Top 10 Bizarre Rituals Still Performed in the World

A ritual can be defined as the sequence of activities that involves several gestures, words, and objects, performed weirdly. Almost every state in the world has its own particular rituals, and they believe in performing them at the specific times and in proper forms. Some of them have become the part of traditional and cultural values of the nations. The rituals of different kinds have their origin from ancient times, such as worshiping rituals etc. Let us see the top 10 bizarre rituals still performed in the world.

10. The Sun Dance

The Americans are known to perform a special kind of ‘Sun Dance’. For them, this is purposed to worship the Great Spirit, and presenting him honor by sacrificing oneself. The chests of the participants are pierced with a skewer, and a rope is connected to the skewer of a pole, representing the Tree of Life. Then, the participants perform special movements, and the dance is completed in several hours.

9. Fire Walking

Fire walking is a taboo ritual, performed in Malaysia. But this famous practice is demonstrated in other nations as well. It involves the walking of males on the fire with naked feet. The people of Malaysia believe that doing the fire walk can please their “Nine Emperor Gods”, and a person who performs this practice is freed from all evil influences.

8. Impaling

This is the annual Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, Thailand. It has become a part of their culture, but to be honest, this is an extremely weird ritual. It requires the participants to push spears, knives, swords, hooks, and some weapons using their face. They believe that this act is to please their gods. The gods, according to the people, enter the bodies of the participants and promise to protect them from the evils.

7. Vine Jumping

In the village of Bunlap of Pacific archipelago, a strange ritual is performed named as Vine Jumping. It is a kind of high jumping over the tanks of vine. The villagers sing and dance the whole night, while the participants jump high wooden towers, in which vine is filled. This act, mostly, leads them to suffer from broken bones and other injuries, but they still perform it happily.

6. Cannibalism and Necrophagy

The Aghori Babas of the city of Varanasi, India, eat the dead bodies happily. They believe that doing so can save them from the greatest fears of life, even from the fear of death. Five types of individuals cannot be cremated, according to Hinduism: holy males, kids, pregnant or unmarried females, and people died of leprosy or snake bites. Such individuals are set afloat down the Ganges, where the Aghori is pulling them from the water and consumes them ritually.

5. Sky Burials

In Tibet, Buddhists love to perform this taboo activity, known as Sky Burials. They believe that this is a form of rebirth, and doing this can lead them stay safe from various hurdles and problems in life. The dead bodies are brought to open areas, where they are left as vultures.

4. Turning of the Bones/Famadihana

Famadihana means “The Turning of the Bones,” is a traditional festival of Madagascar. In it, the participants decompose some of the body parts of their dead relatives. Doing this can save them from the evils, according to those people. They therefore dig up their loved ones, dance with them, and then turn their bones. This is an extremely bizarre ritual that is performed from many years.

3. Self-Flagellation

The followers of the Shi’a sect of Islam perform this ritual annually during the Holy month of Muharram. They say that doing this presents sorry and heartiest love to the Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. The interesting thing about this ritual is that each and every person of this religion performs it, whether a child or old-age individual. They tie themselves with chains, and cut their bodies with knives, giving punishment to each other, and seeking God’s mercy.

2. Death Rites

The tribe of Yanomami is a primitive. According to them, death isn’t a natural phenomenon and to save themselves from death, the people perform this ritual named ‘Death Rites’. The corpse is cremated, and the ashes are mixed with fermented banana. Once the mixture is ready, it is consumed by the tribes. The participants believe that doing so can save them from death and bad spirits.

1. Voodoo and Spiritual Possession

Vodun is a religion of West Africa. One of its rituals is ‘Spiritual Possession’ in which a person is brought to a deep forest for connecting with the Earth Spirit, Sakpata. The people say that there the presence of spirits make this person unconscious. He/she remains there for many days without any food, water, and conversation with family members.

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