The most terrible traditions of the peoples of the world. What terrible things you have to do for the sake of love - terrible wedding traditions. Men's trophy. Republic of Djibouti

The cultures of different nations have traditions and customs that have been practiced by these peoples for thousands of years, but at the same time seem completely wild to representatives of other nations and religions. And what’s most interesting is that these customs, which seem to have no place in the 21st century, are still alive today.

1. Thaipusam Piercing Festival

A strange tradition: the Thaipusam piercing festival.

India, Malaysia, Singapore
During the religious festival of Thaipusam, Hindus demonstrate their devotion to Lord Murugan by piercing various parts of their bodies. This is mainly seen in countries where there is a significant Tamil diaspora, such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Thailand and Myanmar.

Participant of the Thaipusam festival.

In Tamil Nadu, Tamil believers celebrate the birth of the god Murugan and his killing of the demon Surapadman. They do this by painfully piercing various parts of the body, including the tongue. Over time, these rituals became more dramatic, colorful and bloody.

2. La Tomatina

A strange tradition: La Tomatina.

Spain
La Tomatina, an annual tomato throwing festival, takes place in the Spanish city of Buñol. Held on the last Wednesday of August, the festival involves throwing tomatoes at each other purely for fun. There are many theories regarding the origin of Tomatina.

This fun La Tomatina.

In 1945, during the parade of giants and cabezudos, young people who wanted to participate in this event organized a fight in the main square of the city - Plaza del Pueblo. There was a vegetable table nearby, so they grabbed tomatoes from it and started throwing them at the police. This is the most popular of many theories about how the Tomatina festival came to be.

3. Stinging gloves

Strange tradition: stinging gloves.

Brazil
The most painful initiation ritual exists among the Satere-Mawe tribe, who live in the Amazon jungle. It is impossible to become a man here if you do not take part in this ritual. When a young boy reaches puberty, he, along with the shaman and other boys his age, collect bullet ants from the jungle. The bite of this insect is considered the most painful in the world and is often compared in sensations to a bullet hitting the body.

The collected ants are fumigated with the smoke of special herbs, which makes them fall asleep, and are placed in a woven mesh glove. When the ants wake up, they become very aggressive. Boys should put on gloves and keep them on for about ten minutes, while dancing to take their mind off the pain. In the Satere-Mawe tribe, a boy needs to endure this 20 times to prove that he is already a man.

4. Yanomami funeral ritual

Strange tradition: Yanomami funeral ritual.

Venezuela, Brazil
Funeral rituals performed for dead relatives are very important in the Yanomami tribe (Venezuela and Brazil), as the people of this tribe want to ensure eternal peace and rest for the soul of the dead person.

Over the past 11 thousand years, the Yanomami have had almost no contact with the outside world.

When a member of the Yanomami tribe dies, his body is burned. The ashes and bones are added to plantain soup, and then the relatives of the deceased drink this soup. They believe that if they swallow the remains of a loved one, their spirit will always live inside them.

5. Teeth filing

A strange tradition: filing teeth.

India/Bali
One of the largest Hindu religious ceremonies is of great significance in Balinese culture and symbolizes the transition from adolescence to adulthood. This ritual is for both men and women and must be completed before marriage (and is sometimes included in the marriage ceremony).

This ceremony is performed by filing the teeth so that they run in a straight line. In the Balinese Hindu belief system, this festival helps people to free themselves from all unseen evil forces. They believe that teeth are a symbol of lust, greed, anger and jealousy, and the custom of filing teeth strengthens a person physically and spiritually.

6. Bathroom ban in Tidun

A strange tradition: a ban on the bathroom in Tidun.

Indonesia
Weddings in the Indonesian community of Tidun boast some truly unique traditions. According to one of the local customs, the groom is not allowed to see the bride's face until he sings a few love songs for her. The curtain separating the couple rises only after the songs have been sung to the end.

But the strangest of customs involves the bride and groom not being allowed to use the bathroom for three days and nights after the wedding. The Tidun people believe that if this custom is not followed, it is fraught with dire consequences for the marriage: divorce, infidelity or the death of children at an early age.

7. Famadikhana

A strange tradition: famadikhana - dancing with the dead.

Madagascar
Famadihana is a traditional festival celebrated in both urban and rural areas of Madagascar, but is most popular among tribal communities. This is a funeral tradition known as "turning the bones." People carry the bodies of their ancestors out of family crypts, wrap them in new clothes, and then dance with the corpses around the tomb.

In Madagascar, this has become a common ritual, usually performed once every seven years. The main motive of the festival arose from the belief of the locals that the dead return to God and are reborn.

8. Cutting off fingers in the Dani tribe

Strange tradition: cutting off fingers in the Dani tribe.

New Guinea
The Dani (or Ndani) tribe are indigenous peoples inhabiting the fertile lands of the Baliem Valley in West Papua New Guinea. Members of this tribe cut off fingers to show their grief at funeral ceremonies. Along with amputation, they also smear ashes and clay on their faces as a sign of sadness.

