This Hindu Sect Lives in Cemeteries and Eats Out of Skulls

The beauty and terror of religion operate along similar paths. Spirit is an abstract concept. Connecting the mundane material world with the realms of something more sacred is like a sandbox–anything can forge that link with the right state of mind. As such, certain believers engage in incredibly intense practices.

Presumably, prayer and church service isn’t enough for some people. Particularly intense or zealous believers seek communion with the divine in strange, peculiar, or downright frightening ways. Hindu sects like the Aghori unite all opposites by living in cemeteries and drinking out of human skulls. Other, more ancient practices like sky burial use the natural world to ascend into higher realms. In this article, we will explore some of the strangest and most shocking religious practices from around the world.

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To compile a list of the strangest religious practices across the world, 24/7 Tempo consulted a range of historical, entertainment, and news publications including IndiaTimes.com , the Islamic Research Foundation , and Roughguides.com. Next, we selected particularly strange or shocking religious practices. After that, we confirmed aspects of our research using sites like Britannica.com and the BBC .

Self-Flagellation

In several religions, the act of self-flagellation seeks to mimic the actions or circumstances of religious leaders. By flogging or whipping oneself, people believe they can share in suffering and reinforce a sense of spiritual discipline. In certain Christian belief systems, the process of self-flagellation parallels the mortification of the flesh, an act through which one can deaden their sinful nature as well as share in the suffering of Jesus Christ during his crucifixion. These acts extend to a litany of painful practices, be it fasting, whipping, or wearing hairshirts. Though it’s a bloody affair, practicers believe self-flagellation reminds one of their sinful nature, and vileness in the eyes of God.

While Christian self-flagellation reinforces the notion of the body being inherently sinful, Islamic self-hurting practices attempt to re-affirm one’s faith as well as emulate Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammed. Instead of railing against the flesh, Islamic self-flagellation reinforces bonds between participants, providing an opportunity to be vulnerable in a community setting.

Self-flagellation is not without its controversy, however. The practice was relatively widespread in centuries past, but many current Christian religious leaders have condemned such self-harm activities for being too extreme. The Islamic variant is not without its complaints either. A notable 2008 court case in Eccles, United Kingdom where a father was accused of encouraging his children to self-flagellate was met with widespread complaints and condemnation.

Sky Burials

Sky burial has been around for a long time. While its origin remains disputed, the practice of sky burial likely originated in ancient Zoroastrian rituals from thousands of years ago. Indeed, evidence of sky burials has been found at Göbekli Tepe, a Turkish neolithic site dated to 9500 BCE. By definition, a sky burial is when a body is left out in the open as an offering to the sky. Scavenger birds like vultures then pick at it. Eventually, the body is transferred to the sky. Researchers are torn over its exact purpose. Some say it evolved out of practical considerations while others suggest it featured a heavy ritual and religious component.

This peculiar burial custom was first recorded in the Bardo Thodol. This is a Buddhist treatise from the 12th century popularly known as the “Book of the Dead.” In the Buddhist interpretation of the practice, sky burials are seen as a lesson on the impermanence of life. It also serves as an act of generosity by providing food for other living beings. Such practices of compassion are inherent to Buddhist beliefs. Tibetan Buddhist practices of sky burial, more specifically, seek to unite the dead with the sacred realm of the sky.

It’s hard to say how the process went down thousands of years ago. That said, modern-day sky burials involve a complicated set of rituals involving mantra chanting, incense burning, and even cutting up the body to make it easier for scavenger birds to eat. Good luck finding instances of it these days, however, areas that previously practiced sky burial have seen the practice outlawed. During the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese Communist Party banned the practice. They considered it to be part of the Four Olds. This was a classification system used by the party to denote backwards, antiquated, and superstitious cultural practices.

The Aghori

No one embraces the disgusting aspects of life quite like the Aghori. Covered in dirt, ash, and decomposing flesh, an Aghori acolyte draws eyes practically everywhere they go. The Aghori are a monastic order based in Uttar Pradesh, India that adheres to Tantric Shaivism, a form of Hindu worship. The Aghori believe that life is a process of letting go of life so to speak. Put simply, they seek liberation from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth. More specifically, they believe that all notions of difference and opposites are illusions. The Aghori affirm the uniting of opposites by breaking all social, cultural, and judicial taboos. This belief further manifests itself in particularly gruesome ways.

The Aghori engage in utterly shocking and macabre behavior. Smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol are the more mild variants. The more extreme practices extend to embracing death in a way that would make even vultures shudder. They live in cemeteries, use human skulls as drinking cups, smear cremation ashes all over their body, and even sit atop corpses in prolonged meditation. Other Aghori practices enter into the realms of cannibalism, the particulars of which are too horrific to mention here.

