The Three Christs of Ypsilanti

by Milton Rokeach

  It should by now not be at all surprising, in view of the changed climate depicted above, that after they themselves took over the conduct of their meetings, the three Christs altered their attitudes toward these sessions, toward one another, and toward me. Any number of comments they made—both in individual interviews and on other occasions—gave evidence of this.

  Clyde said that he was “getting along all right with Rex and Joseph.” Of Leon, Clyde remarked that he was “quieter, not so cranky.” When I asked Clyde if the others still claimed to be God or Jesus Christ, he replied: “No, not so much.”

  Several times Joseph clamored for two meetings a day instead of the usual one, asked if “we can’t stay longer,” and reiterated that he enjoyed all the meetings. Of Leon, he said: “He doesn’t seem to detest my company. Rex has changed considerably. He forgets that there is any animosity. He is diurnal, daily, regular. Two weeks ago he started changing. He’s got a kind of resting sickness. He’s quiet. His face is more refined than it used to be. And behind that face there’s another face that looks like another patient that used to be here.”

  When I asked him how he was getting along with Clyde, Joseph said: “Very nicely. A few weeks ago he wanted to keep my quarter; said I had the most money. But the last time he just gave me the quarter. Didn’t say anything.”

  Referring to the visits Clyde and Leon paid him while he was in the hospital, Joseph remarked: “Mr. Spivak [the research assistant] brought Clyde and Rex, two friends of mine, and we had a meeting. I thought it was rather special. They brought me flowers and I thanked them for it.”

  Moreover, Joseph showed indications of being under less tension. He admitted he had been born in Quebec, whereas before, while claiming to have been everywhere in the world, he specifically denied ever having been in Quebec. He answered realistically that he had been in the hospital since 1941, instead of saying, as he had before: “Three and a half years; after I’ve been here four years I cannot be deported back to England.”

  Leon, when asked if he was satisfied with the new chairman system, replied: “It is a slight change. Satisfying to a certain degree. Mr. Cassel is somewhat more reserved. Mr. Benson is somewhat more reserved also. Mr. Cassel brings up books he gets at the library. Some are interesting.” But Leon modified this somewhat. “Mr. Cassel’s jealousy can be sensed to a certain degree. Like reading with a Scottish brogue and right away he can’t duplicate that; why, he snatches the book away and he indirectly says that he didn’t care for me to read that way. Today he read French and I applauded. I was impressed. Pertaining to his vocabulary, he knows quite a bit. If I don’t know something I’ll ask him and he usually turns up with a definition of words.”

  As already mentioned, under conditions of the rotating chairmanship, Leon showed evidence of reduced self-centeredness and of concern for other people. He showed considerable concern, for example, when one of the research assistants caught his finger in a closing door. In October, after I had been absent for several days, he asked me a personal question for the first time. Had anything of interest happened at Michigan State University, he wanted to know. In December he talked about the weather and warned me to drive carefully since it was foggy. I encouraged him to talk further about his attitude toward me and Mr. Spivak. In the course of this conversation it became clear that his tendency to dichotomize everyone and everything in black or white categories had undergone change.

  “You have retracted,” he said, “toward neutrality. Yes, you’ve changed to a certain degree. You’re not so negative any more. You’re neutral. No, not neutral, a little to the side of negative. With Mr. Spivak it varies. Sometimes he is more and sometimes less negative.”

  —Do you have any feelings about the meetings?—

  “If you care to discuss, it’s up to you. It’s a repetition of positivism. If it’s a repetition of positivism it won’t wear out.”

  —Are the meetings lately negative, positive, or neutral?—

  “Negativism has tapered down some, but it still spurts up.”

  When asked if he wanted to continue with the meetings, he said he was still willing to give his time to them even though he was very busy.

  There were still other indications that Leon was more relaxed. To the question: “How are you, Rex?” he no longer offered the stereotyped response: “All right, sir, except for the interferences,” which he had given us during the first couple of months. Instead, his usual answer now was: “All right, sir, a little tired,” or “All right, sir, still trying to do a good job,” or “Fine, sir, how are you?”

  The Issue of Identity

  Never again were we to observe the violent arguments and outbursts that characterized the daily sessions in the early weeks. After the men were put in charge of the meetings, the issue of identity simply did not come up again unless I raised it deliberately. On rare occasions one of the men would mention, in passing, that he was God or Christ or, somewhat more frequently, might bring up other delusional material which touched on his identity. Such remarks were quickly passed over. The men refused to respond; they would change the subject, pretend not to have heard, or simply make a motion to adjourn, which would be seconded and quickly passed without debate. Leon typically would respond with: “That’s your belief, sir,” muttered almost under his breath, and then either lapse into silence or deftly change the subject.

  In general, the three men behaved far less delusively during their meetings after we relinquished control to them, and they spent the major portion of their time reading, or in “meditative silence,” as Leon put it. During the weeks and months that followed, however, Leon was to evince a strong need to bring up new delusional material. This he would do under the guise of “announcements” or “news items” in response to our standard question: “What’s new?” In time it became evident that one function of these new delusions was to reduce rather than increase the possibilities of interpersonal conflict.