Dani cut off the fingers of their hand to express their feelings for someone they love very much. When a person from the tribe dies, his relative (usually his wife or husband) cuts off his finger and buries it along with the dead body of his husband or wife, as a symbol of love for him.

9. Baby abandonment

Strange tradition: throwing babies.

India
The bizarre ritual of throwing newborn babies from a 15 meter high temple and trapping them in a cloth has been practiced in India for the last 500 years. This is done by couples who have received the blessing of a child after taking a vow at the Sri Santswara Temple in the vicinity of Indy (Karnataka).

The ritual is observed by both Muslims and Hindus every year and takes place amid tight security measures. The ritual is performed in the first week of December and is believed to bring health, prosperity and good luck to the newborn. Every year, about 200 children are “dropped” from the temple while the crowd sings and dances. Most children are under two years old.

10. Mourning of Muharram

A strange tradition: the mourning of Muharram.

Iran, India, Iraq
Muharram mourning is an important period of mourning in Shia Islam, which occurs on Muharram (the first month of the Islamic calendar). It is also called the Memory of Muharram. This event is held to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad, who was killed by the forces of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I.

The event reaches its climax on the tenth day, known as Ashura. Some groups of Shia Muslims flog their bodies with special chains with razors and knives attached to them. This tradition is practiced by all age groups (in some regions even children are forced to take part). This custom is observed among residents of Iran, Bahrain, India, Lebanon, Iraq and Pakistan.

The most unimaginable sexual customs from different parts of the Earth,that you probably haven't heard of before.

They don’t really fit in with the progressive 21st century; many even seem like the invention of a writer with a wild imagination. But, whatever one may say, these things actually exist and are widely practiced. Offers you to get acquainted with the most unimaginable sexual customs from different parts of the Earth, which you probably have not heard of before.

"Love Shack" for teenagers

In most countries, fathers try to protect their young daughters from communication with the opposite sex for as long as possible. In the Cambodian Kreung tribe, things are different. Here, men not only approve of their daughters’ early romantic relationships, but even build special “love huts” for them, where girls can bring their boyfriends to get to know them better and better.

A girl is free to bring an unlimited number of suitors to such a hut. Dating, according to the customs of the tribe, can last until the owner of the hut finds the very guy of her dreams with whom she will connect her life. This practice is probably related to the law, which strictly prohibits divorce for married couples.

Sharing like brothers

Some tribes in Nepal practice what is called "fraternal polyandry". That is, several men share one woman among themselves. As a rule, this phenomenon is characteristic of men related by family ties, primarily brothers. It is believed that this tradition appeared due to the lack of land suitable for agriculture. Instead of each brother marrying and living as a separate family, the men find one woman and live together under one roof, using one piece of land.

Night of betrayal

In Indonesia, a holiday called "Pon" is held 7 times a year. As part of this celebration, spouses are allowed to cheat on each other - to choose a partner for sexual pleasures. Participants of the holiday believe that in this way they can attract good luck. Well, according to local beliefs, the happiest person will be the one who manages to have sexual intercourse with the same stranger 7 times in a year.

Sex with clothes on

On the small island of Inis Beag near Ireland there lives a community in which sex is considered a shameful hobby. Members of this community are allowed to engage in lovemaking only in their underwear, without being naked.

Exhibitionism as a way of flirting

The native women of the island of Bougainville (part of the state of Papua New Guinea) practice a ritual of attracting partners through public display of their intimate parts. According to custom, if a woman makes such a gesture, it means she is inviting a man to have sexual relations with her.

Sex lessons

The inhabitants of the small island of Mangaia in the Pacific Ocean have a tradition of teaching the younger generation of men sexual wisdom. As soon as a boy turns 13, he can choose a partner - a mature woman. The lady must teach the teenager all the intimate secrets accumulated over her life. The main task of the teacher is to explain to the student how to make sexual intercourse last as long as possible, so that his future wife always remains satisfied.

Cocktail of masculinity

Teenagers from the Sambia community (again, Papua New Guinea) are subjected to an even stranger test. Here it is customary for boys to be isolated from women for three whole years so that they are not exposed to temptations. But that's not the worst thing. During the period of seclusion, teenagers are forced to drink a special cocktail, which, according to local beliefs, will help turn them into real men. The drink is based on the sperm of the tribe's elders.

Love for our little brothers

In most countries, zoosexual relations are illegal. But there are also exceptions. For example, in Lebanon, men are officially allowed to have sex with a pet. However, with one caveat - the pet must be female. A man faces the death penalty for having sex with a male. Until 2015, such relationships were allowed in Denmark. “Love” with animals was banned in this state in April and a penalty for violation was introduced - a year in prison.

Sex in front of witnesses

In the city of Cali, located in southwestern Colombia, there is an interesting custom regarding the first wedding night. According to him, a girl who enters into intimate relations with her husband for the first time must do so in the presence of her mother, who acts as a witness.

