Two for the Cross

It has been 16 centuries since the Roman Emperor Constantine outlawed crucifixions, but the practice has been preserved in some parts of the world, not as a punishment but as a macabre stunt or commemorative rite. The latest to undergo the ordeal of the cross is a French husband-and-wife team of yoga practitioners in the Dominican Republic, who offered themselves up in the cause of world peace and to demonstrate the "power of mind over matter." French-born Mystic Patricio Tamao, 33, who is the founder of his own philosophy, Tamaoism, was the first on the cross, which was on the patio of a Santo Domingo hotel. Tamao, who planned to stay on the cross at least 48 hours, lasted half that long--19 hours with the cross in a horizontal position, 6 1/2 upright. When doctors advised him that anything further would endanger his life, he yielded his place to his petite wife Maritza, 32. Incredibly, Maritza survived 54 hours on the cross, 15 1/2 of them upright, which might be a world record.

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