4/13/2006: Bloody Easter

[Undertoad]

You think you take Easter celebrations seriously, what with your whole Cadbury Egg-eating and such? You're a piker compared to the likes of this guy. He's a Filipino, and he's engaged in flagellating himself, but just to make sure the process is as bloody as possible, he has someone else punch a few pinholes in his back first.

It's interesting partly because IotD has previously featured Ashoura, the Shiite festival which involves a lot of blood and self-punishment. So here a blood ritual is used during Easter. Did the idea of a blood ritual migrate halfway around the world and across religious boundaries? Or is bloodletting so basic to spirituality that it naturally becomes a part of the spiritual rituals?

And now in the days of HIV and other blood-borne pathogens, seriously people, this is just a really bad idea...