Exhibition night

Something similar is practiced in the Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia). There is a widespread custom among local residents according to which spouses, when entering into an intimate relationship, do not forbid their offspring to observe the process so that they remember for the future what is what.

How many interesting and unknown things are hidden in the traditions of the peoples of our planet. And, the mysterious and forbidden topic of sex could not remain aside and, naturally, was reflected in various rituals and customs, sometimes very unusual. So, let's go on a journey.

Australia

Australian aborigines are warriors; instead of the usual handshake, they demonstrate friendliness with a slightly different gesture, namely, by touching the penis of their interlocutor.

Northern Kamchatka

To this day, in the remote villages of Northern Kamchatka, the centuries-old tradition of a guest copulating with the wife of the owner of the house is preserved. Moreover, for the sake of the guest’s consent, the woman is ready to do anything, as this is considered a great honor. And, if after the act a woman becomes pregnant, then there will be good luck and happiness for this house and the entire village.

Tibet

In order to get married, a Tibetan girl must have at least a dozen sexual partners.

Polynesia

Here, the number of sexual relationships of the bride is not particularly important, however, she must have at least two children.

Germany

Germany, like many other European countries, is famous for the promiscuity of sexual relations between people. The following German custom is especially interesting: when the Cologne festival takes place, passers-by quite seriously propose to each other to have sex and engage in it, sometimes without even getting to know each other.

Oceania

Local customs force the bride to marry a virgin, and before the girl is allowed to meet her groom, she will have to undergo a ritual of deflowering with a stone knife. The ceremony is carried out by the groom's friends, who can have sex with their friend's future wife for another three days. Then, the “happy” newlywed moves on to other men of the tribe and, only after them, to her legal spouse.

South Africa

Men of local tribes, afraid to bear offspring in the form of twins, which here are a prototype of sin and the most terrible curses, cut out one testicle for themselves. In other matters, as is known, the servants of the harems of the East - eunuchs - subject themselves to a more terrible execution - absolute castration.

Other African tribes force members of the stronger sex to undergo some kind of test before marriage. Namely, to have sex with the mother of the bride, as many times as necessary, in order to prove his worth. True, before this they undergo a mandatory examination (in the literal sense of the word: teeth, body, and so on) in front of their future father-in-law.

Central Africa: Shilluk tribe

The leader of the tribe has the right to marry the most beautiful girls, even if there are more than a hundred of them. But, God forbid, his wives start a conversation about the fact that their husband, the leader, does not satisfy them. In this case, the poor fellow is threatened not only with overthrow from an honorable post, but also with death in terrible agony, for, as the Shilluk belief says, an impotent person cannot betray the power of fertility to the earth and barnyard.

Brazil: Jerusalem artichoke Indians

Local tribes believe that women only like the huge size of their genitals, and therefore these very organs are subjected to the bites of the most poisonous snakes (for swelling and enlargement)

Micronesia: Panape Tribe

Stinging ants are used to arouse women.

Japan and Korea

Since ancient times and to this day, to intensify passion, Japanese and Korean women use their “crown” technique - pricking the groin with a golden needle.
Undoubtedly, some customs of peoples far from us seem terrifying to us, but who knows, maybe our habits would shock them."

From temple prostitution in Mesopotamia to the ancient Japanese sexual tradition with the poetic name "Yobai"

In ancient times, in some settlements of Kamchatka, a night spent by a guest with the owner’s wife was considered a special honor for the house. The lady, by the way, tried to seduce the guest in every possible way. And if she also managed to get pregnant, then the whole village celebrated it. Which was, of course, reasonable - fresh genes. Such traditions are not uncommon: the Eskimos and Chukchi, for example, also used the beauty of their wives for the benefit of the clan. They gave them to “use” the men who went fishing. Well, in Tibet it was generally believed that if a guest liked someone else’s wife, then it was the will of higher powers and there was no way to resist them.

About quirks

For example, in Tibet, a girl was considered an enviable bride only when she changed a dozen or two partners. Virgins, as you can see, were not held in high esteem in the Dalai Lama’s country. But the Brazilians from the Jerusalem artichoke tribe made impressive sacrifices to please their ladies. The fact is that girls found only huge genitals worthy of their attention. To do this, men exposed their penises to poisonous snakes, after the bites of which their manhood met the expectations of discerning Jerusalem artichoke women.

