1989 New England Ceremony and DiGiacomo

[Wiseguy]

From the descriptions I've seen, the "finger-counting game" was just a version of morra, widely played across Southern Italy both as a pastime and for gambling. It is also used to decide an issue, in the way that a coin toss is, which is presumably why it was used to elect a sponsor and/or captain in some cases.

The book that Wiseguy references above is "The Ceremony: The Mafia Initiation Tapes" by David Fischer, published in 1992.

Yeah, that's the one.

[chin_gigante]

- The descendants of made members are to be respected and helped for "seven generations". JR Russo uses the example of someone whose great-grandfather was a member and that he is to be treated with respect as a result even if he is "three generations" removed. They say though that if a relative is "crazy" or "fucked up" a member should keep their distance from him. Junior Patriarca also cites an example that happened three weeks before the ceremony where his uncle's grandson had an issue with Matty Guglielmetti that required the organization to resolve it. Curious if the "seven generations" was an actual rule or if Russo was just pulling out a number -- it sounds very specific.

There may be something more to this 'seven generations' remark. I just read 'The Day of the Owl' by Sicilian writer Leonardo Sciascia, which is about a carabinieri captain sent from the mainland to investigate a mafia murder in an unspecified Sicilian town. Around halfway through the novella, the captain tricks a suspect in the murder, Maricha, into confessing his involvement to incriminate another suspect, Pizzuco. The following excerpt comes after Pizzuco learns that he has been incriminated:

Pizzuco swore by the Holy Sacrament, before Christ on the Cross, on the souls of his mother, wife and son Giuseppe, that Maricha's was the blackest of slanders, and called down on him, until the seventh generation, the just vengeance of heaven.

While it is a work of fiction, the book is inspired by some real events. Also important to take into consideration is that Leonardo Sciascia was from Racalmuto, which is only about ten miles away from Aragona. The seven generations thing may be something rooted in that part of Agrigento.

[B.]

Excellent. Yeah, when I heard the "seven generations" remark during the ceremony it rang a bell. I've never read the Sciascia book but I swear I've heard reference to it before in the mafia, maybe in Sicily.

It may have roots in the Bible, as there is a reference to seven generations descending from Cain.

[chin_gigante]

In 1959, an anonymous individual claiming to be the son of a mafia member sent a letter to the FBI in Tampa describing the history of the organisation and some of the requirements to be accepted as a member. He writes:

Before an applicant is admitted he is subject to a rigid examination, with an investigation of his character. He must give proof of courage at the risk of his life and he must not talk, and as they say, he must be a man. He must have no relationship with families of policemen like you for seven generations. There must be no scandal or blemishes of any kind, because they will tolerate the job of policeman, but they are relentless to scandal or to someone who has been an informer and they will kill him like a dog.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... 22mafia%22

[B.]

I don't think I've seen that, excellent find.

Leonardo Messina of San Cataldo said he was the 7th generation of his family to be a member there. I don't know if there was any significance to that beyond the longevity of his family's mafia membership though.

[PolackTony]

Really excellent find there, Chin.

It's clear that "7 generations" in these cases shouldn't be taken as an exact figure, but rather a cultural meme representing some notion of "many" generations. As B. notes, it is derived from the Bible, where 7 (and multiples of 7) are used extensively (the 7th day, John the Revelator preaching to 7 churches, and hundreds of other examples throughout the New and Old Testaments). Lamech was highlighted as the 7th generation descendant of Cain, while the Gospel of Luke states that great men arrived in multiples of 7 generations, e.g.: Adam, Enoch (7th), Abraham (21st), David (35th), Jesus (77th).

[B.]

During the recorded 'ndrangheta initiation some years back it was mentioned in the oath:

"I swear to renounce everything up to the seventh generation and the entire criminal association recognized by me until now in order to safeguard the honor of my wise brothers."

[chin_gigante]

Going back to the practice of throwing fingers, I got a copy of The Ceremony to check how it was done.

Strangely, the editor notes say that fingers are thrown to select a capodecina, though this is not actually what is reflected in the transcript. Fingers are thrown to select an inductee's cumpare, and they are then assigned to a captain.

The following reflects what is contained in the transcript for each inductee in the order that they were straightened out:

1. Vincent Federico
- Cumpare: Gaetano Milano
- Capodecina: (unclear from the transcript)

2. Robert DeLuca
- Cumpare: Angelo Mercurio
- Capodecina: (unclear from the transcript)

3. Carmen Tortora
- Cumpare: (unclear from the transcript)
- Capodecina: Robert Carrozza

4. Richard Floramo
- Cumpare: Carmen Tortora
- Capodecina: Vincent Ferrara

[B.]

Thanks for checking. I had seen the reference to them using it to select the compare but Wiseguy was right that the book (incorrectly) said it was for capodecina.

The two other examples I'm aware of where this was done was Rocco Scafidi's Philly ceremony and Valachi's joint Lucchese / Bonanno ceremony. Scafidi said he could go to his godfather Migo Pollina for assistance with issues he was having in the Family, sort of like a real godfather, whereas Valachi ended up with no relationship to his godfather Joe Bonanno but there was a lot going on in the aftermath to say the least.

This must have been done in other instances as well since it showed up in Philly, NYC, and NE.