1 00:00:01,958 --> 00:00:03,208 - The following program 2 00:00:03,208 --> 00:00:05,042 contains disturbing images and dangerous stunts 3 00:00:05,042 --> 00:00:06,375 that should not be tried at home. 4 00:00:06,375 --> 00:00:08,625 Viewer discretion is advised. 5 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,250 (suspenseful music) 6 00:00:16,208 --> 00:00:20,042 Imagine taking a headfirst leap of faith 7 00:00:20,042 --> 00:00:22,208 from a 100-foot tower 8 00:00:22,208 --> 00:00:25,375 with only a vine tied to your ankle. 9 00:00:26,792 --> 00:00:29,833 - It dates back about 1,500 years 10 00:00:29,833 --> 00:00:35,000 and it involves a boy who is coming of age into manhood. 11 00:00:35,625 --> 00:00:36,792 (crowd yelling) 12 00:00:36,792 --> 00:00:39,042 - How about drinking cobra's blood 13 00:00:39,042 --> 00:00:41,250 to cement a brotherly bond? 14 00:00:41,250 --> 00:00:44,500 - The ritual behind it is not just for hydration, 15 00:00:44,500 --> 00:00:47,583 it's not just for consuming nutrients, 16 00:00:47,583 --> 00:00:50,375 you are ingesting the power of this cobra 17 00:00:50,375 --> 00:00:54,167 to unleash it on your enemies in the battlefields. 18 00:00:54,167 --> 00:00:55,792 (crowd cheering) 19 00:00:55,792 --> 00:01:00,375 - Or burying yourself alive to achieve enlightenment. 20 00:01:00,375 --> 00:01:04,500 - He does this all the way until his heart gives out. 21 00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:07,792 - These are the rituals so surprising, 22 00:01:07,792 --> 00:01:10,625 they are truly unbelievable. 23 00:01:10,625 --> 00:01:14,583 (suspenseful music) 24 00:01:23,292 --> 00:01:26,875 Throughout history, young men hoping to become warriors 25 00:01:26,875 --> 00:01:28,958 have gone through tests of courage, 26 00:01:28,958 --> 00:01:31,208 strength, and mental fortitude. 27 00:01:31,208 --> 00:01:34,292 For the young boys of Sparta, it's all of those things, 28 00:01:34,292 --> 00:01:37,042 but also, you are not allowed to cry. 29 00:01:37,042 --> 00:01:41,333 (dramatic music) 30 00:01:42,458 --> 00:01:44,750 - The Spartan warrior is one of the most feared, 31 00:01:44,750 --> 00:01:49,667 legendary, disciplined, and successful warriors in history. 32 00:01:51,250 --> 00:01:52,500 - [Dan] Preparation for battlefield victory 33 00:01:52,500 --> 00:01:54,958 starts young, very young. 34 00:01:55,708 --> 00:01:59,250 - At birth, young Spartan boys are dipped in wine. 35 00:01:59,250 --> 00:02:02,708 The ones who cry are sent off to become slaves. 36 00:02:02,708 --> 00:02:06,625 The ones who don't cry are admitted to warrior training. 37 00:02:07,708 --> 00:02:11,083 - Spartan boys are trained in toughness. 38 00:02:11,083 --> 00:02:14,250 At age seven, they are turned over to the state, 39 00:02:14,250 --> 00:02:17,167 and there, they become a part of a company of other boys 40 00:02:17,167 --> 00:02:19,208 where they live, work, and study together. 41 00:02:19,208 --> 00:02:20,542 They go barefoot. 42 00:02:20,542 --> 00:02:22,208 They're not allowed to wear shoes. 43 00:02:22,208 --> 00:02:24,250 They don't bathe. 44 00:02:24,250 --> 00:02:26,542 - Additionally, to make the boys tough, 45 00:02:26,542 --> 00:02:28,042 they're given very minimal clothing. 46 00:02:28,042 --> 00:02:29,583 It's this little cloak. 47 00:02:29,583 --> 00:02:32,458 So during the winter, they're getting extremely cold, 48 00:02:32,458 --> 00:02:34,708 being exposed to the elements. 49 00:02:34,708 --> 00:02:36,167 (dark pulsing music) 50 00:02:36,167 --> 00:02:38,042 - [Dan] In the Spartan camps, 51 00:02:38,042 --> 00:02:40,292 becoming a warrior is about three things, 52 00:02:40,292 --> 00:02:43,708 strength, survival, and suffering. 