Inside of Venezuela, hidden among the mountains of a small and poorly known population is a deity that has been praised by both Catholics and pagans, all looking to know the secrets that are hidden behind this intriguing woman.
The Catholic Church tried to placate the evil hidden behind this deity naming her as the Virgin Mary of the meadow of Talavera de Nivar, but all their attempts were in vain because his parishioners know who they are looking for.
Animal Sacrifices and Constant Disappearances
Thousands of people approach each year to know the history of this mysterious woman; both believers and skeptics approach to see with their own eyes if what the legends tell is true, and each person has returned with a huge surprise. The people who come to pay tribute to her and ask her for favors usually offer the most amazing objects, like liters of blood, human teeth, flowers, and money.
The Pagan Feast
Each year a celebration is held in honor of Maria Lionza, where people drink various types of brandy, smoke tobaccos and perform dances on charcoals and pieces of glass. They say you can only do these things if you firmly believe it because she only protects her true believers. Those chosen by this deity can do amazing things like drinking liters and liters of alcoholic beverages and making deep wounds with blades and pieces of glass, all to get in touch with the spirits accompanying Maria.
If all goes well, these people will come into contact with the emissaries of the Hereafter, and after the ritual is over, all wounds shall be cured immediately. If they have behaved in a bad way and no longer have the grace of Maria Lionza, they will suffer immense sorrows and die in the course of the days, paying each of the favors received with their own life.
Voices Heard at Night
The veneration that some people have is so great that they have decided to live in the surrounding caves, all to continue enjoying the grace and favors of this spectral person. The bravest says that the days when the moon is red, dying, you hear the voices of those who distrust her, begging for clemency and swearing to regret. Nobody knows what’s going to happen to them, but everyone knows it shouldn’t be good.
The Favors Maria Lionza is Pleasing
People who approach ask for different things. Some seek to restore fertility to wives and daughters, others seek to give protection to their families and some want a little more health. But the favors that are soon satisfied are those that ask the women who were cheated by their husbands, and if they bring all the requirements, even the tooth belonging to the sinner, they will be able to sleep calmly knowing that someone is paying for their misfortunes.
Don’t Lie to the Goddess
They say that despite being a bloodthirsty woman who feeds on animal sacrifices, this goddess does not tolerate being lied to in the face, and people who have gone to her altar telling lies, seeking punishment for people who have committed no crime, never succeed to get out of the mountain. It is always the same case: first tears of blood begin to cry, then the hair of the whole body falls off, and from each of the pores begin to emerge more drops of blood. Finally, if they have not been smart enough to regret, begin to vomit pieces of organs, such as parts of the lung, liver, and stomach.
What’s the Beginning of all This?
Her legend dates from before the time of the conquest of America, and although her history was modified by the colonizers, the stories transmitted from generation and generation has worked to stay as complete as possible. There are hundreds of versions, but the most famous one speaks of a population that was waiting for the coming of the woman “with the eyes of the color of the waters”, and when this person arrived it would be offered in sacrifice to calm the craving of blood of the gods enclosed in the rivers and nearby streams.
They say that a woman with these eyes was born, as beautiful as the morning and sweet as the freshest of the fruits, but was the daughter of the chieftain of the tribe, and this one decided to hide her in the mountains to protect her. She lived for twenty years hidden, guarded by fifteen of the bravest men, with the express prohibition of going anywhere. One day she started to sing, and her voice was so sweet that those who guarded the doors fell asleep immediately and she was able to escape. Guided by something that spoke to her inside of her mind she walked to the river, and when she got reflected, from the waters came a man who took her to the depths. Upon hearing of this, her father suffered and swore revenge, cursed the waters that took his daughter.
The waters razed the whole village and its inhabitants, destroying everything in its path. It was as Maria Lionza, the goddess of the waters and protector of the secret of fertility came alive, but now it is found in hundreds of rituals of black magic. Parishioners say that sacrifices feed her craving for blood, and requests made with live animals are fulfilled more quickly.
There are no Movies Telling the Truth
People have made films and documentaries trying to disprove what is told here, but all have been destroyed in one way or another because this goddess does not like that people say lies. There is no way to record the rituals that take place every year because during those nights the phones and cameras do not work, and if you insist too much the equipment can get burned for no apparent reason. The only way to know if what is said here is true is by going by your own means to the mountain, and I’m so sorry for you if you decide to betray her.
Hundreds of people have gone in search of denying the stories, but even the most skeptical have to accept that strange thing happen up there, people act strangely and do exactly what this deity commands. If you’re not a believer you’ll never go there, because they say that she likes to play with her food and no matter how much you beg, you won’t leave until she wants to.
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