The Most Painful Religious Rituals

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Self-flagellation. Body mortification. Fire-walking. Global religion has bunches of examples of extreme, painful rituals. But why do humans do them?
Watch full interview here: • Extreme Ritual Explain...
Full picture: www.vice.com/en_us/article/9b...
All photographs are courtesy of Dr. Dimitris Xygalatas unless otherwise stated.
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Other photo credits:
Wikimedia Commons, tajai : commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... | commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Bibliography:
Dimitris Xygalatas, "How Extreme Rituals Forge Intense Social Bonds," aeon.co/essays/how-extreme-ri...
Fischer et. al., "The Fire-Walker’s High: Affect and Physiological Responses in an Extreme Collective Ritual," February 2014 | Volume 9 | Issue 2
journals.plos.org/plosone/art...
Xygalatas et. al. “Effects of Extreme Ritual Practices on Psychophysiological Well-Being,” Current Anthropology, Volume 60, Number 5, October 2019.

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Watch the full interview here!: kzbin.info/www/bejne/moPHmmOeg9aJidk

[@mohamedel-bachirzahaf4290]

Muslims don't cut the backs and head , that's wrong ,Islam never tell you to do something bad to you(mentally and healthy) please correct that

[@grannykiminalaska]

Shared trauma is one of the strongest bonders among people

[@crisoliveira2644]

As seen in initiation/entrance and passage rituals in college and the military. Really wtf to see.

[@celinak5062]

? That troll in Harry Potter

[@grannykiminalaska]

@@celinak5062 yepper

[@endofscene]

@@grannykiminalaska But when traumatic rituals are done to infants and children then I'd say it's unhealthy and even toxic. It becomes a self-perpetuating and unresolved intergenerational trauma that can have all sorts of negative effects.

[@grannykiminalaska]

@@endofscene it can be negative but isn't always. Soldiers suffer shared trauma too. In some cases it is life ending in some not. We are all different. My sister and i suffered abuse from our biological mother. For her it became a negative that led to drug abuse and later abandoning her own children. For me it was a lesson in the worst a person could be and became a goal to never be that way or waste my time on people like that. We are a good relationship but will never be truly close despite our shared trauma.

[@lshulman58]

"Why do rituals of pain and torture develop in the first place?" I would understand this to be a manifestation of "mind over matter", physical suffering to downplay the significance of physical well being in preference for spiritual well being. The mind that can overcome or detach itself from physical pain is a spiritually strong mind. Withstanding such painful public displays proves (to oneself and to others) the depth of one's spiritual advancement.

[@Hallowed_Ground]

And that's where it all goes wrong, when it becomes a public display for clout or praise. Then it devolves back into materialism.

[@grahambell-xm9qm]

@@Hallowed_Ground a dilemma

[@SatyaVenugopal]

As a Malaysian Tamil who was raised Hindu, I can say that despite the data in this video being focused on the experiences of individuals and communities who celebrate Thaipusam in Mauritius, the discussion here tracks pretty well with what we see in Malaysia too.

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Thank you for your input. That’s interesting to hear. From my understanding, Xygalatas only has done fieldwork in Mauritius, so that’s why I focused on that island.

[@ANTSEMUT1]

@@The-illuminated culinary institute of America? Oooh those sneky chefs.

[@jigglypuff_foryoutube1700]

Oh my, so this occurs there too?

[@dambuk0]

The most extreme 'ritual' i ever did was jumping over a campfire - an old slavic tradition which i think was supposed to boost your chances of getting a wife. It sure was fun though.

[@kateshungi8945]

Did it work?

[@adammazeli]

Kate Shungi asking the real question

[@jamestown8398]

Did you meet your wife after doing this?

[@abaddon2148]

interesting, jumping over the bon/campfire on certain celtic holidays (bealtainne & samhuinn iirc) is said to grant you wishes :)

[@lilyliao9521]

@@kateshungi8945 you have not gotten your answer yet

[@aureeel]

I've celebrated Thaipusam as a kid.. Dad said the guys don't feel pain because God made the pain vanish

[@nandagopanarasimhan3208]

All my uncles on my mother’s side are priests in temples of murugan and as a practising hindu, both i and my uncles participate together in kavadi attam. The most important take away from kavadi attam happens to be something called the veerya rasam or the feeling of courage, bravery and strength to feel the excitement, pain and the fear that one feels during war in order to relate further with murugan and show devotion to the god of war. Also the video was very interesting thanks for expanding my horizons

[@mohorovski]

When you quoted that they were able to determine social distance with heart rate it actually made me exclaim Wow out loud

[@Salsmachev]

It's interesting to me that it's not just religious suffering. We know that poverty actually promotes sharing, so perhaps there's a more general rule. Something like "suffering promotes community and compassion in the absence of scapegoats"

[@attackofthepacifists]

Your content is always incredibly well-thought and interesting. Thank you!