  More than anything else, it was by now clear that all three men wanted to avoid conflict, and keep the group together. Obviously it satisfied powerful needs in their empty, lonely lives, despite the conflict it had caused.

  Yet it would be incorrect to infer that the metamorphosis in group atmosphere was anything more than a slight matter of degree, or that the issue of identity no longer existed. There were definite limits to the extent to which we could get these men to leave their delusional worlds, co-operate with each other, and be more outgoing toward us. Joseph, for example, despite his requests for two meetings a day, often went to the toilet just before the meeting, and stayed there an inordinately long time. Once I asked Leon to check on what he was doing there; Leon returned to tell me that Joseph was taking bicarbonate of soda. For several weeks Joseph made it a practice to go to the library to return books while Leon was in the middle of a story.

  Leon, for his part, refused to have anything to do with receiving or passing out the weekly allowance, or the ready-made cigarettes, and no amount of pressure could persuade him otherwise. “If you are sincere,” he admonished us, “give one pack to this man, one pack to that man, and say: ‘Here, enjoy yourself.’ You are now suggesting indirect pressure from these two persons against me because of your choice of trying to force me to accept something against my free will.” He still had to go through various rituals to shake off “interferences.” And when Clyde went off on a weekend visit to his daughter, Leon explained Clyde’s absence by saying that he was dead, “struck dead by my uncle.” Twice he made a similar comment about Joseph: once right after the death of his mother, when he said he had been informed Joseph had died, and again a few days later, when Joseph was hospitalized at the end of December. At that time, Leon claimed that Joseph was dead, and subsequently maintained that he was a “false-idealed reincarnation of the Devil.”

  The all-important issue of identity cropped up in other indirect ways, too, in contexts which would normally have been unlikely to produce interpersonal conflict. Within two weeks after the rotating
chairmanship had been established, Leon became preoccupied with the apparent need to tell others—research personnel and other patients, but not Clyde or Joseph—his “full name.” “My card, sir,” he would say, showing the home-made calling card he had fashioned, on which was written: Dr. Domino dominorum et Rex rexarum, Simplis Christianus Puer Mentalis Doktor, reincarnation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. At the same time he began writing letters addressed to no one in particular, and handed them to the ward aides. Their purpose was evidently to reaffirm his identity:

  September 5th, 1959

  Respected Sir; Madam;

  Devine justice has Ordered that the first creature Jesus Christ (of Nazareth) created before time existed, is protected by unchangeable fact that he who denies the existence or re-incarnation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth denies his penis and testicles, and other parts of his body, and such-dry or wet rots off his body; same applies for women’s urator bodily vine, ovaries, temporary nectar stones on her breast—, (or if those women or men who deny me the existence of or re-incarnation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Nazareth).

  Repentence brings back—instantly—lost male, female, parts as such with respect to age, for ovaries! “Relapse into such brings ten hours of justifiable punishment.”

  …Respectfully,

  Dr. Domino dominorum et Rex rexarum Simplis Christianus Puer Mentalis Doktor—re-incarnation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

  Leon’s continuing need to proclaim his identity—or at least to deny the others’ claims—was evidenced by his behavior when Joseph read a weekend report in which he mentioned he was God. Although he did not argue Joseph’s claim, he did get up from his chair to whisper in the research assistant’s ear that Joseph was only an instrumental god.

  Joseph, too, felt the need to proclaim his identity in devious ways. Several times he asked to make a speech into the tape recorder. With his back to Leon and Clyde and with the microphone close to his mouth, he would boom: “This is me, God!” whereupon Clyde would mutter and Leon would say: “That’s your belief, sir.” Like Leon, Joseph also began to assert his identity in written communications. But instead of addressing no one in particular, as Leon did, Joseph wrote to important personages such as Prime Minister Diefenbaker of Canada and President Eisenhower. To the President he wrote:

  Dear President,

  I have been wondering why you do not answer my letters; I have written several of them throughout my campaign for I am God and John Michael Ernahue, of the Great House of England and I, along with the English, have saved the world!

  I am sure that I have done my best in everything I have endeavored for the country, and it would be nice to obtain a letter from you. I go under the name of Joseph Cassell, Ward D-23, Ypsilanti State Hospital, Ypsilanti, Michigan, Box A.

  Joseph Cassel

  [1] Carlson has shown experimentally that a subject’s attitude toward an object undergoes modification when he perceives it as instrumental toward the achievement of goals he shares in common with others. E. R. Carlson: “Attitude Change Through Modification of Attitude Structure,” J. Abnormal and Social Psychology, Vol. 52 (1956), pp. 256–61.

  [2] Cf. Chapters XIII and XVI for a discussion of changes under certain experimental conditions.

  CHAPTER VII

  EXIT DR. REX

  OF ALL the changes that were initiated by the rotating chairmanship, the most profound were those that occurred in Leon. During the first two months of storm and stress in daily confrontation, there had been only one very trivial change in his delusional beliefs. But within three weeks of the calmer atmosphere of the rotating chairmanship, his beliefs began to undergo major alterations. This process of change continued for four months, and culminated, in the middle of January 1960, with his adoption of an entirely new name.