But the Indians, experienced in love, had much more options for extreme entertainment of this kind. For example, their treatises on the art of love taught the use of "apadravia" - male piercings made of gold, silver, iron, wood or buffalo horns! And the great-grandfather of the modern condom “yalaka” - an empty tube inside with pimples on the outside - was also invented in India. In Japan and Korea, there was an interesting practice of enhancing male orgasm. To make it more vivid and memorable, an injection into the groin with a golden needle is enough, oriental traditions say. The inhabitants of the Trobriand Islands were very inventive in bed pleasures. Just look at the habit of nibbling your partner’s eyelashes; this is considered their traditional affection. I would like to see the teeth of these entertainers, because in order to gnaw an eyelash, the teeth must be at least sharp.
The sex-seekers of the Batta tribe of Sumatra had a tradition of inserting pebbles or pieces of metal under the foreskin. They believed that this way they could give their partner much more pleasure. The Argentine Indians also had a similar idea in their arsenal. They attached horsehair tassels to the phallus. It’s scary to think about the hygiene of meetings with such fellows.
Tanzanian women increased their attractiveness in an interesting way. They did not decorate themselves or dress up. They stole from the man they desired... a hoe and sandals! In those parts, the things listed are of particular value, so the man, willy-nilly, had to go and rescue the property, and then, who knows?
What about our compatriots? In ancient times, in some settlements of Kamchatka, a night spent by a guest with the owner’s wife was considered a special honor for the house. The lady, by the way, tried to seduce the guest in every possible way. And if she also managed to get pregnant, then the whole village celebrated it. Which was, of course, reasonable - fresh genes. Such traditions are not uncommon: the Eskimos and Chukchi, for example, also used the beauty of their wives for the benefit of the clan. They gave them to “use” the men who went fishing. Well, in Tibet it was generally believed that if a guest liked someone else’s wife, then it was the will of higher powers and there was no way to resist them.

Japan - crawl up and “yobay”

An ancient sexual tradition with the poetic name “yobai” existed in the Japanese outback until the end of the 19th century. The essence of the custom “sneaking in the night” (approximate translation) was as follows: any young man, under the cover of darkness, had the right to enter the house of an unmarried young lady, crawl under her blanket and, if the chosen one did not mind, engage directly in the delightful “yobai” . In Russian, however, it does not sound like the name of a tradition, but more like a call to action.
If a Japanese girl turned out to be intractable, then the upset young man had to go home. Like any tradition, the Yobai custom was regulated by strict rules. A potential lover had to go on a romantic date completely naked, since a night visit from a clothed man was considered robbery and could end in disaster for him. However, the guy had the right to cover his face and appear before the girl as a beautiful stranger. These are Japanese role-playing games.

Tibet - a one-way trip

Once upon a time in Tibet, visiting men were greeted with genuine cordiality. The travel notes of the famous traveler Marco Polo talk about a local sexual tradition that ordered all young girls to copulate with at least twenty different men before marriage. Either there were few men in Tibet, or, according to custom, fresh girls were intended exclusively for foreigners, but travelers were worth their weight in gold here. And those poor fellows who could not stand up for themselves were literally “torn like Tuzik’s slippers” by sex swindlers. Therefore, the trip to Tibet for some of our brothers was the last.

South America - Indian Babformation

The sexual traditions of the Kagaba tribe can forever discourage a man from conscientiously fulfilling his marital duty and having offspring. Representatives of the stronger half of the tribe are terribly afraid of women. It's all about the strange ritual of initiation of young men into men: a young Indian Kagaba must have his first sexual experience with the oldest lady of the family. For this reason, in marital relationships, a man is lacking initiative, and if his wife hints at intimacy, he prefers to cowardly hide in the jungle in a bunker pre-equipped for such purposes (like he went hunting).
It happens that several fugitives are hiding in a bachelor's den at the same time. Then the female half of the tribe equips a search expedition. Role-playing games of slave and mistress always end predictably. Unsatisfied wives comb the jungle until they discover the cache and return their faithful to the bosom of the family.

Africa - food preferences
Who is interested in military parades? Perhaps only to the military, but the common people demand bread and circuses. The King of Swaziland knows exactly how to make a holiday of the soul for his subjects, and therefore every year he organizes a grand procession of virgins. Thousands of seductive scantily clad beauties cheerfully march in front of the monarch. In Swaziland, it has become a good sexual tradition when the king chooses a new wife from the participants in the parade, and each failed wife is rewarded with a large bowl of food. And believe me, by local standards this is a royal gift!

The sexual traditions of the peoples of the world are different, as are the standards of beauty. How can a woman from the Zambezi River valley be considered attractive if her mouth is full of teeth like a crocodile? To become beautiful, a Batoka girl had to get married. On their wedding night, the satisfied husband turned an “ugly” girl into a beautiful woman by knocking out her front teeth. This custom, accompanied by simple plastic surgery, makes the Batok woman happy and the radiant smile never leaves her face. In the Baganda tribe (East Africa), there is a belief that sex directly on agricultural land significantly increases its fertility. By the way, such a sexual tradition was inherent in many nations. However, the natives did not organize vulgar orgies in the plantain beds (the main food crop of the Bagandans). To carry out the ritual, a married couple was chosen - the parents of twins. The event was held in the field of the tribal leader and consisted of the following: the woman lay on her back, a plantain flower was placed in her vagina, and the husband had to get it out without using his hands, using only his penis. According to custom, the family of agronomists had to demonstrate the miracles of balancing act only in the leader’s field. There was no need to play role-playing games in the gardens of their fellow tribesmen; it was enough to dance a little.