[@matthewblackwelder6487]

That heart rate synchronicity discovery is super cool! I love how much I learn from this channel. Great work!

[@aaronmoreton]

So I asked my wife about this sort of thing since she is a polytheist and is a little more...intimately...familiar with such practices. She mentioned that, while differences occur between traditions and individuals as to why they go through these ordeals, many of them are just that: ordeals. Transformative and frequently physically painful in the demands that such acts put on a person, it is a type of work that is an act of devotion at its core. She also argues that, in many of the cases that she has seen, they can also be actions of reciprocity: a human act "repaying" a perceived answered request.

[@aaronmoreton]

She (my wife) is pretty interesting to ask sometimes. While it is always interesting to hear attempts at explanations from a decidedly "outside" perspective (given that I am agnostic personally), she engages my questions from the perspective of someone who believes in very real Beings with agency and goals.

[@francoisrd]

This makes sense even outside of religion. A lot of people will feel more inclined towards prosocial behaviour if they’ve experienced hardships (especially if it’s the same types of hardships) themselves.

[@merrittanimation7721]

I find it pretty believable people would injure themselves for a religious ideal and indirectly help their social standing. People do it all the time for completely secular reasons.

[@kathryngeeslin9509]

Apparently it began "secular" or pre religious and became religious, and still can.

[@mrniceguy7168]

5:30 I love the avatars or whatever it’s called

[@Jobin219]

Fascinating topic, really love this channel.

[@stephenpatterson2860]

Extremely interesting video! Love your channel, thank you.

[@debodatta7398]

One of the reasons for thaipusam and a bunch more older Tamil rituals (Jallikuttu, Vallam Kali etc) was keeping men fit, making men brave, teaching them skills like swimming or how to take care of boats and raising their tolerance to pain. Very good traits to have in a population if you need to go to war and draft men to fight. Taking into account Tamil and Kerala lands were never fully conquered by a North Indian entity in their entire history, only fully conquered by a South Indian entity once (Vijayanagar) up until the Europeans came it seems to have worked out well for them compared to other Indians.

[@TheFibrewire]

Awesome video, very informative.

[@Apathetish]

I really appreciate what you do on your videos and I have passed your name along to a man who runs a humanist collection to have you on his podcast. I’d like to hear the interaction between the two of you I’m about to reach out to him again. Hopefully the two of you can have an episode together.

[@Vanalovan]

Every time I hear Durkheim’s name I swear I have Vietnam flashbacks. His writing is sooo difficult to get through

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Agreed. I found the Elementary Forms didn’t make sense until my third read-through.

[@Vanalovan]

ReligionForBreakfast Maybe Xygalatas should research reading Durkheim in class as a collective extreme ritual

[@l0_0l45]

I have seen this on the street in front of me so many times. It is terrible to watch it. People cutting their toung with blades expect god to heal it. Arrows through the cheeks. Hooks in the skin. Agree with what he said. Mostly poor people do it.

[@avanidk3031]

its a sacrifice people take to prove their dedication and love to God

[@carloswater7]

This was very interesting. I would love to know more about the Hindu religion, I hope one day you make a video about the origin of yoga.

[@Salsmachev]

Cogito did a pretty good video on the basics of Hinduism. I also strongly recommend reading the Bhagavad Gita. It's maybe about at long as Mark and it's fascinating.

[@lshulman58]

I don't think yoga and Hinduism are Andrew's area of expertise. Epified did a good yoga video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZLJXq1np75geaM

[@nandinimishra6901]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rp2ldnirjq6Krbs watch this to get a hint ...!! Or ask me I am hindu 🕉

[@juggaloscrub365]

I will say from a personal experience during the great rite during Beltane we who volunteered were flogged until either the high priest felt it was enough or you tapped out. It definitely brought me closer with that community and kind of gave me a sense of camaraderie

[@ABird971]

Come with me to South-Africa, we can go to the mountain with the 13 year old Xhosa boys who get circumcised there with a sharp knife and then has to stay the night alone on the mountain to attain manhood with sunrise. Circumcision might also be an interesting topic. A few years ago there were talks in Germany of making it illegal.

