The greatly esteemed profession of Conjuror is open among the Eskimo to both men and women. Anyone is eligible to become a student in the rites and lore of the caste, but only those who pass its tests (i.e., only those who attain, not only a really high degree of the power of mental concentration, of intuition and character reading; but some true occult gift), are allowed to practise. The art has its own hierarchy of professors according to their degree of aptitude and initiation. Only those with some particular qualification, natural or acquired, such as the power of throwing themselves into true trance, attain the highest degree of dignity. Aspirants to the position of conjuror who fall short of this, but have yet studied and schooled themselves to some purpose in the art, are not denied its practice altogether, but hold lesser rank and officiate on minor occasions. The would-be conjuror is put through a fairly long and fairly severe course of training, the whole of which, wrapped up in an immense amount of magical circumlocution and sheer imposture, simply tends to enhance his intellectual qualities, such as they may be, at the expense of the grosser appetites of the Eskimo lay individual. The candidates to the caste—youth or young woman—begins by choosing a conjuror—male or female—under whom to study. And immediately the neophyte enters upon his apprenticeship. The length of time this may last rests upon his capacity to learn the rites and acquire the psychological stock-in-trade of a conjuror. It is to the teacher’s advantage to spin out this period of tuition as long as possible, since for the whole term of his training the disciple is the body servant of the master, and performs for him even the most menial offices. The novice is a sort of articled pupil into the bargain. He pays for his initiation. First of all, he has to acknowledge all his breaches of the communal law and custom, and confess to the conjuror whatever of wrongdoing there may have been in his life. The Eskimo believe in this sort of confession, and it is frequently enjoined. He receives forgiveness, and thereupon embarks upon a wholly new course of life.