Greeting and welcome to Introduction to Cannibalism 101: The Different Kinds of Cannibalism with Otto Rageous .
The practice of cannibalism has existed since the very dawn of humanity. From the Beginning from Cavemen through out the entire history of man al the way up to modern day. This is not a general lesson in/on cannibalism, it’s a specific lesson on the various kinds of cannibalism/cannibals that exist. Cannibalism is considered by a majority of Societies around the world as the most extreme Taboo a person could engage in. It’s ironic that humanity eats countless species of animals for sustenance, but when it comes to people eating other people its unacceptable, demonized, condemned, and made illegal. There’s a strange double standard surrounding the practice(s) of cannibalism since mankind is the only animal on the entire earth that kills one another for anything other than food. Thus the unofficial rule that came to be is murdering someone is extremely bad, yet eating someone is still far worse.
Cannibalism:(noun) The practice of eating the flesh of your own species/Kind.
Etymology: The word “cannibalism” is derived from cannibles, the Spanish name for Caribs, a West Indies tribe that may have been practicing cannibals, from the Spanish canibal or caribou “A savage”. The term Anthropology, meaning “eating humans” is also used for human cannibalism.
Historical Quote On the topic of cannibals/cannibalism:
“The people round here are all cannibals. You never saw such a weird looking lot in your life. There are also dwarfs (called Batwas) in the forest who are even worse cannibals than the taller human environment. They eat man flesh raw! It’s a fact.” Casement then added how assailants would “bring down a dwarf on the way home, for the marital cooking pot … The Dwarfs, as I say, dispense with cooking pots and eat and drink their human prey fresh cut on the battlefield while the blood is still warm and running. These are not fairy tales, my dear Cowper, but actual gruesome reality in the heart of this poor, benighted savage land.”
-Roger Casement (In a Letter to a Colleague on August 3, 1903)
Categories of Cannibalsim:
- Ritualistic
- Survival
- Sacrifical
- Necro/ Mortuary
- Autocannibalism/ Sexual Autocannibalism
- Sexual
- Filial
- Erotophonophilia
- Vorarephilia
- Gynophagia
- Perthenophasia (sub type)
- Sexual Autophagy
- Symbolic
- Pathological (also known as Erotophonophilia)
- Exocannibalism
- Endocannibalism
Category Definitions:
Ritualistic Cannibalism: In acts of ritual or customary cannibalism, specified members of a society consume all or part of a certain body parts, which are believed to contain and convey attributes of the deceased.
Survival Cannibalism: Survival cannibalism is innate in humans; people will resort to eating a fellow human being under dire circumstances.
Sacrificial Cannibalism: In dire circumstances a group of people may implement a system one of the most common is drawing straws. Members of a group draw “straws” to see which member of the group will subsequently be killed and eaten. As a willing participant each member of the group is in agreement if they are the one with the shortest straw that they will sacrifice themselves for the betterment of the group. It’s important to note that this grim system of selection is a voluntarily decision made by every member of the group unlike with Survival cannibalism.
Necro/ Post-Mortuary Cannibalism: The consumption of part or all of a corpse by members of its own kind. This is not limited to flesh alone as it includes the consumption of internal organs as well.
Auntocannibalism: Self-cannibalism or the practice of eating oneself. This also includes things like eating ones finger nails or a mother eating the placenta after giving birth.
Sexual Cannibalism: Is usually considered a psychosexual disorder and involves individuals’ sexualizing the consumption of another human being’s Flesh.
Erotophonophilia (type of Sexual Cannibalism): Often referred to as “lust murder” , a sexual paraphilia in which individuals have extreme violent fantasies and typically kill their victim during sex and/or mutilate their victim’s sexual organs. In some cases, the erotophonophiles will eat some of their victim’s body parts (usually post-mortem).
Vorarephilia (type of Sexual Cannibalism): This type of sexual cannibalism has been increasingly documented in the scientific literature over the last decade. This is a sexual paraphilia in which individuals are sexually aroused by 1. the idea of being eaten 2. eating another person, and/or 3. observing this process for sexual gratification. However, most vorarephiles’ behavior is fantasy based, although there have been real life cases such as Armin Meiwes, the so-called ‘Rotenburg Cannibal’.
Gynophagia (Sexually Cannibalistic Behavior): A sexual fetish that involves fantasies of cooking and consumption of human females (gynophagia literally means ‘woman eating’).
Parthenophagia (Sub Type of Gynophagia): This is the practice of eating young girls or virgins. Several lust murderers were also know to consume the flesh of young virgins, most notably serial Killer, pedophile, and sexual sadist Albert Fish.
Sexual Autophagy (type of Sexual Cannibalism): Refers to the eating of one’s own flesh for sexual pleasure.
Filial Cannibalism: Occurs when an adult individual of a species consumes all or part of the young of its own species or immediate offspring. This is primarily applied to the animal kingdom but the fact remains there is no age limit on human victims of Cannibalism. There are plenty of documented cases of human cannibalism involving adults eating children and babies (in addition to eating adults) from around the globe.
Symbolic Cannibalism: One that resides in the abstract, spiritual realm where no actual flesh is consumed. An example of this is Christian Mass.
- Pathological Cannibalism: A pathological urge to devour human flesh, occasionally observed in severe schizophrenics and similar metal disorders. In psychoanalytic theory, cannibalistic impulses are associated with the fixation at the oral-biting phase of psychosexual development. This category includes several Serial Killers such as:
- Albert Fish ( The Grey Man”)
- Ed Gein (The fictional characters Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Buffalo Bill from the Movie Silence of the Lambs, and Norman Bates from Alford Hitchcock’s Psycho were all inspired by Ed Gein and his crimes.)
- Jeffery Dahmer (“The Milwaukee Cannibal”)
- Rudy Eugene “The Miami Cannibal”
- Andrei Chikatilo “The Ukrainian Monster”
- “The Crossbow Cannibal” Stephen Griffiths,
- Luka Magnotta (The Canadian Cannibal. Most known as the subject of the popular Netflix documentary Don’t Fuck With Cats).
Endocannibalism (Learned Cannibalistic Behavior): Community of like minded people consume a member of their group pre or post mortem.
Exocannibalism (Learned Cannibalistic Behavior): The consuming of flesh of someone from outside of the group. Usually as a celebration of victory over an opposing enemy.
Thus ends our education on eating human flesh for now, and keep an eye out for future Cannibalism posts as there will be more and varied. The lesson here is from survival to serial killers cannibalism is more prevalent in the world than you’d dare to think.
That’s all Until our paths cross again
By Otto Rageous
Otto Rageous