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King Neptune and his court

King Neptune and his court BIG On Black

 

King Neptune and his court ready to begin the ceremony.

 

King Neptune, Queen, five Police, Barber, Astronomer, Doctor and Nurse

 

Baptism on the line, also called equatorial baptism, is an initiation ritual sometimes performed as a ship crosses the Equator, involving water baptism of passengers or crew who have never crossed the Equator before. The ceremony is sometimes explained as being an initiation into the court of King Neptune.

The ritual is the subject of a painting by Matthew Benedict named The Mariner's Baptism and of a 1961 book by Henning Henningsen named Crossing the Equator: Sailor's Baptism and Other Initiation Rites.

 

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Uploaded on May 16, 2010
Taken on April 10, 2010