It’s easy to overlook that what we consider typical is actually strange to others.
There are centuries-old customs all throughout the world that don’t make any sense in the modern world.
But if you dig deep enough, you’ll discover that all traditions aim for the same thing: to build strong communities united by common values and experiences.
Some things are just more severe than others. The customs of other cultures that seem entirely foreign to us will be in the limelight today.
Baby Tossing in Parts of India
Exactly what it sounds like, baby tossing is a 700-year-old tradition in the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Parents of both Hindu and Muslim faiths participate in the tradition, which involves throwing their newborns from the roofs of temples as high as 50 feet.
Members of the community hold a huge cloth over the bottom to catch the infants.
The Baby Tossing Tradition of India
— 🦋Belle Femme🦋 (@nikkydgreat) March 31, 2022
The baby tossing tradition is a ritual popular in Maharashtra and Karnataka India, in it some families — both Hindus and Muslims —allow their babies be tossed off the roof of a shrine, to be caught in a stretched bedsheet about 30 feet below. pic.twitter.com/0Pu7fEt3uQ
It is believed that by showing such extreme confidence in God, the parents would bless their kid with a long and happy life.
Baby tossing has apparently not resulted in any reported fatalities or serious injuries.
The strange custom, which is considered as antiquated and savage by most of the outside world, is practiced mostly in rural areas today.
And even in those cases, they are quite uncommon.
The Drinking of the Dead in the Yąnomamö Tribe
The Ynomamö people of Venezuela are known to ritually consume human bones.
If you’re anything like us, reading that conjured up an image of infernal cannibalism in your head.
The tribe, on the other hand, has a more refined approach to eating corpses. A bit.
Yanomamö tribe members consuming "Ebene" – a psychoactive snuff pic.twitter.com/c7JLBKWIW5
— gaianvibes Ω 🌸🥃🍄🍂🍃🌵 (@gaianvibes) March 17, 2023
The Ynomamos cremate their dead because they consider burial to be a sinful and evil tradition. This appears to be the norm from our vantage point.
After a body is burned, the remains are ground into a powder. Soup made from plantains is flavored with this powder.
The tribe shares the soup and eats it together. Why do we keep this custom, exactly? So, the tribal members think that if they eat the remains of their dead loved ones, their souls will stick around with the living.
The Ritual Finger Amputation of the Dani Tribe
According to the Dani people of western New Guinea, Indonesia, suffering physically is the most obvious kind of emotional distress.
Their custom of amputating fingers to mourn the loss of a loved one is proof of this.
Members of the tribe traditionally amputate the tips of their fingers as a mark of respect after a death in the family.
An unusual ritual practiced by the women of the Dani Tribe involves amputation. Women cut … http://t.co/kgm9mrwSR9 pic.twitter.com/NQMo4iu1iA
— ĴロИЕら (@IKINGJONES) June 12, 2014
This has led to the amputation of several fingers among the community’s elderly.
Before cutting off the finger, a thread is tied around it to block the blood flow. Now comes the truly unpleasant phase.
The finger is trimmed at the top. Scar tissue is formed by burning the remaining stub, and infections are avoided.
As could be expected, women are disproportionately affected by this barbaric practice.
“Bullet Ant Initiation” of the Sateré-Mawé Tribe
Native Brazilians known as the Sateré-Mawé call the Brazilian Amazon home.
Their coming-of-age ritual is so intense that it has gained international attention despite the fact that they have minimal interaction with outsiders.
Boys in the tribe had to go through a painful initiation when they age 13 so that their community can accept them as men.
As part of the ritual, they must place both hands inside improvised gloves that are actually home to hundreds of bullet ants. (The sting of the Bullet Ant is believed to feel like bullets penetrating the skin.)
Bullet Ant Initiation in the Amazon, could you pass? pic.twitter.com/T2gbWjlyG9
— Jay Mac (@TheLastPatriots) April 28, 2016
According to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, created by one of the world’s foremost entomologists, Justin Schmidt, bullet ants have the most excruciating sting of any insect.
When asked to explain the discomfort, he said it was “like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail in your heel.” That’s the result of only one sting!
Ten minutes of genuine torment pass with the lads’ hands remaining within the gloves without a single tear being shed.
You won’t believe how bad it gets. To keep their manhood, they must do this ceremony 20 times over the course of their lifetimes.
