Yes, Virginia, it was called the 'Blood Rite'

Many years ago I wrote a pair of articles detailing the links between Freemasonry and Scouting.  The first focused on the ritual similarities between the Order of the Arrow (OA) and Freemasonry -- Freemasonry, Scouting and the Order of the Arrow.  The second, Following Arrows, was a looser and more free-form look at various Scouting organizations and BSA honor societies and their links to various esoteric movements including Freemasonry and the "neo-Pagan" revival, as well as to religious sects such as Mormonism, the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Salvation Army.  Though generally well-received by Scouters and Masons alike, there were some negative reactions as well.  

Over the years I have made attempts to fuse the two essays and expand upon them in order to make a more comprehensive book out of them.  In doing so, I took into account the various online reactions to these essays in order to reinforce their weak points.  One thing needing elaboration was a reference I made to the Brotherhood membership of the OA.  Initially known simply as the Second Degree, it also became known as the "Blood Rite".  This claim was disputed and in more than a couple of forums some Scouters said quite simply that the degree was never known as the "Blood Rite".

I can accept a difference of opinion.  I cannot accept a categorical denial of fact.  Whether intentional or not, it amounts to calling my chops into question.  This is partially my own fault.  I made a passing reference to a little-known historical factoid without adequate citations.  At the time, I don't think I had access to much detail, or I'm certain I would have provided it.  Since then, however, a few things have appeared online about the evolution of the degrees; so, in order to rectify the misunderstanding, let me offer some proof of my initial claim, if only to demonstrate that I'm not merely pulling things out of thin air and presenting them as facts.

So.

From an official OA document entitled History of the OA prepared for the 2006 National Order of the Arrow conference (NOAC) I present the first citation (Boldface added): 

Following the meeting at Camp Morrell, the committees met frequently at the Philadelphia Scout office. Ceremonies were drafted, a constitution was framed and on June 2, 1916 they held a meeting of all members. At this meeting the first Constitution of Wimachtendienk was ratified and elections were held. George Chapman was elected the Order’s first Chief. The constitution also provided for standing committees, insignia (pins then, not patches) and rules for membership. Also at this meeting it was determined that the First Degree (honor) would be held half at camp covering leadership and a second half covering Brotherhood in Philadelphia under the guidance of the membership. These two parts of the First Degree would evolve into induction at camp, an Ordeal to complete the First Degree and eventually a Second Degree – a blood rite of Brotherhood to seal membership into the Order. The equivalent of today’s Vigil Honor was originally the Second Degree and would then become the Third Degree.

source: http://doczz.net/doc/2615945/history-of-the-oa.  Accessed 12/12/16

Now, the rite was conceived of as a "blood rite" but it's not clear if it was actually referred to as the Blood Rite.  This would come later, as the next citation from the same essay makes clear: 

In June of 1916 a constitution for Wimachtendienk was ratified and it was set forth requirements for membership. It was also determined at that meeting that the First Degree would be split into two parts. The first part to be accomplished at camp in public and the second half to take place privately in Philadelphia with only members of the fraternity present. The public first half at camp was based upon leadership. The private second half was about Brotherhood. This second half would become known as the Second Degree (making the Vigil the Third Degree). It also defined when a member sealed his membership into the fraternity by becoming a true brother in the fraternity. And how does one become a Brother with another? The time honored tradition of fraternities required an actual exchange of blood. Thus the Second Degree also became known as the “Blood Rite”. By exchanging blood you sealed your membership and became a Brother as if actually related to all other Brothers that came before you in the Order. It is the exchange of blood that defines us as a fraternity.

source: http://doczz.net/doc/2615945/history-of-the-oa.  Accessed 12/12/16

When I took the Brotherhood Degree, the exchange of blood was symbolic and involved marking the hand with a red marker (or was it lipstick?) but it originally involved cutting the candidate's hand or pricking his finger:

The practice of actually taking a knife to the palm of a First Degree or Ordeal Honor member as a requirement to be a part of the Brotherhood was abolished years ago. We do know of examples of lodges that maintained this practice as late as the early 1970’s. It is important to point out that to be a part of the Brotherhood never really relied on blood. As Goodman once said, “It is a thing of the spirit”.

source: http://doczz.net/doc/2615945/history-of-the-oa.  Accessed 12/12/16 

The Second Degree had become known as the Blood Rite by at least 1927.  The degrees were still known as the First, Second and Third Degrees, according to

an original document given to Kittatinny Lodge by Brother Tom Wolfinger at the April 2000 Ordeal Weekend at Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation. We are greatly indebted to Tom for providing the lodge with such a valuable commentary on the early history of the Lodge. The original document was hand-typed on brittle weathering typing paper and had written on the front cover in India ink 'Property of "Stew" Miller'.

source: http://kittatinny5.org/history/minsi-lodge-5-hstory/  Accessed 12/12/16

The document is pretty basic stuff, just a summary of officers elected and activities held, but the pertinent information for 1927 is simply this:

Membership reported this year were 11 new members and 22 to Blood Rite Degree (2nd).

Stew Miller was elected as a Lodge officer in 1942. 

OK.  So, just to show this wasn't a nickname given by one Lodge to the 2nd Degree, I present a few citations from the official OA website.  The article also indicates that the drawing of blood was originally literal, and not merely symbolic:

Brotherhood Rituals Change

Health risk practices are Discontinued for Brotherhood Members

In 1956, the National OA Committee, after consultation with medical advisers, determined that it was no longer safe to draw and exchange blood between two people in the “Blood-rite” of the Brotherhood Ceremony. 

The ceremony was changed to only “symbolically” draw blood. Many lodges were very slow in changing this practice of actually pricking the thumb or finger (or in some cases the palm with a knife) and mixing blood between two Arrowmen. There are accounts well into the 1960s of the practice continuing...

***

This change and one other minor edit were made as follows (script difference in the 1956 ceremony):

“…cheerfully suffer…” becomes “…suffer cheerfully…”

“…draw drops of blood… “ Was changed to read “…symbolically draw ‘blood’ so that you may mingle your ‘blood’ ...

source: http://history.oa-bsa.org/node/3255 Accessed 12/12/16

Here's another citation referring to a situation in Chicago in 1921:

Camp Belnap ran the same camp program as the other camps within Owasippe Scout Reservation, except they did not have Order of the Arrow. This was for two reasons. Initially the Grand Lodge would not allow more than one lodge in a camp. But ultimately, the reason Belnap did not have OA was because of the Blood Rite (a ritual exchange of blood between participants) required in the Brotherhood Degree.

 source: http://history.oa-bsa.org/node/3135  Accessed 12/12/16

So maybe my critics are partially correct.  While the NOAC paper and the "Stew Miller document" refer to the degree as the "Blood Rite Degree", the OA history says the "Blood Rite" was part of the degree; it's quite possible that the degree was always officially known as the Second Degree, and that, as the degree's centerpiece, this rite within the degree was used by many Lodges to unofficially refer to the degree itself.  In fact, it seems pretty likely that this is the case; but official or not, it was thus called.

Camp Belnap was a segregated, African-American camp in Chicago.  When OA co-founder Carroll A. Edson became a field executive in Chicago Council, there were five districts and a sixth "division" for African-Americans.  Every black Scouter in Chicago was assigned to this division, no matter where in the Chicago they came from.  When Edson became Scout Executive in 1927 he merged the five Lodges into one, Owasippe Lodge 7.  The existing Lodges became chapters of this new Lodge, and the sixth division became its sixth chapter, Takodah.  In 1932, three Arrowmen from this chapter became the first African-American Brotherhood (Second Degree) members of the OA.  So, while the Grand Lodge used the same excuses Masonic Grand Lodges use to deny recognition to African-American Prince Hall Lodges, e.g., there can only be one Lodge per jurisdiction, Belnap didn't have the OA not because of squeamishness over exchanging blood per se, but due to squeamishness over exchanging blood with African-Americans.  Echoes of Animal Farm:  All Arrowmen were Brothers, but some were more Brothers than others.  Especially if those Brothers were, uh, Brothers.... 