It’s hard to say exactly where such practices originate. The Aghori likely evolved out of an older Hindu sect called Kāpālika, or the wearers of skulls. The Aghori themselves trace their tradition back to an ascetic named Baba Keenaram who died in the latter half of the 18th century. While this sect previously existed in more obscure corners of Hindu tradition, the group has become remarkably more mainstream in the contemporary era. Truly the most punk rock of religious sects, the Aghori embrace death and all its trappings with a fervor rarely seen in religion.

Digambara

While the Aghori made a habit of concealing their body in grime, followers of Digambara eschew all clothes in general. The word Digambara means “sky-clad” and serves as one of the major schools of thought in Jainism, a traditional Indian religion. Digambara monks believe in the virtues of non-attachment and disavow the coveting of any material good. In practice, this means they live naked, refusing to acquire, buy, or wear clothes at all. This refusal of materialism extends into more extreme ascetic practices including renouncing all worldly attachments, abstaining from intimate relations, and harsh, comfort-ridding techniques. Digambara followers never brush their teeth, bathe, and periodically pluck out their hair.

In ways similar to self-flagellation, the Digambara beliefs insist on a renunciation of the comforts of life. They walk around naked everywhere they go and spend the rest of the time in deep prayer or meditative contemplation. They also adhere to a strong practice of mantra chanting. Simultaneously, they believe in the sanctity of all life, down to the smallest of beings. As such, they typically carry a broom made of peacock feathers to brush seats and walking paths, thereby preventing small insects from being harmed. Jainism Digambara sects exist mostly in northern India, counting sizable numbers in regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi.

It’s hard to say exactly when the Digambara school of thought originated. Thanks to the subtle cultural mixing of the Ancient Greek and Ancient Indian civilizations, some anthropologists suggest the unique Digambara practices came from a nude-prioritizing sect of 4th-century BCE Greek ascetics called gymnosophists. That said, the oldest Digambara statue dates to a century before that. The Digambara themselves trace their lineage to Mahavira, a 6th Century BCE Jainist leader. These days, Digambara is an obscure sect of the religion, accounting for less than one-fifth of contemporary Jainists.

Mormon Baptism of the Dead

In the American church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints, commonly known as Mormonism, a person can be baptized long after they have left this earth. The Mormons, in essence, believe that everyone is a Mormon even if they don’t know it yet. As such, they perform baptisms for both the living and dead, as they believe such initiations are necessary to enter the Kingdom of God. In practice, the church allows a living person to act as a proxy for the deceased. This person, typically of the same sex as the deceased, enters a Mormon temple and receives a baptism via immersion. This effectively secures the dead person’s soul for the Kingdom of God.

Strangely, these surrogate baptisms don’t necessarily mean the dead person has been saved. The church teaches that the dead can choose to either accept or reject the baptism done on their behalf. Regardless, the living proxy must be at least 12 years old and hold a current Temple recommendation. Of its efficacy, the Church points to a quote from Jesus in John 3:5 from the Bible. This states, “Except that a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

The practice of baptizing the dead comes from a revelation put forth by the church’s founder Joseph Smith in October 1840. He first publicized this doctrine at the funeral of a fellow church member who died named Seymour Brunson. Initially, women could serve as proxies for men and vice-versa. This was later restricted to same-sex surrogacy to ensure that the proxy could also be ordained for priesthood. While the Mormon church as well as its split-off sects undertake baptisms for the dead, it’s not without historical context. Early Gnostic Christian sects like the Cerinthians and the Marcionites were said to engage in such practices.

Mellification

Mellification remains one of the more mysterious and fascinating religious practices in history. Also known as the human mummy confection, this burial strategy involves a long, drawn-out process of preparing for death. It requires the selected donor to stop eating food besides honey. Strict honey eating would occur for weeks until the person’s waste and sweat would consist entirely of honey. Some adherents would go so far as to bathe in only honey as well. Eventually, the pure honey diet proves fatal. After death, the honey-marinated person would be placed in a coffin filled with honey.

As per the legends, a century basted in honey would transform the body into a type of confection prized for its healing properties. Said to be capable of curing illness or even healing broken limbs, parts of the mellified man would be sold in street markets for exorbitant fees. It may seem like the intense pre-death rituals of certain Buddhist sects, but mellification has parallels across the ancient world.

Several ancient sources attest to this fascinating, sweet, but gruesome death procedure. The Greek Historian Herodotus wrote about people in the Assyrian culture embalming themselves in honey in the 4th century BCE. A century or so later, Alexander the Great’s body was said to have been ritually encased in honey. A 16th-century Ming Chinese medicine encyclopedia, the Bencao Gangmu, gives an account of elderly men in Arabian regions engaging in the process of mellification.

