The Venezuelan María Lionza cult and Sorte pilgrimage

Record summary

The María Lionza tradition expanded into a nationally visible Venezuelan religious movement in the mid-twentieth century, combining indigenous, African, Catholic and spiritist elements. Ritual specialists at Sorte reportedly entered trance, embodied spirits and performed healing or divination. The lead matters for comparing possession, culturally learned dissociation, bodily performance and social authority. Historical documentation is uneven, and later tourism or media portrayals may simplify diverse practices. Researchers should treat spirit identities as elements of a religious tradition rather than independently verified entities.