Eventually, segregation in Chicago Council ended and Arrowmen in Takodah Chapter joined chapters like any other Arrowman, based upon where they lived. Another article on the OA history page again refers to the Blood Rite and the issue of race:

On that November night in 1932, Benson, James and Isbell took what was then known as the Blood-rite Degree. The concept was that two people could be “brothers” by exchange of blood. Today we know that for health reasons the exchange of blood is extremely hazardous and strictly prohibited. However, in 1932 the impediment was a social issue regarding the exchange of blood between races, and not the very real health issue. There is no record, which Arrowmen stood next to the Takodah Arrowmen as their hands were cut open with a knife and they clasped the hand of their new brother by their side. What is known is that they sealed their membership, potentially the first to integrate the Order in this unprecedented manner.

source: http://history.oa-bsa.org/node/3134 Accessed 12/12/16

So, the official OA history also acknowledges that the Second Degree was also known as the "Blood-rite Degree."  I think we can conclude that official or not, whether part of the degree or the whole, the whole degree was indeed commonly called the Blood Rite Degree.

As for the segregation, lest anyone throw stones, recall that segregation wasn't outlawed in public education by the Supreme Court until 1954, and the Civil Rights Act ending state and local segregation laws didn't appear until 1964. The aforementioned 2006 NOAC history mentions this event, referring again to the Blood Rite and noting that baseball, for example, remained segregated until 1947. The OA recognized interracial Brotherhood -- “the feeling that men should treat one another like brothers", more than 34 years before the Supreme Court ruled that laws to the contrary were unconstitutional.

So, I hope my critics will be mollified.  For those who doubted me, mea culpa for not providing better documentation.  Although I find it a quibble, I suppose I can begrudgingly concede that the extent to which the Second Degree was officially called the Blood Rite Degree is not entirely clear.  But is was known by that name, that much is beyond question.  

I think it's clear from the tone in which I've written about the OA that I'm not trying to discredit it.  A lot of people find the OA conflicts with their religious beliefs and are entitled to renounce or warn like-minded folks about what it represents if they feel it necessary.  The OA, Scouting and Freemasonry teach that any man can be a brother, regardless of their religious beliefs or ethnic  background.  Google the OA and you'll find a number of essays decrying the OA as un-Christian, even demonic, in some cases attributing demonic possession to affiliation with the group.  Others accuse the OA of being a Masonic recruiting tool, still others decry Scouting as little more than as a kind of "canned hunt" for pedophiles.  These texts display the very worst tendencies of unfounded conspiracy theory, full of venom and bigotry, laughable if not for the very serious nature of their accusations.  Faced with such attitudes, it's understandable that people are leery when uncomfortable facts come to light about an organization to which they belong, facts which were hitherto unknown to them.  But facts is facts.  I'll try to get mine straight, hopefully making for interesting reading.  The OA has changed a lot since it's founding in 1915.  And attitudes have changed.  That it was once segregated, or that it contained ritual elements now unthinkable, don't make it an evil organization, but one in keeping, and evolving, within its historical context.  Its much-ballyhooed secrecy is overstated; any parent so desirous can read the "rituals" (now more diplomatically called "ceremonies") and even the last ceremony in which I performed had parents watching.  (My Lodge, Seminole Lodge 85, was also, to my knowledge, one of the first to have a young woman as a member and go through the Ordeal. Current policy states that women must be 21, but I guess we were breaking the rules!)  I was never hazed or treated with anything but genuine warmth and dignity during my "ordeals", but it would be naive to think there have never been any unfortunate incidents in the hundred years of the OA's existence.  Que será será, hermano, son las cosas de la vida.

