Mortuary Feasts of the Nyoro: A Mini-Essay

     For the Nyoro, a Bantu-speaking tribe in western Uganda, feasting extends beyond the festivities of the marriage ceremony. Following a person’s death, the immediate family members are barred from donning clean clothes, cooking, shaving, washing, and performing any labor for three days if it was a female who died or four days if it was a male. During this time, neighbors bring beer and food to the bereaved, who wait until the third or fourth day and invite the community to the deceased’s house for a feast. While burial occurs immediately upon death, internment of the head of the household is prolonged for one night, where they must rest for a final time in their home. During the mortuary feast of the fourth day, a date for an inheritance feast is set, where the patriarch’s heir is formally installed, given the deceased’s spear and stick, and provided with a speech dictating their new duties and responsibilities.[1]

 

Works Referenced

 

Beattie, John. Bunyoro: An African Kingdom. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1960. 65.

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[1] Beattie, 65.

Surgical Saw Skull

$15 - $20 (based on 2020 prices)

Makes one skull

 

A mad scientist needs lots of hapless victims for experiments and I was eager to fill the laboratory for 2020’s haunt with as many human specimens as the doctor required. For this version, I fashioned a hapless patient impaled with a surgical saw to nestle among the towers of equipment and jars of spare parts.

• One cheap, plastic skull
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat black*
• Six yards of white cheesecloth
• At least four tablespoons of dark roasted coffee grounds
• One pan large enough to soak the cloth
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One plastic surgical saw
• One 0.3 fluid ounce bottle of red food coloring*
• One 4 oz. bottle of clear, all-purpose tacky glue gel*

1. Remove the mandible from the skull and hot glue it agape to create a screaming face. To aid the process, use a sturdy object – a glass jar or tin can – to support the skull as the glue dries. You may need to apply multiple coats to ensure a firm hold.

2. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the skull two even coats of black spray paint. This will give the prop a uniform color in case portions of it show through the cheese cloth applied in step four.

3. Boil enough water to completely submerge the cheesecloth and pour it into the pan. Add the coffee. The longer you allow the coffee to brew, the darker the stain will become. Likewise, greater amounts of coffee will produce a richer stain. Submerge the fabric in the coffee mixture and soak it until it reaches the color you desire. I soaked mine for eight hours (long enough to give it a slight tint) and scattered the coffee grounds over the top to add spots. Remove the cloth from the water and allow it to dry.

4. Starting at the front of the skull, glue the cheesecloth to the prop. I found that this step works best if you move in stages: apply a layer of glue to one section, hold the fabric down until it sticks, and then repeat the process. You want to ensure the entire piece is adequately covered and that the holes for the eyes and nose are still visible.

5. After the glue has dried, cut a long slit into the crown of the skull, slip the blade of the surgical saw into the opening, and glue it in place. Depending on the weight of the saw, you may need to play with its position and how deeply it enters the skull to prevent the prop from being top heavy.

6. In a plastic container (because the food coloring will stain, use something disposable or that you won’t mind dying), pour in your desired amount of clear glue gel and slowly add red food coloring to the solution until it achieves the sanguine hue you desire. To give the blood further density, add blue food coloring and mix well.

7. On a newspaper-lined surface, apply the blood glue to the prop and allow it to fully dry. You can use an old spoon or plastic utensil to strategically dribble the liquid along chosen areas or pour it haphazardly for a gory mess.

8. Depending on your haunt’s theme, you can embellish the prop further with swarms of maggots crawling across its surface or attach a specimen tag. 

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.

"The Lord of Dunkerron" (A Poem)

Thomas Crofton Croker’s poem, “The Lord of Dunkerron,” blends history and mythology into an entertaining narrative. Built in the thirteenth century, Dunkerron Castle became the family seat of the O’Sullivan Mór family during the sixteenth century until it was seized by the Act for the Settlement of Ireland in 1652 following the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.[1] In the poem, one of the O’Sullivan clan is romanced by a water spirit to return with her to her palace of crystal; however, she fails to gain the blessing of her race’s chief to sanctify the union between her and a human and is killed, with the palace melting into the air.[2]

 

The lord of Dunkerron — O’Sullivan More,

Why seeks he at midnight the sea-beaten shore?

His bark lies in haven, his bounds are asleep;

No foes are abroad on the land or the deep.

 

Yet nightly the lord of Dunkerron is known

On the wild shore to watch and to wander alone;

For a beautiful spirit of ocean, ‘t is said,

The lord of Dunkerron would win to his bed.

 

When, by moonlight, the waters were hush’d to repose,

That beautiful spirit of ocean arose;

Her hair, full of lustre, just floated and fell

O’er her bosom, that heav’d with a billowy swell. 

 

Long, long had he lov’d her — long vainly essay’d

To lure from her dwelling the coy ocean maid;

And long had he wander’d and watch’d by the tide,

To claim the fair spirit O’Sullivan’s bride! 

 

The maiden she gazed on the creature of earth,

Whose voice in her breast to a feeling gave birth;

Then smiled; and, abashed as a maiden might be,

Looking down, gently sank to her home in the sea.

 

Though gentle that smile, as the moonlight above,

O’Sullivan felt ‘t was the dawning of love,

And hope came on hope, spreading over his mind,

Like the eddy of circles her wake left behind. 

