Every culture has different traditions but there are some traditions that we find extremely weird!
1- Satire Mave coming of age tradition, Brazil
Satire Mave is a tribe located in the Brazilion, Amazon. The tribe has minimal contact outside the world, but it has gained some attention over the years due to this terrifying coming of age tradition where boys when they turns 13, must prove their worth to become man. He has to go to the jungle to harvest “bullet ants”. The young boys has to wear bullet ant gloves for more than 10 minutes, their agony is unbearable. Bullet ant sting is said to be worse than 30 times getting stung from a bee and even as painful as gunshot. To be seen as the true tribal warrior each must endure the pain for more than 10 minutes. Each sting can also cause neurotoxic venom which attacks the nerves and causes paralysis. Once the gloves are off the pain will grow even more excruciating. Each boy has to go through this tradition several times in his life until he shows no sign of weakness or crying. According to tribe members, this painful act is good preparation for the pain in life and proves that each boy will be able to fulfill the duties of manhood.
2- Consuming the dead, Brazil
The Yanomami tribe residing in some parts of Venezuela and Brazil. Brazil doesn’t believe in burying their dead, they are offended by this idea. They still want to practice their culture in which they believe that there should be no physical trace of body left in order to allow the spirit to rest in peace. They practice endocannibalism which is the practice of eating the flesh of a dead person from the same tribe. After burning the body it has to be eaten by their relatives, and after that they gather the bones and ashes remaining from the burning bodies, turning them into a powder. That powder is mixed in a banana soup which is than consumed by everyone from the tribe.
3- El Colacho, Spain
Baby jumping festival is celebrated each year in a small town of Castrillo de Murcia, in the north of Spain. It is known to be the most bizarre festival in Spain. It is believed as a way to cleanse a new baby’s soul. Babies born in the previous year are laid on a mattress and men dressed as an evil run and jumps over the babies. After that the babies are blessed with holy water and rose petals sprinkled over them.
4- Bathroom ban after marriage
Yes! You heard that right in Indonesia, Tidong community has this weird tradition of not allowing bride and groom to use bathroom for three days after their marriage, as it is considered bad luck. They are kept under strict watch and are allowed only a small amount of food or drinks for three days. They have to hold their bladders and poop for three days which is extremely harmful for the body. But the Tidong community is following this tradition for years.
5- Living with the dead, Indonesia
Indonesia has a fair share of extremely weird traditions. The Toraja people are known for their bizarre death rituals, which includes preserving and exhuming the dead. They keep preserved bodies of their dead relatives for years even providing the corpses their own room and regularly bathing and changing their clothes. They honor their dead by treating them as if they were alive until they can be given expensive funerals. This tradition has attracted many tourists.
6- Night hunting, Bhutan
Night hunting known as Bomena which literally means going towards a girl. This is an extremely disturbing culture where men break into girls room with or without their permissions looking for love and marriage. Young men break into the room of young girls and spend the night; if they get caught they have to marry the girl. This tradition has also caused several extreme problems in the community like teenage pregnancies, STD and fathers abandoning their children. It is believed that this culture is slowly fading.
7- Tooth filing, Bali
Tooth filing is an important tradition for Hindu Balinese. Every parent who has a child reached its puberty is obliged to carry out this tradition. It’s a necessary tradition before getting married. Smoothed teeth are symbolic of control on sinful emotions in them like greed, lust, jealousy and anger. This is an extremely exhausting and painful experience.
Author: Maria Sarfraz (mariaa.sarfraz)
