Visual Studies

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The mirror effect: seeing and being seen in the cult of María Lionza ()

Roger Canals

To cite this article: Roger Canals (2018) The mirror effect: seeing and being seen in the cult of María Lionza (Venezuela), Visual Studies, 33:2, 161-171, DOI: 10.1080/1472586X.2018.1470902 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2018.1470902

Published online: 30 Aug 2018.

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Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rvst20 Visual Studies, 2018 Vol. 33, No. 2, 161–171, https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2018.1470902

The mirror effect: seeing and being seen in the cult of Marı´a Lionza (Venezuela)

ROGER CANALS

In the cult of María Lionza (Venezuela), the look or gaze origins and the current practice of the cult of María constitutes a fundamental aspect of the ritual process, Lionza. since it is one of the privileged ways through which the relations between spirits, mediums and participants are MARI´A LIONZA: MYTH AND CULT established. The use of the camera as a research method helps to gain a better understanding of this issue, since the In ethnographic literature, as well as in everyday action of holding a camera – and looking through it – language, the term ‘cult of María Lionza’ refers to a may provoke comments and reactions among believers, multiplicity of purification, divination, healing and resulting in a process by which a set of assumptions about initiation rituals in which a medium is possessed by the the meaning of seeing and being seen that usually remain spirit of María Lionza or other divinities of her implicit become explicit. Most of the time, these newly pantheon. Nevertheless, this definition is extremely explicit assumptions appear as visual prohibitions or as a partial, since it neglects other ways of worshipping this consequence of a mistake made by the researcher. What I goddess and the other spirits in her pantheon in which defend in this paper is that ‘visual mistakes’ and no possession takes place (Figure 1). prohibitions are very valuable in anthropological research The cult of María Lionza is usually described as an Afro- and should be taken into account. The text concludes 2 with two general reflections: one about the connection American cult, similar to Santeria (Cuba), Voodoo between cinema and the sacred, and the other about the (Haiti) or Candomblé (Brazil) (Azria and Danièle 2010). fi intimate relationship between what we usually call From a historical standpoint, however, this de nition is ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ in visual anthropology. problematic and may lead to confusion. Unlike the abovementioned Afro-American , the cult of María Lionza is not a cult with decidedly African roots, The purpose of this article is to discuss the meaning of brought over from Africa by slaves during the conquest the act of seeing and being seen in the cult of María and observed in American territory mainly by African Lionza, an important yet rather unexplored religious descendants (Ascencio 2007). Everything seems to practice originating in Venezuela about which I have indicate that the origin of the cult can be traced to a been conducting research over the last 10 years (Canals group of sacred Indian practices from the Pre-Hispanic 2012, 2013; Canals 2017). My argument is that, in this era originating in the Yaracuy region, in the central cult, the look or gaze constitutes a fundamental aspect of eastern part of Venezuela, where the cult is still intensely the ritual process, since it is one of the privileged ways practiced today (Barreto 1990). These rituals consisted through which the relations between spirits, mediums1 of the worship of female divinities associated with rivers, – and participants are established. In the second part of the serpent and the rainbow. These divinities many the article, I will present some general reflections statuettes of which have been found near lakes or inside – regarding the relationship between ethnographic cinema caves were regarded as goddesses of fertility and and and the relationship between ‘theory’ and harvest and, more generally, as forces of nature (Clarac ‘practice’ in visual anthropology – and, by extension, in de Briceño 1996). Since the beginning of Spanish fl anthropology in general. colonization, these religious practices were in uenced by Catholicism. Over the years, the cult incorporated Catholic elements such as the adoration of saints, the Prior to exploring these questions, however, it is Christian cross, the construction of religious altars and important to provide some basic information about the the use of holy cards (estampas). Over time, the cult of

Roger Canals works at the Department of Anthropology of the University of Barcelona (Spain). Specialist in Afro-American Religions and Visual Anthropology, he holds a PhD in Anthropology from the Ecole des Hatues Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. Roger Canals has published numerous articles on visual anthropology and Afro-American religions. He has also published the book A Goddess in Motion. Visual Creativity in the cult of María Lionza (Berghahn Books, 2017). He has made several ethnographic films such as The Many Faces of a Venezuelan Goddess (Canals, 2007) or A Goddess in Motion. María Lionza in Barcelona. (2016). He has received the first Fejos Fellowship of Ethnographic Cinema of the Wenner-Gren Foundation (New York).