53 00:02:45,292 --> 00:02:48,083 - They have to make their own beds with their own hands, 54 00:02:48,083 --> 00:02:49,625 and it's made out of plant matter 55 00:02:49,625 --> 00:02:52,208 that they pull from the riverbanks. 56 00:02:52,208 --> 00:02:54,708 - These boys are deliberately malnourished 57 00:02:54,708 --> 00:02:56,583 and that's done for a couple of reasons. 58 00:02:56,583 --> 00:02:58,833 First and foremost, so that they don't get fat and lazy. 59 00:02:58,833 --> 00:03:01,125 And then secondly, because they're malnourished, 60 00:03:01,125 --> 00:03:05,333 they'll constantly be looking for ways to feed themselves. 61 00:03:05,333 --> 00:03:09,167 It's an idea toward developing resourcefulness. 62 00:03:10,708 --> 00:03:12,333 - [Dan] This gives the boys an edge in 63 00:03:12,333 --> 00:03:16,167 their next important test, how to steal. 64 00:03:18,708 --> 00:03:21,625 - There's a wheel of cheese that's placed on an altar 65 00:03:21,625 --> 00:03:25,083 and these Spartan guards all have whips 66 00:03:25,083 --> 00:03:29,083 and the boys are told to go in and try to steal the cheese 67 00:03:29,083 --> 00:03:31,583 and dodge the whips. 68 00:03:32,583 --> 00:03:33,875 - They're gonna use cunning and guile 69 00:03:33,875 --> 00:03:35,708 as a means to try to get beyond the guards 70 00:03:35,708 --> 00:03:37,333 and get to the cheese. 71 00:03:37,333 --> 00:03:40,833 Then, if they're caught, they are publicly beaten. 72 00:03:42,625 --> 00:03:47,000 (whip cracking) (boy gasping) 73 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,583 Even that is training, 74 00:03:48,583 --> 00:03:51,042 because if they're caught and they're beaten in public, 75 00:03:51,042 --> 00:03:55,333 they'll feel a compulsion to maintain a stoic appearance. 76 00:03:55,333 --> 00:03:58,000 They don't want to endure the public humiliation 77 00:03:58,000 --> 00:03:59,875 of breaking under the beating. 78 00:03:59,875 --> 00:04:04,000 They have to always maintain this warrior outlook. 79 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:04,958 (whip cracking) 80 00:04:04,958 --> 00:04:07,167 (suspenseful music) 81 00:04:07,167 --> 00:04:08,583 - [Dan] Once they turn 12, 82 00:04:08,583 --> 00:04:11,333 young Spartans are ready for their final test, 83 00:04:12,375 --> 00:04:14,000 and it's a doozy. 84 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,792 - They're forced to endure a month-long survival challenge. 85 00:04:17,792 --> 00:04:21,375 They're sent out into the wilderness by themselves 86 00:04:21,375 --> 00:04:23,708 with a spear and a blanket. 87 00:04:23,708 --> 00:04:25,500 - They have a variety of challenges 88 00:04:25,500 --> 00:04:27,042 that they have to survive, 89 00:04:27,042 --> 00:04:29,333 food, water, shelter, 90 00:04:29,333 --> 00:04:31,917 surviving the elements, surviving predators. 91 00:04:33,208 --> 00:04:35,292 - Sure, the lions and the pack of wolves come. 92 00:04:35,292 --> 00:04:36,917 You got your spear and blanket. 93 00:04:38,792 --> 00:04:40,708 - This is a world in which citizenship 94 00:04:40,708 --> 00:04:44,000 is not something that automatically falls on you. 95 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,375 You earn it by succeeding, 96 00:04:46,375 --> 00:04:50,042 by passing the series of rituals and trials, 97 00:04:50,042 --> 00:04:53,917 and if you survive that final ritual, you become a citizen. 98 00:04:53,917 --> 00:04:57,250 You have earned the right to marry and have children, 99 00:04:57,250 --> 00:05:00,292 and you earn the right to be called a warrior. 