The Jumel Mansion - Manhattan

I’m not going to tell you too much about this place. I went there in 1964, just after my Mom had read about it in the newspaper. She was like that; she’d read something interesting, clip it out and the next thing I knew we were in the car and my father would be driving us to see it.

My wife is like that, too. I’m more of a drive by and see something, stop and look at it. It might seem more spontaneous, but I come up with less things than either my Mom, or Sue. So, their method is obviously a more fruitful track.

Without looking anything up I remember the story like this; Madame Jumel was the richest women in Colonial America due to some circumstances involving marriage and death. In those days that’s how it worked for women. They married as well as they could and then hoped for the early demise of the husband. Then she was free to marry the stable hand if she chose to. But, it worked both ways. George Washington married up, so to speak, when he tied the knot with Martha.

Anyway, Madame Ju

mel was involved with two men; one of whom I believe was Alexander Hamilton; but I’ll check that before I wrap this up. This is just my preliminary memory of the house and the things we were told on the tour.

At the time of our visit there had been a ghost scare at the mansion. A group of school children had gone on a field trip to see the house. When they were assembled on the front lawn a figure appeared on the upstairs balcony screaming at the children; and their very frightened teacher. No explanation was ever uncovered for the bizarre incident; other than the “ghost” screaming that the kids were making too much noise.

When we visited about a month later the docent showed us some of the window panes which had been etched upon with the signatures of either Madame Jumel, or one of her family. I don’t remember exactly. I do know this; that prior to the 1960’s the house was in disrepair and the local residents in Harlem had broken a good many of the windows.

But you could readily tell the original wavy panes from the new replacements. And these were the ones which had writing on them. The odd part was that the name and handwriting were from one particular person who had been dead too long to have done the etching on a few of the panes.

The house is on something like 160^th Street in Nicholas Park. The Alexander Hamilton residence is barely a mile south of that on 141^st Street, where it was relocated in the early 2000’s. It is still within the original 34 acre tract of land which Hamilton called home.

Okay, so now I will look on line for a picture of the house and a link which will tell the whole story. What you have read is merely the memory of a 10 year old kid. I’m looking forward to reading the whole story. Hope you’ll join me… here’s a great link with photos of every room.

The one of the mannequin reminded me of the fright I had when we came up the stairs to the second floor. The bedroom pictured with the mannequin was positioned in such a way that when you turned at the top of the landing you were looking right at it. As a 10 year old expecting a ghost to jump out at any minute, it did the trick and scared the hell out of me!

http://gothamist.com/2014/08/13/americas_richest_woman.php

"The Birth of a Nation" by Dick Lehr (2014)

For years I wondered what the value was of having this film in the library. Then I got interested in film and realized the brilliance of the film process itself; given the times and technology. What a conundrum; a classic film with much to admire in technological marvels, but filled with flawed history and blatant racism. How do you even review a film like that?

Author Bert Lehr has gone beyond that with his all-encompassing book about the film and 2 men; both ahead of their times. D.W. Griffith was the director of the film; and Monroe Trotter was the African- American man who rallied his people; and a good portion of the nation; in denouncing the film. In addition, he has created a biography of the film itself and the rising pangs of former slaves to be treated like citizens. It is, in short, the story of an era.

The author begins with brief biographies of both men; drawing a contrast that is as remarkable as fiction. Griffith’s father was James Griffith, a staunch segregationist and veteran of the Civil War who had served with the Kentucky Calvary and fought at Charleston when the Union marched in.

Likewise, so was Trotter’s father a veteran of the Civil War; having served in an all-black regiment of the Union Army. He was one of the men who marched into Charleston as Griffith’s father fled. The irony of their two sons facing off over a film about that war, 50 years later, is remarkable.

After the film was finished; but before its release; it was screened for President Wilson in private at the White House. Wilson was a Southerner and thought the film was wonderful. Trotter saw it differently. He; along with Union veterans both black and white; organized boycotts and protests across the country, and denounced the film as racist.

