Body Rituals Among the Nacirema Professor Emma Linton first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists 47 years ago, but the culture of these people is still poorly understood. A look at their culture is very important in order to understand primitive societies. Linton says that the Nacirema work very hard, live richly but spend most of their day in ritual activity. The main point of the ritual is the human body, and the people worry a lot about health. They believe that the mind is trapped in a diseased body, and the only way to avoid sickness is through the powerful influences of rituals and ceremonies.
Every house has one or more shrines or holy places for ceremonies.
The more powerful people in the culture have many shrines, and you can tell how rich a person is by the number of shrines in the house. Each house has at least one shrine, and the rituals are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The rites are normally only discussed with the children and only when they are learning the mysteries of the shrine. The main attraction of the shrine is a box or chest which is built into the wall. In this chest are kept the many charms and magical potions without which no native believes he could live.