Cultural Taboos

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Around the World, 2013. In the Philippines, a curled up finger is looked at as a gesture so low, it’s only used for dogs.

Now that you have been fascinate by some taboo gestures, I will inform you over my last category of taboos which is rituals that are still performed today.

Buddhist practice a sacred ritual known as Jhatar, or sky burial which further emphasizes their belief of the cycle of rebirth. In this practice, the bodies of the deceased are taken to mountains, dismembered and spread out for scavengers to eat as quickly as possible. Along with the Buddhist taboo, some participants of the Vegetarian Festival, in Thailand, pierce their cheeks with sharp objects but don’t get hurt because they are under the protection of gods. Lastly, one of the most primitive tribes in the Amazon, Yanomami, consume the ashes of their deceased friends and family, which I found in the article, 10 Taboo Rituals Still Performed Today, 2013. These ashes are mixed with fermented banana and then consumed by tribespeople to ensure that the spirit of the deceased member continues to live among them.

Know you now more about my three categories of taboos and what is considered to be a cultural taboo. My first category is over food taboos. My second category is over taboo gestures. The last taboo I categorized is taboo rituals still performed today.

Now that I’ve explained a variety of cultural taboos from around the world, you can now see, how to many other cultures, all of these actions are considered taboo which are equivalent to one of our well known American taboos of marrying family members within your immediate family.