From Wikipedia:
The Satere-Mawe people of Brazil use intentional bullet ant stings as part of their initiation rites to become a warrior. The ants are first rendered unconscious by submerging them in a natural chloroform, and then hundreds of them are woven into a glove made out of leaves (which resembles a large oven mitt), stinger facing inward. When the ants regain consciousness, a boy slips the glove onto his hand.
The goal of this initiation rite is to keep the glove on for a full ten minutes. When finished, the boy's hand and part of his arm are temporarily paralyzed because of the ant venom, and he may shake uncontrollably for days. The only "protection" provided is a coating of charcoal on the hands, supposedly to confuse the ants and inhibit their stinging. To fully complete the initiation, however, the boys must go through the ordeal a total of 20 times over the course of several months or even years.
Monday, June 22, 2009
And you thought being a teenager was tough in your part of the world?
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2 comments:
I am reminded of the book DUNE when Paul had to put his hand in the box, take the excruciating pain of it and prove himself human- or feel the gom jabbar and its poison and instant death....
Compared to that ritual, what I have tagged you to do is far less painful so I hope you'll do it. No obligation though. Come over and find out what's it about. (Guaranteed no ants unless you bring them along.)
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