The idea of a blood rite to seal one's status as a brother, a "blood brother", is an ancient and venerable tradition; the three degrees were once called the First, Second and Third degrees, and are now known as the Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil Honor.  The Second was also known as the "Blood Rite", which is creepy enough for some people, and incredibly, actually involved cutting a kid's hand and having him mingle his blood with that of others, as late as the 70's by some accounts, or the 60's, by others.  Understandable why some people would say that's hogwash.  But it isn't.  It happened.  It's no longer the case.  Now it's simply history.

And finally:  "Boo-yah, biznitches!"

An Authentic Exposition of the "K.G.C.". "Knights of the Golden Circle."

Fascinating history of the KGC and the historical context, it is after all subtitled "A History of Secession from 1834 to 1861."  It was written by a member of the order and published in 1861.  The rituals and degree structure described in this book clearly indicate the influence of Freemasonry; whether it was founded by men who happened to be Masons is unclear, as Freemasonry is not mentioned in the text. An Authentic Exposition of the "K.G.C.". "Knights of the Golden Circle."

First, or military degree of the Knights of the Golden Circle.

First degree of the Knights of the Golden Circle. The KGC was a Texas-based secret society.  Their objective was to create a confederation of slave-holding states in parts of Mexico and the West Indies, extending slavery; the group's plan thus mirrored the objectives of secession, a cause they actively supported during the Civil War.  Legend has it that they hid the fabled confederate gold allegedly sent off for safe keeping as the waning days of the war. Others have linked them to the KKK.  I'll follow this soon with a length exposition of the group.

Date: 1861K.G.C. First, or military degree.  

**** 

See the comments after Power, Corruption and Lies for some previous and brief discussion of Pike, Masonry, the KKK and the KGC.

And not an egg to be found

Long-time and attentive readers of LoS (ha!) will remember our photographic slideshows of the 2008 Sanch procession in Perpigan and Collioure. If you recall, this parade is held on Good Friday as pentinent societies march in solidarity with Jesus on his way to the Cross.

A bit more diverse, CNN presents this slideshow of penitents and other passion parades from around the world.

Great photos.

Forget love, 'hex your ex' on Valentine's Day

By Melissa Gray

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Love hurts, especially for jilted lovers on Valentine's Day.

With that in mind, a London tourist attraction is offering visitors the chance to curse former boyfriends, girlfriends or spouses -- and get a discount on the entry price at the same time.

"Hex your Ex" is the Valentine's Day promotion at the London Dungeon, a house of horrors that takes visitors through elements of the city's bloody, gruesome, and torturous past.

To qualify, visitors must bring a picture of their ex -- or anyone who has shunned them -- then rip it up and throw it in a smoking cauldron, spokeswoman Kate Edwards told CNN. Visitors can then select from a range of curses to inflict on their ex.

"If you happen to be single or freshly shunned, this is a way to move on and have a great way of doing it," Edwards said.

Hexing your ex will earn you £5 ($7.20) off the entry price.

"It's very therapeutic, but it means in times of the credit crunch, you get money off as well," she said.

The "curses" are meant to be taken lightly, she said. All were developed by the Dungeon's creative team. "They involve marvelously bad things happening to your ex," she said. "Nothing deadly, obviously. It's obviously tongue-in-cheek."

LoS comment:

This article is a bunch of silly nonsense. The "museum" looks like a total ball of turd and ridiculously overexpensive. Haunted house kinda hokum four sucker tourists.

What's really funny about this article is the ads that follow. Stoke the superstitious and then try and sell them snake oil. [蛇油, shéyóu] The article is the shill if you will, for the gentleman behind the link who's got the cure for what ails ya.

All the hex removal and counter-hex incantations you'll ever need. And if travel to London is required, well, that's taken care of, too.


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Thousands of shoes tie up Miami freeway traffic

MIAMI (AP) — State troopers are looking for a charity to take thousands of shoes that were dumped on a Miami expressway, tying up rush hour traffic. Lt. Pat Santangelo says the Florida Highway Patrol received a call about the shoes Friday morning.

