Ritual

Indian Ritual

The rituals themselves take many forms in India such as

Tradition

There has been a long tradition of piercing rituals worldwide. Most piercings carried out in tribal societies have ritual significance. Often,but not always, they are carried out as part of a ‘coming of age’ ceremony.

This section will be more concerned with piercings that no jewellery is worn in. To a degree ritual is involved with self-mortification and transcending the self; which I believe to be inextricably linked.

In Asia there is an incredibly strong and ancient tradition of piercing rituals. Both Hindus and Muslims have such rituals. During certain (Shi-ite) Muslim festivals men cut their heads and strike the wounds for many hours to induce a trance-like state.

In India Hindu Sadhus perform many piercing rituals as a part of their religious observance. Sadhus follow different deities but it is the followers of Shiva and Kali who usually perform these, but it is not restricted to these sects.

As always in India there are exceptions to every rule.

Behind these rituals are varied spiritual or personal aspirations but basically they are intended to help find the ‘real’ you.

The physical body is merely a vehicle and not the true self – by subjecting the physical body to extremes of discomfort consciousness can go beyond the sensation of pain and achieve true self-realisation.

Another aspect of these rituals is propitiating Lord Shiva and showing that your love for him is so great you will suffer extremes of discomfort in his name. Hopefully this will speed your release from the bonds of rebirth and allow you to join Shiva in his abode of Mount Kailash.
In Sufism the ‘fakir’ has a long history. Fakirs would usually walk the countryside with few or no possessions and perform feats of ritual piercing.

These were intended to show people that the mind could be focussed to go beyond feeling pain.

In India Hindu Sadhus perform many piercing rituals as a part of their religious observance. Sadhus follow different deities but it is the followers of Shiva and Kali who usually perform these, but it is not restricted to these sects.

As always in India there are exceptions to every rule.

Behind these rituals are varied spiritual or personal aspirations but basically they are intended to help find the ‘real’ you.

The physical body is merely a vehicle and not the true self – by subjecting the physical body to extremes of discomfort consciousness can go beyond the sensation of pain and achieve true self-realisation.

Another aspect of these rituals is propitiating Lord Shiva and showing that your love for him is so great you will suffer extremes of discomfort in his name. Hopefully this will speed your release from the bonds of rebirth and allow you to join Shiva in his abode of Mount Kailash.

Sundance

There are many forms of the Sundance, firstly the Ok-ee-pa where the person is pierced deeply through the muscles of the chest and is then suspended and spun.

The full Ok-ee-pa carried out by some tribes was more extreme. Firstly came fasting for three days, together with fellow initiates in a lodge, with little or no sleep. Next piercing with a knife and inserting large wooden batons in the wounds before being raised to the roof of the lodge, wound up and spun.

Upon losing consciousness the initiate would be released – when he had regained his senses enough to move he would crawl to the corner of the lodge and place one of his left fingers on a buffalo skull to be chopped off.

Next, outside the lodge, the hands were bound and previously-inserted skin-deep piercings (with skulls hanging from them) in the arms and legs were ripped out whilst being dragged between two people.

Other tribe members would often jump on the skulls to rip them out more quickly.

After this the initiate could crawl to his family teepee, where care could be administered for the first time.

George Catlin, who recorded this ritual, states that some warriors did this ritual more than once.

Another form of the sundance has the warrior pierced both sides of the chest. Hooks are then inserted in the chest attached to a sapling tree.
The warrior then leans back until the full body weight is taken by the tree. He spends the day in this position staring at the sun.

Another form, often referred to as the Great Sioux Piercing Ritual, involves piercing one or both sides of the chest and then inserting eagles’ talons, sticks or leather thongs and then being tied to a tree.
The idea then is to rip the hooks out of the chest with the body weight.

In the 1970′s this form of sundance re-emerged, though generally the depth of the piercing was fairly superficial.

According to reference material on the subject, the times for ripping out the objects varied from a few seconds to 45 minutes.

Personal Experience

I did the sundance on the Winter Solstice 1999 above San Pedro, Guatemala. There were many reasons for doing the ritual at this particular place and time.

I’d wanted to do this ritual for many years but waited for the right occasion. My girlfriend was pregnant and the idea was a birth celebration ritual.

We decided to travel to Central America and because of the long tradition of blood-letting rituals here we felt it would be an appropriate place.

It was hard to get practical information about the ritual itself such as the depth of piercing and the size of hook / object to insert. Therefore we had to work things out for ourselves.

On Hooks

We decided to use 3.2mm hooks – forged by Ami and not sharpened in any way. I didn’t want them to rip out too quickly, but obviously wanted to be able to rip them out myself. We decided on a 12mm gap between entry and exit wound.

We awoke on the morning of the Solstice to a thunderstorm. We planned to leave our room around 6am but had to delay this till 9am.

We walked for an hour up the mountainside to a previously scouted location. Despite fasting for three days and drinking no water for 16 hours I felt highly energised and couldn’t get up the mountain quick enough.

My girlfriend pierced me with 2.3 mm needles into which we fitted the tip of the hook and then turned this back through the piercings. Next we tied the hooks to a tree and I started pulling.

Conclusion

It took me an hour and a half to rip the hooks out; the hooks didn’t rip through the skin, the skin broke first down the sides of the wound.

What I found during the ritual was that having both sides pierced exerted tremendous pressure on the chest muscles, restricting my air supply.

As I didn’t want to pass out, and rip the hooks out falling as a dead weight, I used my hands to pull the skin apart slightly so I could breathe and keep bouncing. Next time I will probably pierce one side a lot deeper as I believe I could trance out more effectively.

Check the photos for an explanation.

I am always willing to correspond with anyone interested in the ritual experience or practicalities…