Yet for all of the protestations about the glorification of the Ku Klux Klan, and the attendant lynching’s, the film has remained a staple of film history. Most of the times it is touted as a breakthrough film as far as technology goes. And there is much truth to that. But the darker side is that it remains a searing portrait of our country at a crossroads.

The bitter taste of Reconstruction was still very fresh on the minds and in the hearts of the southern people; just as the bitterness of slavery was still very much alive in the former slaves and their children. The Jim Crow era was in full swing. And D.W. Griffith made a film which glorified the era, as well as the swinging bodies which that era produced.

This book is all encompassing. It is two biographies in one. It is the history of the Reconstruction Era and also a look at the Jim Crow Days which ushered in a new century. Given the history of the divide, it is no surprise that the events of that century still affect us today.

Easter Sunday - 1965

Easter Sunday was a big deal when I was a kid. They still actually had an Easter Parade down 5^th Avenue in Manhattan. It wasn’t the type of Parade I expected. It was just like the scene in the Judy Garland film “Easter Parade”; lots of people strolling in their Easter finery and the women showing off the latest in the world of hats. The only real difference is that no one actually sang the song like they did in the movie.

It’s too bad they don’t do the Eater Parade thing anymore. With today’s technology it would be so easy to organize a “flash mob”, having them assemble; with hats, and singing; for a reproduction of the closing scene from the film. Now, wouldn’t that be something?

I was going to use the film of the parade scene from the film "The Easter Parade" here- but this is so much cooler;

I was surprised to find that there still is a sort of Easter Parade in New York each year. And it's still on 5th Avenue; though it is more like a street festival than the promenade it used to be;And here is the Easter Parade as it looked in 2013;

Baseball - and the Allure of Defeat

A few years ago, I posted the epic poem "Casey at the Bat", which is about the losing team in Muddville, and the struggle that Casey waged that day while trying to win the game. I have had many comments about that piece. It is an iconic piece of Americana. It speaks to our love of the underdog, which dates back to our nation's founding. We were the underdogs!

The following was received as noted, and it posed an interesting question, causing me to ponder on the subject of just why we love the underdog. Here is this well written and insightful e-mail, followed by my view on the subject.  I love when I get these types of e-mails, allowing me to interact with the reader. After all, that's what it's all about...

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New comment on "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.

Thursday, June 2, 2011 12:07 PM

From: This sender is DomainKeys verified"Fegan's Pocket"

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To: robertrswwilliams@yahoo.com

Fegan's Pocket has left a new comment on your post ""Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer":

“Living in Massachusetts near Boston I can relate to the downfall of the hero of this poem. The Red Sox had 48 years of "Mudville". It seems that everyone who knows and loves baseball knows "Casey..." Is there an epic poem about winning baseball? I can't think of one at the moment. Which begs the case; Why do we hold this poem so dear? Why do Red Sox and Cubs fans remain fans? Is it Aristotelian? Aristotle described the plot of Greek Tragedies as a hero with a minor flaw who is destroyed because of it. Are baseball fans fond of the pathos of defeat rather than the elation of triumph? This could explain why "Casey" and the Red Sox and the Cubs still have such devoted fans. “

Now, my own take on this subject is that baseball is the workingman's game. And the workingman is usually the underdog in the game of life. The image of the blue collar guy rooting for his favorite team is ingrained in our collective psyches. The Brooklyn Dodgers are a perfect example. Even when they won the pennant they were still lovingly referred to as "the Bums."

Life is just like baseball, the bases are always loaded and the count is often 3/2. The next pitch could change everything. Here's Jackie Robinson stealing base in the 1955 World Series;

Uncle I and the Navajo Blanket

I usually post something for Good Friday; and also for Passover; which begins this evening. This year they both fall on the same day; leaving me in a conundrum; so I thought I’d do something different. Being the product of a mixed marriage I decided it would be more appropriate to tell a family story. It’s one that doesn’t get told often, and I thought I should be writing it down before it ends up lost to the ages.

