"Body Ritual Among the Nacirema"

The Nacirema have many unusual magical beliefs and practices, but the most interesting are those about their own bodies and how they should be cared for.

The Nacirema are a group of people who live in the territory north of the Tarahuamare people of Mexico. The main belief of the Nacirema appears to be that the human body is ugly and that the only way to improve its condition is to practice powerful rituals and ceremonies.

Every home has at least one shrine room devoted to this goal. The rituals are secret and are normally discussed only with children, and then only during the period when they are being initiated into these mysteries. I was able, however, to befriend the natives, and they allowed me to examine the shrine rooms despite being incredibly reluctant to talk about them.

The most important part of the shrine is a box or chest that is built into the wall. This chest contains many charms and magical potions, which the Nacirema obtain by visiting medicine men and presenting them with generous gifts. These medicine men write the spells for the potions in an ancient and secret language understood only by the herbalists, who, for another gift, provide the required charm.

Beneath the charm box is a small basin. Each day each member of the family, one after another, enters the shrine room, bows his head before the charm box, mixes various holy waters in the basin, and conducts a ceremony of ritual cleansing. The holy waters come from the village’s Water Temple, where the priests conduct elaborate ceremonies to make the liquid ritually pure.

The Nacirema have another kind of priest whose name is best translated as “holy-mouth-man.” The natives are extremely fascinated with and fearful of the mouth, which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all relationships. Several times each day, the natives torture the insides of their mouths with a collection of exotic fibers. Those who neglect this ritual are forced to visit the holy-mouth-man, who, as punishment, digs holes in their teeth with sharp objects.

Were it not for these rituals of the mouth, the Nacirema believe that their teeth would fall out, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them. I observed that those nearing marriageable age even decorated their teeth with strips of shiny material, which are believed to improve their appearance.

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 for so long under the burdens they have imposed upon themselves.

Click here to read the original article in its entirety!