[@pansepot1490]

That’s a coming of age ritual, every society has their own. The topic of the video is different.

[@varana]

@@pansepot1490 But I wouldn't be surprised if the effects on community and bonding through empathy would be very similar to those from these religious rituals.

[@ABird971]

@@pansepot1490 Coming of age rituals are religious, the topic of the video is exactly that. Also, not all societies have this; in Orthodox Christianity there is no coming of age ritual.

[@ABird971]

@@varana It is also a religious ritual, they invoke the spirits of the forefathers and all such nonsense. Summon Nelson Mandela's demon, he'll tell you all about it.

[@endofscene]

@@pansepot1490 Circumcision of boys is the most common painful religious ritual in the world. The fact that this video fails to mention it is somewhat suspicious.

[@ANTSEMUT1]

This festival is quite popular here in Malaysia obviously amongst our Tamil Hindus, it's often televised and sometimes even a tourist attraction. Having seen it a bunch of times it isn't that traumatic to witness.

[@adude8405]

Awesome video! Love your channel! More videos about Hinduism would be great!

[@sethapex9670]

What about non-social rituals such as wearing a hairshirt or other forms of the mortification of the flesh in catholicism?

[@MadHatter42]

Ritual can still have a powerful psychological effect on the individual. Something as simple and personal as praying every night before you go to bed can be a ritual, one that brings peace and serenity to the individual. In the case of extremely painful non-social rituals like you mentioned, self-mortification could still lead to a sense of catharsis for the individual who believes that God is watching their actions. It also might be worth considering that such actions may still be seen within the confines of the Church. Torturing oneself can make an impression on your fellow priests and monks, in much the same way that working late at your job will get you noticed by your boss. Just because he's a man of God doesn't mean he isn't looking to climb the ladder!

[@kathryngeeslin9509]

Also helps to alleviate feelings of guilt, as if the punishment helps balance the scales.

[@sethapex9670]

@@kathryngeeslin9509 mortification of the flesh is not about alieviating guilt, that's what confession is for. It is about transcending the physical world, the realm of becoming, to experience the metaphysical world, the realm of being.

[@fairygrant5097]

What about magnets, how do they work?

[@Miss_K3k97]

Hairshirt..?

[@mt7able]

So… basically the same premise as joining a fraternity in college.

[@raulbaciu2932]

I like your video's. Thank you.

[@lionmaze3091]

Love the vid! First time viewer

[@OmniphonProductions]

Fascinating to find out that heart rates actually synchronize. I wonder, then, about the degree to which physiological alignment occurs among participants in more traditional religious (or other social) activities...especially when music and/or dancing is involved.

[@marielang9474]

xygalatas has been killing it with these research studies

[@evaisthisiaeclaire6365]

"It's pretty hard to look at." These people walk (and sometimes dance) through thoroughfares in Indian temple towns where many children stare at them for a long time.

[@bagsogee]

Very interesting. It sheds some light on the dark practice of human sacrifice in ancient civilisation.

[@Etrehumain123]

Well the question why sounds very easy to imagine: because when the pain stop you get to such a relief feeling that you may reach a meditative state, euphoria, stuff like that.

[@futurepig]

There is also a biochemical aspect that has not been mentioned here. Extreme pain can induce a sort of religious ecstasy in some people. Non religious people into tattoos and piercings report experiencing pleasure or even hallucination during the procedure, which is attributed to the brain releasing endorphins as response to pain.

[@Rednines]

Reminds me of the philosophy of religion work by Georges Bataille and Deleuze/guatarri’s work on inscription and marking

[@basilofgoodwishes4138]

Can you make a video on how black and white(1&2, not the pokemon game, the game made by Lionhead studios)portraits Dieties and how their rituals compare to real life religions?

[@alfonso201]

This is mind blowing

[@MadHatter42]

Confucius believed that Ritual (li in Chinese) was the building block of personal moral cultivation and societal cohesion. This included everything from grand religious ceremonies to matters of everyday etiquette. The idea is that, by engaging in ritual, you are engaging in an act of moral and spiritual transformation. Rituals even have an impact on those around you, and the ideal society is regulated, not with laws, but with shared rituals, which can transform the group as effectively as the individual. Though Confucius preferred the specific rituals of the Sage Kings of ancient China, the idea of ritual in general seems to be applicable to all human societies, even non-religious ones.

