What is the bullet ant glove ritual?
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Boys as young as 12 years old must gather bullet ants from the forest, which are then used to make ant-ridden gloves. The young men wear the gloves 20 times for 10 minutes, performing a dance while those angry insects sting them.
What is bullet ant initiation?
The Sateré-Mawé people of Brazil use intentional bullet ant stings as part of their initiation rites to become warriors. The ants are first rendered unconscious by submerging them in a natural sedative, and then 80 of them are woven into gloves made of leaves (which resembles a large oven mitt), stingers facing inward.
How did the bullet ant initiation start?
Once the ants stop moving, they weave them into “gloves,” with the stingers pointed inward. After an hour or so, the ants wake up angrier than ever, and the initiation tradition begins. The young boys take 10-minute turns wearing the bullet ant gloves on their hands.
Where does the bullet ant initiation take place?
Brazil
Fortaleza, Pará, Brazil—The ceremony begins in the village of Fortaleza, on the Andirá River.
Why is the bullet ant initiation important?
The ritual changes life irrevocably for the young men. They are expected to go through it at least 20 times in their lives, but the first time is the most important. They become grown up. They can now marry, have a say in the life of the community, take on leadership roles.
What is hand glove ritual?
For their manhood ritual, the Mawé submerge hundreds of bullet ants in a natural sedative, rendering them unconscious. These large ants are then woven into gloves made of leaves, with their stingers pointing towards the inside of the glove.
How painful are bullet ants?
The bullet ant has the most painful sting of any insect, according to the Schmidt Pain Index. The pain is described as blinding, electric pain, comparable to being shot with a gun. Two other insects, the tarantula hawk wasp and warrior wasp, have comparable stings to that of the bullet ant.
Where does the bullet ant glove ritual take place?
Fortaleza
Fortaleza, Pará, Brazil—The ceremony begins in the village of Fortaleza, on the Andirá River. An old Sateré man blows smoke in woven straw gloves, full of tucandeira ants (Paraponera clavata), which can measure up to 2.5 centimeters in length.
What is the bullet ant glove test?
But, none of them can be compared with the so called Bullet ant glove test, where a young adult is subjected to suffer and endure an unimaginable pain of stings from lots of bullet ants for ten minutes continuously at a time.
What happens when you put gloves on an ant?
When the ants regain consciousness, these gloves are then placed on the hands of young men undergoing the ritual. The boy must then keep the gloves on his hand for a full five minutes, while the hundreds of ants repeatedly sting him.
How old do you have to be to collect bullet ants?
Boys as young as 12 years old must gather bullet ants from the forest, which are then used to make ant-ridden gloves.
How many times do you have to wear bullet ant-filled gloves?
Young men must subject themselves to a ritual involving bullet ant-filled gloves not once but 20 times If playback doesn’t begin shortly, try restarting your device.