Maria Lionza

Maria Lionza is the central spirit and deity of a syncretic Venezuelan religion, popularly called Culto a Maria Lionza, that fuses indigenous, African and Catholic elements. Devotional legend places her origin among the indigenous peoples of Yaracuy state, often as a chieftain's daughter with an unusual gaze who became a protective spirit of nature and the mountain Sorte, where her most important shrines and pilgrimage sites stand today. Her cult organizes spirit mediumship around a structure called the Cortes, or Courts, in which devotees are possessed by spirits grouped under Maria Lionza herself alongside figures such as the independence hero Simon Bolivar and indigenous chief Guaicaipuro, reflecting the religion's blend of nature veneration, African diasporic spirit possession practice and Catholic devotional forms. It remains an active, practiced religion in Venezuela today, with adherents across social classes.