"For months I was looking for access to the religion of The Paleros , it is said they remove dead people in cementeries to make them blood offerings", tells Venezuelan photographer Howard Yanez. "In that failed effort I noticed small but prosperours illegal shops selling sacrificial animals. Later somebody told me about the Court of the holy thugs in the cementery, where people offer them cigars, chunks of marijuana and cheap alcohol. Hig Schoold students make a promess. If...
more »"For months I was looking for access to the religion of The Paleros , it is said they remove dead people in cementeries to make them blood offerings", tells Venezuelan photographer Howard Yanez. "In that failed effort I noticed small but prosperours illegal shops selling sacrificial animals. Later somebody told me about the Court of the holy thugs in the cementery, where people offer them cigars, chunks of marijuana and cheap alcohol. Hig Schoold students make a promess. If they aprove their examinations, they will leave their clothes and books at the cementery. There was thousands of uniforms at the place."
This experience lead Howard to make a photo story on probably the more unkown side of Venezuelan society: its trend to popular religions far away from catholic churches, religions where voodoo followers mix with devotes of Maria Lionza Queen and words such as santeria, umbanda, candomble are pronounced often.
"I went to Sorte Moutain (Moutain of Luck) and visited the worship tent of Queen Maria Lionza", says Howard. "I hunged around until I got lucky myself and was allowed to see and take pictures of a healing ceremony in the moutains, where a priestess healed a young girl with a physocological pregnancy. The ceremony was long and tiring. The girl was placed in the ground sourrounded by candles, something they called the gate of healing. After hours of praying the exausted priestess whispered evil is gone. Indeed, the belly of the girl looked now normal size".
Howard called his essay The Borders of Faith in Venezuela because "This are religions or beliefs from which no one speaks clearly but everydoby knows they exist. Everybody pretends they are irrelevant, some of them even could laugh about this beliefs but nobody would dare to remove those pieces of voodoo ceremony you can find at any cementery, or to close down the illegal shops selling animals for sacrifice."
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