  The changes were, however, gradual and at times almost imperceptible. We suspected that they proceeded at a slow pace because Leon himself thus hoped that neither he nor we would notice any change at all; the gradualness may well have served the purpose of preserving Leon’s image of himself as a consistent, rational being. This need, as far as we could tell, was no less strong in Leon than in any normal person. We had no idea of what these snail-like changes meant as they occurred, nor did we suspect that they would culminate in a change of name. Their meaning emerged only months later as additional events unfolded and could be related to what had gone before. In the meantime we were in a position, by virtue of our observational procedures, to trace precisely the chronology of the changes that Leon underwent.

  We first became aware of these changes through “announcements” Leon made at the daily meetings; he managed somehow to create the impression that these “news items” were not really a part of the meeting, but were parenthetical remarks which really required no comment from us or response from Clyde or Joseph.

  These news items were not, however, our only sources of information. Leon also carried on a busy correspondence with various figments of his delusional system; this correspondence also pointed toward change.

  On September 10, 1959, Leon invented a foster “light brother” and “light sister,”[1] Prince Charles and Princess Anne of England. As far as we knew, this was the first time that England had ever figured in Leon’s delusions. Its appearance was clearly traceable to Joseph, who was obsessed with England; it was almost as if Leon wanted to “chisel in” on Joseph’s territory and crowd him out, thus gaining undisputed possession of Joseph’s domain. Three days after he had invented them, Leon wrote a long letter to his light brother and sister, in which he gave them a great deal of advice on how to adhere to the “straight and narrow path religion”; essentially it boiled down to advice on avoiding sinful sexual thoughts and behavior. “If you are asked by nosy criticizing individuals why your ‘Old Man’ is at a mental hospital in the United States tell those persons that our dear guardian Uncle Dr. George Bernard Brown has “Ordered” me as an inside Dr., government agent to see how people are treated there. Concerning my coat of arms and public ensignia it is as follows: a white dove sitting far forward on a rectangular shape opened at the bottom pertruding into the picture of a dunghill, and on the dunghill is written, Dunghill of Truth and in the open rectangular shape is written: Domino dominorum et Rex rexarum King of Kings and Lord of Lords … respectfully your loving light brother.” To this, Leon signed his “full name,” and in addition tacked on at the end, “the Old Man.” This proliferation was also added to his calling card. The “Old Man” was, of course, Clyde; both Joseph and Leon had frequently referred to him in the past as the “Old Man.” Thus, one change traceable to Joseph is evident, and another traceable to Clyde. Subsequent changes in Leon’s system are detailed in the chronological account which follows:

  September 15. Leon says: “With me in the Philippines and Prince Charlie in England, we’ll span the world.” He says he remembers something in reference to Dr. Darwin: “One of my uncles says to my other uncle: ‘Do you think there are people who have not yet been discovered? Their bodies are more rugged in appearance than a human person’s body, but that’s above an ape.’ I believe my uncle made a comment that the Yeti are those undiscovered people.”

  A few days earlier the men had read about the Yeti in a magazine article on the Abominable Snowman; the introduction of this material marked a brand-new tack, about which we were to hear much more in the months to come.

  September 16. Leon repeats that the Yeti are the missing link, and goes on to announce that he is looking forward to presenting his wife, the “Queen of Queens,” to Queen Elizabeth. This, too, is a new idea. Leon is not referring to the Virgin Mary, whom he had previously described as his present wife, but to a new wife whom he will marry shortly. He muses over the castle that will be instantaneously created for his wife. The biggest banquets ever seen will be held there. Then, through translocation, Leon and his new wife will vacation in any part of the world, or have that part of the world brought to them. Apparently Leon is anticipating a wedding banquet and a honeymoon.r />
  September 20. Leon informs us that the Yeti are formed by the cross-fertilization of a human and a plant or an insect, for the purpose of creating a bigger, stronger human. They prefer to live from day to day, eating and drinking what they can find; they choose to let the rest of the world go by. The Yeti are extremely strong and dense because of an additional cross-fertilization with teakwood; this explains why they can pick up a “1400 to 1800 pound living yak over your head and throw it like a sack of flour with ease.”

  September 26. In a letter addressed to “Respected Sir; Madam,” Leon manifests the first trace of ambivalence toward his present wife. “Neither I nor my wife Dr. Blessed Virgin Mary of Nazareth the instrumental Lordess of Lordesses and Queen of Queens is the boss, but Truth is the Boss.”

  October 10. In a long letter addressed to “Respected, Righteous idealed light brothers, light sisters,” Leon writes: “I have accepted the Devine Habeas Corpus’s Righteous Ideal Planned marriage of the ‘righteous idealed light sister’s’ marriage to her foster son a ‘righteous idealed light brother.’ With the help of our heavenly Father I will see you at that great banquet in due time.”