For many, religion is a sacred, peaceful space. It’s where people go for hope, for healing, for answers. But history has shown us that devotion can sometimes take a darker, more brutal turn. In the name of pleasing gods, purifying the soul, or showing complete submission, some believers have taken their devotion to extreme lengths, practising rituals that would make even the most faithful among us wince.
These practices blur the line between spiritual dedication and outright torture. Some were meant to prove loyalty to the gods, others to achieve enlightenment, and a few, well, let’s just say no one’s entirely sure what the point was.
Some of these extreme practices have faded into history, while others, shockingly, still exist today. Â
Fair warning: If you’re squeamish, you might want to sit this one out.
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1. The Urs festival’s eyeball piercingÂ
Every year, at the Urs festival in India, devotees of the Sufi saint Muhyuddin Chishti perform a ritual so extreme it’s hard to watch: they push a knife behind their eyeball until it protrudes grotesquely from the socket.
Painful.
This practice, known as “Kanjari,” is performed by members of the Qalandar sect, who believe enduring pain brings them closer to God. The knife is inserted beneath the eyeball and wiggled around until the eye bulges out, temporarily. Supposedly, it doesn’t cause permanent damage, though infections are common.
Why would anyone do this? For these devotees, it’s the ultimate act of faith, a way to show they’ve conquered pain and fear. But how far is too far when it comes to devotion?
2. The Aztec heart sacrifices
The Aztecs believed the sun god Huitzilopochtli needed human blood to keep rising each day. Without it, the world would end. So, they developed one of history’s most infamous rituals: human heart extraction.
Priests would lead victims, often prisoners or volunteers, to the top of pyramids, pin them down, and carve out their still-beating hearts with an obsidian blade. The heart would then be held up to the sun as an offering, while the body was tossed down the steps.
Gruesome? Absolutely. But to the Aztecs, this wasn’t murder, it was a sacred duty. Some victims even believed they’d earn a place in paradise. Still, when the Spanish arrived and saw this, they were horrified and used it as justification to destroy the Aztec civilisation.
Some historians argue that the Spanish exaggerated the numbers to make the Aztecs look worse. But skeletons don’t lie, this really happened.
3. The Spartan whipping boys
Ancient Sparta took “tough love” to a whole new level. Every year, teenage boys were whipped mercilessly at the altar of Artemis Orthia, a goddess who apparently enjoyed watching children suffer.
The ritual, called the Diamastigosis, was meant to test endurance. Boys were expected to stand still and take the lashings without crying out. The one who lasted the longest was praised as a hero.
But unfortunately, some died. And instead of stopping the ritual, the Spartans just replaced the dead boys with others.
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4. The Hindu “hook swinging”Â
In parts of India, devotees of the goddess Mariamman used to participate in a ritual called “Hook Swinging.” Here’s how it worked:
Large hooks were pierced through the skin of a worshipper’s back.
Ropes were tied to the hooks.
The person was then hoisted into the air and swung around a pole.
The idea? To show devotion through pain. Thankfully, this practice was banned by the British in the 19th century, though some still attempt it illegally.
Don’t believe us? Here’s a video.
5. The Christian flagellantsÂ
During the Black Death in Europe, a group called the Flagellants believed the plague was God’s punishment for sin. Their solution was to walk from town to town, publicly whipping themselves until they bled.
This wasn’t just a few lashes, they’d beat themselves for days, often collapsing from exhaustion. And if you think this died out in the Middle Ages, think again: Some Catholic groups still practice mild forms of self-flagellation today.
Faith or folly?
These rituals sound like something out of a horror movie. Yet for those who practised them, they were sacred.
Today, most have faded away, replaced by less painful forms of worship. Thankfully.
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