100 00:05:00,292 --> 00:05:02,917 (crowd cheering) 101 00:05:05,500 --> 00:05:08,500 - A couple thousand years later, in 1982, 102 00:05:08,500 --> 00:05:11,042 another unusual military ritual begins 103 00:05:11,042 --> 00:05:13,250 in the fetid jungles of Thailand, 104 00:05:13,250 --> 00:05:16,125 and remarkably, it still occurs today. 105 00:05:16,542 --> 00:05:19,375 (atmospheric music) 106 00:05:20,667 --> 00:05:23,417 - Cobra Gold is a joint exercise 107 00:05:23,417 --> 00:05:27,583 between the US military and the Thai military. 108 00:05:27,583 --> 00:05:30,750 After 1975, the United States is no longer 109 00:05:30,750 --> 00:05:33,458 on active military operations in Southeast Asia, 110 00:05:33,458 --> 00:05:36,750 so the United States is a little bit out of touch 111 00:05:36,750 --> 00:05:38,917 with the way that you have to fight to survive 112 00:05:38,917 --> 00:05:41,042 in the jungle environment of Southeast Asia. 113 00:05:43,042 --> 00:05:45,792 - [Dan] Under the tutelage of the Royal Thai Marines, 114 00:05:45,792 --> 00:05:48,125 the US military begins a very unique 115 00:05:48,125 --> 00:05:51,917 jungle survival training ritual called Cobra Gold. 116 00:05:51,917 --> 00:05:55,542 Oh, and warning, it's a little hard to stomach. 117 00:05:57,792 --> 00:06:00,042 - So in Cobra Gold, they start off 118 00:06:00,042 --> 00:06:03,958 with eating pieces of trees, vegetation, grass, 119 00:06:03,958 --> 00:06:06,833 any type of edible flower, any type of plant. 120 00:06:06,833 --> 00:06:09,875 Then, they progress on to the bugs. 121 00:06:09,875 --> 00:06:12,833 - [Solider] Bite it! (group groaning) 122 00:06:12,833 --> 00:06:17,458 - So we're talking roasted cockroaches, grilled beetles. 123 00:06:17,458 --> 00:06:19,417 - And they even teach them how to eat scorpions, 124 00:06:19,417 --> 00:06:20,792 which there are lots of. 125 00:06:21,500 --> 00:06:24,417 (group yelling) 126 00:06:24,417 --> 00:06:26,125 - [Dan] That's when the practice takes a turn 127 00:06:26,125 --> 00:06:28,750 into something stranger and grosser. 128 00:06:30,417 --> 00:06:32,792 - They also teach them how to bite 129 00:06:32,792 --> 00:06:35,417 the heads off of chickens using only their teeth, 130 00:06:35,417 --> 00:06:37,042 in case they lose their knives. 131 00:06:37,042 --> 00:06:39,875 (dramatic music) 132 00:06:39,875 --> 00:06:42,458 - You're being taught how to live off of the jungle 133 00:06:42,458 --> 00:06:45,375 and how to survive off of animals that seem like 134 00:06:45,375 --> 00:06:47,125 they would otherwise be very dangerous to you, 135 00:06:47,125 --> 00:06:49,417 but if you know how, 136 00:06:49,417 --> 00:06:52,125 you can kill them and survive off of them. 137 00:06:52,125 --> 00:06:54,500 (suspenseful music) 138 00:06:54,500 --> 00:06:56,250 - While biting heads off chickens 139 00:06:56,250 --> 00:06:58,708 and slurping up scorpions seems crazy, 140 00:06:58,708 --> 00:07:00,417 the culmination of Cobra Gold 141 00:07:00,417 --> 00:07:03,042 is where it really earns its stripes. 142 00:07:03,042 --> 00:07:06,500 It even scares me, and I've seen ghosts. 143 00:07:08,542 --> 00:07:10,250 - What the ritual is really named after 144 00:07:10,250 --> 00:07:15,458 is the final grand finale of the buffet, and this is cobra. 145 00:07:16,333 --> 00:07:20,083 (group chattering indistinctly) 146 00:07:20,083 --> 00:07:21,458 - What the Thai people show them 147 00:07:21,458 --> 00:07:23,958 is one way you can give yourself 148 00:07:23,958 --> 00:07:27,875 both hydration and sustenance is by finding a cobra, 149 00:07:27,875 --> 00:07:30,958 a deadly snake, and drinking its blood. 