© 2018 International Visual Sociology Association 162 R. Canals

FIGURE 1. Believers in front of an altar at the mountain of Sorte (Yaracuy, FIGURE 2. Altar of the cult of María Lionza with a strong presence of Venezuela). 2014. Photo: Roger Canals. catholic elements. 2014. San Felipe (Venezuela). Photo: Roger Canals.

María Lionza, which spread across the entire religious practices have spread to neighbouring Venezuelan territory, incorporated characteristics of the countries, such as Colombia, Cuba and the Dominican cults of African origin that are practiced in Venezuela Republic, along with the United States and Europe, (Andrews 2004) – such as the cult of San Benito or the especially Spain (Canals 2014). – fi cult of San Juan especially in regions with a signi cant The pantheon of the cult of María Lionza includes a population of African descent, such as Maracaibo Lake series of spirits, also referred to as hermanos (brothers), and the coastal region of Barlovento. Moreover, at the th espíritus (spirits) or entidades (entities). These spirits, end of the 19 century, the cult felt the decisive often described by followers as energías (energies) or fl ’ 3 in uence of Alan Kardec s spiritism, which was most magnetismos (magnetisms), are spirits of individuals likely introduced into Venezuela by way of Brazil. who once existed (for instance, deceased relatives, During the 1940s, and coinciding with the oil boom, the former soldiers, political figures or show business cult of María Lionza, which had been essentially rural, personalities), of divinities or mythical characters (for migrated to large cities like (Coronil 1997). instance God, Buddha or María Lionza), or characters With this migration, the cult began to experience a from comic strips or television (such as the Vikings). fl process of Africanization, due to the in uence of Cuban The pantheon is divided into different cortes (courts), – Santeria and of Palo Mayombe a process that is still that is, groups of spirits with common ethnic, social or occurring today and which is reinforced by the political historical affinities. For instance, there is the Indian ties between Venezuela and Cuba (Ascencio 2012). As Court, the African Court, the Corte Médica (Court of fi such, the existing con guration of the cult of María Doctors) the Corte Malandra (Court of Criminals) and Lionza is relatively recent and only dates back to the the court of the heroes of Venezuelan independence, 1940s (Ferrándiz 2004). which includes the spirit of Simon Bolívar. ffi And while no o cial census is available, the cult of The death of Hugo Chávez in 2013 had a strong impact María Lionza is considered the second most popular on the cult. In fact, the image of the ex-president can religion in Venezuela, after Catholicism, even though already be found on many cult altars, although most Santeria and , until only recently rare in believers claim that the colonel’s spirit cannot enter the Venezuela (Smilde 2007), are gaining ground. The body of the mediums during possession rituals because distinction between the cult of María Lionza and his death is still recent. Most followers believe that 7 Catholicism, however, can be quite misleading, since years must pass after a person’s death before his or her ’ most of the cult s followers also consider themselves spirit can present itself in a religious ritual. And while it Catholics (Figure 2). The possession rituals devoted to is a cult that is practiced, essentially, by the working María Lionza and the other gods of her pantheon take class, it is also present in the upper class and among the place mainly in Caracas, in San Felipe and on the Sorte armed forces and civil servants (Taussig 1997). Mountain, about 270 km from the capital city, but also in other towns, including Valencia, Maracaibo, Cumana María Lionza, the most important divinity of the cult, is and Ciudad Bolívar. Over the last few decades, these a very well known figure revered by the population of The mirror effect 163

Venezuela, so much so that, since the 1940s, she is often men or as a benevolent divinity like the Catholic Virgin; considered a symbol of the country, a figure that and, lastly, there is an ambiguity concerning her represents the nation’s history and identity. A femininity, since she is depicted either as a symbol of comparative analysis of some of the oral, written and eroticism and sexual passion or as a representation of visual documents associated with María Lionza reveals the universal mother, with no erotic component. The that this divinity possesses a triple plurality: firstly, there multiple identity of María Lionza reflects the plural and is an ethnic plurality, since she is depicted in the form of composite nature of both the cult that bears her name a white, mestiza (mixed-race) (Figure 3), Indian and, more generally, of the Venezuelan society that gave (Figure 4) or black woman; secondly, there is certain birth to her: a society that is clearly mestiza (racially moral ambiguity, since she has been reincarnated mixed) (Wade 2010), open and changing, in which primarily either as a kind of femme fatale who seduces elements of Indian, African, Oriental and European origin are constantly interacting, incorporating new influences and producing original cultural expressions.

