Custodios is a photo essay by Rome Arrieche, a Venezuelan photojournalist whose work has focused on the country’s social realities since 2020. His photography seeks to look beyond the stereotypes commonly associated with Venezuela. Custodios documents Venezuelan Spiritism at the Mountain of Sorte, where devotees gather to honour the spirits of Indigenous chiefs and Queen María Lionza.

Venezuelan Spiritism is a syncretic faith centred on the veneration of spirits, particularly María Lionza, expressed through rituals seeking healing, guidance and protection. The religion combines Indigenous spiritual traditions, African ritual practices and elements of Catholic belief.

Catholicism was introduced to Venezuela by Spanish missionaries in the sixteenth century as part of the colonial system that reshaped much of the country’s spiritual life. Indigenous belief systems were gradually displaced as the Church became a central institution of colonial authority. Enslaved Africans later brought their own spiritual traditions to the region, many of which survived outside official religion. Venezuelan Spiritism grew from this convergence of beliefs, existing beyond the authority of the Catholic Church.

In the mountains of Sorte in Yaracuy state, thousands of pilgrims gather each October to honour María Lionza. Altars of candles, liquor and tobacco line the forest paths as mediums enter trance to channel the spirits of the dead. Drums echo through the mountain while devotees seek healing, protection and guidance from the spirits that preside over the courts of the faith.

Here the Queen, María Lionza, is invoked alongside the spirits of figures such as the Indigenous resistance leader Guaicaipuro and the Afro-Venezuelan rebel Negro Felipe. The mountain is believed to remain green under the care of the spirits and their devotees. 

In the rituals held here, these spirits are called back to the living, preserving a spiritual tradition shaped by resistance to conquest, slavery and religious domination.