150 00:07:32,208 --> 00:07:33,208 - Even though it doesn't seem like it 151 00:07:33,208 --> 00:07:34,333 in a jungle environment, 152 00:07:34,333 --> 00:07:36,125 it is easy to become dehydrated 153 00:07:36,125 --> 00:07:38,667 just as a result of sweat from high temperatures, 154 00:07:38,667 --> 00:07:41,667 and so the snake's blood will provide hydration. 155 00:07:43,042 --> 00:07:46,708 - The legend has it, the more deadly your cobra is, 156 00:07:46,708 --> 00:07:49,500 the more that you will consume the cobra's power. 157 00:07:49,500 --> 00:07:50,875 (hissing snake) 158 00:07:50,875 --> 00:07:54,667 So the ritual behind it is not just for hydration, 159 00:07:54,667 --> 00:07:58,667 it's not just for consuming nutrients, 160 00:07:58,667 --> 00:08:01,292 you are ingesting the power of this cobra 161 00:08:01,292 --> 00:08:04,833 and able to unleash it on your enemies in the battlefield. 162 00:08:06,750 --> 00:08:09,458 - [Dan] Today, the power of the Cobra Gold ritual 163 00:08:09,458 --> 00:08:11,458 has spread across the world, 164 00:08:11,458 --> 00:08:14,000 becoming the ultimate bonding experience 165 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:15,542 for warrior brothers. 166 00:08:17,500 --> 00:08:19,167 - Now, it's evolved to be 167 00:08:19,167 --> 00:08:22,583 the largest multinational military exercise in the world. 168 00:08:22,583 --> 00:08:26,042 It includes 29 nations, including the US and Thailand, 169 00:08:26,042 --> 00:08:28,917 and also South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. 170 00:08:28,917 --> 00:08:30,792 (chopper whirring) 171 00:08:30,792 --> 00:08:33,542 - Cobra Gold provides this strong bond 172 00:08:33,542 --> 00:08:36,375 between our military and these foreign nations 173 00:08:36,375 --> 00:08:40,208 that we may one day be called on to fight side-by-side with. 174 00:08:40,208 --> 00:08:42,792 The kind of bond that can only be developed 175 00:08:42,792 --> 00:08:46,375 through enduring harsh circumstances. 176 00:08:46,375 --> 00:08:48,958 (helicopter engines whirring) 177 00:08:52,708 --> 00:08:54,542 - [Dan] When I mention mummies, you might think Egypt, 178 00:08:54,542 --> 00:08:56,375 but preparing bodies for the afterlife 179 00:08:56,375 --> 00:08:59,375 goes far beyond the Valley of the Kings, 180 00:08:59,375 --> 00:09:02,375 and some people don't even wait to die 181 00:09:02,375 --> 00:09:04,583 before starting the process. 182 00:09:05,125 --> 00:09:08,042 (suspenseful music) 183 00:09:08,042 --> 00:09:12,542 - In the ninth century AD, a Japanese monk named Kobo Daishi 184 00:09:12,542 --> 00:09:14,458 founds a school of Buddhism 185 00:09:14,458 --> 00:09:16,208 called Shingon Buddhism. 186 00:09:16,208 --> 00:09:17,500 - This type of Buddhism, 187 00:09:17,500 --> 00:09:19,458 according to Daishi and his followers, 188 00:09:19,458 --> 00:09:23,333 its goal is to attain ultimate enlightenment, 189 00:09:23,333 --> 00:09:24,542 and to do that, what 190 00:09:24,542 --> 00:09:25,792 one is supposed to do 191 00:09:26,250 --> 00:09:27,458 is they're supposed to give up 192 00:09:27,458 --> 00:09:30,375 the simple common pleasures of life. 193 00:09:30,375 --> 00:09:33,708 - They live in the mountains, they live like hermits. 194 00:09:33,708 --> 00:09:35,292 They forage for their food. 195 00:09:35,292 --> 00:09:38,500 They rid themselves of anything that pretty much 196 00:09:38,500 --> 00:09:40,917 any of us would consider good and pleasurable 197 00:09:40,917 --> 00:09:44,333 in this very, very difficult, hard lifestyle. 