On a sacred mountain steeped in mysticism, pilgrims gather in search of miracles and to pay tribute to their queen. María 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 faith is a complex and ever-evolving synthesis of indigenous beliefs, West African animism, Kardecist spiritism, and folk Catholicism. Widely practiced in Venezuela, María Lionza is spreading to other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to María Lionza herself, worshippers follow a dizzying pantheon of spirits and saints that includes Amerindian and slave soldiers from the time of Spanish conquest, African divinities, legendary South American liberator Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan folk saint Dr. José Gregorio Hernandez, and even Viking warriors, among others. Marialionceras, as the faithful are known, summon powerful spirits through trance to hear their pleas 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 followers who regard each other as spiritual brothers and sisters. Traveling in caravans from across Venezuela and beyond, pilgrims gather at the sacred mountain, where they perform spiritual and healing ceremonies that draw upon the divine power of the spirits.