[@morgellon9449]

Heart rate synchronization could be attributed to electromagnetic transmission and reception. It's strange how people take for granted the fact radios work, but are adamant there is no possibility humans emit and transmit radio signals that can effect other people and animals. Having experienced psychic phenomena myself under the influence of psychedelics, electromagnetic transmission and reception is the most logical and simple explanation.

[@Sirmenonottwo]

That makes sense and would explained how and why circumcisions caught on all those years ago back in the desert.

[@arthurhall8892]

Woo! Love it!

[@tanned06]

Physical trauma does not necessarily always give rise to psychological trauma. If one anticipates, accepts and even welcomes pain as part of a meaningful ritual or devotion to a higher cause, then any pain perceived by him/her is no longer a 'real pain' but a blessing. In fact, there is no amount of physical trauma pain that can equate to psychological pain. We easily can see every year how many people intentionally hurt themselves physically and even commit suicide due to that. So those who are willing to fall in love with someone not supposed to love, and get really bad emotional/psychological hurt from it, would basically be doing something much more painful than any of these spiritual feats. And no one questions how strange and irrational this human behavior is.

[@johnlaterus5085]

They cannot feel the pain because of their altered state of conciousness🤔

[@laertesl4324]

As far as I have read walking on embers is not painful. The heat transmission is so low that if you cross fast enough your feet don' t get hot enough to burn. Of course, I haven't tried so I wouldn't know.

[@stevelee8539]

Great content! Can you do a video on Insular Christianity?

[@crisoliveira2644]

Now I realize The Game Kitchen missed the chance of making a character that walks on burning coal or something like it in Blasphemous. It could be Redento, since all he does is to walk.

[@TheFox517]

As somebody who would go through quite a lot of pain for lols, I can understand where some of them are coming from. Pain doesn't really have to be traumatic or terribly unpleasant. Whipping your sibling with the closest bendable object you can find and laughing about it for 5 minutes straight is certainly a thing. Those people don't really laugh about the whole thing, but you get the point.

[@thisiswheezie]

Can you relate this to sporting events too? Like from gladiatorical combat to football stadiums

[@RAFAEL27769]

I've witnessed the festival in Singapore .

[@doranh6410]

A large majority of Indian residents in Singapore are Tamils

[@barrywerdell2614]

So interesting how seemingly self destructive religious activities can be analyzed and found to be somewhat logical. Once again please do one on Baldassarre Cossa, the pirate Pope who was one of three Popes who were legit at the same time.

[@chrisoneillstitt]

Hmmm. New York Marathon come to mind?

[@fromriverstotheseapalestin7030]

I had seen them. Here they do that every year

[@reveranttangent1771]

Looking forward to the next American civil religion video.

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Episode two is almost ready to go!

[@reveranttangent1771]

Yay!

[@timoteoash3618]

What’s that “golden spiral tube” on your shelf?

[@emilyroan8106]

He has said before that it is a kaleidoscope

[@andrewlonghofer]

I’m interested in the possible relationship between this phenomenon and that of hazing. The idea of gaining status via more enthusiastic participation in painful and humiliating rituals...seems common to both.

[@CerebrumMortum]

Try and find *one* academic paper that does not refer to Hazing as purely evil, negative, and "worst of all" male-dominant. There were non to be found, according to Google Scholar. The entire research on Hazing is dominated by feminism and post-structuralism, both of which, of course, abhor the practice. One day our society will regain sanity, then maybe serious scientists with no agenda would be able to look into it

[@CorckSnipe]

And then people wonder where needle play comes from...

[@Persistence_run_444]

Circumcision of babies is horrible and disgusting.

[@maplesyrup8369]

I'm a bit curious about the causation here. Maybe it is my lack of knowledge on the larger subject at hand, but I can't see why we can determine that the participation in watching or performing these rituals is causing pro-social behavious, i.e donating, rather than having pro-social opinions/behaviours causing these people to participate in these, largely, societal rituals.

[@maggot1917]

Can you please do more videos about Hinduism?

[@chronikhiles]

As a Tamil Hindu, I was horrified when I first learned about the savage ritual as a kid. It's important to know that this is an extremely fringe ritual practised by zealots and is not a part of mainstream Hinduism.

[@bayndn707]

should’ve mentioned the plains native american ceremony of the sundance

[@DallasMay]

I believe that religion provides a feature that societies and cultures need to remain sustainable. This is why virtually all cultures around the world are religious in one way or the other. Rituals build and strengthen community. But these kinds of rituals confuse me on that level. Not that they exist, but rather why is it that ALL religions don't eventually migrate to more and more extreme rituals.

