I was wondering if this wasnt the work of some kind of psycho. And not anyone operating in any kind of official capacity.
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It might explain a lot if the cultures with really odd practices also had the imperative to treat the mentally ill as “touched by the gods”.
Can you imagine the culture built around emulating and taking direction from your average raggedy Ann or Andy yelling at invisible people on the street corner downtown?
History is replete with examples of a psycho being in control-the Roman Empire probably has the best documentation of that-Nero, Caligula, Antoninus, etc, etc...