198 00:09:44,333 --> 00:09:46,875 - [Dan] It's not enough to attain enlightenment in life, 199 00:09:46,875 --> 00:09:49,667 they want to reach Nirvana in the afterlife 200 00:09:49,667 --> 00:09:51,917 and Shingon leader Kobo Daishi 201 00:09:51,917 --> 00:09:55,000 decides to show his followers it can be done. 202 00:09:59,500 --> 00:10:01,458 - [Brandy] As he nears the end of his life, 203 00:10:01,458 --> 00:10:04,417 Kobo Daishi crawls into his own tomb, 204 00:10:04,417 --> 00:10:06,375 denies himself everything, 205 00:10:06,375 --> 00:10:08,708 including the sustenance of life. 206 00:10:08,708 --> 00:10:11,833 - We're talking no food, no water, no nothing, 207 00:10:11,833 --> 00:10:14,958 and he dedicates himself 100% 208 00:10:14,958 --> 00:10:18,042 to being truly one with himself. 209 00:10:18,042 --> 00:10:22,958 He does this practice all the way until his heart gives out. 210 00:10:24,542 --> 00:10:26,500 - Kobo Daishi doesn't think of this as suicide 211 00:10:26,792 --> 00:10:28,417 because he plans on returning 212 00:10:28,417 --> 00:10:30,000 to the life of the living. 213 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,875 According to Shingon beliefs, 214 00:10:31,875 --> 00:10:35,750 Kobo Daishi will return from the afterlife 215 00:10:35,750 --> 00:10:39,083 in 5.67 million years. 216 00:10:40,125 --> 00:10:42,375 - [Dan] But his followers get curious, 217 00:10:42,375 --> 00:10:45,667 and a few years later, opened Daishi's tomb. 218 00:10:45,667 --> 00:10:48,208 What they find is unbelievable. 219 00:10:49,833 --> 00:10:53,000 - His body is incredibly well-preserved. 220 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,042 There seems to be no real signs of decay 221 00:10:56,042 --> 00:10:58,333 as you would see on a normal corpse. 222 00:10:58,333 --> 00:11:02,583 His skin is still intact, muscle is still intact. 223 00:11:02,583 --> 00:11:04,708 - He just looks like he might be sleeping. 224 00:11:04,708 --> 00:11:07,833 His followers recognize that he seems to have achieved 225 00:11:07,833 --> 00:11:09,083 everything that he set out to do, 226 00:11:09,083 --> 00:11:12,042 enlightenment, and they worship him. 227 00:11:12,042 --> 00:11:14,083 - [Dan] Kobo Daishi's followers are convinced 228 00:11:14,083 --> 00:11:16,458 they too can achieve life after death, 229 00:11:16,458 --> 00:11:20,542 so over the next 900 years, they evolve his arduous ritual 230 00:11:20,542 --> 00:11:23,042 into an even more torturous process known as 231 00:11:23,042 --> 00:11:27,167 "sokushinbutsu" or "Buddha in this body." 232 00:11:27,167 --> 00:11:32,292 - It begins with the denial of food and drink, 233 00:11:33,792 --> 00:11:36,667 sometimes involving fasts that, unbelievably, 234 00:11:36,667 --> 00:11:39,417 can last up to 4,000 days. 235 00:11:39,417 --> 00:11:44,417 After a certain point, the initiate will consume 236 00:11:45,708 --> 00:11:48,458 the sap of a Chinese lacquer tree. 237 00:11:48,458 --> 00:11:51,208 - This special brew makes the human body so toxic 238 00:11:51,208 --> 00:11:52,875 that insects want nothing to do with it, 239 00:11:52,875 --> 00:11:55,292 so they leave it alone, thus allowing it to stay 240 00:11:55,292 --> 00:11:58,583 that much more preserved for a longer period of time. 241 00:11:58,583 --> 00:12:00,125 - [Dan] drinking this lethal brew, 242 00:12:00,125 --> 00:12:02,167 there's only one thing left to do. 243 00:12:03,833 --> 00:12:06,750 - The monk is put into a small pine box 244 00:12:06,750 --> 00:12:09,000 and lowered 10 feet into the ground. 245 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,958 There's charcoal put on top of him, 246 00:12:10,958 --> 00:12:14,042 and there is a small pine rod 247 00:12:14,042 --> 00:12:16,833 that the monk can use to breathe from the inside. 248 00:12:16,833 --> 00:12:18,750 They don't want to asphyxiate. 