This is one of those memories for which I do not have a photograph. Sometimes they are the best kinds of memories to have, as they allow the picture in your mind; which is always better than the photo; to survive intact with its full flavor unaltered by the perception of a photograph. It is also the story of my Uncle Irving; whom we called Uncle “I”; a Jewish man who goes to Los Angeles to visit his sister and on the way home stops in Los Vegas and takes a side trip to Colorado.

In the late 1950’s airline travel was still somewhat of a novelty, and my Uncle Irving; who was something of a novelty himself; took his first trip out west to see my Grandmother Dorothy; his sister; who had deserted Brooklyn along with the Dodgers, in Los Angeles. Neither entity was ever fully forgiven. The trip went well and on the way back Uncle I decided to visit Las Vegas, Nevada to play the slots. This is where the trouble actually began; although the poor man never even knew there was a problem until he got back to Brooklyn and my house.

I can still see the living room furniture clear in my mind’s eye as Uncle I sat on the sofa with a big bundle containing some “things” he had bought back from his trip for my brother and I. Anticipation filled the air around me as he unwrapped the mysterious treasures.

The first things out where 2 beaded Indian belts, supposedly hand crafted by Navajo Indians.  I was thrilled. My mother was not. She had noticed a swastika on the belt’s design. This was only 13 years after the end of the War, and in Brooklyn that was saying something. We had an inordinate amount of people with the telltale blue tattoos of the Concentration Camp on their wrists. But, if the belts weren’t enough to send my Mom into a tailspin, what came next certainly rose to the occasion.

The rug pictured above is probably a bit larger than the blankets my Uncle pulled out next. But it was the way in which he pulled them out that made the whole thing memorable. He unfurled them flat onto the living room floor with a flourish; as if they were the carpet containing Cleopatra.

So, there they were, right on the living room floor in Brooklyn, New York; two swastikas as large as the ones which flew over the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The silence was; as they say; deafening; but brief. Mom; usually a quiet and reserved woman; went into a rage; proclaiming the offending items to be inappropriate; and how could you think this was okay; what are you, crazy? (The last was more of a statement than a question.)

Uncle I just kind of stood there in silence for a moment before he looked at my Mom with the eyes of someone looking at a fool, and said something like, “Well, you can always go back to Nevada and exchange them.” He wasn’t laughing.

Now, my father; who had been standing off to the side during this whole thing; really loved Uncle I, but he had to sleep with my Mom. Something needed to be done; quickly, and preferably without words.

Accordingly, he gathered the gifts up in his arms and left the living room. I heard the front door to the hallway open and close, and then he was gone. When he came back he looked triumphant. No, make that omniscient; or Solomon like. He had come up with the perfect solution; he threw the stuff down the incinerator.

You know, I have never really understood my mother’s reaction that day. My immediate response was typical for a 4 year old. I looked at my brother; who was barely 6 at the time; and we both exchanged looks of “Holy Cow!” But in retrospect; as both a parent and a grandparent; I think both my parents were nuts. Aside from my brother and me, the only sane one in the room that night was my Uncle Irving.

As a brief aside I should mention that my Uncle was acting in a fairly rational way; buying those blankets, considering he was Jewish. It displayed an acceptance of their culture; and the swastika; beyond the context of Adolph Hitler. The way he figured it, the Nazis almost destroyed the Jews; so why should he now; in defeat no less; get to torpedo the Navajo’s?

My mother; on the other hand; displayed a complete ignorance of what should have been within easy memory for her. The Indian tribes all gave up the use of their religious symbol for the duration of the war. They did this voluntarily and without passage of any laws directing they take such action. As a matter of fact, their conduct would serve as a great lesson in tolerance for both sides in the current Religious Freedom law debates. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. It’s only when you realize you should, that you can.

I’m glad I got somewhere with this story, as I had no idea where I was headed with it when I began. There are lessons to be learned everywhere; particularly in the stories of our own lives.

