Ariana Cubillos, Comcast News, October 13, 2009
Thousands of Venezuelans congregated for candlelit rituals on a remote mountainside where adherents make an annual pilgrimage to pay homage to an indigenous goddess known as Maria Lionza.
Many smoked cigars in purification rituals, while others closed their eyes lying face-up surrounded by candles and elaborate designs drawn on the ground with white powder.
Some calling themselves the “Vikings” pricked their tongues with razor blades, drawing blood that ran down their chins and chests. They said they could not reveal the esoteric secrets that govern their traditions.
The rituals, which began late last week and lasted through Monday, are held every year in the name of the indigenous goddess Maria Lionza, who according to legend came from the mountain at Sorte, near the northwestern town of Chivacoa.
Some repeated the word “strength” while dancing atop flaming embers in a ceremony honoring the goddess early Monday at the start of the annual Oct. 12 rituals. Many camped in tents while dedicating several days to the spiritual ceremonies.
The traditions centered on Maria Lionza are hundreds of years old and draw on elements of the Afro-Caribbean religion Santeria and indigenous rituals, as well as Catholicism. {snip}
{snip}
The goddess Maria Lionza.
Original article
(Posted on October 14, 2009)
Comments
Sounds similar to an Albanian ritual where they pierce their cheeks with skewers.
http://rrezja.blogspot.com/2008/04/dervishes-of-kosova.html?showComment=1207670940000
It is a delusion that the Hispanics coming into our country from the south are Catholics - a delusion, unfortunately, adhered to by most U.S. Catholic clergy, especially the bishops, and many of the religious and laity. It is a well-meaning delusion in most cases, yet a delusion nevertheless.
JWB:
There is a theory that the reason that Indoamericans tend to Catholicism and reject Protestant proselytization is because the panoply of Catholic Saints and other elevated persons fits well into Indoamerican polytheistic sensibilities. In other words, they deify the Saints, which the Catholic Church does not do. As a generality, Protestant denominations don’t highly elevate or revere individuals.
2 — JWB wrote at 11:37 PM on October 14:
“It is a delusion that the Hispanics coming into our country from the south are Catholics - a delusion, unfortunately, adhered to by most U.S. Catholic clergy, especially the bishops, and many of the religious and laity. It is a well-meaning delusion in most cases, yet a delusion nevertheless.
> Sorry, but you are historically correct not just for these people, but for Catholics and Christians everywhere. Christianity is half Judaism and half Paganism (polytheism). Any honest scholar knows this and now even theologians are admitting it. This fact has been written upon by European philosophers and historians for at least three hundred years. And let’s look at the Christian theology and practice for a moment; A Jewish leader is crucified, and to commemorate it people come along some hundreds of years later with added rituals based on forged additions to their “traditions.” At the center of these traditions we have a character who is termed a human sacrifice and to “join with him” Christians symbolically drink blood and east flesh. That is cannibalism. Do I need to go through the centuries of bloody history of the Church in its conquest of Europe? Just because you are indoctinated at birth doesn’t make your outlook any better than theirs.
And then of course, there is the dicotomies of Christianity that defeats any idea of race preservation. Frankly, I think that you and others like you who would save your race and culture need to face up to the fact that Christianity is NOT on your side.
And God will not be helping you or anyone as there is no such being. Those of us here on this earth who want to see our kind go on need to grow up a bit.
Q.D.—
There is a lot of attraction in Latin America today to Protestant cults, and many conversions being made too. Unfortunately, these are generally converts to the most extreme and ignorant branches of Protestantism. These fundamentalist sects attract the worst rather than the best.
Indigenous?? How can the Indegenous god have a spanish name??
Is this the “blood-dimmed tide” that Yeats saw slouching towards Bethlehem? Jared Taylor speaks of the “brute strangeness” of life in a diverse, inauthentic society. The problem we face is how may we remain gentle (noble) and yet feel as alive as these “Vikings,” how may we feast on real meat instead of the watered-down porridge of political correctness?
Aztecs, Mayans and Incas from Central America and what would become Mexico — were deep into human sacrifice. The victim would have his chest opened by priests wielding knives of obsidian (volcanic glass). The bodies often consumed (cannibalism).
The bloodthirsty religious beliefs of those Indian tribes is reflected by the Mestizos who love cockfighting, bull fighting and dog fighting. Wonderful people we have streaming over the border by the millions.
Actually, in this part of Venezuela, there was no influence from the Aztec or Maya cultures. The Native cultures there are unrelated. This is definitely Afro-Caribbean.
The goddess Maria Lionza.