[@stephannaro2113]

And other forms of trauma - eg war, ship-wreck, or whatever - don't have these effects?

[@shubhamsinha1330]

do one on sanatan dharma (hinduism)

[@hanssmith8901]

Mauritian here

[@Fuzzycuffsqt]

It may be irresponsible to imply a causal relationship between the amount of pain endured by a ritual participant, and their generosity toward charity. It seems more likely to me that an underlying tendency to self-sacrifice influences both of these stats.

[@journeyaroundtheworld697]

Are those bongs behind this guy.....

[@sussekind9717]

The more intense the act of devotion, the less likely one is to leave that particular faith/religion. Also, other members, that merely witness these actions, are further psychologically and emotionally indoctrinated.

[@celinak5062]

6:27 sounds to much like bullying and self harm, to be honest

[@urbansocrates]

This goes a long way toward explaining bagpipes at police funerals, i think

[@TheLoudFox]

Been pierced through the tongue… didn’t feel it.. it’s a mental thing

[@SamMejah]

Do a video on African Religions

[@joashraulr]

Heyy , Am from Tamilnadu . Place where thaipusam is followed religiously every year and Murugan is the famous god here . Yes , the rituals seems very very painful and it looks lot more bad/painful when you see it in real . But I somehow think it's part of the socio-culture norm here. Even devout Christians ( Catholics) , walk for hundreds of kilometres as part of self sacrifice to reach famous catholic temples here . Also Head tonsuring is another common thing across religion here. Not sure how it evolved as a part of culture.

[@chronikhiles]

Don't mislead people who are not familiar with the religious demographics of Tamil Nadu. While Murugan is considered to be "the" Tamil deity, it is obvious that there are more shrines to Shiva and Vishnu than Murugan.

[@joashraulr]

@@chronikhiles Maybe. But tamils associate with murugan the closest. Also, Just because we have soo many chicken , doesn't Mean chicken is our national bird.

[@caleb5234]

I don't think it is intuitive that these kinds of rituals would die out within a generation. People are ambivalent, an example this reminds me of are fraternities and sororities. Absolute bonkers to me, but others still do it.

[@danielgogee5723]

0:02 that's not pain... trust me... Its something else ...

[@tigerpunch3402]

Evolution isn't going to explain this one away bud, but I admire your persistent dedication.

[@beeeb8831]

I never could figure out why people felt they had to run in a charity marathon instead of just giving the money to the charity and skipping the running. Somehow the running and assumed suffering makes the donation more impressive. I guess if you like running and you're not suffering you need to keep quiet about that. Suffering, however useless and pointless, somehow signals commitment (??) and it seems it has to be obvious and displayed in public. Would quiet mental suffering have the same effect? Is this a guy thing? Crucifixion seems tailor made for this cast of mind and Christianity always seems to have esteemed suffering to a dangerous degree, I think. Maybe enduring suffering is thought to be showing mastery over suffering. I don't understand this morbid human tendency which seems to be more universal than I once thought and must predate Christianity. It sure reduces motivation to improve living conditions; we could be so much further ahead in controlling disease and misery than we are. But if suffering is good for you, why bother.

[@mrandersson2009]

It seems to be something quite pathological.

[@dhritimanbardalai3021]

I'm from Assam and I'm a Hindu... Good video ....

[@pansepot1490]

Milder version of human sacrifice?

[@hermescarraro3393]

Gnnnnnnn... No. The goal of human sacrifices was to show devotion to the deities by offering them the most sacred creature on earth, humans. Well, it depends on the cultures actually... Aztec human sacrifices existed for a different reason. They became embodiments of the gods and had the task to bring back the divine energy to them with their death. They believed that man and gods were in a cyclical relationship of co dependence. The gods killed themselves to energize the world, man consumed the energy of the gods, and then they offered themselves to "revive" the gods. These rituals however do not share the same goal or ideas. Here, the pain is used as a symbolic imagery. The guys who are crucified (with ropes, not nails) experience the pain of christ to feel it for themselves and appreciate his sacrifice for mankind. At the same time, they act as living embodiments of this sacrifice and are seen as examples by the crowd. The guys in India do not seek to appease their gods or energize them. Their acts of mutilation are meant to teach the crowd about the nature of the human body, and the power of the soul and devotion. Since the goal of the Hindus is being free from the cycle of reincarnation. The mortal body is secondary to many of them. This is also why in ancient times suicide was not frawned upon, since the body is just a cage destined to decay.

