Book on little known Venezuelan cult released

Most North American’s have never heard of Maria Lionza. However she is worshipped today by as many as 8 million Venezuelans as a goddess of nature, love and prosperity. She also has heavy political clout in this predominately Catholic nation and is seen an icon of this nation.

María Lionza is at once a native girl, born in the 16th century to an Indian chief in the Venezuelan region of Yaracuy, and a goddess of nature, peace and harmony to over eight million Venezuelans in the 21st century. Her name means “Mary of the boar,” taken from her full name “Santa María de la Onza Talavera del Prato de Nivar”—a title given by the Catholic Church in the attempt to Christianize her cult. This book is María’s story, as much as can be told. Other than a few scholarly articles, the existence of María Lionza and her following is unknown in Western literature. Gabriel Ernesto Andrade of La Universidad del Zulia in Maracaibo, Venezuela wrote “If I would have to find one word to describe the María Lionza religion, it would be ‘mysterious’.” And so María, as well as her origins and how she became regarded as the goddess of the people of Venezuela, remains a mystery in many ways. And that is as it should be.

Maria Lionza: An Indigenous Goddess of Venezuela is one of a few studies of this thriving religion which is a mix of Native traditions, Santeria and Catholicism. Written by folklorist Gary R. Varner, a member of the American Folklore Society and the Foundation for Mythological Studies. Varner is the author of numerous books, including Creatures in the Mist: Little People,Wild Men and Spirit Beings Around the World and The Mythic Forest: The Green Man and the Spirit of Nature published by New York academic publisher Algora Publishing and a number of books appearing under his own OakChylde Publications imprint, including Mysteries of Native American Myth and Religion and The Gods of Man: Gods of Nature – God of War.

Maria Lionza is currently available from Lulu Press at: http://www.lulu.com/content/1329353 and will be distributed through other outlets in the next few months.

The author may be contacted via email at gary_varner@yahoo.com as well as through his website: www.authorsden.com/garyrvarner