Snake Handling

Not to be confused with snake charming, snake handling is an obscure Christian practice where worshippers handle dangerous snakes during church services. This religious rite likely originated with the 2nd-century Ophite Gnostic sect in the Levant region of the Middle East. After that, the practice fell into obscurity until Christian revivalists reintroduced it in the Appalachian mountains around the turn of the 20th century. Some researchers point to the ministry of George Went Hensley in Grasshopper Valley, Tennessee as a pioneer of this procedure. From there it spread throughout the Appalachian region, with other revivalist-esque churches adopting snake handling.

Adherents believe the practice has occurred since antiquity and point to the Gospel of Mark from the Bible. Verse 16:17-18 says, “And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Armed with this biblical justification, snake handlers believe the process serves as a demonstration of their faith. As such, they let dangerous snakes writhe around their arms as they engage in church service.

The rite extends to even stranger, more esoteric techniques. These include speaking in tongues, laying on of hands to the sick, and sometimes, consuming deadly poisons like strychnine. The snakes involved are not much safer, as practitioners typically use deadly variants like copperheads, rattlesnakes, and cobras. If a snake handler gets bit, they do not seek medical help. Instead, they put their faith in God to heal them. As expected, the resurgence of snake handling in the Appalachian mountains was met with judicial outlaws in every state except West Virginia. That said, the American Civil Liberties Union has defended the practice on the grounds of religious freedom.

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Zoroastrian Xwedodah

The classic Greek story of Oedipus marrying his mother has nothing on real religious rites. Indeed, it finds real-life parallels in an ancient Zoroastrian religious practice called Xwedodah. This taboo practice details a religious rite where interfamily marriages were not only allowed but considered highly pious. It was inspired by the unique cosmology of Zoroastrianism. In the Zoroastrian religion, the world was born out of the interfamily marriage between the first man and woman, Mashya and Mashyana. As such, the religion championed the marriage of men into their own families, be it to their sisters, daughters, or mothers. Followers considered it an act of the highest worship. Not adhering to Xwedodah was punished if not performed.

As far as we can tell, the rite of Xwedodah took place mostly amongst the nobility, clergy, and other elites. It’s unlikely that commoners engaged in the practice, though no one knows for sure. The practice remained widespread until the conquest of Persia by Muslims in the mid-600s. After that, the invaders effectively outlawed this Zoroastrian practice. That said, instances of it made their way into history books and historical accounts up until at least the 11th century AD. While modern-day Zoroastrian interfamily marriage remains unlikely, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that zealous practitioners still engage in Xwedodah.

Stylites

In the centuries following Jesus’ crucifixion and death, his teachings spread across the ancient world. Subsequent followers interpreted his lessons in increasingly strange, esoteric, and sometimes tortuous ways. The aforementioned self-flagellation served as one such interpretation. Another less painful but equally intense Christian practice was that of the stylites. Stylites believed that the mortification of their bodies would ensure the saving of their souls. To do this, they lived out their lives atop tall pillars, spending their days fasting, praying, and standing erect as long as possible. While early sources speak to hermits adopting similar practices, the first proper stylite was Simeon Stylites the Elder.

Simeon Stylites the Elder acquired a zealous taste for Christianity at an early age. Upon reaching adolescence, Simeon entered a monastery. His aesthetic practices of worship seemed so extreme, however, the other monks asked him to leave. Presumably in mourning, Simeon spent a year and a half inside a small hut, fasting for the entirety of Lent. His intense practices attracted a legion of followers, who often consulted him for advice or sought his collaboration in prayer. This bothered Simeon, so he found a pillar in the middle of nowhere and took residence atop it. For the rest of his life, Simeon lived on the pillar, standing in prayer for most of the day. Ironically, this made him even more famous as an increasing number of worshippers sought out his consult.

Simeon’s unique religious practice spread after this death with several other notable believers becoming stylites. The practice continued for centuries around the Middle East and the Balkans. Female stylites were even reported at various times. While stylites have died out in recent centuries, a few notable monks still carry on the practice. A modern-day monk from the Georgian Orthodox Church named Maxime Qavtaradze has lived atop a pillar for over 20 years.

Baby Throwing

One of the more unique religious practices that still exists today is baby throwing. For hundreds of years, baby throwing occurred at the Baba Umer Dargah, a legendary Islamic shrine in Solapur, India. The practice is said to have originated when medical knowledge was limited and infant mortality was high. Priests would advise parents dealing with ailing or dying babies to build a shrine and throw their infants off the top. If they had sufficient faith in the Almighty, a sheet would miraculously appear and safely catch the baby. Eventually, babies were thrown from heights of up to 50 feet before being caught by a group of men on the ground.

In recent years, the practice has evolved into a more general celebration of life and infants. Practitioners believe baby throwing brings good luck and bestows good health on the babies involved. The rite is not without its controversy, however. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights attempted to ban the practice in 2009. Despite further attempts to ban baby throwing, the ritual resumed practice at the Digambareshwara Temple in India sometime in 2011.

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