Enjoy Your Yams Buddy
I learned about this in Cultural Anthropology at Cap College, a couple years ago.
"One of the world's most spectacularly frightening religious ceremonies takes place on Vanuatu's Pentecost Island. The naghol, or land diving, is an ancient form of bungee jumping the islanders have been practising since Adam was in short trousers. Pentecost Island men of all ages line up to make the plunge - which in some unfortunate cases has been their last act on earth.
Every year, as soon as the first yam crop begins to show its green tips in early April, islanders in southern Pentecost begin building at least one huge wooden tower in each village, often as high as 23m (75ft). On one or two days from April to early June, men jump from these towers with only two long, elastic vines tied to their ankles to break the fall. While the jump has its origins in island mythology, Pentecosters believe jumping is necessary to guarantee a bountiful yam harvest, and the divers' hair is meant to brush the ground to fertilise it.
The ground under the tower is tilled to soften the earth, and all rocks are removed. As each man psyches himself into the dive, his friends tie vines to his ankles, and when he raises his hands the people below stop their singing, dancing and whistling. Just before he dives, he tells the crowd his most intimate thoughts, which may include family and marital problems. Because these could be his last words, the women below remain silent, despite any public airing of family secrets.
Each diver claps his hands, crosses his arms over his chest and leans forward until he falls over the edge. As he jerks to a stop, male relatives rush forward to help him untie his feet and stand him up as the crowd roars its approval.
The government cancelled the naghol in 1995; they believed it had become too commercialised and wanted to revive the ceremony's cultural value. If you want to see the jump, two sites at Pangi and Rangasusu have been set aside for the entertainment of tourists. Villagers from surrounding areas take it in turns to dive there."
"One of the world's most spectacularly frightening religious ceremonies takes place on Vanuatu's Pentecost Island. The naghol, or land diving, is an ancient form of bungee jumping the islanders have been practising since Adam was in short trousers. Pentecost Island men of all ages line up to make the plunge - which in some unfortunate cases has been their last act on earth.
Every year, as soon as the first yam crop begins to show its green tips in early April, islanders in southern Pentecost begin building at least one huge wooden tower in each village, often as high as 23m (75ft). On one or two days from April to early June, men jump from these towers with only two long, elastic vines tied to their ankles to break the fall. While the jump has its origins in island mythology, Pentecosters believe jumping is necessary to guarantee a bountiful yam harvest, and the divers' hair is meant to brush the ground to fertilise it.
The ground under the tower is tilled to soften the earth, and all rocks are removed. As each man psyches himself into the dive, his friends tie vines to his ankles, and when he raises his hands the people below stop their singing, dancing and whistling. Just before he dives, he tells the crowd his most intimate thoughts, which may include family and marital problems. Because these could be his last words, the women below remain silent, despite any public airing of family secrets.
Each diver claps his hands, crosses his arms over his chest and leans forward until he falls over the edge. As he jerks to a stop, male relatives rush forward to help him untie his feet and stand him up as the crowd roars its approval.
The government cancelled the naghol in 1995; they believed it had become too commercialised and wanted to revive the ceremony's cultural value. If you want to see the jump, two sites at Pangi and Rangasusu have been set aside for the entertainment of tourists. Villagers from surrounding areas take it in turns to dive there."
posted by chong at 3:58 p.m.
1 Comments:
Silly yam-diving whores.
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