According to a script seized by the police, the wording of the oath appears to be the following: "[swear on my honor to be faithful to the Fratellanza just as the Fratellanza is faithful to me, and as this saint and these drops of my blood burn, so will I shed all my blood for the Fratellanza, and as this ash and this blood cannot return to their [original] state, so I cannot leave the Fratellanza." (Lestingi 1884: 455) This is the first account to contain the actual words of the oath. It differs from the previous version in a few details: the index finger is pierced rather than the thumb; the finger is tied with a thread in addition to being pierced; the ashes are scattered to the wind.

XREF: Connects to the history of the Sicilian Mafia's initiation rituals and how such secret societies formalize membership through binding oaths.

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 703