Santangelo says he's not sure where the shoes came from. There were no signs of a crash and no one stopped to claim them. He says he hopes someone will take them because he doesn't want to send them to the dump.

Workers using a front-end loader and a dump truck were able to quickly clear at least one lane by sweeping all the shoes to shoulder, but delays were expected until they could all be removed.

Jape Meatometer Lustration

HEY, HO, LET'S GO! Act 1:

"Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." - Jonah 1:17

jape, v.

1. To trick, beguile, befool.
2. To seduce (a woman); to know carnally
3. To mock, deride, insult.

1382 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 270 Sle thi fadre, and iape thi modre, and thai wyl the assoile.

HEY, HO, LET'S GO! Act 2:

"Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly" - Jonah 2:1

meatometer, n.

1. An instrument for measuring the urethral meatus.

1898 A Handbook of Genito-urinary Sugery and Venerial Diseases ... an ounce of a five percent solution of cocaine, and a tube of sterilized vaseline ... the patient is put upon his back, legs slightly seperated, the meatus is measured with a meatometer (fig. 60.)

HEY, HO, LET'S GO! Act 3:

"And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." - Jonah 2:10

lustration, n.

1. A rite of purification, especially washing.
2. The restoration of credibility to a government by the purging of perpetrators of crimes committed under an earlier regime.

1875 Contemp. Rev. XXV. 256 The Saxon expends his lustrative energies upon his street and stairway, but never thinks of washing his own shirt.

Actually looks kind of fun....

Villagers throw babies from temple roof

(CNN) -- In a ritual that would terrify most mothers, Indian villagers have cheered as screaming babies were dropped from a 50-foot temple tower.

For 500 years, worshippers at a Muslim shrine in western India have continued the tradition -- a rite considered to bring good health and good luck to the children.

The infants land and bounce on a bed-sheet held taut by men 50 feet below, and are quickly passed through the crowd to their mothers.

Villagers say no babies have been injured during the ritual, which is practiced by Muslims and Hindus in Musti village in the district of Solapur, in the state of Maharashtra.

It also takes place elsewhere in the country, mostly in smaller villages, on special occasions.

Parents who want their infants to participate in the event first take a vow at the Baba Sheikh Umar Saheb Dargah, or temple. Villagers say the ritual is a way of giving thanks.

But critics want the practice banned, with many saying it's unsafe.

"The state has to interfere," said Sanal Edamaruku, founder and president of Rationalist International and the Indian Rationalist Association. The group supports secularism and freedom of expression.


That's the entire CNN article above, but the real gem is this raw footage on CNN Video without commentary. Interesting bit about this ritual is that it's practiced both by Hindus and Muslims. No further comment at this time.

Procession de la Sanch, Perpigan

The Procession de la Sanch has its origins in the middle ages. As condemned prisoners were led to their deaths, both prisoner and executioner were hooded. In order to protect their identities and perhaps in a show of solidarity with the principle actors in these dramas, the groups of men who accompanied them also wore the distinctive peaked hood. These Penitents were there to give solace to the person about to die, remembering that Christ too was condemned and that through his sacrifice even the lowliest of sinners could be saved through penitence.

Over time the drama developed into a regular, annual religious procession. The original purpose dropped by the wayside but the garb remained, and the Penitents' purpose evolved exclusively into a commemoration of the most famous condemned man in Christendom. Thus, on his day of execution, Good Friday, they march through towns in a somber display of mourning.

These are some photos from from my visit to see the Procession in Perpignan:

Procession in Perpignan

Procession de la Sanch, Collioure

Photos:  Procession Collioure

In Collioure, a scant 20 kilometers from Perpignan, the procession is held at night, in a much more intimate setting.

Oh, and don't go thinking this has anything to do with the KKK.

What Would Brian Boitano Do?

"The torch as always represented hope, peace and unity. To extinguish the flame of hope is the wrong thing to do."

So says Dean Karnazes, a torch relay runner in this year's Olympic Torch relay, quoted in a CNN article on the protests planned for the leg in San Francisco following the disasters in London and Paris.