Mesopotamia - temple prostitution

Every resident of ancient Babylon had to make a sacrifice to the goddess of love Ishtar. To perform the ritual, the lady went to the sanctuary of the goddess, sat in a visible place and waited for a stranger to choose her. The client gave the chosen one a coin, after which they went to some secluded corner, where they made a generous sacrifice.
Once was enough. However, some particularly zealous Babylonians constantly practiced such role-playing games, offering strangers an interesting vacation for money, which then went to the needs of the temple. It was impossible to leave his territory before the end of the ritual, so the pretty girl “shot back” quickly, and the unsightly young lady had to wait for her prince for a long time, sometimes even years! Housing and food were provided. Similar sexual traditions existed in Cyprus, and Greek girls made sacrifices to the goddess Aphrodite.

Russia is a country of Soviets

Family life in Rus' is not easy! The getting married couple had to feel this statement already at the wedding. All night before the holiday, the bride, according to ancient Slavic custom, unbraided her braids and sang sad songs with her bridesmaids. In the morning, a bunch of tedious wedding rituals awaited her, which continued until late in the evening and on an empty stomach. Even during the festive feast, the bride was not allowed to eat. It was not easy for the groom either - throughout the celebration he was obliged to cheerfully jump around his numerous relatives.
And finally the feast ended. The exhausted young people found themselves alone in the bedchamber and were about to have unbridled sex and go to bed. Let's daydream! The sexual tradition assumed the active participation of relatives in the first wedding night of the newlyweds - the guests shouted obscene ditties under the bedroom windows until the morning, and one of them (specially chosen for this purpose) periodically knocked on the door and asked: “Has the ice broken?” In such a situation, the groom soon began to realize that the mission was impossible, and his efforts were in vain, despite the body of his betrothed, immobilized from fatigue. Therefore, the young spouse was given the opportunity to rehabilitate himself over the next few nights. If things still didn’t work out, then experienced advisers were involved: the groom’s brother or father. It is known that in some villages in Ukraine, an authorized prompter sat comfortably under the bed, from where he helped the newlyweds with good advice on how to do everything right, and at the same time, with his presence, created the atmosphere of an unusual holiday.

Micronesia - love with a twinkle

If you are sure that role-playing games with elements of sadomasochism were invented by the well-known marquis, I hasten to disappoint you - this is a common misconception. The natives of Truck Island were into self-mutilation during sex even before Marquise de Sade's mother faked an orgasm in a simple missionary position. The custom was as follows: while the partner diligently puffed, making back-and-forth movements, the ardent lover set fire to small breadfruit balls on his body. It is quite difficult to imagine how she did this during sex... One can assume that the man copulated not with the whole lady, but with a distant part of her (for example, the heel). These natives are such pranksters!

Could you, dear reader, taste meat soup from a large saucepan in which a dead man was boiled? And daily give your body to be torn to pieces by monsters, ghouls and ghouls? Which of you would like to meet death in the icy embrace of the harsh Arctic desert, on an ice floe on which your own relatives landed you?

We present to your attention the most creepy traditions and rituals of the world. Some of these dark rituals have become a thing of the past and become part of history, while others are still practiced today. We warn you - this information is not for the faint of heart! (18+).

The sinister mystery "Tshed"

Let me briefly take you, dear reader, to the harsh Land of Snows, ascetic anchorites and powerful magicians. Welcome to Tibet! Local mystics still practice one very unusual ritual called “Tshed”. To carry it out, the ascetic must go to some deserted place. A gloomy gorge, a thicket or an abandoned old cemetery would be ideal.

Creepy evil spirits respond to the call and devour the body of the student, which he voluntarily offers them as a sacrifice. Of course, demons exist only in the head of the unfortunate, they are not visible to outsiders. But this doesn’t make it any easier for him.

Are you familiar with the concept of psychosomatic or phantom pain? So, a person who performs the Tshed ritual actually experiences a real painful shock. He physically feels how his flesh is torn, ligaments and tendons are torn off. Ultimately, he “dies” in order to “resurrect” in the morning and continue his strange practice.

The famous French traveler David-Nil (author of the book “Mystics and Magicians of Tibet”) had a chance to see the terrible rituals of “Tshed”. According to her, after performing several dozen Tshed rituals, Tibetans sharply lost weight and looked more like living skeletons than people.

Aztec blood sacrifices

The Aztecs believed that a new day would not come unless fresh blood was offered to the Sun God. Moreover, ritual blood must certainly be human. Therefore, most of the captives whom this warlike tribe captured in battle were erected in honor of the cruel god.

According to the manuscripts that have come down to us, the victim was first doused with a certain drink, the recipe of which, of course, was kept strictly secret by the priests. After this, the captives could not resist; they were hardly aware of the reality around them. However, it is unknown whether the mysterious drink had an analgesic effect...

