The bloody gods of Mesoamerica were never truly stilled by Catholicism. As such groups tend to do, they often went literally underground, into cave-based secret societies that honeycomb both the natural and the social landscape. Throughout the hacienda age, these groups sold their secrets to masters and slaves alike. Blood, after all, is blood, and the old gods remained thirsty.

To Los Sangrientos (in the female form, Las Sangrientas; sometimes collectively known as the Morongos), the Spanish conquest brought new refinements for ancient sacrifice. The Inquisitores, after all, had many techniques of inflicting pain to call upon. By the time Mexico won its independence (with help from Los Sangrientos and their nightmarish devotions), the Bloody Ones had established solid foundations throughout Central and South America and the Southwest U.S. territories. Since then, they’ve kept feeding Los Carnivoros – a fusion of Catholic saints and devils with Aztec, Incan, and Mayan godheads – the proverbial blood and souls… plus pain. Lots and lots of pain…

The original devotees were not Nephandi in the truest sense, but the sect has been adopted over time. Morongos call the Cauls las Flores del Renacimiento, or “the Flowers of Rebirth,” and they treasure the agonies of inversion in las Flores’ embrace. With the modern era, they’ve adopted modern weapons, power tools, and media into their holy sacraments, often filming their ceremonies and selling them as snuff films and true-death documentaries. In the new millennium, Sangrientos post these videos on YouTube with death-metal soundtracks and warnings that attract attention from bored and curious web surfers; as a result, they’ve gained a presence in the Digital Web as well… one that’s growing like a tumor in that virtual world.

Back in Meatspace, Los Sangrientos manage both drug cartels and government agencies, pitting them against one another in orgies of sacrifice. The horrific tortures and massacres associated with those wars are often (though not always…) celebrations of Los Carnivoros. Traditionally associated with Latino culture, they’ve spread to other ethnicities as well. Is it coincidence, after all, that a prominent gang brotherhood calls itself “the Bloods…?” Perhaps it is… or maybe not.