Indiana Religious Freedom Law - Why it's Different

It all started with Peyote. In 1993 Bill Clinton signed the Federal Religious Freedom Act to allow the Indians to use peyote in their religious ceremonies. Of course when the Rasta’s in Florida wanted their religious rights upheld to smoke marijuana in deference to their God, Ja, they were refused; but it all started with the peyote.

By 1998 it was becoming sort of a fashion to champion state laws protecting Religious Freedom; and as usual we now have a patchwork quilt of laws in different states; all of which are keeping the attorney’s very busy. Now, this past week, we have the Indiana law weighing in; supposedly in the name of religious freedom; and at this writing the Governor is demanding clarification of the law’s provisions to ensure his state is “gay friendly.”  It’s a shame that the reason he caved in was due to public pressure and not sound law; which the bill was not to begin with. We’ll get to that.

But first, why was this bill received by the public with such an immediate and decisive response? What’s different in this bill that is different from the 1993 Federal law; as well as the 2 dozen other states which have Religious Freedom Acts on the books?

Well, the first thing which struck me when I read it; I actually do that; was that Section 5, which purports to grant rights to Religious groups, actually makes it legal for an OPINION to be a valid reason to deny someone else the right to service.

The law takes great pains to define certain words in the bill; but nowhere does it define the term Religion; leaving the door open for an inability to determine anything in court. Under such vaguely written statute an opinion can be construed as a religion. This would actually make the Rasta’s quite happy, as they ritually; or religiously; smoke weed. It’s not just about wedding cakes. It works both ways, you see.

Additionally, this was the first law of its kind to target individuals as opposed to businesses. Section 11 of the bill actually abrogates your right as an individual to bring suit against an employer; thus making the State both the Legislature and the Judiciary. This is something we don’t do in America. The principles of Separation of Powers; and Conflict of Interests; is the backbone of Democratic Republican form of government.

I love using those two words together. It confuses some people. And it also shows the true divisive nature of our two party system. The very titles of the two parties immediately divide the populace. Democratic Party implies a Populace form of government; where the majority rules. That is not the case here. And the Republican Party smacks of nobility and privilege. Together the two keep us all at odds, and themselves in power.

The most common example in this whole Indiana thing has been the Baker. The Baker has rights. So do his customers. But the law says the Baker can’t discriminate against specific groups of people; in this case Gay and Lesbian couples. But the Bakery itself has rights which are only related to its operation. The Baker may choose to disassociate with Gays in his personal life; but as a Bakery, he is bound by Federal Law to serve all people. It’s very simple.

But here comes yet another Conservative politician; who all agree we have too many laws; passing another useless, and flawed law. So flawed, in fact, that at this writing the Governor of Indiana is demanding the Legislature rewrite the law to make  sure it is gay friendly by this Friday. We shall see.

Here is the link to the original 1993 Federal Law;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Freedom_Restoration_Act   

And here is the full text of Indiana’s “religious freedom” law. See if you can spot the difference and pay attention to Sections 5 and 11.

SENATE ENROLLED ACT No. 101

AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning civil procedure.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:

SECTION1.IC34-13-9 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2015]:

Chapter 9. Religious Freedom Restoration

Sec. 1. This chapter applies to all governmental entity statutes, ordinances, resolutions, executive or administrative orders, regulations, customs, and usages, including the implementation or application thereof, regardless of whether they were enacted, adopted, or initiated before, on, or after July 1, 2015.

Sec. 2. A governmental entity statute, ordinance, resolution, executive or administrative order, regulation, custom, or usage may not be construed to be exempt from the application of this chapter unless a state statute expressly exempts the statute, ordinance, resolution, executive or administrative order, regulation, custom, or usage from the application of this chapter by citation to this chapter.

Sec. 3. (a) The following definitions apply throughout this section: (1) "Establishment Clause" refers to the part of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of the State of Indiana prohibiting laws respecting the establishment of religion. (2) "Granting", used with respect to government funding, benefits, or exemptions, does not include the denial of government funding, benefits, or exemptions. (b) This chapter may not be construed to affect, interpret, or in any way address the Establishment Clause. (c) Granting government funding, benefits, or exemptions, to the extent permissible under the Establishment Clause, does not constitute a violation of this chapter.