THE DOUBLE POSSESSION OF BARBARA

After this general introduction, I would like to address the issue of the meaning and function of looking within the cult of María Lionza. I will start by describing a ritual in honour of this goddess that took place in Baruta (Caracas) on the 23 April 2006. The ceremony was held in the house of a large family of believers whom I had met a few months earlier while staying on Sorte Mountain. One of the members of this family was Barbara, a 17- year-old girl who was the daughter of a well-known and respected medium called Flor. Two days beforehand, Flor had called me to let me know that she and her family would be holding a ritual and that it was likely that the spirit of María Lionza would possess Barbara. That day I had gone to Flor’s house with the intention of filming the FIGURE 3. Estampa (holy card) of María Lionza as a mestizo queen. possession of Barbara by María Lionza.

This humble family, who lived mainly off spiritualism (espiritismo),4 lived in three or four houses that they themselves had built on the side of a dense, damp slope. Behind these houses was a magnificent altar with dozens of images and offerings. On top of the altar there was a statue of María Lionza depicted as a white queen wearing a blue cape. It was in front of this altar, before the start of the ritual, that Barbara started to smoke a big, thick cigar to ‘ask permission from the gods’ to begin the ceremony.5 Under the close watch of her mother, Barbara interpreted the form and colour of the cigar ash as the cigar burned down.6 When she had finished smoking, Barbara threw the cigar on the ground three times to see where the lit end would point. From the study of the ash and the position of the cigar, after having thrown it repeatedly on the ground, Barbara and her mother decided that María Lionza and the other gods had given permission to carry out the ritual.

Everything was in place to start the ceremony. The ’ FIGURE 4. Estampa (holy card) of María Lionza group of about 20 people who had congregated at Flor s as an Indian woman riding a tapir. house waited impatiently for the arrival of María Lionza. 164 R. Canals

I was also excited about filming Barbara’s possession. Just as Barbara was preparing to go into a trance, Flor approached me and told me that she would like to give me some indications on how to film the ritual. Flor explained to me that during this session the spirit of María Lionza would descend in two different ways into her daughter’s body: first she would descend as an Indian woman, and then as a white woman. After telling me this, she told me that I was not authorized to film either the first part of Barbara being possessed by María Lionza as an Indian woman or the moment of spiritual substitution that would lead to the arrival of María

Lionza as a white woman. FIGURE 6. Barbara possessed by the spirit of María Lionza as a queen. 2006. Baruta, Caracas. Photo: Roger Canals. Once these rules had been clarified, Flor placed herself right behind her daughter, who was facing the images, with her arms by her sides and her eyes closed. Flor ahead to turn the camera on and start filming the ritual started to pray and ask for help and strength from the again. During the ceremony, María Lionza applied spirit world. After a few minutes, Barbara started to healing techniques to a few of the poor, blessed children tremble with increasing intensity and then she suddenly and adults, predicted the future and gave advice on stopped; she turned around with her eyes still closed and work, health and love. started to circulate between the group of guests swinging The first aspect to highlight from this experience is the her body and emitting the sound ‘s’ in a clear reference fact that it shows a double possession of María Lionza’s to the recurrent relationship between María Lionza and spirit in the same medium: during the first possession, the the serpent7 (Figure 5). Some minutes later, Barbara, goddess embodied Barbara as an Indian, while during the who was still possessed, positioned herself to face the second, she appeared as a white woman. This double images again, she closed her eyes and she ‘expelled’ the possession confirms the ethnic plurality of this divinity spirit of María Lionza as an Indian. Her mother repeated and points to the multiplicity of cultural influences that the prayers and Barbara started to tremble again. At that this cult has received over history. Like other Latin- moment, I moved closer to them, recording the prayers American goddesses – such as La Virgen de Coromoto and filming the changes in expression on Barbara’s face. (Gruzinski 1990) – María Lionza embodies both the Feeling that the moment of crisis or spiritual model of the female goddesses from the Indian tradition – substitution was close, Flor signalled with her hand for associated with nature and fertility – and that of the me to stop filming. I followed her instructions and, Virgin Mary introduced by the Catholic tradition – immediately afterwards, Barbara was possessed by María although the imaginary construction of María Lionza as a Lionza as a white queen (Figure 6). After this brief highly sexualized Indian woman that appeared in the process of spiritual substitution, Flor gave me the go- mid-20th century is no doubt a product of the urban and criollo (non-Indian) classes. This is one of the reasons why anthropologists, historians and believers themselves have historically described the figure of María Lionza, and the cult that is devoted to her, as ‘syncretic’. This concept, however, has been strongly contested by many scholars due to its essentialist connotation.8

