Miami, Arizona

“The Chinese make a hole in the roof to let out the soul at death. When a Watchandi warrior slew his first victim, the spirit of the dead man entered the warrior’s body and became his woorie, or warning spirit; it resided near his liver and warned him of danger by scratching or tickling. It was the custom of the Aztecs to pour the blood of slaughtered victims into the mouths of idols. A Mandingo pirest would hold a newborn child in his arms, whisper in its ear and spit three times in its face. The Ojibwas believed that hatchets and kettles have souls. A saying of the Zulus was that the stuffed body cannot see secret things. The Zulu doctor prepared himself for dialogue with the spirits by fasting, suffering and long quiet walks. The Yakuts of Siberia worshipped the bear, their beloved uncle. According to the Dayaks, the human soul enters the trunks of trees. Evil spirits had sexual congress with Samoan women at night, causing supernatural conceptions. The Niaraguans offered human sacrifices to Popogatepec by tossing bodies into volcanic craters. The Ahts of Vancouver’s Island considered the moon as husband and the sun as wife. The Mintira people feared a water-demon which had a dog’s head and an alligator’s mouth. It sucked blood from men’s thumbs and big toes until they died. To the Assyrians, insanity was possession by demons. When a Kayan of Borneo died, his slaves were killed so that they could follow him to the next world and obey all his behests. First the female relatives of the deceased master wounded the slaves slightly with spears. Then the male relatives took up these same spears and killed the victims. The human soul weighs three to four ounces.”

- Don Delillo. Americana, 1971

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Galaxie 500 – Ceremony
from On Fire. Rough Trade, 1989
Great and blurry Joy Division cover. Back in 1989, I was deep into Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, EPMD, et al. Nineteen years later, I’m listening to On Fire for the first time and wondering what my awkward years would have been like with a dream pop soundtrack.