Painful shared rituals can unite people across ethnic lines

Evidence

This image is one of three found in the temple, each one positioned above an entrance. Together they make it clear that the act of pulling thorns through the tongue was not just to make the Queen’s blood flow as an offering but was deliberately intended to create intense pain – pain which, after due ritual preparation, would send her into a visionary trance. — Neil MacGregor, A History of the World in 100 Objects, 809 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Costly rites mobilize male solidarity and spread culturally through intergroup competition.; Witnessing an intense ritual boosts prosociality as much as participating in it; Religious homogeneity increases cooperative behavior among strangers — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 215 (+7 more)

Related

• Ritual blood-letting produces pain that leads to visionary experiences. (similarity 0.82)
• Shared ritual creates religious unity that overrides racial and ethnic divisions (similarity 0.80)
• Costly rites mobilize male solidarity and spread culturally through intergroup competition. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Shared misfortune could unite mutually hostile African nations against their enslavers #exemplifies (0.80)
• Ritual blood-letting produces pain that leads to visionary experiences. #expands (0.80) — Neil MacGregor, A History of the World in 100 Objects, 809
• Witnessing an intense ritual boosts prosociality as much as participating in it #expands (0.75)
• Religious homogeneity increases cooperative behavior among strangers #corroborates (0.75) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 215