The terrible ritual, which was supposed to appease, began exactly at noon, when the sun was at its zenith. The priest opened the chest of a living captive and threw the still trembling heart onto the altar of his god. After this, it was necessary to light a ritual fire, from which every hearth in the city where the ceremony was held was lit.

Dead meat for a snack

A very sophisticated form of cannibalism is practiced in some regions of India even today. In particular, the adherents of this “glorious” tradition are representatives of the Aghori religious sect. They eat the bodies of dead fellow tribesmen to ensure their own death. Moreover, even small children take part in this ritual!

In Tibet, the dead are supposed to be cremated, because digging graves in frozen ground are very difficult. However, in the mountains of the Land of Snows there are very few trees, so only wealthy people can afford this luxury. The “simpler” Tibetans are given over to be torn to pieces by wild animals and vultures. Specially trained people crush the bones and muscles of the deceased with stones, and then leave the body not to be eaten.

Before cremation, the rich dead are washed in large cauldrons, in which meat and other treats are then prepared for those who come to the funeral. It must be said that there is no shortage of people who want to try the food. Meat is a real delicacy for many Tibetans.

In the arms of “icy” death

Not all of the most terrible rituals have completely become obsolete. Some Eskimo tribes have preserved a rather creepy ritual that demonstrates their attitude towards old age and death. When a person becomes incapacitated, his relatives leave him on a floating ice floe. Cold or hunger will inevitably finish off its victim, who is forced to face death completely alone.

However, one should not prematurely accuse the Eskimos of disrespecting the elderly. It turns out that their custom is dictated not only by mercantile motives and the desire to get rid of a burden. The Eskimos believe that in this way they help the elderly with honor.

Initiation by poisonous ants

Let us mentally transport ourselves from the cold North to the hot South Africa. Many tribes inhabiting this continent have preserved rather strange customs of initiating a boy into a man. Let's talk about one of them.

To prove his right to be a warrior, to take part in the hunt and in the tribal council, the young man had to put his hand in a vessel filled with the most poisonous ants for 10 minutes! Biting insects cause hellish pain to the test subject, but this is far from the most serious problem.

Under the influence of large doses of poison, the skin on the hand may turn black and partially become dead. Sometimes temporary paralysis occurs, and the nerve endings take many months to recover. Some subjects died because their immune systems were unable to cope with the effects of the poison.

Everyone is accustomed to considering a wedding the brightest and kindest holiday, but there are also peoples for whom this is a difficult test or, at least, not the happiest event in life. It's all to blame - creepy wedding traditions.

Each culture has its own traditions that need to be respected, but some of them still cause surprise or even a slight shudder.

There are such terrible wedding rituals that after them, even vulgar tasks or a toastmaster offering inappropriate competitions seem not so terrible.

The essence of customs

Every nation has its own holidays, but weddings are invariably present in any culture. Since this is one of the fundamental moments of life, it is intertwined with many traditions. Often, even within the same country, such customs differ depending on the area, if initially people lived in solitude in it.

Previously, a person knew exactly what he should or should not do and say during a wedding. Each wedding followed the same scenario, and the bride and groom unconditionally followed the instructions of folk wisdom. Gradually, adherence to traditions came to naught, and then they began to be forgotten and modified.

Young people adhere to certain traditions because this is how they pay a kind of tribute to their ancestors. In other cases, such customs are needed to emphasize the special atmosphere at a stylized wedding.

The most terrible examples of rites and rituals

There are romantic and tender wedding customs, which for the most part. Nowadays, most couples strive to organize their wedding in the Western style, since such a celebration looks reverent and elegant. In contrast to such traditions, some peoples or individual tribes offer their own vision of an ideal wedding. It is radically different from the European one, and not for the better.

Just a wide bone

Some African countries, in particular Mauritania, Mali, Cameroon and Nigeria, have their own beauty standards. Local tribes believe that the fatter a woman is, the more beautiful she is, and the more children she can bear. It is extremely difficult for a thin girl to get married, since her ideal figure by European standards causes mistrust and even disgust among the natives.

From the age of 9-12, girls begin to be intensively fattened. They are sent to a special community, where they must eat at least 2 kg of porridge daily and drink at least 20 liters of camel milk, which is an inexhaustible source of protein and fatty acids. When a girl reaches such a size that she can already be considered beautiful, and she is called to marry, then in the last month before the wedding they begin to feed her even more furiously. Combined with a sedentary lifestyle, this tradition makes you forget about good health.

Stone face

For most people, a wedding is a long-awaited event, and on this day many simply cannot hide their emotions and literally glow with happiness. The rules are different in the Congo. Local residents believe that the bride and groom should not smile during the wedding, otherwise their marriage will be unhappy and short-lived. Even a slight trembling of the corner of the lips can be regarded as a violation of this tradition. Guests also try not to smile, so as not to encourage the newlyweds to do so. And so the wedding goes on – quietly, mournfully, tensely.

