I am an anthropologist who recently moved to New York. After studying about cultural theory in graduate school, particularly in the area of religion I understand a great deal about how anthropologists frame behaviors of cultures they study. Often times, anthropologists’ work is compelling and convincing. Other times, anthropologists’ interpretations can be full of holes and seem more of a figment of the anthropologists’ imagination, which explains why two anthropologists studying the same group of people have come up with conflicting ideas about that group’s behavior. Being in New York, I found myself baffled by much of the behavior, particularly on the subways. I like to call New Yorkers “New Yorkicus Animus,” because they are a unique “species” and they are always animated. The following writing is dedicated to the functionalist and interpretive anthropology works I read so diligently throughout graduate school (both the believable and the unbelievable readings). Functionalist anthropologists look at behavior in a group and try to decide why that behavior exists (i.e., what is that behavior’s functional purpose). Interpretivists try to interpret a group’s outward symbols by asking what does this or that mean and how do things a, b, and c relate to each other symbolically. If an anthropologist came to New York for the first time and had never seen much of the technology and culturally specific behaviors here, they might be tempted to interpret subway behavior something like this:

“Research”

From the outset, the reader must understand that for New Yorkicus Animus, obtaining and utilizing tree bark (what they call “money” here) as a monetary exchange is of the utmost importance. This tree bark, or money, is used to appease many of the New Yorkicus’ gods and to interact in many ways with other New Yorkicus in daily life. This particular research among the New Yorkicus looks at the ritual behavior of New Yorkicus in the context of one of their most sacred realms, the train deity realm, to try harder to understand their religious behavior.

“Trains”

New Yorkicus make sacrifices to their underworld transportation deity with their symbolic chemically altered tree bark (“money”) or utilize their magical “credit cards” as exchange for transportation by the train deity. First, an offering is made to the train deity at the “Metro card” altar. The New Yorkicus places “money” or a “credit card” into the altar and the altar answers the New Yorkicus with a “Metro card” to present to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper is a lesser deity. The Metro card need only be presented to the gatekeeper and the gatekeeper shall allow the New Yorkicus to pass into the “platform” realm for the transportation ritual to begin. Many New Yorkicus stand still and stare at their books, music making machines, or voice transfer machines. Often times this is enough to appease and coax the train deity out of its underworld realm and onto the platform realm.

Summoning the train (the deity of transportation)

At times, the books, music making machines, and voice transfer machines are not enough, so the New Yorkicus shouts colloquial phrases, such as “hurry the fuck up” or “come on damn it,” or “let’s fucking go” to make the steel vessel (or “train”) come more quickly and to do as the New Yorkicus desires. These words are believed to have strong religious potency and the ability to control many things in the New Yorkicus environment.

It is important for the New Yorkicus to continue to await the train deity by putting their head in its path to ensure the train deity is in fact coming to deliver them. Some do not stand on the platform realm to summon a particular train, but will stand in a liminal or marginal area (“the stairs”) where they can summon more than one train and enter the train that heeds their call first. They give numerical and alphabetic names to these deities, ordering them by the under and over world realms that each deity is believed to control.

Train ritual and behavior

Inside the train deity is a religious experience that often leads to ecstatic and marginal behavior. It is an excellent place to observe New Yorkicus behavior in communion with their community and train deity.

Research shows that spending large amounts of time and giving offerings to the train deity is correlated with a number of peculiar behaviors. Many New Yorkicus enjoy striking animal skinned wooden cylinders, moving in strange but uniform movements with other men in red costumes with the accompaniment of music from a music box for symbolic tree bark, and interfacing with other New Yorkicus in seemingly threatening manners while inside the train deity.

It may be that some New Yorkicus are mediums that communicate directly with the train deity, which drives them to exhibit culturally obscure behaviors. It is possible that some of the strange rituals observed on the train deity are part of the way the train deity and New Yorkicus interact. For example, pregnant women and elderly people must be a high status and carry favor with the train deity, as they are always afforded places on the outer edges of the vessels, except when certain monk-like peoples who appear to be in a restive state do not move from their outer edge “seats” for the pregnant or elderly people.

Other, very peculiar behaviors may be indicative of the religious order within the train religious life. Some individuals who speak to the train deity may be healers or shamans of the New Yorkicus underworld. Some claim they can foresee the future, talk with the local spirits, and they are often seen reaching ecstatic levels of behavior that fall outside regular New Yorkicus ability. One New Yorkicus individual entered a moving train to hit the temporary resting benches, thereby exciting other New Yorkicus, who had to go to another train car to allow this male to establish his dominance. The male used fire to burn a tree leaf wrapped in more tree leaf, and then appeared sedated, probably due to the combination of the ritual leaf burning and the communion with the train deity. The male, probably a powerful shaman, sang songs about other local shamans of great power (“Ol’ Dirty Bastard”), presumably paying tribute to the male who allowed him to apprentice for his shamanic career. Often times in societies such as these, an apprentice will learn from a shaman the methods for communicating with deities and healing others.

Other worshippers often, like in other religious orders observed by this writer, ask for penance in the form of symbolic tree bark from the other passengers, and they often preach sermons and sing songs, apparently communicating as a medium to the train deity. Perhaps they control when the train deity stops and does not stop, or determine when a certain train deity is forbidden from entering its normal realm (particularly the “L” train deity, which often does not move on the weekends).

It is important that New Yorkicus do not make eye contact on the train deity. It is believed that eye contact may result in some sort of break with the religious ritual that takes place. The entire social order would be in jeopardy. Other behaviors that might jeopardize this social order include waiting for others to leave the train deities’ gates, helping others within the train, and asking for information about the mundane world outside of the underworld of the train deity. These behaviors can result in swift and severe social sanctions from New Yorkicus.

It appears there is much to be learned from observing religious train rituals among the New Yorkicus Animus. There are many phenomena to be observed and many train realms that this researcher has not yet explored. The researcher hopes to learn more about the behaviors within the under and over world train realms to better understand New Yorkicus’ religious beliefs and practices.