On a sacred mountain steeped in mysticism, pilgrims gather in search of miracles and to pay tribute to their queen. Maria Lionza, a mythological goddess figure of pre-Columbian indigenous legend, is revered as a powerful spirit and guardian of nature within the magico-religious movement named in her honor. The religion itself is a complex and ever-evolving synthesis of indigenous beliefs, West African animism, Cuban Santeria, Kardecist spiritism, and folk Catholicism. Widely practiced in Venezuela, Maria Lionza is spreading to other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In addition to Maria Lionza herself, worshippers follow a dizzying pantheon of spirits and saints, which includes Amerindian and slave soldiers from the time of Spanish conquest, African divinities, legendary South American liberator Simon Bolivar, Venezuelan folk saint Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez, and even Viking warriors, among others. Marialionceras, as followers are known, band together in groups headed by self-styled leaders and their assistants who serve as mediums to the spirit realm. Through trance, they summon the powerful and divine spirits of the forest to hear the pleas and problems of the faithful and to offer solutions and grant wishes.
The religion is highly inclusive, crossing all ethnic boundaries and socio-economic strata, with a strong communal element binding groups of Marialionceras, who regard each other as spiritual brothers and sisters. Traveling in caravans from across Venezuela and beyond, they make vital pilgrimages to the sacred mountain to perform spiritual and healing ceremonies that draw upon the divine power of the spirits.
Matt Levitch is a documentary photographer whose recent work has focused on religious pilgrimages and man's spiritual connection to nature, with projects taking him to Haiti, Venezuela, and India.