From a visual studies’ perspective, however, the most outstanding aspect of this ceremony is the series of rules and prohibitions imposed by the group members before filming was permitted. As I have mentioned, I was not allowed to film María Lionza’s first possession or the moment of spiritual substitution that resulted in the divinity’s second identity. In addition, there were other ritual rules that I had to follow while filming this scene. FIGURE 5. Estampa (holy card) of María Lionza as a white queen with El Negro Felipe (Felipe the Black) and El Indio Guacaipuro (Guacaipuro the For example, prior to shooting I had to ask for Indian). Note the presence of a snake around the waist of María Lionza. permission from the worshippers and the spirits of the The mirror effect 165

using terms such as ‘forces’, ‘energies’ and ‘magnetisms’. These physics-related terms can probably be traced back to the spiritualism of Alan Kardec, who travelled to Venezuela from Brazil at the start of the 20th century. According to believers, the moment of crisis or spiritual substitution, that is, the moment the medium expels his or her own spirit and receives that of a god, consists in an exchange of energies between this world and the spirit world. During the ritual, the medium’s spirit remains in ‘stand-by’, in a state of limbo until the god abandons the possessed body and the latter can once again retrieve its original spirit. According to believers, ff FIGURE 7. Medium reading a tobacco. 2014. Nirgua (Venezuela). the external energy of the camera could negatively a ect Photo: Roger Canals. this exchange of human and divine energies and could either stop the medium from being possessed or, in the worst case, prevent the medium’s original spirit from pantheon. As far as the spirits were concerned, my returning to the body once the divine spirit has been request had to be made through tobacco (Figure 7). The expelled. group’s leader gave me a long cigar that I had to smoke under his attentive watch. While the cigar was being The prohibition against the use of the flash during the smoked, he was observing the form of the ashes, which filming of the possession is also a question of energy. were interpreted as divine signs. Even after receiving the According to believers, the flash is brutal explosion of fi required permission, before lming I was asked to purify energy that can terrify the ‘descended’ spirit and make it the camera. Again, this was done by throwing some depart quickly, causing a spiritual void in the medium’s smoke on it. Moreover, the leader informed me that I body. The case of the flash is particularly dangerous could not take frontal close-ups of the possessed because the intense energy that it emits is an optical mediums or stand between them and the altar during energy, that is, and energy seized by the spiritual entity fl the ceremonies. The use of the ash was also strictly through the medium’s eyes. As I will explain below, in the prohibited. I have encountered these rules in many other cult of María Lionza, eyes are regarded as channels – rituals in the cult of María Lionza they constitute a through which the subject’s individual energy is rather general pattern within this cult, even though the outwardly projected. During the possession ritual, the introduction of new technologies into the rituals energy of the descended spirit ‘comes out’ through the (smartphones, cameras and tablets) are changing the medium’s eyes. As such, the use of flash during the habits vis-à-vis visuality, especially among young rituals poses a risk of ‘attacking’ the spiritual force’s believers. Similar restrictions regarding visuality can also channel of expulsion, bringing about a clash of energies be observed in other Afro-American religions (Murell that may lead to the sudden departure of the spirit and, 2010; Santiago and Rougeon 2013). thus, the potential death of the medium.

The existence of these rules regarding what can be The second potential risk associated with the camera’s fi fi lmed and how it should be lmed demonstrates that, in presence during the ritual is not related to its energy, but the possession rituals in honour of María Lionza, the is rather a question of looking. In María Lionza’s world, camera is considered to be a potentially dangerous looking is a key issue. For instance, from a visual arts device that can harm both the possessed medium and standpoint, during my fieldwork I had the opportunity ‘ ’ the spirit that momentarily dwells within them. The to verify the importance given to the representation of question is: why does the camera terrorize the the goddess’s gaze by painters and sculptors. The most believers so? popular myth about the goddess tells the story of an Indian girl who fell into a lake when she saw her eyes VISUAL PROHIBITIONS reflected in the water. It is at the very moment when she sees her own eyes – that is, when the look of the Indian One reason why followers of the cult of María Lionza maiden becomes self-referential – that she falls into the regard the camera as a potential danger to the ritual water and is reborn in another form. This myth points process is because it has, due to the batteries, its own to a crucial idea that I will develop later: that the gaze in energy. To understand this issue, it is important to recall the cult of María Lionza, due to its relational nature, that the followers of María Lionza describe the spirits must always be directed at someone else. A gaze 166 R. Canals

