|
The bike thing would have been a lot cooler if he had streamers in the spokes, and maybe a baseball card ...
I saw a show on National Geographic channel called "Taboo". There's some Hindu festival where folks ritually pierce themselves, usually with these little trident thingies that are representative of the god who is being honored, as well as with multiple fishhooks in the back, from which fruit offerings are hung. If you don't do the fruit offering to the gods thing (melons, not kumquat sized fruits, incidentally) you can have a family member hang onto cords attached to your hooks and tug on you from time to time as you parade through the town.
According to the practitioners, when you are possessed by the spirits, you don't feel the pain, nor do you bleed.
One of the people focused on in the show was one of the ritual piercers, and his brother, who "lost his faith" about halfway through the several mile walk up the big hill to the temple.
He was hoping that the spirits wouldn't leave him this year.
|