Cremation of Care

An effigy burned at the water's edge so the powerful can conspire without conscience.

The Cremation of Care ceremony is real and filmed (Jones, 2000; earlier descriptions match): a robed ritual burning an effigy called 'Care' before the owl, opening the July encampment — theater dating to 1881, written by club members including, over the years, professional dramatists. Members describe symbolic release from business worry; critics note that a ritual mock-sacrifice performed by the era's most powerful men is exactly the kind of thing that shouldn't require an infiltrator to document. Both readings are in the file.