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María Lionza is a folk saint and the central figure in one of the most widespread new religious movement in Venezuela. The cult of María Lionza is a blend of African, indigenous and 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 October, was named after her.

According to the main legend, María Lionza was born in the 15th–16th century as the daughter of an indigenous chief from the region of Yaracuy. Her father sent her to live in the Sorte mountain. One day, while she was by the river, an anaconda attacked and devoured her. From within the serpent, María Lionza begged the mountain for help. The mountain agreed, María Lionza thus disintegrated and merged with Sorte mountain.

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Did you know...

The angel Ieialel

• ... that Pamela Colman Smith used her friend Ellen Terry as the model for the Queen of Wands card?
• ... that a person born under the Kabbalistic angel Ieialel will be passionate for Venus?
• ... that the Satanic Temple does not believe in a supernatural Satan?
• ... that the Goetic demon Leraje is closely tied to the moon?
• ... that Frederick Santee enrolled at Harvard University when he was only 13 years old?
• ... that astrologer Simon Forman once owned a copy of the Picatrix?
• ... that angels of the Thrones choir appear as flaming wheels with eyes?
• ... that De la démonomanie des sorciers contains the earliest definition of the word "witch?"

This month in history Depiction of Peter Stumpp as a werewolf. October - The British fleet lays off Esopus Island during the Revolutionary War. (1777) 2 October - Future King of England, Richard III is born. (1542) 2 October - Author and occultist Arthur Edward Waite is born. (1857) 2 October - Jack Parsons, American chemist, occultist, and engineer is born. (1914) 4 October - The Gregorian calendar is introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. (1582) 4 October - Ritual magician Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers is first initiated into a Masonic lodge. (1877) 7 October - The reference date for the origin of the Hebrew calendar. (3761BC) 9 October - Reginald Scot, author of The Discoverie of Witchcraft, is born. (1599) 11 October - An exorcism for the nuns of Loudun begins during the trail of Urbain Grandier. (1632) 12 October - The Salem Witch Trials are ended. (1692) 12 October - Author and occultist Aleister Crowley is born. (1875) 13 October - Hundreds of the Knights Templar in France are arrested at dawn by King Philip the Fair, and later confess under torture to heresy. (1307) 15 October - George Lusk, the chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee in London, received a "From Hell" letter allegedly from Jack the Ripper. (1888) 26 October - Author and astrologer Sybil Leek dies. (1982) 27 October - Emperor Constantine is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. (312) 27 October - Condemned as a heretic, Michael Servetus is burned at the stake just outside Geneva. (1553) 29 October - The first trial for witchcraft in Paris results in the death of three people. (1390) 29 October - Occultist and author Anton Szandor LaVey dies. (1997) 31 October - Peter Stumpp, the Werewolf of Bedburg, is burned along with his mistress and daughter. (1589) 31 October - Thiess of Kaltenbrun, the Livonian Werewolf, is condemned to be flogged for heresy. (1692)

Featured image Luxor is among the oldest inhabited cities in the world. The modern city includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Waset, also known as Nut (Coptic: ⲛⲏ) and to the Greeks as Thebes or Diospolis. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the world's greatest open-air museum, as the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city. Immediately opposite, across the River Nile, lie the monuments, temples and tombs of the west bank Necropolis, which includes the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. Photographer: Travis McHenry (More Images)

Featured Quote "For the opinion of the ordinary literary critic who neither understands nor believes in Occultism, I care nothing." - Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers

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