Bream to this gentleman

In Korea, there is a tradition that is not exactly creepy, but certainly strange. After the official wedding ceremony, the groom's friends catch him, take off his shoes and socks, tie his feet with rope and begin to diligently whip them with fish to prepare him for the hardships of married life. It is not entirely clear how the harmless fish is connected to married life, but the tradition is still observed by some people today.

Face to the floor

In Mauritius, after the end of the holiday, the bride's relatives, in their formal attire, lie face down on the floor, after which the newlyweds walk along their backs without taking off their shoes. It is difficult to say what people with a bad spine should do in this case, and how people generally feel in the place of the carpet, but in Mauritius such a ritual is considered a sign of family unity and complete trust.

Inhuman love

Some states in India have truly creepy wedding traditions that are hard to get around. For example, if a girl is born with a baby tooth in her upper gum, then her first husband will die soon. In some states, men can marry any number of times except three - one, two and four are allowed. There are also customs according to which the youngest son in a family cannot marry before the eldest.

From all these situations, enterprising Indians found one way out - a wedding with a tree. The girl or boy “signs” the chosen tree, and after the ceremony it is ritually destroyed. It turns out that the first husband of a girl born with a baby tooth has already died, the man can marry for the fourth time, bypassing the third, and the youngest son in the family has no problem getting married, since his brother was already in a relationship, albeit with a tree.

Wedding planner

Now the presence of certain customs at weddings is more of a formality than strict observance of a long-standing ritual.

Elena Sokolova

Ethnographer

Animal marriage is also common in India. This is not done to circumvent laws and omens, but to attract good luck. Marital duties, of course, are not fulfilled.

Savvely Malikov

Afterlife love

There are creepy wedding rituals in China too. For example, if a man or woman died unmarried, they are buried in the same grave with the deceased of the opposite sex. It is believed that at least in the afterlife such a person will have a family, and such a ritual is called Minhun. Because of this tradition, the Chinese authorities suffer a lot of problems, because someone begins to buy or even kidnap dead bodies for their deceased relatives.

Jump into the abyss

In fairy tales, the handsome prince has to perform tricky tasks or to show that he is worthy of her hand and heart. In Andalusia, a man faces a more difficult task - jumping from a cliff, upside down. The only good thing is that you have to jump into the sea. The more impression the young man wants to make on his future relatives, the higher the rock gets.

Other scary customs

In other countries, and even European ones, there are no less strange and sometimes terrible wedding traditions. Among them are the following.

In the Bahutu tribe of Rwanda, there is a custom according to which, after the wedding, the bride must beat her husband every night for a week, after which he is sent back to his parents. Only if the young man passes such a test will the first wedding night take place.
On the island of Bali, the bride and groom had their fangs filed to protect the newlyweds from bad thoughts and animal instincts. This was done without pain relief.
In France, some newlyweds spend their wedding night listening to the terrible noise created by their relatives under the windows. Of course, the neighbors also suffer from this.
In Scotland, a few days before the wedding, the bride is literally thrown with mud. This is done to bring happiness and prosperity into the girl’s married life.
The Tujia people living in China believe that a girl’s life will be happy if she cries for 10 days before the wedding, then her mother joins her for another 10 days, and the rest of her relatives join her for another 10 days. A month in tears before the wedding promises their absence from family life.

Summary

Even the most terrible wedding traditions are designed to help the newlyweds and bring prosperity and happiness to their family. Most of these customs are no longer observed and are hardly seen. For the most part, they are important only as a historical and cultural value of the people.

There are more than four thousand religions in the world. Some sacred rituals can safely be called strange and even creepy. We offer you a list of ten exotic religious ceremonies, but be careful - the descriptions of many of them should not be read by impressionable people.

"Sky Burial"

In Tibet, this belief was embodied in a ritual called jator. During the burial ceremony, the body of the deceased is carried to the top of the mountain and left as an offering to the vultures. To speed up the procedure, sometimes the body is even cut into pieces and laid out in several places. Vultures are called "dakinis", which translates as "heavenly dancers". They act as angels who carry a person's soul to heaven for the next incarnation. In the 1960s, Chinese authorities criminalized jator, calling the practice “barbaric.” However, the ban met with strong resistance from Tibetans who believed in the sacred necessity of this rite, and starting in the eighties, sky burial was again legalized on the condition that it be carried out only in a few specially designated places.

"Thaipusam"

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated in various countries around the world, including Sri Lanka, India, South Africa and Malaysia. For many thousands of participants, the festival involves only a procession where people carry pots of milk as an offering to the gods. Only a few particularly pious Hindus perform a special ritual on this day. They pierce their cheeks and skin on their bodies with knitting needles and hooks, to which they attach jewelry that can weigh more than 30 kilograms. Participants in the ceremony claim that they fall into a kind of trance and do not feel any discomfort or pain. The meaning of the Thaipusam holiday is to honor the Hindu goddess Parvati, who gave the god of war and hunting Murugan a wonderful spear to fight demons. By piercing their flesh, Hindus protect their body from the penetration of any evil.