Sec. 4. As used in this chapter, "demonstrates"means meets the burdens of going forward with the evidence and of persuasion.

Sec. 5. As used in this chapter, "exercise of religion" includes any exercise of religion,whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.

Sec. 6. As used in this chapter, "governmental entity" includes the whole or any part of a branch, department, agency, instrumentality, official, or other individual or entity acting under color of law of any of the following: (1) State government. (2) A political subdivision (as defined in IC 36-1-2-13). (3) An instrumentality of a governmental entity described in subdivision(1) or (2), including a state educational institution, a body politic, a body corporate and politic, or any other similar entity established by law.

Sec. 7. As used in this chapter, "person" includes the following: (1) An individual. (2) An organization, a religious society, a church, a body of communicants, or a group organized and operated primarily for religious purposes. (3) A partnership, a limited liability company, a corporation, a company, a firm, a society, a joint-stock company, an unincorporated association, or another entity that: (A) may sue and be sued; and (B) exercises practices that are compelled or limited by a system of religious belief held by: (i) an individual; or (ii) the individuals; who have control and substantial ownership of the entity, regardless of whether the entity is organized and operated for profit or nonprofit purposes.

Sec. 8. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a governmental entity may not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability. (b) A governmental entity may substantially burden a person's exercise of religion only if the governmental entity demonstrates that application of the burden to the person: (1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

Sec. 9. A person whose exercise of religion has been substantially burdened, or is likely to be substantially burdened, by a violation of this chapter may assert the violation or impending violation as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding, regardless of whether the state or any other governmental entity is a party to the proceeding. If the relevant governmental entity is not a party to the proceeding, the governmental entity has an unconditional right to intervene in order to respond to the person's invocation of this chapter.

Sec. 10. (a) If a court or other tribunal in which a violation of this chapter is asserted in conformity with section 9 of this chapter determines that: (1) the person's exercise of religion has been substantially burdened, or is likely to be substantially burdened; and (2) the governmental entity imposing the burden has not demonstrated that application of the burden to the person: (A) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (B) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest; the court or other tribunal shall allow a defense against any party and shall grant appropriate relief against the governmental entity. (b) Relief against the governmental entity may include any of the following: (1) Declaratory relief or an injunction or mandate that prevents, restrains, corrects, or abates the violation of this chapter. (2) Compensatory damages. (c) In the appropriate case,the court or other tribunal also may award all or part of the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney's fees, to a person that prevails against the governmental entity under this chapter.

Sec. 11. This chapter is not intended to, and shall not be construed or interpreted to, create a claim or private cause of action against any private employer by any applicant, employee, or former employee.

"Body Rituals of the Nacirema" by Horace Mitchell Miner

Body Ritual among the Nacirema

by Horace Mitchell Miner

Published in American Anthropologist, vol 58, June 1956. pp. 503-507. Footnotes were added by Dowell.

Most cultures exhibit a particular configuration or style. A single value or pattern of perceiving the world often leaves its stamp on several institutions in the society. Examples are "machismo" in Spanish-influenced cultures, "face" in Japanese culture, and "pollution by females" in some highland New Guinea cultures. Here Horace Miner demonstrates that "attitudes about the body" have a pervasive influence on many institutions in Nacirema society.

The anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different people behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs. In fact, if all of the logically possible combinations of behavior have not been found somewhere in the world, he is apt to suspect that they must be present in some yet undescribed tribe. The point has, in fact, been expressed with respect to clan organization by Murdock[1] . In this light, the magical beliefs and practices of the Nacirema present such unusual aspects that it seems desirable to describe them as an example of the extremes to which human behavior can go.