All good and well, Dean. Perhaps your right.

For others the Torch relay is an overblown spectacle leading to yet another overblown spectacle--the opening ceremony--all of it naiive feel-good jingo designed to spur interest in what amounts to the world's greatest advertising opportunity, complete with product tie-ins and juicy product endorsement deals for Olympians who through a combination of charm and athletic prowess capture the hearts of millions. Who better, then, to sell these adoring fans Wheaties and Jeep Cherokees?

Two interpretations, both true, both false, neither complete. One political and idealistic, another cynical and economic. The only thing missing thing missing is the athletes.

No matter what your take on the Olympics as an event, it's hard to deny that the athletes posess rare combinations of talent, skill determination and courage. Some of these young athletes have trained practically all of their lives for a shot at Olympic gold and deserve a lot better than a farcical and cowardly abbreviated relay aimed at avoiding the legitimate protests in support of the right to free speech and self-determination, not to mention the right not to be invaded and massacred.

They deserve, in short, a whole lot better than China.

Not only will these young Olympians have to worry about each other and the folks back home as they step into the arena, they will have to contend with possibly tainted food, sub-standard housing and terrible air pollution. But that's not all. They're stepping into a police state where the Chinese have maintained their right to limit live broadcasts, pursue vigorous elecronic surveillance and tight control of all expressions of protest by athletes. No 1968 style Black Power salutes here, Jack. Anything like that might cost them their hard-won medals. Everything will be tightly controlled and orchestrated in an attept to give the impression that everything and everyone is fine and happy in the totalitarian shopping mall.

Fitting then, that this supposedly ancient tradition was in fact devised by Leni Riefenstahl for her film Olympia, an admittedly beautiful film documenting the 1936 Berlin Olympics, exploited as a propaganda opportunity to glorify the Third Reich.

From the Times:

The torch relay is a celebration of the ancient fires that burnt through the original Olympiads but the idea of carrying the flame from Olympia to the host city each year was invented by the organisers of the 1936 Berlin games.

The relay, captured in Leni Riefenstahl's film, "Olympia", was part of the Nazi propaganda machine’s attempt to add myth and mystique to Adolf Hitler’s regime.

Hitler saw the link with the ancient Games as the perfect way to illustrate his belief that classical Greece was an Aryan forerunner of the modern German Reich.

Fitting, really, for a regime equally as brutal, equally against the ideals the Olympics purports to represent. The Times reports that the flame was extinguished only twice before during the relay, both times by weather. It was put out three times in Paris before officials had to call it quits and sneak the fractious firebrand along the rest of the Paris leg in a bus.

The origin of the relay was first brought to our attention by the Washington Post blog The Lede, which quotes Times columnist Mary Beard saying the tradition should be "stamped out." In our opinion, the Nazi origin doesn't necessarily mean it should be abolished, if it can truly represent not totalitarianism, but opportunity, hope and global competition in a fair and inspiring context. By promulgating the antithesis of fascist ideology, the Olympics can at least make an attempt to represent something positive in a world increasingly devoid of anything worth aspiring to.

But as long as these Olympics take place in Beijing, they haven't a chance; they're simply perpetrating the same thing Hitler represented in 1936. China is not simply a cheap supermarket and a low-cost labor pool, and Tibet is only the tip of the iceberg. Appeasement didn't prevent the Second World War. Kow-towing to Beijing will only embolden and legitimize something potentially far worse.

P.S.

from Washington diary: China's crisis (10 April):

For China, the Games are a coming-out party for an emerging super-power, a chance to prove to the world that it deserves to be respected, that it has finally shaken off the yoke of Communist isolation or colonial occupation.

The Games will put a human face to all those economic statistics that the world has marvelled at for so many years. In Beijing, the Olympics will not just be a sporting event. They will be a national celebration.