249 00:12:18,750 --> 00:12:20,708 There's also a bell inside the box. 250 00:12:20,708 --> 00:12:22,833 As the monk is meditating, they ring the bell 251 00:12:22,833 --> 00:12:25,333 to let people above know that they're still alive. 252 00:12:27,917 --> 00:12:30,042 - Once the bell ringing ceases, 253 00:12:30,042 --> 00:12:33,708 they will then formally bury the body. 254 00:12:33,708 --> 00:12:36,875 It will be left buried for 1,000 days, 255 00:12:36,875 --> 00:12:39,083 after which it is exhumed. 256 00:12:39,083 --> 00:12:43,167 If it shows no signs of physical decomposition, 257 00:12:43,167 --> 00:12:47,375 then the monk has attained the idealized state 258 00:12:50,500 --> 00:12:52,833 and will be placed on holy display. 259 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:56,042 - [Dan] The Japanese government 260 00:12:56,042 --> 00:12:59,042 eventually outlaws sokushinbutsu, 261 00:12:59,042 --> 00:13:01,875 but not before many more attempt it. 262 00:13:01,875 --> 00:13:04,500 - From the year 1081 to 1903, 263 00:13:04,500 --> 00:13:08,958 hundreds of monks attempt this, but only 17 succeed. 264 00:13:08,958 --> 00:13:11,500 - As a matter of fact, you can see these monks. 265 00:13:11,500 --> 00:13:13,042 They are on display in Japan. 266 00:13:13,042 --> 00:13:14,958 You can go and see their bodies. 267 00:13:14,958 --> 00:13:17,833 - They don't look like they're sleeping. 268 00:13:17,833 --> 00:13:20,375 They don't look alive, but they are preserved. 269 00:13:20,375 --> 00:13:23,917 They sit in the lotus position forever. 270 00:13:23,917 --> 00:13:26,208 Their bodies hardened in place, 271 00:13:26,208 --> 00:13:30,708 and many of them while on display have sunglasses on. 272 00:13:30,708 --> 00:13:32,125 That's because the one thing 273 00:13:32,125 --> 00:13:35,792 that does decompose and rot away are your eyeballs. 274 00:13:38,042 --> 00:13:41,583 - Displaying the deceased after they've been preserved 275 00:13:41,583 --> 00:13:45,083 is practiced in a number of cultures around the world, 276 00:13:45,083 --> 00:13:47,375 but an indigenous group in Indonesia 277 00:13:47,375 --> 00:13:51,000 has turned such a ritual into an art form. 278 00:13:52,542 --> 00:13:54,667 - While waiting to make funeral arrangements, 279 00:13:55,167 --> 00:13:57,833 some Toraja people keep their dead 280 00:13:57,833 --> 00:14:02,042 in their house for weeks, if not for years. 281 00:14:02,042 --> 00:14:05,542 - The Toraja people firmly believe that a family member 282 00:14:05,542 --> 00:14:09,167 is not dead until they are buried in the ground. 283 00:14:09,167 --> 00:14:11,250 As a matter of fact, until they're buried, 284 00:14:11,250 --> 00:14:13,000 the family member who has passed on 285 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,208 is referred to as "makula" or just sick. 286 00:14:16,208 --> 00:14:18,958 - So if someone says, "How's your grandmother?" 287 00:14:18,958 --> 00:14:21,250 you'd say, "Grandmother is ill," 288 00:14:21,250 --> 00:14:23,167 but grandmother might actually be 289 00:14:23,167 --> 00:14:25,958 slowly mummifying around your kitchen table. 290 00:14:27,042 --> 00:14:29,042 - [Dan] The key to the Torajan afterlife ritual 291 00:14:29,042 --> 00:14:32,208 is the way the body is preserved by loved ones. 292 00:14:32,208 --> 00:14:34,000 - They can't let the body decompose in the house, 293 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:35,208 because if they leave it alone, 294 00:14:35,208 --> 00:14:37,042 eventually, it's going to wither away and rot 295 00:14:37,042 --> 00:14:38,583 and it's not going to smell well. 296 00:14:38,583 --> 00:14:40,333 - They wrap the bodies in cloth, 297 00:14:40,333 --> 00:14:42,625 and the cloth has been doused in formaldehyde, 298 00:14:42,625 --> 00:14:45,292 and this wrapping process continues, 299 00:14:45,292 --> 00:14:48,250 and once you have done that enough times, 300 00:14:48,250 --> 00:14:50,083 the body itself has dried out 301 00:14:50,083 --> 00:14:53,000 to a point that it has basically been mummified. 