María Lionza is the central figure in one of the most widespread new religious movements in Venezuela. The cult of María Lionza began in the 20th century as 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 renamed in her honour.
Legend and symbols
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. Sometimes the anaconda is said to have exploded and caused the torrential rains that are common in the region. usually surrounded by animals.
Cult and pilgrimage
The rites of María Lionza take place in the Sorte mountain, near the town of Chivacoa in Yaracuy state, Venezuela. During the pilgrimage, the principal shamans and priests of María Lionza come together to pay homage. a black Afro-American soldier that allegedly participated in the Venezuelan War of Independence. Various sources have reported sightings of shamans, sometimes wearing horned helmets, claiming to have contacted the legendary Viking Eric the Red, the first Norse explorer to discover Greenland. It portrays María Lionza as a muscular naked woman, riding a large tapir which is standing on a snake. Lionza holds a female pelvis, representing fertility, high above her head. and the Olympic flame was held in the pelvis at the top of the statue during this event. The statue had been commissioned by the dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez, who wanted to make María Lionza a symbol of Venezuela. after the university and Pérez Jiménez became concerned that the accessible campus location would allow María Lionza's devotees to gather and to spread their devotion in Venezuela. In 2004 the original statue was moved to a university warehouse and a new casting was put in its place. In October 2022, the statue was extracted without permission from the authorities and traveled from the warehouse to the Sorte mountain some days before the beginning of the yearly pilgrimage.
In popular culture
Rubén Blades and Willie Colón's salsa song "María Lionza", from their 1978 album Siembra, is dedicated to the Venezuelan deity.
The Venezuelan singer Arca paid homage to the goddess in her music video Prada / Rakata released in 2021.
2023 Tom Clancy's Command and Control by Marc Cameron features Maria Lionza as a character in the early part of the novel.