The claim that this is just another international sporting event simply does not wash. The Chinese themselves do not see it that way. The Olympics have always been prone to political meddling. They are after all a competition between nation states and not individual sportsmen and women.

President Bush told me in February that he does not support any boycott. He knows better than anyone how much Chinese investment now underwrites the US economy, how many billions of dollars in US treasury bonds are owned by
China.

And let's face it: you do not pick a fight with your banker, especially when your economy is in trouble.

Turned Off by Torch Guards (11 April) is an article about the strong-arm style of the Chinese Sacred Flame Protection Unit, the tough-looking phalanx of fellow guarding the relay in spiffy blue and white tracksuits. "The special squad was made up of losely vetted volunteers from the special forces academy of the paramilitary People's Armed Police, state-controlled news media reported."

Gauchito Gil Redux

Our Argentine correspondent sends us this article from Santa Fe daily El Litoral dated 8 Janary 2008. Gauchito Gil was previously discussed here. Translation forthcoming. Until then try your luck with an online translator.

....

Update 13 January. The following translation was made with the assistance of http://www.freetranslation.com/; Cassell's Spanish-English Dictionary (1978); and Ximena Faya.

....

Miraculous powers are attributed to him

Thousands of pilgrims in Corrientes to honor Gauchito Gil

Today is the anniversary of his murder, according to legend, by a police patrol.

----

Thousands of pilgrims arrived at a site located in the neighborhood of the city of Mercedes in Corrientes where they paid homage to Gauchito Gil. Today is the anniversary of the day on which, according to legend, he was murdered by a police patrol and since which time miraculous powers have been attributed to him.

Municipal and police sources reported that the faithful have come from all corners and since yesterday have occupied the installations adjacent to the place where Jesus Antonio de la Cruz Gil, best-known as Gauchito Gil, is buried.

In this place a kind of oratory was built and has since given rise all manner of pilgrimage-based commerce, converting the popular rite into a lucrative business.

The sanctuary of Gauchito Gil, located at some 8 kilometers from the center of Mercedes and some 275 kilometers from the city of Corrientes, each year at this time harbors devotees from different points of the country and even neighboring countries.

In 2007 more than 120 thousand people came on January 8 "to salute" Gauchito.

An increased presence of provincial and National Police has been mounted in the zone since last Sunday. It is a matter of preventing not only accidents or fights, somewhat common due to the conglomeration of people and to the excessive consumption of alcohol, but also other types of crime such as contraband merchandise and drug trafficking that in previous years have proliferated in a significantly.

In the early hours today the bulk of the pilgrims arrived, above all from the delegations of other provinces, that arrived together in order to pass "a few hours" in the sanctuary.

A legend that grows

According to popular tradition, Gaucho Gil lived in the period between end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. For his followers he was responsible for bringing a little justice to the disparities of the epoch, stealing from the wealthy to help those in need.

Nevertheless, for the authorities of that time, Antonio de la Cruz Gil was a dishonorable gaucho, a deserter from the Army and a murderous thief. They searched for him intensely until he was trapped in an ambush and killed. The "legend" indicates that in the moments prior to his death he managed to speak with the policeman who wounded him; Gil indicated that his son, seriously ill, would be cured when he returned to his home.

Apparently, when the policeman returned to his dwelling, he found his son cured of his pain and from this the belief in Gaucho Gil’s miraculous powers was born.The legend grew over time, winning increasingly more followers and becoming one of the most popular rites in all the Argentine territory.

A little history

For Félix Coluccio, investigator of the American folk tradition, the gaucho Antonio Mamerto Gil Núñez, or Antonio Gil, or Curuzú Gil had in the middle of the last century a band that "divested money from the rich to give to the poor". The denomination "curuzú" signifies cross.

His greater significance dates from between 1840 and 1860, an epoch of small guerilla bands and their leaders. His life is wrapped in thousand tangles; it is said that he was an exploited laborer that became cunning, that he participated in the war with Paraguay under the orders of one General Madariaga, and that he was executed as a deserter.

