10 crazy rites of passage

Most cultures recognize the importance of rituals. However, not all rituals are safe. Some can be absolutely deadly. The crazy rites on this list signify young people's entry into adulthood. They also show the painful things that people are willing to endure in order to earn respect.

10 PHOTOS

1. Naghole.

The jump is done with a vine instead of bungee cords when bungee jumping and the target must be as close to death as possible. Performed by the people of Vanuatu, the jumper's goal is to scratch his head on the ground. If he survives, he is a man. Or a very, very lucky person.

2. Vision Quest.

Similar to the Aboriginal practice of sending young people to fend for themselves in the wilderness, many Native American tribes sent their young people out into the wild for several days during a busy fasting period to find direction for their lives.

3. Sharpening the teeth of the mentawai.

For the natives of the Mentawai Islands, beauty is extremely important. If a person's soul is dissatisfied with his body, they believe that the person will die. To decorate themselves, young Mentauan women who have reached puberty sharpen their teeth with a stone and a chisel.

4. Fulbe face tattoos.

Fulbe women in West Africa are required to have tattoos on their faces before they are considered adults. The process takes several hours and is usually done with a sharpened piece of wood.

5. Ulwaluko.

Boys from the Xhosa people of South Africa must be circumcised before being considered male. He is shaved and taken to the mountains, where he will live in seclusion in a hut built for him by his family. At the same time, a surgeon comes and circumcises the boy, after which he is not allowed to return to the tribe until he is healed.

6. Crypto.

As part of the Spartan training, the young Spartan would participate in the cryptic, which was essentially an annual "war" against the helots (slaves). Boys as young as 12 will participate in the killings using covert tactics they learned in school.

7. Scarification.

Although scarification is a common coming-of-age rite around the world, it is widely practiced by the Sepik River tribes in Papua New Guinea as part of a male initiation ceremony. This is just a small part of the ceremony, which lasts for weeks. Tribal elders use razor blades to slash young men all over their bodies in a pattern that closely mimics the rough alligator skin. They believe that the alligator will then consume any resemblance of a boy left in their bodies and they will become men.

8. Okipah.

In order for a Mandan boy to become a warrior, he had to fast for 4 days without sleep. On the 5th day, the boys were taken to a hut where they were hung from the ceiling.

9. Mittens with ants.

Deep in the jungles of the Brazilian Amazon live the Sater Mau tribe. The young boys have to wear gloves filled with bullet ants, the sting that is said to be the most painful. Ants cause paralysis and throbbing pain for 24 hours.

10. Female infibulation.

Practiced in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, this gruesome and often life-threatening rite is also known as female circumcision. During the procedure, the labia and clitoris are removed.