• SumoMe

Hazing, becoming a man, initiation, breaking someone in, and starting someone off. Whatever you want to call it, these types of rituals span the entire ambit of human life and cultures. However, they are all premised on the same fundamental idea: that the participant will be a different person after an event than you were before, a member of a group comprised of people who went through the same event.

I was interested to learn about some of these types of rituals, and I found some very interesting (and at times, graphic, so be forewarned) rituals that focus on the transition from boys to men.

Warning: most of this is very graphic.

1. Bullet Ants

2. Land Diving

3. Bloodletting

4. Scarring

What do you think? If you were a member of these cultures, how would you view these ceremonies? How would they view a religious bar mitzvah or a brutal gang “beat in” initiation? Leave your comments below.

(Image credit: Africa Image Library)