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#15 Birth Ritual of the Sifudu (Africa)

#15 Birth Ritual of the Sifudu (Africa).

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#15 Birth Ritual of the Sifudu (Africa)

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  1. #15 Birth Ritual of the Sifudu(Africa) • The birth of a baby is an important occasion in all cultures around the world. The occasion is marked by prayers and blessings to welcome the new member in the family. But sometimes, these blessing ceremonies can go to strange limits. Sifudu is an important custom practiced in different African tribes. • On the third day of birth of the child, relatives gather at the hut, picking leaves from the Sifudu tree. A small fire is made at the centre of the hut and the Sifudu leaves are burnt to produce a thin pall of smoke. • The leaves have an extremely pungent aroma that irritates mouth, nose and eyes. Then the baby is carried by a woman with his head downward in the smoke and is passed several times through the smoke and is then handed back to the mother who quickly passes the child under her leg. It is believed that the ritual ensures that the child is never subjected to fright or shyness.

  2. #16 Bullet Ant Gloves(South America) • Initiation is the ceremony marking the entrance into a group or community. Initiation rites are held in all cultures in order to transform a child into an adult. The most common examples include the Christian ceremony of "baptism" or the Hindu "diksha". While it may not sound like much to many people, many cultures have quite painful ways of initiation. • One of the most extreme of these initiation rites are found among the Mawe people of South America. They use intentional Bullet Ant stings as part of their initiation rites. The stings of these Bullet Ants are so painful that they are compared to bullet shots; this is where the name comes from.First the ants are collected and are rendered unconscious by keeping them in a natural sedative. Then hundreds of them are woven in pair of gloves made out of leaves. The boys are then asked to wear the gloves for at least 10 minutes. The neurotoxin of bullet ants paralysis the hands and cause intense pain, even more than the sting of a tarantula. The boys have to repeat the ritual for 20 times before they become a "warrior".

  3. #17 Sutee Death Ritual(Hindu culture) • Suttee or self-cremation involves widows who voluntarily lie by her dead husband's side on his funeral pyre to be burnt alive with the corpse. • Suttee is a very old Hindu custom practiced in India for many centuries until the British banned it in 1829. • The widow is considered a bad omen in the Hindu society. She is not allowed to attend social gatherings and everything from her touch to her presence is considered extremely impure. Although the core idea behind this strange custom is to reunite the couple in afterlife, most of the outsiders and even many Indians see this as just inhumanity.

  4. #18 Extreme Body Piercing(India & Singapore) • During the celebration of the religious holiday Thaipusam, Hindus throughout the world declare their devotion to Lord Murugan by piercing various parts of their bodies. • The piercings are usually done with skewers, lances, large hooks or a small spear called a vel. Although the tradition of piercing started out relatively simply, as a small hole in the tongue created by the vel as a reminder to remain silent during meditation, it has evolved over the years to include all parts of the body, especially the back, chest and face. Some devotees go as far as attaching several large hooks to their backs, then pulling heavily loaded chariots down streets or up hills. • During the hugely popular three-day Thaipusam festival (which attracts more than a million people each in India and Singapore alone) each February, Tamil Hindus celebrate the birthday of Lord Murugan and his killing of the malevolent spirit Soorapadman with a spear. The lances can reach two meters long and are often attached to elaborate headgear or other decorative apparatus. The pierced devotees march in festival parades both to demonstrate their devotion and to have their wishes granted.

  5. #19 I Feel (Dress) Like a Woman(Kenya) • In Kenya it is the custom by which the first month after the wedding, the groom should wear women’s clothes to fully enjoy and understand how hard is being a woman.

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