Religion is a delicate matter. All countries and all nationalities have religious people, and there are a great many varieties of religion. The most interesting thing is that there is no “pure” Christianity, Judaism or Islam (incidentally, an article about Islam and its varieties is being prepared).
Everywhere there are some branches, currents and varieties, and some of the traditional religions of Europe are intertwined with the beliefs of nationalities where pagan gods used to be worshipped. And in connection with this there are unique rituals, of which it is strange even to hear about, let alone to observe.
Throwing children from a 50 feet high tower
You wouldn’t believe it, but there is a tradition in one of the Muslim communities of West India where a child is thrown from a 15-meter tower. Yes, the child is caught at the bottom by grown men holding a stretched cloth in their hands. But where is the guarantee that the child won’t fall upside down, breaking his neck, for example?
This tradition has existed for about 500 years, and it was introduced because members of the community believe that a child who falls on the cloth from such a height, happy, healthy, and lucky. They also believe that this child will live a very long life.
I don’t know what the percentage of survivors is, but a child who has undergone this procedure can really be considered lucky. Assuming, of course, that the lucky child survived. Judging by the photo, the little member of the tribe is not very happy about the procedure.
Religious ecstasy
Yes, you thought right, such rituals are a tradition in Haiti. That’s where voodoo originated, as well as the traditions of this unusual religion, which is a bizarre mixture of several religious currents at once. So, some rituals are performed by the so-called “loa,” a priest, with the total immersion of the ceremony participants in religious ecstasy. All this is accompanied by uncontrollable movements of the human body, perhaps moaning, twisting on the ground, and other manifestations of trance.
Baptism for the Dead
This ritual is performed by Mormons who baptize a person on behalf of the dead. In other words, the living person receives, as it were, instructions from the dead person.
The living person is baptized on behalf of someone who died at least a year ago. According to Mormons, this preserves freedom of choice. “Then the person for whom the baptism is performed must decide whether he wants to accept baptism and the gospel. If he decides in their favor, the sacrament takes on the same power as if he had performed it himself. If one renounces it, the sacrament has no power, as if it had never been performed,” is how Mormons themselves explain the ritual.
Jainism and clothing
Jainism is some kind of Buddhism, although to say so is to simplify the explanation of the differences between Buddhism and Jainism. We are not going to go into deep explanations now, I will just mention one characteristic of Jainist monks. So, they believe that a true monk must not wear clothes.
A monk must forget his past life and renounce all worldly things, including clothes. Moreover, Jainists deny all violence; their non-recognition of violence has reached the point where they carry special brooms made of peacock feathers, clearing the road in front of them to exclude even the possibility of carelessly killing an insect or any small animal. Jainists believe that by stepping on and killing an animal, one commits a sin.
And yes, there can be no women among Jainists – according to the monks, a woman can never purify herself to the necessary level. She must die (her own death, of course) and be born in the guise of a man to become a Jainist. This is the only way.
Crawling over food scraps thrown by Brahmins
Another strange Indian tradition in which Brahmins throw leftovers on the floor on certain days. And ordinary people have to crawl over them. This, according to the religious Indians, allows you to get healthy, both body and soul. All problems are solved and one can enjoy life again.