Sun dance

Many indigenous tribes of North America practice totemism and perform rituals dedicated to various spirits of the earth. One of the most common rituals among Indians is the sun dance, designed to bring health and a rich harvest to the tribe. And totemism is one of the oldest religions. Nowadays, the ceremony usually involves only drumming, singing and dancing around the fire, but in exceptional cases it is a brutal test of human endurance. The skin on the dancer’s chest is pierced in several places, a kind of weaving shuttle with a rope is threaded through the holes, and it is then tied to the Tree of Life deified by the tribe. The main participant in the ritual begins to move back and forth, trying to free himself from the shuttle. Of course, this practice often resulted in serious injury or death, leading to its ban beginning in the late 19th century. However, official American authorities rarely interfere in the life of Indian reservations, and the “sun dance” in its full version is periodically performed today.

"El Colacho"

Christians around the world believe in the doctrine of original sin. According to him, every person is born in sin because of Adam and Eve's disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden. It is believed that a Christian can atone for this guilt by leading a righteous life. However, residents of the town of Castillo de Murcia in northern Spain perform a ritual to cleanse newborns of this sin - "el colacho", also known as the baby jumping festival. All children born in the last year are laid on mattresses along the street, and men dressed as devils jump back and forth over the mattresses to cleanse the babies from original sin. Although no incidents were documented during the holiday, the Pope appealed to the local Catholic Church demanding that it disassociate itself from such a dangerous practice. Some Hindu communities practice a similar rite of child purification, in which infants (more than a hundred per year) are thrown from the roof of the temple onto blankets below. It is believed to bring good luck in life and fertility.

Self-torture

Self-torture - the act of cutting oneself with blows of a whip - has existed as a religious ritual for as long as religions have existed. Most often, self-torture was carried out as a voluntary penance to appease the gods. Now you can not only read about this action in books on the history of religion, but also see it with your own eyes. In the Philippines and Mexico, on Good Friday, true believers beat themselves with whips in order to get rid of their sins and, after death, take a place in heaven next to God. Many Shia Muslims in India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Lebanon also torture themselves during the holy month of Muharram. The purpose of the ceremony is to honor the martyrdom of the grandson of the prophet Mohammed Hussein ibn Ali, who was killed by the cruel caliph of the city of Kufa. Self-torture is very dangerous because it can lead to death from loss or blood poisoning.

"Tinka" or "Hit Your Neighbor"

The indigenous people of the South American Andes revere the goddess Pachamama, who, according to Incan mythology, is the patroness of hunters and peasants and can cause and prevent natural disasters. It is believed that she sends generous spoils and a rich harvest, as long as abundant blood sacrifices are made to her. Since the 17th century, the Bolivian Macha people have celebrated a holiday called “Tinku.” Simply put, it was a brutal fist fight involving many people intent on shedding as much blood as possible for the glory of the goddess. Huge crowds flocked from all over the area to take part in the annual mass brawl. Almost every year, deaths have been reported during the festival of blood. “Tinku” is still held today, but fights take place in a one-on-one format. The number of deaths has fallen sharply in recent decades, and there have been none this century.

Human sacrifice

When modern people think of human sacrifice, they think of ancient Egypt, where many of the pharaoh's servants accepted death to accompany their master to the land of the dead. It's hard to imagine this happening in our time. However, people are still sacrificed to the gods, most often in the Indian and African hinterlands. For example, in 2006, Indian police reported “dozens of victims over six months” in the city of Khurja, killed by Kali worshipers during religious rituals. Many of the victims were children under three years of age. Worshipers of the goddess of death hoped to drive poverty out of the city in this way. Ritual killings have been reported in Nigeria, Uganda, Swaziland, Namibia and many other African countries in recent years. In Uganda, for example, there is a whole underground market for services where you can order a sacrificial service from a shaman, which brings success in business.

Female circumcision

There are approximately 140 million women in the world who have been circumcised. Female circumcision involves partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia. In most cases, this occurs in unsanitary conditions, without the consent of the victim and without anesthesia. The procedure is mainly common in eastern, northeastern and western Africa and in some areas of Asia and the Middle East. Female circumcision has been outlawed by 24 African countries, but it continues to be performed illegally. The total number of girls who died as a result of this procedure is unknown, but in areas with limited access to antibiotics, the proportion of deaths is up to 33 percent. It is believed that circumcision can protect women from promiscuity and adultery. Female circumcision is not typical for any one religion, but it is necessarily practiced by followers of teachings that postulate the subordinate role of a woman, her secondary status in relation to a man. In some cases, circumcision plays the role of an initiation ceremony into a religious group. Classical Hinduism prohibits cannibalism, and devout Hindus strongly condemn Aghoris.

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