Their Fingers Pinched, Their Palms Burnt, and Their Words Recorded

The ancient induction ceremony

Cosa Nostra in the United States, back on the island of Sicily, or anywhere in the world it evolved for that matter, has had many secrets through its shadowy history over hundreds of years. But none has ever been so important as the hallowed vow that is taken by every new ‘proposed’ member before they enter into the organization itself.

In fact, more than just a simple “organization,” which seems much too benign a word to truly describe the Mafia in all its varied forms, Cosa Nostra is, in essence, a living, self-perpetuating organism. One that has evolved with modernity yet maintains its antiquity to this very day.

Perhaps author Claire Sterling put it best in her book, “Octopus,” when she likened Cosa Nostra to the sea creature of the same name. Reciting the Encyclopedia Britannica, she wrote;

“The octopus is a sea animal with a soft body and eight arms called tentacles…rows of round cups on the underside of each tentacle act much like a suction cup. These suckers can fasten tightly to any object and may hold on even if the tentacle is cut off.

If an octopus loses a tentacle, a new one grows in its place…An octopus has two eyes and sees well. It has the most highly developed brain of all invertebrates….Some kinds of octopuses inject a poison that paralyzes their prey….The octopus can also squirt a black fluid forming a dark cloud that hides the animal so it can escape from sharks, whales, human beings, and other enemies.”

The sacred vow of Omertà was first developed hundreds of years ago, at the time of the Brotherhood’s first fledgling days and very formation. The words of this vow have changed very little through its history.

For centuries, it was a complete mystery to outsiders and shrouded in a dark secrecy by its membership. And wherever in the world this ceremony takes place, or which grouping of mafiosi perform the ceremony, over hundreds of years the words spoken have always remained essentially the same.

Side Note: The Italian word Omertà, in and of itself by definition, simply means to be “manly.” To act, conduct, and carry yourself with respect. Omertà can mean many, many things. Unspoken things. But at its core, the word defines the act of holding one's head high, walking with your shoulders out and a deliberate stride in your step, and exuding a confidence in all you say and do.

I n this tradition, when used to describe a mafioso, Omertà also means to keep closed-mouthed in the face of adversity, to comport oneself in a “manly” manner, with “honor” and respect at all times. Those thoughts and value system transcend into not “ratting” on others, or committing other dishonorable acts, thereby bringing shame and embarrassment to oneself….It is the “act” of being a man. Plain and simple!

Omertà is not only the desired virtue of Mafiosi, but also of the larger overall populous of legitimate Italian people as well. The entire nation of Italy holds Omertà as a valued piece of their psyche. An honorable virtue for all to have and exhibit. From innocent young boys and girls, to adult women and men, and old people as well. Omertà is an honorable thing.

Blood and a Saint signify the gravity of Mafia induction

That all changed in 1963, when the first swore member of the Mafia publicly exposed those secret words, and the solemn vow he’d taken more than thirty-three years earlier. This man exposed the most sacred of secrets, those that every mafioso holds near and dear, and never discusses with any outsider, let alone recites it into a public microphone to a captivated national television audience.

This turncoat, this rat, was of course the infamous Joseph (Joe Cago) Valachi. A self-admitted Mafia member, who served as a ‘soldier’ in the Vito Genovese Family of Cosa Nostra for over three decades. After falling from favor with Family boss Vito Genovese himself, and running to the FBI, he told about his own lifetime of crime on the gritty streets of New York City, he also slowly spilled all he knew about the underworld phenomena known the world over as the Mafia.

In truth, there had been others to do so before Valachi, both in the United States and Italy, who had surreptitiously spilled Mafia secrets over the years in closed confidence to the authorities. But never before had a fully inducted member of the Mafia betrayed his oath so openly and fully as Valachi had.

Called before the famed McClellan Senate Subcommittee on Investigations in Washington, D.C., Joe Valachi sat before television new cameras, news reporters, glaring spotlights, and a panel of U.S. Senators, Federal Prosecutors, and FBI agents. He was sworn in and then spilled his guts to all the world. He spoke of his life story in the New York underworld.

Joe Valachi about to spill the beans!

Aside from keeping his audience captivated with sordid tales of life in the American criminal underworld, the veteran hoodlum and ex-convict went on to explain the ancient ritual of induction into the Sicilian Brotherhood. Its rules of membership, and his own induction ceremony he’d taken back in 1930. Word for word, step by step.

