Espiritismo; Theater and Trance of Maria Lionza


  • Photographer
    Troi Anderson
  • Prize
    2nd Place / People/Culture
  • Date of Photograph
    2013

In the verdant forest of a sacred mountain steeped in mysticism, pilgrims gather each October around Columbus Day in search of miracles and to pay tribute to "La Reina", the Queen; Maria Lionza.  This ecstatic pilgrimage of Venezuela reflects the countries own evolution of faith and individual artistic creation.  Originating from an indigenous legend of the late 1800's, Maria Lionza is revered as a nature deity, a goddess figure of spiritual wisdom and teachings.  Mt. Sorte, where the faithful gather, is seen as the source of her power, as well as being home to a dizzying array of spirits and saints drawn from the mythology and political history of Latin America.   The faith is a complex, ever-growing synthesis of indigenous beliefs, West African traditions, European Spiritism, Cuban Santeria and folk Catholicism, alongside worship of Venezuelan national heroes, such as Simon Bolivar.  Altars of worship have even been erected to the late President Hugo Chavez, whose spirit is said to reside on this mountain.   The "Marialionceras", as they call themselves, have built a mecca of wild artistic abandon and theatrical pageantry whereby the diverse history of Venezuela, its Indigenous, African and European roots, could synthesize within a spiritual and sacred context.  Even today amidst the violent political unrest, the religion is gaining ground in a country increasingly at odds with its mainstream Catholic faith.  Maria Lionza echoes a past once suppressed and gives voice to a new inclusive, dynamic faith that is on the rise.  

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