Difference between revisions of "María Lionza"

'''María Lionza''' is a folk [[saint]] and the central figure in the most widespread new religious movement in Venezuela. The cult of María Lionza is a blend of African, indigenous and [[Christianity|Catholic beliefs]]. She is revered as a goddess of nature, love, peace and harmony. She has followers throughout Venezuelan society, from small rural villages to Caracas, where a monumental statue stands in her honor. The Cerro María Lionza Natural Monument (also known as Sorte mountain), where an important pilgrimage takes place every year on October 12th, was named after her.

The rites of María Lionza take place in the Sorte mountain, near the town of Chivacoa in Yaracuy state, Venezuela. The origins of the cult are uncertain, it is a syncretism of Indigenous, Catholic and African beliefs. Traditions of trance communication (seeking to [[channeling|channel]] the soul of dead people in a living body) may have started about 19th and 20th century in Latin America, popularized by the teachings of the 19th century Frenchman Allan Kardec. Angelina Pollok-Eltz from Andrés Bello Catholic University in Venezuela, who has worked on the subject, says that the rituals in Sorte started in the early 1920s and were brought to urban areas a decade later.