addressed to the seer is always considered a potential impressions, but also as a channel that projects the danger and should be avoided. human soul towards the outside world.10 In accordance with Alan Kardec’s aforementioned terminology, The act of looking is especially crucial during the believers consider that the eyes project energy, power religious rituals, so much so that the ritual can be and magnetism towards the world. The word ‘energy’ interpreted in terms of a multi-directional system of should be understood in its literal and material sense. circulation of looks between the medium, the spirits and This is why, according to believers, a look or gaze can the images of the divinities. For example, the process of affect the outside world. Giving someone the evil eye spiritual substitution between the medium and the spirit (mal de ojo), for example, can physically hurt the object takes place in front of the altar, where, in addition to of this look, as is also the case with the looks of certain ff representations of the gods, there are abundant o erings, animals, such as the jaguar, which can paralyze those candles and photos of the deceased parents of the who receive them. Given that, compared to humans, believers participating in the ceremony. To enter into a divinities have greater spiritual power, the energy trance, the medium stands in front of the images of the released by the eyes of the possessed during the gods and stares into their eyes. The mediums claim that possession is extremely powerful.11 looking into the images’ eyes enables them to seek the gods’ permission to perform the rituals more effectively, The greatest danger stemming from the camera’s and thus enter into a trance more easily. This exchange presence when the ritual is performed lies in the ‘mirror of looks between the medium and the representation is effect’ that the lens can cause. The camera lens may followed by the trance, the momentary transformation allow the person who is being filmed to see his or her of the medium, who expels his or her soul to temporarily own image reflected in the lens. If the camera is set welcome that of a divine being. As with all trance rituals, before a medium in a state of trance, María Lionza’s it is a process of alteration of the person – in this case, believers fear that the spiritual energy projected through the result of a visual contact between this world and the his or her eyes can ‘bounce back’ (rebotar) onto the hereafter. The contact between the medium’s eyes and camera lens and return to the eyes of the possessed. those of the image facilitates the medium’s access to According to them, this would provoke a short circuit, a another world – notably that of the gods and the head-on crash of identical energies that would result in deceased – and involves a metamorphosis of the the death of the spirit. In such cases, it would be possessed person, that is, of the subject who is looking. impossible for the medium’s soul to return to their body and thus, it would lead to his or her death. To avoid this If these looks between the medium and the religious mirror effect – that which affected the young Indian girl ff image are ritually e ective, it is because there is a partial in the above-mentioned myth of María Lionza – I always fi identi cation between the representation of the divinity had to warn the divinities that I was wearing glasses and and the divinity itself (Houtman and Meyer 2012). The I had to avoid looking at the possessed medium directly – – eyes of the representation that is, the image become, in the retina during the ceremonies. to a certain extent, the eyes of the god themselves; the image therefore stops being simply an observed object The mirror effect produced by the lens of the camera – and becomes an observing subject (Morgan 1998), thus or the glasses of the observer – can also pose another acquiring the status of person. This ambiguous risk to the medium in trance and the spirit dwelling identification between image and divinity constitutes a within him or her. This risk is related to the self- leitmotif in the cult of María Lionza.9 In fact, as in recognition of the spirit as a being that is momentarily Catholicism, it is common for believers to attribute given a human body. As one believer told me, ‘the spirit somatic reactions (eating, crying, talking, etc.) to the must never see himself as a human being’. In order to statuettes of the gods, or to invite the people attending understand this, it is important to bear in mind that the the ceremonies to be respectful towards the gods by not possession transforms the status quo: the divine spirit, turning their back to the images, since they would look an allegedly non-material and non-corporal entity, at them through them. dwells momentarily in the body of a medium, that is, of a mortal. Although most believers affirm that the spirit ’ THE MIRROR EFFECT uses the medium s body as a simple shell that enables it to present itself to humans, it is certain that contact The worshippers of María Lionza state that the eyes are between the god and the medium’s body is established, a transitory space between the spirit – living within the which allows the spirit to communicate through the body – and the outside world. Additionally, the eyes are body. Hence, if the spirit sees itself reflected in the lens not regarded merely as a receptive organ of external of the camera during the possession ritual, it does so not The mirror effect 167

