Extreme cultural traditions

# 01 Apr, 2013 12:21
Troyh	Greetings all. This evening I was writing an article for my personal blog about the benefits & dangers of holding yourself to ideals in today's society. Partway through the piece I began discussing one of the most extreme codes in history, Bushido. If you are unaware Bushido is the “way of the warrior”. One of the consequences of breaking the code is “seppuku”, something you may have heard Daniele discuss. Seppuku is honorable suicide in which you take a small blade & violently disembowel yourself. It is a horrific ritual so you can be sure that Daniele is interested in it =D Despite knowing about seppuku for practically my whole life I actually learnt something new about it today. After you shove the blade into your abdomen, another samurai (usually a friend) promptly slices your head off. This is done quickly to prevent the individuals face from distorting too much (something I learnt of the podcast, thank you Mr.Bolelli). All pretty standard stuff so far but this evening I discovered another aspect. The neck is sliced in such a way that it leaves a small amount of flesh at the suprasternal notch (the base of the front of the neck) so that the head falls, still attached in such a way that it appears to be embraced by the dishonored warrior. How cool! Just another aspect of an amazing ritual. This got me to thinking, wouldn't it be a great topic for listeners of this podcast in particular to share any crazy rituals or traditions they knew of throughout history? I would certainly be interested to learn some new insane things about humanity's history! quote

# 01 Apr, 2013 12:21

Greetings all.

This evening I was writing an article for my personal blog about the benefits & dangers of holding yourself to ideals in today's society. Partway through the piece I began discussing one of the most extreme codes in history, Bushido.

If you are unaware Bushido is the “way of the warrior”. One of the consequences of breaking the code is “seppuku”, something you may have heard Daniele discuss. Seppuku is honorable suicide in which you take a small blade & violently disembowel yourself. It is a horrific ritual so you can be sure that Daniele is interested in it =D

Despite knowing about seppuku for practically my whole life I actually learnt something new about it today. After you shove the blade into your abdomen, another samurai (usually a friend) promptly slices your head off. This is done quickly to prevent the individuals face from distorting too much (something I learnt of the podcast, thank you Mr.Bolelli).

All pretty standard stuff so far but this evening I discovered another aspect. The neck is sliced in such a way that it leaves a small amount of flesh at the suprasternal notch (the base of the front of the neck) so that the head falls, still attached in such a way that it appears to be embraced by the dishonored warrior. How cool! Just another aspect of an amazing ritual.

This got me to thinking, wouldn't it be a great topic for listeners of this podcast in particular to share any crazy rituals or traditions they knew of throughout history? I would certainly be interested to learn some new insane things about humanity's history!

# 01 Apr, 2013 12:34
monkeychoke	Tibetan Sky Burial wikipedia Sky burial is a funerary practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is incised in certain locations and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements (mahabhuta) and animals – especially predatory birds. The locations of preparation and sky burial are understood in the Vajrayana traditions as charnel grounds. In Tibet the practice is known as jhator (Tibetan: ????????, Wylie: bya gtor), which means “giving alms to the birds.” The majority of Tibetans adhere to Buddhism, which teaches rebirth. There is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it, or nature may cause it to decompose. Thus, the function of the sky burial is simply to dispose of the remains. In much of Tibet, the ground is too hard and rocky to dig a grave, and, due to the scarcity of fuel and timber, sky burials are often more practical than cremation. High lamas and some other dignitaries may receive burials so as to honor them in death, but sky burials were standard practice for commoners. quote

# 01 Apr, 2013 12:34

monkeychoke

Tibetan Sky Burial

wikipedia
Sky burial is a funerary practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is incised in certain locations and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements (mahabhuta) and animals – especially predatory birds. The locations of preparation and sky burial are understood in the Vajrayana traditions as charnel grounds. In Tibet the practice is known as jhator (Tibetan: ????????, Wylie: bya gtor), which means “giving alms to the birds.”
The majority of Tibetans adhere to Buddhism, which teaches rebirth. There is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it, or nature may cause it to decompose. Thus, the function of the sky burial is simply to dispose of the remains. In much of Tibet, the ground is too hard and rocky to dig a grave, and, due to the scarcity of fuel and timber, sky burials are often more practical than cremation. High lamas and some other dignitaries may receive burials so as to honor them in death, but sky burials were standard practice for commoners.

# 01 Apr, 2013 16:30
Daniele	check out the Lakota Sun Dance! quote

# 01 Apr, 2013 19:42
Underwater	Yeah, the Lakota Sun Dance is about as hardcore as it gets. These guys pierce their skin with sewing awls made of bone. They hang from a pole under the hot sun, and move around until the awls rip from their flesh. The idea is that everything is the Creator's, and the only thing you can sacrifice for the creator is your own blood and flesh. In order to participate in the ritual, one has to have a calling, sometimes through a vision quest. They say it's not as intense as it used to be. Now, the participants have to work jobs so they have to be able to recover within a week or so. In the past, before the white man, the sun dancers would be torn up so badly they would take months to recover. The rest of the tribe was there to support them afterwards, and they had an honorable place in society. The best description of the the Lakota Sun Dance that I've read is in , “Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions” by John (Fire) Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes. quote

# 01 Apr, 2013 19:42

Underwater

Yeah, the Lakota Sun Dance is about as hardcore as it gets. These guys pierce their skin with sewing awls made of bone. They hang from a pole under the hot sun, and move around until the awls rip from their flesh. The idea is that everything is the Creator's, and the only thing you can sacrifice for the creator is your own blood and flesh. In order to participate in the ritual, one has to have a calling, sometimes through a vision quest. They say it's not as intense as it used to be. Now, the participants have to work jobs so they have to be able to recover within a week or so. In the past, before the white man, the sun dancers would be torn up so badly they would take months to recover. The rest of the tribe was there to support them afterwards, and they had an honorable place in society.
The best description of the the Lakota Sun Dance that I've read is in , “Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions” by John (Fire) Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes.

# 03 Apr, 2013 13:16
DjMagik	One of my favorite stories was told by Jacque Fresco in some interview. He said a white man went into the Amazon and saw a man with five shrunken human heads around his belt. They were the Amazonian head hunters, and the white man asked if it bothered him having these five human heads about him. The hunter admitted it did bother him for his brother had ten heads. It can be amazing what is socially acceptable. Don't worry…everything's gonna be alright quote

# 03 Apr, 2013 13:16

DjMagik

One of my favorite stories was told by Jacque Fresco in some interview.

He said a white man went into the Amazon and saw a man with five shrunken human heads around his belt. They were the Amazonian head hunters, and the white man asked if it bothered him having these five human heads about him. The hunter admitted it did bother him for his brother had ten heads.

It can be amazing what is socially acceptable.

Don't worry…everything's gonna be alright

# 03 Apr, 2013 13:20
Troyh	It's definitely one of the most insane things ever to think about some of the things humanity has done. All of these are such good examples! quote

# 03 Apr, 2013 14:28
Daniele	Your text to link here… This is one of the most extreme, disturbing things I've ever seen. Not sure I suggest checking the videos online since they are brutally graphic, but some of these guys hack themselves to pieces with blades quote

# 03 Apr, 2013 18:09
monkeychoke	Daniele Your text to link here… This is one of the most extreme, disturbing things I've ever seen. Not sure I suggest checking the videos online since they are brutally graphic, but some of these guys hack themselves to pieces with blades Wow…I just google image searched ‘Day of Ashura’….damn! They are all kinds of fucked up. PS: Graphic image linked to that ^^^ quote

# 05 Apr, 2013 11:21
DjMagik	Justin Bieber. Don't worry…everything's gonna be alright quote