Valachi told of having been summoned to a large home in Wappingers Falls, Upstate New York. This was during the infamous Castellammarese War of 1929-1931, and tensions were here. He drove up there with several other crew associates who were to also be inducted to this ancient sect.

After arriving, he spoke of being summoned before a thirty-foot long table filled with about forty fellow hoodlums, many of whom he already knew from having worked with them over the years. At the head of the table sat Salvatore (Don Turiddo) Maranzano, acknowledged head of the Mafia in the United States at that time, and boss of what later became known as the Joseph Bonanno Family.

And then Valachi went about describing the ceremony of his entrance into this ancient clan of blended Sicilians and southern Italian men. A ‘brotherhood’ of liked-minded individuals, who had all agreed to accept the young criminal into their fold, “making” him one of their own.

Valachi was walked to the head of the table and introduced to Maranzano, who he already knew, but this was different. It was a formal reintroduction. Mr. Maranzano spoke to the table of men before them, “This is Joe Cago.” He then asked me to sit down next to him. There was a .38 revolver and a dagger in front of me on the table.

Then Maranzano spoke again “This represents that you live by the gun and the knife, and you die by the gun and the knife.” Next, he asks me, “which finger do you shoot with?” I held up my right forefinger. Then he asks me to cups my hand. Then he puts a piece of paper in them and lit it with a match, and told me to repeat after him, “This is the way I will burn, if I ever betray the secret of this Cosa Nostra.”

After that Mr. Maranzano says, “This being a time of war, I am going to make this short. Here are the two most important things you have to remember. Drill them into your head The first is that to betray the secret of Cosa Nostra means death without trial. Second, to violate any members wife means death without trial. Look at them, admire them, and behave with them.”

During the ceremony the group, including Valachi, stood and held hands several times. This was called “tying in,” both before, and after the formal ceremony. It is the symbolism for the opening up and closing their secret society to accept a new member. Most of the above ceremony was conducted in Sicilian (especially in those days).

There were other facets to Valachi’s formal induction, such as the casting of fingers from zero to five to select a “compare,” who in theory was to be a sort of mentor to the young recruit. Joe Bonanno was the man selected through this process. And he in fact, was the one who had pricked Valachi’s finger and made his blood drip onto that burning paper as another important symbolism of the induction.

After all the new entrants were in fact inducted as formal mafia members through this same process, the group had a huge feast that lasted for hours. From this moment forward, Valachi was looked upon as a mafioso.

Although this event took place in 1930, the induction process has essentially remained the same through the years. Whether it was the 1800s, or the 2000s, Cosa Nostra is Cosa Nostra. The organization knows no bounds, nor does it follow changing trends. It is an ancient process that stands on its own.

Many have discussed their mafia membership in hushed tones with law enforcement authorities for years. This list includes such longtime informants as soldiers Gregory Scarpa Sr., of NYC’s Colombo Family, Harry Riccobene and Rocco Scafidi , both of Philadelphia, and Frank (The Bomp) Bompensiero of San Diego, California.

Many others have gone so far as to openly testify about Cosa Nostra before such open investigative bodies as the various senate hearings and other governmental law enforcement agencies that have been held over the years to expose it. Former members such as Valachi, Cleveland’s Angelo Lonardo, Philadelphia’s Philip Leonetti, Pittsburgh’s Lenine Strollo, the Gambino’s Michael Di Leonardo, and Palermo-based member, Tommaso Buscetta, of Sicily.

These same informants have repeatedly testified about the organization and the criminal activities of its members in open court, all but ensuring that their former buddies went to prison for long stretches.

Traitors who fall into this category form a laundry list a mile long; Bonanno boss Joseph (Fat Joey) Massino; various acting bosses such as Vincent (Vinny Ocean) Palermo, Alphonse (Little Al) D’Arco, Joseph (Little Joe) Defede; underbosses Sammy (The Bull) Gravano, Salvatore Vitale, and Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso; consigliere Carmine Sessa and James (Big Louie) Tartaglione; capo-regimes Anthony Rotondo, Michael (Mikey Scars) Di Leonardo, and New England’s Robert (Bobby Cigars) DeLuca.

Still others have penned their autobiographies, putting it all down on paper such as Valachi did. In fact, in recent decades its become the rage among stool pigeons to write books celebrating their lives in the Mafia, after spilling the beans on their former friends and associates in order to avoid prison themselves.

