208 days ago
208 days ago
In the small farming town of Cutud, a couple of hours' drive north of Manila in northern Philippines, thousands of tourists gathered to watch what has over the years become the biggest and bloodiest Good Friday spectacle.
This year fourteen people were nailed to crosses and hundreds were whipped as they walked through the town, their blood splattering onto the ground and walls of buildings while thousands followed cheering. The locals do this for a number of reasons: First and foremost to commemorate Jesus’ final approach to his crucifixion. It is also done as a form of personal penance- repenting for their sins of the flesh by painfully mutilating the flesh.
The journey through the city culminates upon reaching the outskirts of town where believers will literally be crucified! Trained members of the community (although certainly not MD’s) accurately place and hammer six inch nails in the palms and feet of those wishing to be crucified and then the cross is raised. Most people engaging in the act choose to only stay nailed on the cross for a few minutes (can’t blame them), but there are some who will endure the pain for hours. Amazing enough, the locals claim very few, if any, lasting repercussions of this procedure. Some members of the community have been crucified every Good Friday for 3+ decades with no apparent consequences!
Other such exercises are known to happen in Mexico and South America, but apparently with far less vigor than what happens in the northern Philippines. For those looking to experience other Easter related festivities while traveling; Brazil is widely thought of as the place to go for a proper Easter party, Russians will serve you pancakes, pussy willows and of coarse vodka, and Israel is one of the most sacred places for worshippers to flock to- surprising to some that Messianic Jews do commemorate the death and rebirth of Christ.