as a god but as a human. The divinity sees itself order to see. Furthermore, extraordinary visual skills are temporarily as a human being, and, as a consequence, as attributed to the medium in trance, which they use, for a momentarily mortal being. The whole secret game of example, to perform a healing or divination ritual, or to possession would thus be revealed: the divinity realizes put a curse on someone. These two examples show that, that to present itself to humans, it must become human; in the cult of María Lionza, possession involves a radical or in other words, it must become a being subject to alteration of the vision of the possessed, which consists mortality. This contradiction – seeing itself as a divinity in acquiring an ultra-powerful – but at the same time inside a human body – would lead to the cancellation of highly vulnerable – vision, thus explaining the wide its immortality and would make it ‘die once again’. number of precautions that must be taken when filming a possession. The risk of ‘killing’ a spirit during the filming of a ritual reveals a double death in the worship of Maria Lionza: All of the observations presented thus far reveal the on the one hand, there is the death of the body; and, on changing and relational nature of the look in the cult of the other hand, that of the spirit. The former entails the María Lionza. The look, closely linked to the notion of liberation of the spirit; the second involves the spirit’s person is, in fact, altered during possession rituals. This extinction or weakening. Indeed, when referring to ‘the alteration of the look also constitutes an essential aspect spirit’s death’, believers describe a state in which the in the majority of versions of the myth of María Lionza. spiritual entity is prevented from revealing itself to Through these alterations, the subject can gain access to humans. In this state, the divinity is confined to a different domains of reality, in particular the sacred completely strange place where it cannot establish domain, or the world of the deceased and of gods. In the communication of any kind. It is important to add that cult of María Lionza, however, the gaze is more than a some mediums are more vulnerable than others before simple observation; it is a way of intervening in reality. the camera. The degree of tolerance before the camera The eyes, in fact, are not designed as organs that only also depends on the spirit. Once again, I call attention to receive external impressions, but also as organs that emit the fact that in the ritual described above, María Lionza the individual’s spiritual energy, which is replete with a is incarnated first as an Indian woman and then as a set of moral and intentional attributes. This is the basis white woman. According to the believers, in her of the well-known evil eye (mal de ojo), which is incarnation as an Indian woman María Lionza is frailer essentially the idea that one’s malicious gaze can than in her incarnation as a queen. This is why I was not physically and psychologically affect the person to whom allowed to shoot the first part of the ritual but I was it is directed. For this reason, the act of observing is permitted to film the second. I should likewise point out essentially a relational act. In other words, it seeks to that when one films without authorization or without establish social ties with other individuals or with divine following the ritual’s rules, the spirit can ‘decide’ to erase entities and herein lies the danger of the reflection, all recorded tapes. At the pilgrimage centres, numerous which is a look addressed to the observing subject. In rumours have been circulating since the beginning of the short, in the cult of María Lionza looking is a way of 20th century about anthropologists or directors who physically coming into contact with other members and filmed without having sought the spirits’ permission and thus of intervening in reality, thereby opening the door who later discovered – in the editing room – that the to creating or restructuring the network of social tapes or files contained no images whatsoever. If one relations and facilitating a dialogue between people, shoots without the gods’ permission it is also possible spirits and the deceased – that is, between different levels that the spirit, enraged by the camera’s illicit presence, of reality – through which their respective problems can may decide to curse the anthropologist. In this regard, be evoked, discussed and eventually resolved. many stories are told within the cult about researches that had become gravely sick because of their lack of respect towards the spiritual world. CINEMA, VISION AND THE SACRED

The importance of the look and its close relation with The above reflections show how powerful visual devices the hereafter can be observed in other aspects of the cult – and cinema, in particular – can be for the of María Lionza. For example, many believers claim that ethnographic study of religious practices. Indeed, it is one can know whether a medium is really possessed by thanks to the use of the camera in the field that I was checking if their eyes are partially rolling upwards. The able to obtain vast information about the world of spirits absence of the look would prove that the soul inhabiting and deceased persons in the cult of María Lionza – that the body of the possessed person is a divine soul, with is, about the domain of the invisible. My experience is no need for the physiological trappings of humans in not unique. In fact, the history of ethnographic cinema 168 R. Canals