It’s actually become a cottage industry, and the rage in Hollywood is to provide platforms for these informants and entertain their media audience. After becoming rats in open court, such well-known former members as Michael Franzese, Aladena (Jimmy the Weasel) Fratianno, and Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano have all made a financial killing by penning, and then selling copies of those books….A sad commentary about the current state of the underworld to say the least.

One of the very first to ever pen his memoirs was Sicilian-born member Nicolo (Nick) Gentile. After immigrating to America, he served for years as a member, and top boss of several borgatas across the country, before retiring back to his native Sicily. In his later years, an aging Gentile wrote his life’s memoirs as a long manuscript, which was later turned into a book written in Italian, and published in Italy.

In more recent years, there have even been others who were so bold and blatant in their betrayal of the Brotherhood, that at the urging of their FBI handlers, even went so far as to actually record their own induction ceremonies.

Disgraceful Mafia members who fell into this bottom-feeding category include Philadelphia soldier George Fresolone, who recorded his induction at the behest of the New Jersey State Police and the FBI. New England soldier Angelo Mercurio, who carried a tape-recorder so he could capture the induction of several “proposed” associates and friends who were being made in a secret ceremony he attended inside a home in Medford, outside of Boston.

And most recently, Philadelphia hoodlum Anthony (Tubby) Persiano, who only months ago in late 2020-early 2021, tape-recorded his own “making ceremony” for the FBI. They all do this of course to avoid criminal penalties for their own crimes and misdeeds.

Another weasel who pulled this stunt was a Bonanno associate named Vincenzo (Enzo) Morena, who while visiting up in Canada, allowed a mini-microphone to be strapped to his chest, under his shirt, by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police).

He then allowed them to record, word for word, all that was spoken by his Bonanno Family comrades, who operate a regime up in Montreal. All this was done while they bestowed the “honor” of formally inducting him into their secret borgata as a reward for his loyalty….what loyalty indeed!

Side Note: In my opinion, the level of degeneracy, betrayal, and depravity, of all these weasels is almost mind-boggling in scope. Each and every one of these “slugs” betrayed the only life they had ever really known. They had each chosen to go into this life, accepted entrance into this organization, fully knowing the “gravity” of their decision.

Yet, each of them betrayed their comrades in arms. Each of them threw their friends under the wheels of the bus, in order to benefit themselves and escape their own punishments. Regardless of what entity you may be affiliated with: the U.S. Armed Services, the FBI, CIA, a sports team, or other organization.

After taking a sworn vow of loyalty, to then so cavalierly betray those vows (regardless of what they might have been), and the men who you stood shoulder to shoulder with as comrades in arms, if the sure sign of a punk, and a Benedict Arnold to the core…..and for me at least, their actions are disgusting!

October 29, 1989, Medford, Massachusetts. A secret event is about to take place inside a modest home at 34 Guild Street, in a quiet residential neighborhood. Four “associates” of the Patriarca Family of New England are about to be accepted into the borgata.

But there is a big problem. One of the participants in the “making” ceremony, Mafia soldier Angelo Mercurio, is an FBI informant. He has informed the agents about the event, allowing them to “wire up” the home beforehand with tiny microphones and recorders that they’ve placed in the walls and ceilings of the house, ready to capture the entire solemn event for posterity on tape.

Family boss Raymond Patriarca Jr. is to preside over the ceremony, and one of his Sicilian-born caporegime, Biagio Di Giacomo, has been assigned to recite the ancient incantation to the new recruits.

FBI cameras capture Ray Patriarca and Mercurio in route to the ceremony

For the feds, this is a huge coup. A chance to record an actual “mafia induction ceremony.” This singular piece of evidence will forever haunt the New England mafia, and all Cosa Nostra for that matter.

The associates “sponsored” for induction into the borgata that fateful afternoon were Vincent (Vinny Fed) Federico, Carmen Tortora, Richard Floramo, and Robert (Bobby Cigars) DeLuca. The FBI had positioned themselves down the street, inside an empty house that was perfectly situated to see anyone who came and went from 34 Guild Street. With cameras fixed toward the street and home, agents captured all the participants involved.

After all the men had gathered at the home and were assembled inside, seventeen mafiosi in all, the ceremony began. With boss Ray Patriarca officiating, it went like this, “They call it Cosa Nostra, they call it my…organization, and this and that, and the Mafia. It is Mafia,” stated Biagio Di Giacomo. He continued, “If I told you one of your brothers was an informer, a police informer, gonna put somebody in prison, and I told you you must kill them, would you do that for me without hesitation?” Floramo was asked by Joseph Russo, the reputed family consigliere. “He has to go,” Floramo replied.

