Teenagers around the world grow in different cultures and go through various types of rituals to pass from childhood to adulthood.

Learn about some hard to believe and very interesting rituals.

1. Bullet ant glove: The Satere-Mawe tribe live deep in the Brazilian Amazon. To become men, boys have to wear gloves made with bullet ants in them. The ants have      their stingers facing inwards and have one of the most painful bites in the insect world. The boys can’t flinch for 10 minutes.

2. Xhosa circumcision: The Xhosa people of South Africa need to be circumcised before being considered men. The boys are shaved and taken into the mountains. They live in isolation while a surgeon comes to circumcise them; they cannot return home until they have healed completely.

3.Hamar cow jumping: The men of the Hamar tribe in Ethiopa must perform this rite before they are allowed to marry. First, the boy is whipped while family and friends look on. Then, he must run across the backs of four castrated cows. Then he can be wed.

4. Fulani facial tattoos: The women of the Fula people in West Africa must have their faces tattooed (which is a long process involving a sharp piece of wood) before they are allowed to marry and considered an adult.

5. Female infibulation: This is practiced in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Female circumcision is a gruesome and sometimes life-threatening procedure. The labia and clitoris are removed. Then, after a wall of flesh forms across the vagina, a small hole is opened for menstruation and urine.

6.  Iria ceremony: The Okrika tribe of Nigeria; The girls involved in the ritual usually range from the age of 14 to 16 (girls that are preparing themselves for marriage.) In some places the ritual begins with the girls appearing bare breasted in front of the crowd for “inspection.” The purpose of appearing in front of the community like this is for the community to make sure that the girl’s virginity is intact.

7.Land diving (known in the local Sa language as Gol and in Bislama as Nanggol) is a ritual performed by the men of the southern part of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. The precursor to bungee jumping, men jump off wooden towers around 20 to 30 meters (66 to 98 ft) high, with two tree vines wrapped around the ankles. Hence, it is seen as the rite of passage for young men.

8. Masai lion hunt: The Maasai people of Tanzania and Kenya replace their warriors every 6-10 years. The next generation of warriors are circumcised and moved into a camp. Traditionally, the men had to kill a lion to complete this rite, but recently the government has stepped in to protect the animals.

9. Mandan Okipa ceremony: For a Mandan boy to become a warrior, he must fast for 4 days without sleeping. Then, wooden skewers are forced through his chest and he is hung from the ceiling, smiling, until he passes out. After that, his little finger will be cut off as an offering.

10. Mardudjara circumcision: When young Mardudjara aborigines enter manhood, they are taken to a secluded place. An elder sits on their chest and another will slice their foreskin. Then, he must swallow it without chewing. Then, there is more genital disfigurement… welcome to manhood.

11. Matausa cleansing: The Matausa tribe cleanse their boys of impurity and help them gain the vitality a warrior needs by sticking two wooden canes down their throats until they vomit. Then, reeds are forced up their nostrils and their tongues are stabbed until their blood has been sufficiently purified.

12.The Ogiek roar: After being circumcised, the young boys and girls of the Okiek tribe in Kenya are secluded from the adults. Then, they paint themselves using clay, are haunted by a mythical beast and they become adults when they can replicate the roar themselves.

13.Sambian purification: When boys are 7, they are taken from their mothers and placed in an all-male hut. For 10 years, they engage in nose bleeding, forced vomiting and defecation and semen ingestion in order to rid themselves of impurities and to become men.

14. Festa de Mocas Nuevas: The Ticuna people of the Northwest Amazon use this initiation to welcome girls into womanhood for all of the girls in the tribe. Beginning at menstruation they are secluded in a small chamber for several months. It’s believed they go into the underworld and will return a woman.

15. Fula whip match: Young Fula boys must trade whip blows with another boy from a different tribe in order to become a man. The boys must not show signs of fear and the crowd decide who is bravest (and the man).

16. Matis hunting trials: Boys of the Matis tribe in Brazil must go on a hunt afer they have had poison dumped in their eyes to “improve” their vision. Then, they are beaten and whipped. Finally, they must inject poison from the Giant Leaf Frog using wooden needles, which is incredibly painful.

OMG!  What';;;s your take on these?