cannibal interview featured in harper's a few month ago, petty much best thing ever:
Can you tell me about your childhood and family?
I was born in Houston, Texas, on December 3, 1950. My family was
really Christian. I had a lot of religious education. We were very
wealthy. I was richer than most of the other kids. My father worked in
corporate finances-- you now, money managing.
What about your teenage years?
I started selling drugs and doing burglaries when I was about thirteen
or fourteen-- you know, kid's stuff. I went to prison when I was about
eighteen-- selling cannabis, nothing serious. I worked in the kitchen
in the prison, easy job.
Have you ever been married?
Yeah. I've got a daughter too-- she's got a husband and everything,
lives in Canada.
How long were you with your wife?
Oh, we were on and off for about three years. We had a rocky
relationship-- she was really promiscuous, always off with other guys.
I didn't like sex that much, so we broke up. She was a vegan and made
me a fruitarian.
How did you first get interested in the Aghori sect and in cannibalism?
It was pretty natural, you now. I went to Varanasi in 1977-- there
were loads of sadhus, and I just started naturally. Slept on the ashes
in the cremation grounds and chatted with the sadhus, you know. They
accepted me, and that's unusual. Normally they don't let outsiders
hang around with them, but they knew I was serious, you know. The
dons, and pandits-- it's like a family. They have to keep the sacred
fire going-- it's where they burn the bodies. I changed my name when I
met this one sadhu, really high up. He gave me my new name-- Kapal
means skull, Nath means great teacher.
In Varanasi thee are loads of Aghoris around, but it's pretty
secretive-- some of them are cannibals and some aren't, or they don't
do it regularly, but I loved it. We perform rituals using the human
skull-- drinking alcohol from it gives you power, enables you to speak
with the spirit. It's this sacred primordial ritual-- you know,
secret, really powerful. The spirit comes into you when you eat the
flesh of a dead person-- it kind speaks to you, gives you power and so
much energy. I do it as often as I can, every day if possible.
Did you not feel repulsed at the notion of eating another human?
No, not at all. I said before, it's natural. I like the taste-- it's
like pork. Younger flesh is better-- babies really taste fresh. It's
the same with any kind of meat-- old people have a stringy texture,
like wood, but babies are like lamb. It's like the way most people
prefer lamb over mutton. Also babies are pure, so their spirit is
clean. When I eat flesh from older humans, it's like their tainted
spirit comes into me. It can be draining if they have negative energy.
The best bit is the fingers, though. The police found this charred arm
one day, and wanted to eat the fingers-- they're the most tasty part
of the body. It kind smells like rawhide. It's addiction, makes you
want to do it more and more.
Where do you get the corpse meat from?
I can get it from the dons, you know, the fire keepers, the
untouchables. It's not really illegal, and lots of them are Aghoris.
It's easy in Varanasi, as it's the holy city where people come to
die-- plenty of bodies. I try to get it every day when I'm there.
There are more bodies in the river, as they don't cremate the sadhus,
lepers, or the babies-- often bodies floating in the river, so you
just pick them up from the ghats and cook them-- you know, barbecue
them. Sometimes families let use eat from the body of the family
member they are burning. This policeman was burning the body of his
neighbor, and just crushed the skull with a bamboo stick, gave it to
me, so I just scooped out the brains and ate them. Lots of people were
staring, but felt the spirit come into me and was powerful, blessed,
you know.
Have you ever killed a human being in order to eat their flesh?
Me, no, but you know, human sacrifice happens in Varanasi-- it keeps
the city holy. Human sacrifices please the gods, but people have to
agree to be sacrificed. I've been asked to do a ritual killing
before-- what I'd do is make them fast for two weeks, to purify
themselves, let them get weak and pray, then chop their head off like
a goat. That way the soul would be freed. I mean, I would do it if
someone really wanted me to, but I'm not really qualified.
But, you know, scary stuff happens with the Aghoris-- you don't want
to mess with them. One time, this German Goth kid tried to practice
cannibalism-- he didn't know what he was doing, trying to fit in with
the sadhus. But he did it wrong and got punished by the family of the
dead person. Yeah, you don't want to mess with them. Some Aghoris do
bad stuff like killing and paralyzing using black magic.
I had a big fight with some Aghoris in Varanasi-- you know, they were
jealous of me, I was on their tuft. I wanted to kill one of them,
actually. He tried to kick me out, and I started to beat him. The
others turned on me, and a policeman got involved. I actually stabbed
him with a sword I was carrying. Got put into prison for a while.
But, you know, that wasn't the first time I went to jail. I went back
to America, and they had heard about me being a cannibal. Yeah, put me
in some mental institution, tried to medicate me. Actually I was
really pissed off, as I had all my skulls and bones stolen by the
guards-- thrown away. I even had a skull with fangs, it was priceless,
must have been from a retarded person or something. That upset me when
they took those.
― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 18:43 (eighteen years ago)
eleven years pass...