According to various sources, from 2 to 4 thousand peoples and nationalities live on Earth, and each historically has its own culture, national traditions, rites and rituals that have been preserved for many years and centuries. The object of our study will be the most terrible rituals of the world, so in a short review we will present the most terrible traditions and rituals of the peoples of our vast planet.
1
Cannibalism
As European travelers did not try to wean the tribes of the newly discovered lands from eating their own kind, cannibalism still persists in our enlightened age.
But among the followers of the sect of Aghori Baba, who live in the Indian city of Varanasi, eating a dead man was raised in a cult. Thus, members of the religious community get rid of the fear of death, which prevents them from achieving enlightenment.
According to the canons of Hinduism, five categories of people cannot be set on fire. These are saints, children, pregnant women, virgins, as well as people who died from a snake bite or leprosy. They are buried in the Ganges, and the Aghori catch and eat them.
2
Dance of the sun
Many peoples of the earth continue to worship the main luminary, but the Indians, still preserved on the American continent, prove their connection with the Tree of Life every year.
In the middle of the meadow, a pillar symbolizing this very Tree is driven in, and many ropes stretch from it, at the end of which there are sharp skewers. With these skewers, the Indians pierce their skin on the chest, and dance in this state around the pillar.
Such a dance of the Sun sometimes lasts several hours, and the participants fall into a trance, feeling a direct connection with the Creator. As the authorities of the United States and Canada did not forbid these dances, they are now cultivated among North American Indians.
3
Forced feeding
It's no secret that women all over the world sometimes make great efforts on themselves to look perfect. But the men of some regions of Mauritania love overweight women, for which they force-feed them before the wedding.
This tradition originated in the XI century, and is still preserved. The force-feeding rite is called the Leblouh. In Arab-Berber families, it is customary to marry girls aged 5-9 years, and by this age the bride must meet the standards of beauty.
The practice is also practiced in other parts of Africa, and if it is not possible to feed the “bride” at home, the girls are sent to farms where they are force-fed.
4
Wedding of the dead
Chinese civilization is one of the oldest on Earth, and their traditions have been tested for centuries. Among the rituals there are also quite terrible for the modern world.
Even in antiquity, when an unmarried warrior died in battle, a bride was relied on him at the funeral, and emperors were generally buried with all concubines and servants.
The eerie tradition has found a new breath in modern China. When a single young man dies or dies, relatives try to bury him with his bride. To this end, "black diggers" dig up the graves of young women. It does not matter when the girl was buried, the main thing is that at least part of the hair is preserved on the skull, and there are times when young “brides” are stolen directly from the funeral.
5
Self flagellation
Shiite Islamists, in order to honor the memory of the grandson of the prophet Muhammad Hussein, in the holy month of Muharram massively torture their body.
Blades are attached to lashes or chains, and they hit themselves on the back and sides with such a tool. All this happens on the main city square with a large crowd of people, and photos from such rituals are truly shocking.
Being in a religious trance, men practically do not feel pain, and such a ritual, according to the Shiites, cleanses of corruption and is the highest manifestation of love for Allah.
6
Crying wedding
At the very southwestern tip of China, in the Sichuan province, the Tujian people live, for many centuries a custom called "Zuo Tang" has been preserved.
Its essence is that a month before the wedding, the bride cries every night. 20 days before the wedding, the mother joins the daughter, and 10 days before the wedding, the grandmother begins to cry with them. That's how they roar before the wedding in three streams.
In Russia, too, the bride was mourned, because, according to relatives, she was dying, and was already reborn in a new family, taking the name of her husband.
7
Female circumcision
In more than 30 countries of Asia and Africa, a terrible custom of female circumcision has been preserved, when a girl, go girl, voluntarily mutilates her genitals.
Without any medical indications, but only from religious fanaticism, women remove their clitoris, or lose their large or small labia.
In many states, this creepy custom is forbidden, but many peoples continue to follow a crippling tradition, believing that in this way girls become cleaner. But from a physiological point of view, this is not useful, but infection is very easy to get.
8
First night right
In many religious rites, sex is an integral part, but the sexual traditions of some ethnic groups can simply shock.
For example, the Zakai tribe that lived on the island of Sumatra, there was a very unusual rite of deprivation of virginity of the bride. This was to be done by the girl’s father, and other male relatives helped him in this matter.
Sometimes at the bed of the newlywed, up to 20 men from 12 to 70 years old gathered. Only after this procedure was the groom allowed to the body of the lover.
9
Jumping from the vine
The village of Bunlap, located on one of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, is known to the world for its inhabitants performing an unusual and dangerous ritual called Gkol.
During the religious festival, tall wooden towers are built, from which daredevils, bounding their legs with a vine, make jumps. Locals believe that the higher the jump, the more favorable the gods will be.
For a European, these are the most terrible customs, and for a people cultivating them for a long time, this is a common thing, although bungee jumping, which, in fact, emerged from Gkola, is now popular all over the world.
10
Dancing with the dead
A festival has traditionally been held on the island of Madagascar, since ancient times called "Famadihana", which literally translates as "turning the bone."
According to some tribes inhabiting the island, the faster the corpse of a deceased decomposes, the faster its spirit is freed. Therefore, twice a year, they dig up the dead and dance with them at the ritual bonfires spread near the graves.
After this strange ritual, the body of the deceased returns to its place, and fellow tribesmen with a sense of accomplishment before the dead and the gods go home.
