is a very special saint in Mexico, because his image is kept in most businesses to bring good luck and increase sales. In particular, this custom comes from his use in cantinas, where a small altar is placed, usually in a hidden spot, like behind the bar, in order to charm customers into ordering more drinks. I small bundle of grass in placed next to a glass of water, and it is believed that “if the horse eats the grass, the rider will become thirsty”, and thus the clients in the cantina will order more rounds of beer! Since women work in a lot of these cantinas - women who dance for a small fee - and sometimes do more than that for a slightly larger fee - San Martin is sometimes referred to, in this sense, as the “saint of the prostitutes”! Generally speaking, however, most people refer not to mention that aspect.

On the other hand, some people do not see him that way at all, but rather as a saint who serves as a protector and bringer of good fortune to ones household, and they do not associate him with businesses or cantinas at all. They do, however, practice the ritual of the glass of water and the bundle of grass. Generally, the practice is to change the water and grass at exactly the stroke of noon, praying an "Our Father" and a "Hail Mary" when doing so. This is so the family will "lack nothing", as they say. This is from a series I am making using the images from votive candles that we have burned on our altar, which have been "cured", as the expression goes. Note the milagros charms in the frame. Many people forgo the bundle or grass and simply change his glass of water every say. For this reason, we are actually including a glass, which happens to be one of those hand-blown Mexican glasses that are made from recycled bottles and jars. If you have never been to a glass blowing factory, you should go some time. They used to have one in Juarez, but I think it is not there anymore. They do have one in Guadalajara, however.

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This simply a decorator item, and not an authentic piece of historical significance.

These pieces are made with recycled wood - Mexican fruit crates - or “rejas” as they are called.

From Fausto's Art Gallery in Ojinaga, Chihuahua.
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