(Banks and Ruby 2011) is full of examples of films about 2013 ). Any person or human group constantly makes religious rituals in which communication with references to people, beings or events that are not supernatural beings – such as in rituals of possession – physically around them but, nevertheless, play a social take place; it is even one of the predominant topics of role despite their invisibility – and perhaps even because the ‘genre’. Two of the most significant examples are the of it. The events of the past, the events of the future, works of Jean Rouch in West Africa or of Maya Deren in ancestors, mythical places, the forces or physical Haiti. Although quite different in their approaches principles that make the world work (from the (Henley 2010), both make a formal and technical effort contemporary concept of ‘energy’ to the classical idea of to employ innovative cinematic strategies in order to ‘maná’) or even the social principles that structure grasp religious experience. society, such as kinship or moral law, are not directly visible, even we can find certain traces of them in actions, ffi This long tradition reveals that there is a sort of a nity discourses or material culture. Using a filmic metaphor, between cinema (as a medium, as a practice and as a we could say that in any cultural context there is always language) and religion. In other words, it shows that something off-camera (hors-champ in French) that cinema is particularly suitable for the study of the sacred participates in constructing what is happening in front of ffi (Meyer 2015). This a nity may appear as a contradiction: us and makes it meaningful. What the fieldwork indeed, one could argue that given the invisibility of the experiences regarding the cult of María Lionza prove is sacred beings religion usually involves (spirits, gods, that, very often, visual devices, which include both the souls), we as anthropologists should resign ourselves to filming and the editing process, are particularly suitable not using the camera to study them. From this for doing so. It is by explaining this idea in more detail perspective, cinema should focus on what is visible and, that I will conclude the present article. therefore, filmable, casting aside all those aspects of reality that remain unseen. This idea, however, is based on a misconception regarding the nature of cinema and the THEORY AND PRACTICE IN VISUAL logic of the ritual process. Indeed, it is important to ANTHROPOLOGY highlight that cinema is not simply about visibility, but rather, more specifically, about visuality. This implies that We may draw an initial general idea from the set of cinema – as a tool of inquiry and as a language – does not prohibitions regarding the use of the camera during the exclusively concern that which can be effectively seen – as possession rituals of the cult to María Lionza I described the realistic or objectivist theory of cinema would claim – above. These prohibitions reveal that the technological fi ff but rather the meanings and implications of the act of devices we use in the eld may be interpreted di erently fi seeing and being seen. Furthermore, we should not forget depending on the cultural milieu in which we nd that what is truly important vis-à-vis these supernatural ourselves. For instance, we all agree on the fact that a beings is not what they look like (that is, their camera is an object designed to record images of the appearance) but rather what they produce, what their outside world. Still, this is just part of the story, since the – fl existence entails; in short, what they do. If their act of watching through the lens or through a ip – appearance is an issue of interest and debate among screen and capturing what is occurring in front of the believers, it is because their form is associated with a camera do not have the same meaning nor the same particular behaviour. So, it is the social processes brought social implications everywhere. From a methodological about by their presence – or even the events that occur point of view, this implies that, when embarking on a fi when they are called and they do not come – that we new research project, the rst question that we, as ‘ need to analyse. In other words, if we are interested in researchers, have to ask ourselves is: What does it mean “ fi ” ’ these beings, it is because they produce actions (they to lm within this particular cultural context? The ffi provoke new events and create new relationships) or, di culty often lies in the fact that the only way to more radically, because they always appear as actions – answer this question is to take out the camera and start and cinema is the medium of action par excellence. using it, thus putting oneself at risk of committing some ‘visual mistakes’–such as filming in a wrong manner or All of these reflections regarding visuality and invisibility filming what is not permitted to be filmed. Far from may seem very specific, that is, limited solely the field of being a problem, these visual mistakes are highly ethnographic cinema and the study of ritual and religion. valuable for the research, since they may force the However, anthropology and sociology, in one way or people with whom we are working to verbalize those another, have always had to deal with invisibility. cultural rules that usually remain hidden, that is, to Invisibility constitutes a structural aspect of social life that communicate orally why something cannot be seen or cinema has incessantly strived to capture (Suhr and Rane filmed. Indeed, in anthropology, significant field data The mirror effect 169