11
Crocodile Wedding
For more than 200 years, the whole world has been surprised by the Mexican ritual, in which the mayor of a fishing town is obliged to marry a female crocodile.
Such a ritual was carried out for the first time in the XVIII century, and since then every new measure of San Pedro Juamelula in the temple is crowned with a crocodile. Residents believe that such a ritual accompanies good luck in the sea and promises large catches.
The ritual is performed by a real priest in the temple. The bride is dressed in a wedding outfit, but only her mouth is tied, and how she gives her consent to marriage remains a mystery.
By the way, on our website TheBiggest.ru you can find out about the largest crocodiles in the world.
12
Phuket Festival
In early autumn, vegetarians come to the Thai city of Phuket to participate in an unusual vegetarian festival. The festival keeps a record of its history back in 1825.
The action attracts thousands of tourists, and all would be fine if it were not for the terrible ritual that some of its participants perform. Eating noodles with vegetables is also accompanied by a ritual of pricking. Daredevils pierce their cheeks and insert various objects into them.
Therefore, during the festival you can meet a person on the streets who has a flag inserted in his cheek, or a bouquet of roses, and as you know, they also have thorns.
13
Veneration of the dead
On the shores of the majestic Amazonian tribe lives the Yanomans, which ethnographers consider the most primitive among all the ethnic groups of the planet.
Indeed, the culture and life of the representatives of the tribe are surprising, but the worldview and attitude of the dead are simply shocking. Yanomami is considered death to be not a natural phenomenon, therefore, when a tribeman dies, he is cremated, and the ashes are mixed with fruits and eaten during the funeral feast.
Thus, according to the Yanomami, another relative who has gone into the world continues to live, but already in the body of his relatives.
14
Scarification
For the Caningara tribe, which lives in the vast Papua New Guinea, the totem animal is a crocodile. Therefore, during the rite of initiation, an unusual and painful ritual is performed.
Future men of the tribe spend two months alone in the “House of Spirits”. During these months, cuts with sharp bamboo sticks are made on the body of young men. As a result of this, the body of the initiates resembles the skin of a crocodile more.
Canigars believe that a crocodile is the ancestor of man on Earth, for which the ritual of allegedly eating a boy by this predator is carried out, and his rebirth in the body of a mature man.
15
Sky burial
Everyone knows that one of the tenets of Buddhism is belief in rebirth, and the people of Tibet perform a special Jhator ritual in this regard.
Since a person after his death gains a new birth, it makes no sense to leave his body on Earth. Heavenly burial begins with the fact that the deceased is carried high in the mountains, and bones are broken with special weapons.
The remains are eaten by vultures, and thus, the Tibetans help the deceased tribe to go to another level.
16
Walks on fire
The fire has been revered by mankind since ancient times, although it is driven into the oven and gas burners. Purification by fire is one of the most ancient rituals, which has passed from pagan beliefs to all world religions.
During the festival, held in Malaysian Penang, to cleanse the soul and thoughts of evil thoughts, and the body of evil spirits, participants walk on hot coals.
With each new festival, to pass the rite of purification so unusual in Penang is becoming more and more.
17
Ants check
The African continent is perhaps the leader from all parts of the world where the most terrible rites are held. Some tribes in Africa use poisonous ants in the initiation rite.
The vessel is filled with poisonous insects, and the initiate should lower his hand into it and hold it there for 10 minutes. Terrible pain is not the worst thing, because the poison of ants leads to numbness and paralysis of the arm.
After such a rite, a fellow tribe who has already become a man departs for several months, and those with weak immunity even die during a dangerous ritual.
And about the largest ants in the world, read our article here.
18
Dropping babies
If in Ancient Sparta sick and weak children were thrown from a cliff, then residents of the southeast of the Indian state of Karnataka, on the contrary, are dropping infants so that they grow up strong and healthy.
The ritual takes place at a high temple, whose balcony is located at a height of 9 m from the surface of the earth. The priest rises with the baby to the balcony, and the parents stretch the bedspread below.
The priest throws the child down, before which he is very scared. Cruel, but religious prejudice is stronger than the fear that the baby will break.
19
In the ice embrace
Some Eskimo tribes living in the vast expanses of the Far North, there is a special ritual in relation to the elderly and the incompetent.
Relatives of a person who, due to old age, or for some other reason, has lost his legal capacity, leave him to die on an ice floe. Naturally, hunger and cold kill a person.
Of course, this is cruel for us, but the Eskimos believe that, on the contrary, in this way they help a person to quickly find bodily and spiritual peace in the land of spirits.
20
"Finishing up" a child
It would seem that enlightened Europe long ago got rid of medieval prejudices, but even survivals of strange rituals were preserved in it.
In some villages of Iceland, where people still believe in spirits, the tradition of “baking” children has been preserved. If after birth, the baby is often sick, slowly develops, parents believe that he simply has not yet cared for in the womb.
They wrap such children in a dough, naturally, leaving a hole for breathing, and put it into an extinct oven for the night. When the bread is ready, it means that the child is cared for.
According to some sources, the ancient Slavs also used this ritual.
Finally
Many of the rituals and ceremonies presented have sunk into oblivion, and many in a transformed form have survived to this day. For example, we don’t think, but getting a passport, a kind of echo of the ancient rite of initiation, when a young man or girl, become a full member of society. But once, in order to make children full members of society, the Slavs took children to the forest, which was reflected in Russian fairy tales.
Article author: Valery Skiba