[@mamamheus7751]

Very interesting video. Two things struck me most - religion makes people nuts, and the pic in the beginning didn't seem to show me pain but sheer terror. Though I guess there's not too many differences between the two emotions.

[@shaunsmith9801]

What about the guys who pierce their junk with a lamp?

[@notakanksh8752]

Omg what

[@kekzealot3568]

Why? For the glory of God of course!

[@SamMejah]

Specify which God?

[@kekzealot3568]

@@SamMejah whatever god demands it

[@mohdrizkkyy]

Sunni Muslims prohibit self-harm.

[@TheCheapPhilosophy]

Extreme rituals...that was what humans did for community and bonding before the Golden Buzzer in America Got Talent.

[@Klaus-cl3hr]

Well murugan is the god of war so it makes sense

[@aduts1177]

Morgan

[@TandemSix]

Christians in Philippines crucify themselves on Good Friday ? Like why?

[@hermescarraro3393]

Well. Devotion. They imitate the suffering of Christ to experience it for themselves, and appreciate his sacrifice even more. I guess it's about empathy...? Don't worry. They use ropes, not nails.

[@TandemSix]

@@hermescarraro3393 oh,I thought they use nails

[@VincentIrkallaOfficial]

Curious how this video totally forgets to mention a very common, barbaric and extremely painful religious cult blood ritual performed on infant male children without their consent. I thought this channel prided itself on not possessing any biases or slants towards any one religion, but interesting how monotheism gets to slide. Sad, really.

[@arimasago6460]

my dad take kavadi

[@tracefleemangarcia8816]

I am all for trigger warnings but isn't odd how we feel the need to censor an Indian religious festival out of decency, but everyone is fine with life-sized models of a dude nailed to a piece of wood that we force children to stare at

[@nandinimishra6901]

Not Indian ....this may happen in some tiny village but not on large scale no one does that now....!! Well ur point is right ...!!

[@kaen_tqk3918]

Wasn't Jesus crucified so we don't have to bear the pain? You don't have to be crucified like Jesus was, smh.

[@kateshungi8945]

Nope

[@michaljosealtadelescubaies4118]

Would you consider someone who does a lives stream gameplay for 1 week none stop an extreme ritual? I ask because while what your saying is informative the subjective reason which might have a connection with its culture is missing from the conversation.

[@pansepot1490]

No. Playing videogames is neither a *religious* ritual nor it involves acute physical pain and hurting oneself.

[@celinak5062]

Psychological pain like isolation and embarrassment is felt the same way, so perhaps Might also explain why people low key like watching people tell embarrassing stories or them trying spicy food, review bad books, shows, movies, music, etc.

[@michaljosealtadelescubaies4118]

Pat Pezzi, biologist have proven that we humans have a natural tendency to be religious, cultish etc... that’s how we evolve in order to be accepted in tribe, so to some degree we are all religious.

[@xS146roar]

Nasty 😡🤢

[@chiron14pl]

I found your explanations cogent and based on good theory and the data from anthropology. I was disappointed in your not acknowledging the situation of the individual performing the extreme act. They go into a trance, and the anthropological literature is replete with accounts of very active trance states. These are not unlike the trances one might induce in the West through hypnosis to dull pain. Indeed there are anecdotal reports of people undergoing extreme rituals who corroborate both the anesthetic effect of trance and the transformative vehicle of pain to open one up to the spiritual dimension. I have a friend in the BDSM community who also vouches for the spiritual impact and trance state one enters into while performing these acts. There is not only a social factor but a deeply personal one as well.

[@gaarik]

I was also very disappointed that nothing was mentioned concerning trance, but it's an attitude I've found many times in the academic community. My own anthropology professors in university would loudly deny that ecstasy was anything more than a byproduct, having no legitimate weight in the study of cultural rituals. I hope that he eventually does a video concerning trance and its effects in ordeals in another video.

[@0nlyThis]

Religion is born of morality - and not the inverse.

[@plexus]

1:01 ... That does it... I’m starting a tetanus shot business in India... I’m gonna be rich!

[@nandinimishra6901]

No one does that they may do these things somewhere but not in India I am Indian and never noticed these things may be this happen in some tiny villages but not on large scale.....here in India tetanus injections are free so ur business will fail..!! 🤣