Professor Linton[2] first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago, but the culture of this people is still very poorly understood. They are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east. According to Nacirema mythology, their nation was originated by a culture hero, Notgnihsaw, who is otherwise known for two great feats of strength—the throwing of a piece of wampum across the river Pa-To-Mac and the chopping down of a cherry tree in which the Spirit of Truth resided.

Nacirema culture is characterized by a highly developed market economy which has evolved in a rich natural habitat. While much of the people's time is devoted to economic pursuits, a large part of the fruits of these labors and a considerable portion of the day are spent in ritual activity. The focus of this activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people. While such a concern is certainly not unusual, its ceremonial aspects and associated philosophy are unique.

The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses. Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone. Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls.

While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. I was able, however, to establish sufficient rapport with the natives to examine these shrines and to have the rituals described to me.

The focal point of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live. These preparations are secured from a variety of specialized practitioners. The most powerful of these are the medicine men, whose assistance must be rewarded with substantial gifts. However, the medicine men do not provide the curative potions for their clients, but decide what the ingredients should be and then write them down in an ancient and secret language. This writing is understood only by the medicine men and by the herbalists who, for another gift, provide the required charm.

The charm is not disposed of after it has served its purpose, but is placed in the charmbox of the household shrine. As these magical materials are specific for certain ills, and the real or imagined maladies of the people are many, the charm-box is usually full to overflowing. The magical packets are so numerous that people forget what their purposes were and fear to use them again. While the natives are very vague on this point, we can only assume that the idea in retaining all the old magical materials is that their presence in the charm-box, before which the body rituals are conducted, will in some way protect the worshiper.

Beneath the charm-box is a small font. Each day every member of the family, in succession, enters the shrine room, bows his head before the charm-box, mingles different sorts of holy water in the font, and proceeds with a brief rite of ablution[3]. The holy waters are secured from the Water Temple of the community, where the priests conduct elaborate ceremonies to make the liquid ritually pure.

In the hierarchy of magical practitioners, and below the medicine men in prestige, are specialists whose designation is best translated as "holy-mouth-men." The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth, the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships. Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them. They also believe that a strong relationship exists between oral and moral characteristics. For example, there is a ritual ablution of the mouth for children which is supposed to improve their moral fiber.

The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious[4] about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures[5].

In addition to the private mouth-rite, the people seek out a holy-mouth-man once or twice a year. These practitioners have an impressive set of paraphernalia, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods. The use of these items in the exorcism of the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client. The holy-mouth-man opens the client's mouth and, using the above mentioned tools, enlarges any holes which decay may have created in the teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes. If there are no naturally occurring holes in the teeth, large sections of one or more teeth are gouged out so that the supernatural substance can be applied. In the client's view, the purpose of these ministrations[6] is to arrest decay and to draw friends. The extremely sacred and traditional character of the rite is evident in the fact that the natives return to the holy-mouth-men year after year, despite the fact that their teeth continue to decay.

It is to be hoped that, when a thorough study of the Nacirema is made, there will be careful inquiry into the personality structure of these people. One has but to watch the gleam in the eye of a holy-mouth-man, as he jabs an awl into an exposed nerve, to suspect that a certain amount of sadism is involved. If this can be established, a very interesting pattern emerges, for most of the population shows definite masochistic tendencies. It was to these that Professor Linton referred in discussing a distinctive part of the daily body ritual which is performed only by men. This part of the rite includes scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument. Special women's rites are performed only four times during each lunar month, but what they lack in frequency is made up in barbarity. As part of this ceremony, women bake their heads in small ovens for about an hour. The theoretically interesting point is that what seems to be a preponderantly masochistic people have developed sadistic specialists.

The medicine men have an imposing temple, or latipso, in every community of any size. The more elaborate ceremonies required to treat very sick patients can only be performed at this temple. These ceremonies involve not only the thaumaturge[7] but a permanent group of vestal maidens who move sedately about the temple chambers in distinctive costume and headdress.