“As burns this saint, so will burn my soul, I swear to enter alive into this organization and get out dead,” said each inductee in Italian, as they repeated after Di Giacomo. Before the actual induction, Patriarca had stated to the men assembled, “we’re all here to bring in some new members into our family and more than that, to start maybe a new beginning.” With a pin, blood was spilled from their trigger fingers, dropped onto a Catholic Saint card, and burned while each new recruit recited their oath. Much the same as told by other recruits before them had done.

They were each then “baptized” anew into Cosa Nostra….they had each taken a solemn lifelong vow, to say the least.

The recording of this induction ceremony confirms that despite more than a sixty-year span of time, between Valachi’s induction, and that of these four New England members, little has changed in the wording or the procedure of the ceremony.

“Lo voglio entrare in questa organizzazione, per proteggere la mia familia,” they each recited — “I want to enter into this organization to protect my family….”Entro vivo…e dove uscire morto,” “I enter alive, and will only get out when dead.”

There was more to the ceremony of course, but this was the crux of it. It is a lifetime commitment. To be taken extremely seriously. And up until the last few decades, this process was indeed a revered and hallowed one, among the legions of the Mafia, by all its members.

A sorry state of affairs at best!

The events of recent years show that the “quality” of membership of new recruits is very shaky at best. On review, it seems that the reservations of Don Carlo Gambino to open up the “books” to new members was well-founded. As an original member, born in Palermo, Sicily, who had witnessed it all through his long career in Cosa Nostra, Don Carlo knew that there were problems on the horizon with the types of men he saw gravitating toward his “tradition” in later years.

But with his death in 1976, the decision was made by the other Commission members to open the books, so as to replenish the badly depleted membership rosters of the Five Families. It was a much-needed infusion of new blood. But with that fateful decision, came certain men wholly unworthy of the “honor” bestowed upon them.

Many newly minted soldiers would turn out to be solid choices. But in between those worthy men, was way too many mental weaklings, and morally bankrupt new recruits. Men who in another era would never have ‘made the grade’ for acceptance into the Sicilian Brotherhood.

Side Note: At this time, I must also hold accountable many of the senior, already established members of the Five Families. Many of them did not take the time required to properly “groom” those associates they deemed worthy, who were later accepted into the ranks.

Both soldiers and capos alike were so busy concentrating on making money and having a good time for themselves, that they didn’t spend the required time to teach their men about the deep history, value system, and true mentality that is required to become a “good” Cosa Nostra soldier. The end results are what we are now witnessing.

These older mafiosi did not truly think about, or concern themselves with, the long-term “health” of “this thing.” Hence, it has been several generations already where the men inducted do not truly know what’s what, with the very organization that they belong to….Now I ask you, who’s fault is that?

Over the next several decades, these “cracks” in Cosa Nostra’s ranks would start to reveal themselves for what they were. Today? In the year 2021. The once revered and feared Brotherhood is but a shell of what they once were. Both here in America, and back in Italy as well.

The combination of draconian laws on the books such as RICO, which was specifically created with the Mafia in mind. Coupled with the WITSEC program, preventive detention, ridiculously long prison terms, huge monetary fines, and the forfeitures of the assets of mafiosi, have all contributed to a vast weakening of the organization.

When these factors are thrown into the mixing bowl with the current quality of new recruit (or should I say, lack of quality, of new recruit), it is a recipe for disaster. A sea change in the entire culture of America, and the world for that matter, has also greatly contributed to a completely different mentality and value system of people today. One that has certainly not been conducive to the Brotherhood.

The latest infamnia for a few of these types of spineless weasels and malcontents has been to start up podcasts where they openly discuss their former lives in the Mafia. They take questions from their media audience and answer their “fans” accordingly. They’ve become media darlings of sorts. They actually celebrate the fact that they became “rats,” informers, and traitors against their friends….Carlo Gambino must be rolling in his grave!

Until next time…”The Other Guy!”

Their Fingers Pinched, Their Palms Burnt, and Their Words Recorded

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Their Fingers Pinched, Their Palms Burnt, and Their Words Recorded

Unlock The Door to the Underworld

Take the Journey!

You May Also Enjoy

Which Mafia Boss Would You Be?

Gangster Era Reborn: Unearthed Crime Scenes from New York’s Prohibition Underworld

Racket & Business Infiltration of the Bufalino Family

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