302 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:57,083 - Families interact with the family member 303 00:14:57,083 --> 00:15:00,875 as though he or she is still very much present. 304 00:15:00,875 --> 00:15:02,542 - People talk to the body. 305 00:15:02,542 --> 00:15:04,083 People dress the body. 306 00:15:04,083 --> 00:15:06,208 People offer it things like cigarettes. 307 00:15:06,208 --> 00:15:09,042 During mealtime, they make the body a plate, 308 00:15:09,042 --> 00:15:11,792 because again, it is not seen as dead yet. 309 00:15:11,792 --> 00:15:14,208 It is only seen as sick. 310 00:15:14,208 --> 00:15:16,375 - The longer the body is kept at home, 311 00:15:16,375 --> 00:15:19,167 the more money can be saved for a funeral 312 00:15:19,167 --> 00:15:21,292 and thus the more elaborate the funeral. 313 00:15:22,417 --> 00:15:24,000 - In the United States, 314 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,375 the wedding is the thing that people save money for. 315 00:15:26,375 --> 00:15:28,042 They have to save for their kid's wedding 316 00:15:28,042 --> 00:15:29,917 or for their own wedding, their grandchildren's wedding. 317 00:15:29,917 --> 00:15:31,208 In Torajan culture, 318 00:15:31,208 --> 00:15:33,458 it's the funeral that you save money for, 319 00:15:33,458 --> 00:15:36,542 and these can be outlandishly expensive and lavish 320 00:15:36,542 --> 00:15:39,083 because you want people to come and celebrate 321 00:15:39,083 --> 00:15:42,792 the person who has died, and you can't celebrate them well 322 00:15:42,792 --> 00:15:44,708 if you don't have enough money to do it. 323 00:15:44,708 --> 00:15:46,833 - This can range in dollar amounts 324 00:15:46,833 --> 00:15:51,167 from $50,000 to literally $500,000. 325 00:15:52,208 --> 00:15:54,708 - While the family saves up, 326 00:15:54,708 --> 00:15:57,167 the body continues to be on display 327 00:15:57,167 --> 00:16:00,583 for the community to come by and pay their respects 328 00:16:00,583 --> 00:16:04,000 to honor the person, to say their final goodbyes, 329 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:06,042 to make sure they get the proper sendoff. 330 00:16:10,208 --> 00:16:11,208 to honor the person, to say their final goodbyltures, 331 00:16:11,208 --> 00:16:13,333 the passage from childhood into adulthood 332 00:16:13,333 --> 00:16:16,250 involves celebration and smiles. 333 00:16:16,250 --> 00:16:19,667 For a tribe in Brazil, it means something quite different. 334 00:16:20,042 --> 00:16:23,083 (mysterious droning music) 335 00:16:23,083 --> 00:16:25,250 - Deep in the Amazon jungle, 336 00:16:25,250 --> 00:16:29,125 the aspiring young men of the Satere-Mawe tribe 337 00:16:29,125 --> 00:16:31,583 have to endure the most excruciating 338 00:16:31,583 --> 00:16:33,667 rite of passage imaginable, 339 00:16:33,667 --> 00:16:37,375 the wearing of two gloves, each filled with bullet ants. 340 00:16:39,417 --> 00:16:41,917 - You don't want to encounter a bullet ant. 341 00:16:42,292 --> 00:16:45,083 Their sting feels like you've been shot by a gun. 342 00:16:45,083 --> 00:16:46,583 It hurts really bad 343 00:16:47,542 --> 00:16:49,542 - And that's just one ant. 344 00:16:49,542 --> 00:16:52,417 Each glove? Filled with hundreds of ants. 345 00:16:54,875 --> 00:16:56,208 - [Dan] On the day of the ritual, 346 00:16:56,208 --> 00:16:59,083 the village buzzes with anticipation. 