Before reading this article, you hadn’t experienced cultures that were particularly shocking.
Weird cultures from around the world: The world is home to a wide variety of bizarre cultural practices. The following is a list of cultures from around the world that will blow your mind, from the practice of throwing babies to living with dead bodies.
1. Walking Dead
Source: npr.org
The Toraja people in Indonesia are responsible for the practice of this bizarre culture, which involves placing a deceased individual’s body in a temporary coffin before resurrecting “it.”
Shamans have been resurrecting the dead for centuries in South Sulawesi, Indonesian villages that are nestled in the island’s mountainous interior. The Toraja people have religious beliefs that dictate that in order for a deceased person to enter the afterlife known as “Puya” or “The Land of Souls,” their corpse must be buried in the same location as where they were born. This is necessary for the deceased person to be able to move on to the next life. The body of the deceased person is brought back to life and carried to its final resting place.
2. El Colacho Baby Jumping
Source: nationalgeographic.com
Since the year 1620, the people who live in Spain have been taking part in this strange and potentially lethal culture that is known as El Colacho. El Colacho, which literally translates to “baby jumping,” is a competition that is organized to keep the Devils at bay. During this festival, infants are positioned on mattresses in the street and jumpers dress up in traditional garb to mimic devils. The infants are then jumped on.
3. Living with the Dead
Can you picture yourself occupying the same space as deceased people? However, it is a common practice among certain Indonesian ethnic groups to drape the body of the deceased in unique garments and store it in a secure location within the home in which they live. It is a common belief that the deceased’s loved ones’ souls will be protected until the time of burial.
4. Hanging Coffins
Source: atlasobscura.com
On the spine-chillingly steep cliffs that run alongside the Yangtze River in China, you can observe the countless occult phenomena and artifacts that are suspended in midair. After death, members of the family in certain cultures in China are both buried and hung from certain cliffs. In most cases, coffins are hung between 33 and 164 feet high, but there are instances in which they are hung as high as 328 feet above the ground. It is not completely clear how the coffins were positioned at such a high elevation at this point in time. There is evidence of hanging coffins dating back nearly two thousand years.
5. Tossing infants in the air
In the village of Solapur in the state of Maharashtra in India, it is customary for the locals to throw newborn children off the terrace of a tower that is fifty feet high. At the base of the tower, there are people waiting with sheets in hand to safely catch the infant should it fall. It is believed that doing so will bestow good fortune, longevity, and good health upon their children.
6. Carrying women atop burning coals
Before entering their new home for the first time as husband and wife, a Chinese husband is expected to carry his new wife over a pan containing a bed of burning coals. According to an urban legend, this peculiar practice is carried out in order to ensure that the woman will have a straightforward and fruitful delivery.
7. Mourning of Muharram
Muslims from all over the world gather together once a year to participate in religious services of mourning for the third Shia Imam, who was executed as a martyr in the desert of Karbala in the year 680 AD.
On this day, a number of groups of Shia Muslims go out with whips that have knives and blades attached to them, and they begin beating each other up in an uncontrollable manner. This practice has been handed down through the generations to each of their descendants.
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