The Goat Slaughter When the first goat was killed, it took me by surprise.
My husband Jorge and I had been invited by one of Jorge’s photojournalist friends to this nondescript compound in La Mixteca, the most impoverished region of Oaxaca, Mexico’s most impoverished state, to watch the annual slaughter of thousands of goats.
[more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns
on Mar 14, 2013 -
12 comments
This weekend marks the time of
the Hajj, a core pillar of Islam in which
great tides of humanity venture to the ancient city of Mecca to honor God.
Predating Mohammed's birth by centuries, the pilgrimage comprises
several days of rites, from congregation like snow on
Mount Arafat and the ritual
stoning of Shaitan to the circling of the sacred
Kaaba (the
shrouded cubical monolith Muslims
pray toward daily) and kissing the
Black Stone (colored by the absorption of myriad sins, and believed by some to be a
fallen meteorite).
While the city has
modernized to handle this largest of annual gatherings -- building highway-scale ramps,
gaudy skyscrapers for the ultra-rich, and
tent cities the size of Seattle -- it remains mysterious, as unbelievers are
forbidden from entering its borders.
Richard Francis Burton became famous for
touring the city in disguise to write
a rare travelogue, but contemporary viewers have a more immediate guide:
Vice Magazine journalist Suroosh Alvi, who smuggled a minicam into the city to record
The Mecca Diaries [alt], a 14-minute documentary of his own Hajj journey.
Browse the manual to see what goes into a Hajj trip, or
watch the YouTube livestream to see the Grand Mosque crowds in real time.
posted by Rhaomi
on Nov 4, 2011 -
31 comments
Labyrinths –
not to be confused with mazes – are being
rediscovered as tools for
contemplation,
meditation,
reflection, and
community well-being, as well as inspiration for
architecture,
music,
dance,
ritual,
business, and
visual art.
[more inside]
posted by velvet winter
on Dec 20, 2010 -
19 comments
“There’s a tremendous amount of anxiety among religious traditionalists that when you take one step toward egalitarianism, the floodgates are open and everything that seemed self-evident will no longer be. Men go to work, and women raise children. If you undermine that, you have lost your whole universe.”The Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements of Judaism have been ordaining women as rabbis for decades, but the religion's most traditional sect, the Orthodox, remains a lone, minority holdout against egalitarianism. Last year, Orthodox Rabbi Avraham "Avi" Weiss (political
activist and founder of the
controversial, liberal, "Open Orthodox"
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Yeshiva in New York)
tried to shake things up by ordaining the first female American Orthodox rabbi.
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Jul 31, 2010 -
35 comments
Flirting with the Forbidden, for centuries, Romans and French have enjoyed the pleasures of a unique songbird. Once caught,
this tiny bunting is kept in a small cage, where its eyes are poked out. It is then force fed oats, millet, and figs until it's plumped up to four times its size. It is subsequently drowned alive in cognac, roasted at high heat, then served as an
exquisite - and illegal - meal. Traditionally the diner enjoys this delicacy - approximately the size of a human thumb -
underneath an embroidered napkin. The head is bitten off, the entire body eaten in one crunchy bite. Said to embody the "
soul of France," it was, reportedly, the
last meal of Francois Mitterrand. Writer Michael Paterniti
recreates the experience of dining on
l'ortolan, superbly told in an episode of "This American Life."
posted by Dr. Zira
on Feb 20, 2008 -
141 comments
Jumping spiders use their legs to communicate courtship interests to potential mates. The minuscule impacts of spider legs tapping against the ground surface are detected by nearby spiders. This "drumming" cadence signals the spider's reproductive interests. The female detects the low frequency vibrations through her legs. She responds by allowing the male to mount her.
Absolutely amazing video here. The sound is the best part, so make sure it's on.
posted by lazaruslong
on Jul 27, 2007 -
53 comments
The nkondi are the most powerful of the nkisi. They were used to identify and hunt down unknown
wrongdoers such as thieves, and people who were believed to cause sickness or death by occult means.
They were also used to punish people who swore false oaths and villages which broke treaties. To inspire
the nkondi to action, it was both invoked and provoked. Invocations, in bloodthirsty language, encouraged
it to punish the guilty party. It would also be provoked by having gunpowder exploded in front of it, and
having nails hammered into it. These fantastic Congo nail fetish figures are just one small, wonderful part of the impressive collection of images you can view at the content-rich, gratifyingly obsessive
Rand African Art, a site stuffed with nice large photos,
lots of lovely, lovely
links, and all sorts of intriguing nooks and crannies inviting exploration.
posted by taz
on Nov 13, 2005 -
14 comments
Theyyam , a corrupt form of daivum (god), is a popular ritual dance of North Kerala, India. As a living cult with centuries old traditions,
ritual and custom, it embraces almost all castes and classes of the Hindu religion in this region. A
performance (mpg) of a particular deity continues for 12 to 24 hours with intervals. The costumes differ based on the
character (mpg) of the theyyam.
posted by dhruva
on Dec 23, 2004 -
13 comments
Greek Temple Architecture: They were houses--houses for cult statues, storehouses of treasures given to the gods--they were not churches. Worship consisted, by and large, of
sacrificial ritual--
animal sacrifice:
killing animals and eating them, for the most part--and, hence, it was done out of doors.
The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook's Accounts of Hellenic Religious Beliefs and
Accounts of Personal Religion give additional flavor and context. Greek religious architecture evolved from
wooden structures and was tradition bound--they built in stone as they had in wood according to variations on a traditional canon called the
orders, first and foremost, the
Doric Order , the
Ionic Order and the
Corinthian Order. Here are some
restorations. I love restorations, on paper or models rather than at the actual sites.
The first in a series.
posted by y2karl
on Jun 19, 2003 -
15 comments
So how will you spend Easter? Are your plans just a tad pedestrian? If egg hunts leave you cold, perhaps you need a bit more edge. For many, things begin this week. In Czechoslovakia, men carry woven willow sticks and
whip girls on the legs, but in Taxco, Mexico, it's all about
self-flagellation. In the U.S., many go theatrical with a
living last supper; in the Philippines they favor more authenticity - every year about 20 people
re-enact the crucifixion, nails & all. If that's too real, you could
order supplies to build a backyard
corpus shrine for next year.
- more -
posted by madamjujujive
on Apr 14, 2003 -
23 comments
105 unconscious children temporarily buried alive in the name of religion. In a horrible ritual witnessed by an Indian government official,
who quit his position shortly afterward, children were worked until exhausted, wrapped in cloth, and then buried for one entire minute. Sometimes it feels like that we will never shake off the need for ancient tradition, myth, and groundless faith, but there is a bright side. There are
more non-religious people now than ever. As the information age expands, education becomes more accessible and may be the most important factor in
determining how religious one is. Unsurprisingly, a
follow-up article on the mass-burial quotes, "Inquiries also revealed that no educational programme had been introduced anywhere near Perayur in the last six years."
posted by skallas
on Sep 6, 2002 -
93 comments
US Woman Killed in Malaysia "Police believe an American woman whose remains were recently unearthed in Malaysia was used as a human sacrifice in a ritual to obtain lottery numbers from the spirits..." The article didn't say if they won. Not that it matters.
posted by mcsweetie
on Jun 26, 2001 -
8 comments
