In ancient times, people believed that it was possible to appease the gods with sacrifices or change fate with the help of magical rituals. It would seem that in the age of the Internet and computer technologies, barbaric rituals and customs are a thing of the past. However, some of them have survived.
Terrible traditions of Hindustan
The most terrible traditions have survived in India. In this densely populated country, several religions are practiced, one of which is Hinduism. He, in turn, is divided into dozens of movements, some of which have terrible customs.
For example, in the holy city of Varanasi, members of the Aghori sect are constantly inhabited, which translates as "fearless". They worship Lord Shiva and consider eating the corpses of dead people as their service. To become an Aghori, you have to go through several stages. The first is outhad: the student must give up meat and eat only his own excrement. During the second stage, in order to satisfy hunger, it is allowed to kill stray dogs, and only then the student is allowed to participate in shav sadhana - the ritual eating of the flesh of dead Indians.
In the southwestern part of Karnataka, locals believe that in order for their child to be successful in life, the priest must throw him off the balcony of the temple as a child. The height of the building is about 9 meters. Beneath the balcony, the happy parents pull the covers up and wait for the brahmana to greatly frighten their heir and then throw him down.
Every year, the Indian city of Ajmer hosts a holiday dedicated to the commemoration of Moinuddin Chishti, a Sufi fakir and sorcerer of the 12th century. During the procession, a crowd of thousands of pilgrims performs ritual self-flagellation in the form of picking out their eyeballs with sharp metal objects. Even children do this! Being in religious exaltation, they often injure their eyes.
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Pagan customs of Europe
If India is still equated with undeveloped countries, then Denmark is considered a civilized European state. However, ritual mass killings of whales and dolphins take place every year in the Faroe Islands. This holiday has been celebrated here with the whole family since 1584. According to centuries-old tradition, a boy becomes a man only after killing his first whale. The men of the Faroe Islands go to catch sea animals, and then brutally kill them near the coast, trying to shed as much blood as possible. During each such ritual, the Danes kill 900-950 whales and dolphins, considering this an important event in their lives.
In the villages of Iceland, where many residents still believe in the existence of elves, the custom of “bothering” a child has been preserved. If the baby was born weak and is constantly sick, it means that he has not “finished cooking” in the womb, and he must be “finished” at home. A sick child is wrapped in a thick layer of dough, leaving room to breathe, and placed in a hot but extinct oven. It is believed that together with the bread, the person was “prepared” to the end and now he will be healthy.
Native American traditions
In the United States, only a few years ago, it was banned at the legislative level to perform the "dance of the sun". But this custom is still practiced every spring on the reservations of the Lakota Indians. The bottom line is that the warrior, during the ritual dance, was able to break away from the established pole. It's just that it is attached to it with straps, which it passes through deep cuts in the skin. To the singing and dancing of the entire tribe, the warrior tears his chest in blood for several hours in the name of the Sun and Moon.
Recently, the world's tabloids have circulated photos of the wedding of the mayor of the Mexican city of San Pedro Juamelula. The new mayor, like all his predecessors, since the 18th century, got married in a local Christian church with a female crocodile. This is the tradition of this city of fishermen. If its manager takes a crocodile as his wife, then its inhabitants will be taken to the sea with their catch. The wedding was played very real. For this, a young female crocodile was baptized, given a name to her, and then dressed in a white wedding dress and carried to the altar. True, the bride's jaws were tied after all.