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Raising Your Ceiling - by Nat Eliason - Infinite Play

blog.nateliason.com · 675 words · saved by 1 readers

Lion optional

The Masai of Africa have an ancient ritual for passing into manhood. First, the boy who wishes to become a man must give away everything he owns. Then he’s decorated with a ceremonial cloak and face paint to head off into the wilderness. He can’t return until he’s killed a lion.1 Once he returns with his lion, he’s brought into the ritual tent and is circumcised in front of the other men in the village. He receives no painkillers, and if he reacts during the circumcision, he fails the ritual. Finally, he wears all black for the next few months while his body heals from the ordeal, after…

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