 

The lord of Dunkerron he plunged in the waves,

And sought through the fierce rush of waters, their caves;

The gloom of whose depth studded over with spars,

Had the glitter of midnight when lit up by stars.

 

Who can tell or can fancy the treasures that sleep

Intombed in the wonderful womb of the deep?

The pearls and the gems, as if valueless, thrown

To lie ‘mid the sea-wrack concealed and unknown. 

 

Down, down went the maid, — still the chieftain pursued;

Who flies must be followed ere she can be wooed.

Untempted by treasures, unawed by alarms,

The maiden at length he has clasped in his arms!

 

They rose from the deep by a smooth-spreading strand,

Whence beauty and verdure stretch’d over the land.

‘T was an isle of enchantment! and lightly the breeze,

With a musical murmur, just crept through the trees.

 

The haze-woven shroud of that newly born isle,

Softly faded away, from a magical pile,

A palace of crystal, whose bright-beaming sheen

Had the tints of the rainbow — red, yellow, and green.

 

And grottoes, fantastic in hue and in form,

Were there, as flung up — the wild sport of the storm;

Yet all was so cloudless, so lovely, and calm,

It seemed but a region of sunshine and balm.

 

“Here, here shall we dwell in a dream of delight,

Where the glories of earth and of ocean unite!

Yet, loved son of earth! I must from thee away;

There are laws which e’en spirits are bound to obey!

 

“Once more must I visit the chief of my race,

His sanction to gain ere I meet thy embrace.

In a moment I dive to the chambers beneath:

One cause can detain me — one only — ‘t is death!”

 

They parted in sorrow, with vows true and fond;

The language of promise had nothing beyond.

His soul all on fire, with anxiety burns:

The moment is gone — but no maiden returns.

 

What sounds from the deep meet his terrified ear —

What accents of rage and of grief does he hear?

What sees he? what change has come over the flood —

What tinges its green with a jetty of blood?

 

Can he doubt what the gush of warm blood would explain?

That she sought the consent of her monarch in vain!

For see all around him, in white foam and froth,

The waves of the ocean boil up in their wroth!

 

The palace of crystal has melted in air,

And the dies of the rainbow no longer are there;

The grottoes with vapour and clouds are o’ercast,

The sunshine is darkness — the vision has past! 

 

Loud, loud was the call of his serfs for their chief;

They sought him with accents of wailing and grief:

He heard, and he struggled — a wave to the shore,

Exhausted and faint bears O’Sullivan More![3]

 

Works Referenced

 

Croker, Thomas Crofton. “The Lord of Dunkerron.” Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland. 2nd ed. London: John Murray, 1838. 192-195. 

 

O’Sullivan, Gary. The Oak and Serpent. Gold Stag Communications, 2007. 

 

Worcester County Musical Association. Thirty-Sixth Annual Festival in Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts. Worcester, MA: Worcester County Musical Association, 1893.

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[1] O’Sullivan, 269.

[2] Worcester County Musical Association, 22.

[3] Croker, 192-195.

Laboratory Insect Specimens

$10 - $15 (based on 2020 prices)

Makes three framed specimens 

 

To reduce the level of gore and provide variety to the laboratory, I created several props that showcased experiments which were not human. In this version, I used labels printed in a bevy of colors and small, metal items like paperclips and safety pins to give the props more textural elements and add to their visual appeal.

• Three 8” x 10” frames
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat black*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat brown*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in metallic silver*
• Four sheets of colored paper (brown, gray, white, and yellow) with specimen labels printed on them
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat white*
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• Three metal paperclips
• Three metal safety pins
• One roll of blue painter’s tape
• Three plastic insects or animal skeletons in various sizes
• One 8 oz. can of oil-based interior wood stain in Jacobean*

1. Remove the backings and any glass from the frames and, on a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, apply two even coats of silver spray paint. Although I used two coats, you may want more or less depending on your desired coverage.

2. To add a uniform level of age and distress, dust the frames with a light coat of black and brown spray paint. You can also apply a flecking of black paint and smears of brown to enhance the weathered appearance.

3. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give each of the backings an even coat of black spray paint. For the time-pressed haunter, you can alternatively glue a sheet of black cardstock to each backing.

4. Cut out the labels from the paper, arrange them on the backings, and glue them in place. As you do so, make sure you leave ample room for the specimens. Also, for visual interest, I used painter’s tape, paper clips, and safety pins to attach and skewer the times (glue everything in place to prevent the props from falling apart). Additionally, write the specimens’ names and genders on the backings with white paint.

5. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, stain the specimens. I began by giving each one a light, even coat with a foam brush. After that, I applied heavy amounts of stain and patted away the excess with paper towels. You want the color to build up in the cracks and fissures. Although you may use whatever color of stain you desire, I chose Jacobean because it gives the bones and insects an old, rotted appearance. Once you have achieved your intended look, allow the specimens to dry. I let mine sit outside in the sun for three days.

6. Center the specimens on the backings with their corresponding labels and glue them in place. For a sturdier hold, consider using superglue.

7. Attach the frames to the backings. For added support, glue the backings in place, particularly if you plan to display these in windy conditions. If the frames did not come with hanging hooks, you can add store-bought items to the backs or fashion your own with steel wire.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.