often comes from prohibitions, that is, from what we are that is, ‘theory’. Indeed, if we regard theory as not allowed to do. If prohibitions or restrictions are so conceptual understanding, we must accept that, in valuable from an ethnographic standpoint, it is because anthropology, this understanding emerges from the they concern the limits of what is doable, thinkable or shared experiences that we forge in the field with the acceptable in a particular cultural context. Therefore, people with whom we are working, and not later. prohibitions are a sort of cultural – some would say ‘ ’ ‘ ’ ‘ontological’–boundary. As a consequence, it is when Not only does theory emerge from practice , but also ‘ ’ fl we surpass these boundaries that the whole set of practice is an act of re ection linked to the theoretical cultural patterns is made explicit. Inversely, the knowledge that we possess. For instance, at the moment fi fieldwork experience informs us about the kind of visual of lming a ritual of possession in the cult of María affordances that operate in each particular context. By Lionza, I had to take into account all the theoretical ‘visual affordance’ I refer to set of aspects of reality knowledge about this religious practice that I had deemed to be visible, as well as the meaning and role of previously obtained through books or former the interactions established through sight. In other observation. I had to activate this knowledge in order to fi words, visual affordance points to the idea of what is decide which aspects of each ritual were worth lming fi ’ possible to see in a specific cultural and social milieu. and how. Thus, if I decided to lm María Lionza s statue I had to consider the ambivalent nature that believers That said, I would like to conclude this article by attribute to representations; I needed to be aware of the providing some reflections on the close relationship fact that, in this specific context, I was not filming an between theoretical knowledge and cinematic practices object but rather a person, that is, not an object but an in visual anthropology. ‘Theory’ is usually understood as object-subject (Morgan 2010). Therefore, during the a set of concepts, arguments or abstract ideas about fieldwork the ethnographer has to be able not only to social life, whereas ‘practice’ is seen as the actual theoretically address what she or he sees, but also to experience of being in the field conducting research in incorporate this theoretical knowledge in order to see order to obtain relevant data (Ingold 1996). However, differently – that is, to adapt him or herself to a new set the fieldwork experiences explained in this article of visual affordances. ‘Seeing differently’ does not mean indicate that ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ do not constitute two necessarily seeing other things but rather having the separate stages or moments within the research process capacity to modify one’s visual habitus according to the – neither temporarily nor intellectually – but rather, that particularities of each cultural context.12 they are always interwoven. Actually, the distinction fi between theory and practice does not reflect the nature In the eld of visual anthropology, this relationship of the research process – a single process in which between theory and practice is particularly strong when we actions and concepts, experiences and thoughts are address issues linked to visuality, representation and the necessarily mingled – but is essentially discursive and meaning of seeing and being seen. It is important to keep fi retrospective in nature, that is, made by the researcher this in mind when we are lming, editing or writing once the investigation is concluded in order to make the articles. Indeed, being aware of how theory emerges research project fit with the standards of academic and through practice and how practice becomes meaningful intellectual authorities. through its consubstantial relation to conceptual knowledge will enable us to take full advantage of our field For example, the experience of filming the double experiences and to preserve, when writing or editing, the possession of Barbara allowed me to obtain valuable strength of this dialogical and sensory experience with ethnographic information regarding María Lionza’s others that we usually call ‘ethnography’. worship. All the prohibitions and shooting rules imposed by the believers gave me the opportunity to DISCLOSURE STATEMENT work on the subject of looking in the cult of María ff Lionza and a orded me a better understanding of the No potential conflict of interest was reported by the frequently used energy concept. By using the camera I author. gained access to some information that I could not have obtained otherwise. We could say that this information NOTES constituted valuable relevant ‘data’ for the ‘later’ theoretical interpretation of this religious practice. [1] In the cult of María Lionza, a medium or materia is a However, written in this way, this sentence would be person capable of expelling his or her own soul or spirit misleading, since the fact is that these experiences in the and embodying a supernatural being or the spirit of a field were not just ‘data’, but intellectual knowledge – dead person. 170 R. Canals

[2] The literature about the concept of Afro-American (Grasseni 2007). According to the author, looking is a culture is vast. See, for instance, Mintz and Price (1976), product of a dialogical apprenticeship that necessarily Palmié (2013) or Johnson (2014). takes places in a specific environmental landscape. [3] Alan Kardec (1804–1869) is regarded as the father of modern spiritism. In 1857, Kardec, who considered References himself a scientist, wrote his most important book, Le livre des esprits, highly influenced by cartersianism, Andrews, G. 2004. Afro-Latin America. 1800–2000. Oxford: evolutionism and the theories of Saint-Simon and Oxford University Press. Fourier. According to Kardec, all spirits are imperfect in Ascencio, M. 2007. Las diosas del Caribe. Venezuela: Editorial their origin, but through a mechanism of successive Alfa. reincarnation, they can achieve perfection. Kardecism Ascencio, M. 2012. De que vuelan vuelan. 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