According to Mrs. Anabel Miraflores, her mother Estrella Díaz of Miraflores, a rich land owner, had an affair with Gil at the same time she was the intended of the local police chief. This, and the hatred of her brothers, caused Curuzú to flee Pay Ubre and he enlisted in the Paraguay War.

After the fall of Rosas the federal litoraleños [residents of the Littoral, a region of Argentina] were divided into two factions: Reds (traditionalists of the divisa punzó or autonomistas) and Celestials (liberals) According to the legends, Gil was recruited by the Celestial colonel Juan de la Cruz Salazar, and as the gauchito was sympathetic to the Reds, took advantage of an opportunity afforded him by the negligence of his unit and deserted with mestizo Ramiro Brown and the criollo Francisco Gonzalez; companions whose path led them to become famous brigands.

His companions were killed by shots from a blunderbuss and the gaucho was put under arrest and taken to Goya. In spite of the intercession of one Colonel Velázquez, he was hung upside-down from a carob tree (on the way to Goya, at some 8 kilometers from Mercedes) and beheaded. Apparently he was hung that way to elude his reputed hypnotic powers and to avoid the influence of the payé (talisman) of San la Muerte that he had hanging around his neck.

Tony Soprano never did this

What a pleasure to stumble across this little ditty in a book entitled L’Europe des Sociétés Secrètes, published by Sélection du Reader’s Digest in 1980. Called the Initiation of a Mafioso,  it is presented here in its entirety, translated from the French.  Anyone who can shed further light on the provenance of this initiation is invited to comment. It would appear to be from the 1800's, but sadly, no details were included with the description of the ritual.

Initiation of a Mafioso

After having vaunted the merits of the fraternity and saluted the godfathers, the initiate, bound, had to enumerate the reasons for which he desired to become a fratello. On the table placed before him were found several objects: a miniature saint, a crucifix, a candle, matches, a pistol and several cartridges. The candle was lit.

“For my brothers, I pass my hand through the flame” the initiate swore as he performed the motion with the “hand of the heart,” that is to say, the left.

Then he offered his right hand, which one godfather held while another picked the thumb with a needle.

“I swear on my honor to be loyal to the fraternity and to spill for it, if necessary, my last drop of blood.”

Once this oath was pronounced, the image of the saint was smeared with the bloody thumb.

“What time is it?” demanded a voice from the shadows.

“Half-past, by my watch” replied the initiate.

“Since when have things been going badly?”

“Since the 25 of March, day of the Annunciation.”

“What were you doing on that day?”

“I was dancing with the devil.”

“And what do you worship if you are not the son of the Virgin Mary?”

“The Sun and the Moon” replied the initiate irreverently.

“What then is your God?”

“Aremi!” he then exclaimed, making reference to chance and one of the four card games popular in Sicily in the 19^th century.

The candle was then blown out brusquely by one of the godfathers and the room plunged into darkness. Another was lit, illuminating a crucifix at the other end of the room.

“Initiate, prove your loyalty.”

It was then the moment for him to take hold of the pistol placed on the table and fire on the crucifix, crying:

“I will not hesitate to kill anybody, neither God nor my beloved wife.”

“There are a hundred who have passed before you.  Like these hundred and the first after you, do you swear to protect all of those who came before you and who will come after?”

“I swear it. And as the blood leaving my hand cannot return there, nor the burnt wax return to the wick, I will remain always a loyal brother to the fraternity and a pitiless enemy to its adversaries.”

Then several brothers advanced to free the initiate from his bonds.

“What are the three virtues of a brother of the Mafia?”

“Honor, duty, courage!” the newcomer proudly cried.

He was then taught the handshake which served as a sign of recognition: the right hand held with the index finger folded to touch the palm of the other with a circular motion, as each one said:

“Under my roof it does not rain.”

Then the initiate was clothed in the traditional garb of the old Mafia: black beret embroidered in silk and elegant jacket of black velour.  This uniform, too visible, disappeared around the middle of the 19^th century. 

Translation by Daurade