The latipso ceremonies are so harsh that it is phenomenal that a fair proportion of the really sick natives who enter the temple ever recover. Small children whose indoctrination is still incomplete have been known to resist attempts to take them to the temple because "that is where you go to die." Despite this fact, sick adults are not only willing but eager to undergo the protracted ritual purification, if they can afford to do so. No matter how ill the supplicant or how grave the emergency, the guardians of many temples will not admit a client if he cannot give a rich gift to the custodian. Even after one has gained and survived the ceremonies, the guardians will not permit the neophyte to leave until he makes still another gift.

The supplicant entering the temple is first stripped of all his or her clothes. In everyday life the Nacirema avoids exposure of his body and its natural functions. Bathing and excretory acts are performed only in the secrecy of the household shrine, where they are ritualized as part of the body-rites. Psychological shock results from the fact that body secrecy is suddenly lost upon entry into the latipso. A man, whose own wife has never seen him in an excretory act, suddenly finds himself naked and assisted by a vestal maiden while he performs his natural functions into a sacred vessel. This sort of ceremonial treatment is necessitated by the fact that the excreta are used by a diviner to ascertain the course and nature of the client's sickness. Female clients, on the other hand, find their naked bodies are subjected to the scrutiny, manipulation and prodding of the medicine men.

Few supplicants in the temple are well enough to do anything but lie on their hard beds. The daily ceremonies, like the rites of the holy-mouth-men, involve discomfort and torture. With ritual precision, the vestals awaken their miserable charges each dawn and roll them about on their beds of pain while performing ablutions, in the formal movements of which the maidens are highly trained. At other times they insert magic wands in the supplicant's mouth or force him to eat substances which are supposed to be healing. From time to time the medicine men come to their clients and jab magically treated needles into their flesh. The fact that these temple ceremonies may not cure, and may even kill the neophyte, in no way decreases the people's faith in the medicine men.

There remains one other kind of practitioner, known as a "listener." This witchdoctor has the power to exorcise the devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched. The Nacirema believe that parents bewitch their own children. Mothers are particularly suspected of putting a curse on children while teaching them the secret body rituals. The counter-magic of the witchdoctor is unusual in its lack of ritual. The patient simply tells the "listener" all his troubles and fears, beginning with the earliest difficulties he can remember. The memory displayed by the Nacirema in these exorcism sessions is truly remarkable. It is not uncommon for the patient to bemoan the rejection he felt upon being weaned as a babe, and a few individuals even see their troubles going back to the traumatic effects of their own birth.

In conclusion, mention must be made of certain practices which have their base in native esthetics but which depend upon the pervasive aversion to the natural body and its functions. There are ritual fasts to make fat people thin and ceremonial feasts to make thin people fat. Still other rites are used to make women's breasts larger if they are small, and smaller if they are large. General dissatisfaction with breast shape is symbolized in the fact that the ideal form is virtually outside the range of human variation. A few women afflicted with almost inhuman hyper-mammary development are so idolized that they make a handsome living by simply going from village to village and permitting the natives to stare at them for a fee.

Reference has already been made to the fact that excretory functions are ritualized, routinized, and relegated to secrecy. Natural reproductive functions are similarly distorted. Intercourse is taboo as a topic and scheduled as an act. Efforts are made to avoid pregnancy by the use of magical materials or by limiting intercourse to certain phases of the moon. Conception is actually very infrequent. When pregnant, women dress so as to hide their condition. Parturition takes place in secret, without friends or relatives to assist, and the majority of women do not nurse their infants.

Our review of the ritual life of the Nacirema has certainly shown them to be a magic-ridden people. It is hard to understand how they have managed to exist so long under the burdens which they have imposed upon themselves. But even such exotic customs as these take on real meaning when they are viewed with the insight provided by Malinowski[8] when he wrote:

“Looking from far and above, from our high places of safety in the developed civilization, it is easy to see all the crudity and irrelevance of magic. But without its power and guidance early man could not have mastered his practical difficulties as he has done, nor could man have advanced to the higher stages of civilization.[9]