347 00:16:59,083 --> 00:17:02,250 The first order of business, round up some ants. 348 00:17:04,333 --> 00:17:07,333 - Members of the tribe will go out into the Amazon jungle 349 00:17:07,333 --> 00:17:09,542 and collect all of these bullet ants, 350 00:17:09,542 --> 00:17:11,458 hundreds of bullet ants. 351 00:17:11,458 --> 00:17:14,875 Elders of the community will blow smoke on these ants 352 00:17:14,875 --> 00:17:16,292 as a way to pacify them, right, 353 00:17:16,292 --> 00:17:18,542 to sort of lull them to sleep. 354 00:17:20,583 --> 00:17:23,417 - The elders take them and they weave them into the gloves, 355 00:17:23,417 --> 00:17:26,708 with the stingers pointing hand ward, 356 00:17:26,708 --> 00:17:31,792 so whoever puts on these gloves is in for a painful day. 357 00:17:32,708 --> 00:17:35,792 (suspenseful music) 358 00:17:35,792 --> 00:17:38,167 - I mean, imagine the feeling, there are hundreds of bullets 359 00:17:38,167 --> 00:17:41,083 piercing your own flesh repeatedly. 360 00:17:43,167 --> 00:17:46,292 - The boy must keep his hands 361 00:17:46,292 --> 00:17:50,667 in the gloves for 10 minutes. 362 00:17:50,667 --> 00:17:53,875 These boys will sometimes enter a trance-like dance 363 00:17:53,875 --> 00:17:56,167 to sort of detach themselves mentally 364 00:17:56,167 --> 00:17:57,583 from what they're going through physically 365 00:17:57,583 --> 00:17:59,708 to make sure that they can withstand 366 00:17:59,708 --> 00:18:02,417 the excruciating amount of pain. 367 00:18:03,333 --> 00:18:06,125 (tribe members chanting) 368 00:18:06,125 --> 00:18:07,667 - [Dan] And if that isn't bad enough, 369 00:18:07,667 --> 00:18:11,000 they have to do this again another 19 times. 370 00:18:11,375 --> 00:18:14,167 (tribal instrumental music) 371 00:18:14,167 --> 00:18:16,208 - You must really want to be a man. 372 00:18:16,208 --> 00:18:18,792 You have to get stung not just anywhere in your body, 373 00:18:18,792 --> 00:18:21,417 but in one of the places with the most nerve endings, 374 00:18:21,417 --> 00:18:25,458 in your hand, and you have to endure this for 10 minutes, 375 00:18:25,458 --> 00:18:28,958 and then do it for a total of 20 times. 376 00:18:28,958 --> 00:18:30,500 I'd be like, "You know what? I'll pass. 377 00:18:30,500 --> 00:18:33,708 I'll just be a boy forever. Call me Peter Pan." 378 00:18:33,708 --> 00:18:38,458 (suspenseful music) 379 00:18:38,458 --> 00:18:41,708 - While enduring pain might make a man in the Amazon, 380 00:18:41,708 --> 00:18:45,333 boys of the Vanuatu tribe in the Southwest Pacific 381 00:18:45,333 --> 00:18:49,292 must take a leap of faith that could kill them. 382 00:18:49,292 --> 00:18:53,542 (rumbling dark music) 383 00:18:53,542 --> 00:18:55,583 - About 1,000 miles off the coast of Australia, 384 00:18:55,583 --> 00:18:58,708 on one of nearly 80 islands of what's called Vanuatu, 385 00:18:58,708 --> 00:19:01,417 local boys practice a rite of passage called 386 00:19:01,417 --> 00:19:04,125 land diving or Nanggol. 387 00:19:04,125 --> 00:19:07,208 - It dates back about 1,500 years, 388 00:19:07,208 --> 00:19:09,875 and it involves a boy who is 389 00:19:09,875 --> 00:19:12,375 coming of age into manhood 390 00:19:13,167 --> 00:19:15,500 to climb up a 100-foot tower. 391 00:19:16,542 --> 00:19:18,458 - Once they reach the top of the tower, 392 00:19:18,458 --> 00:19:22,583 they take two thick, stretchy vines 393 00:19:22,583 --> 00:19:24,667 and they tie them to their ankles. 394 00:19:24,667 --> 00:19:25,792 What they will then do 395 00:19:25,792 --> 00:19:29,042 is they will stand atop this wooden tower 396 00:19:29,042 --> 00:19:32,250 and they just dive onto the earth. 397 00:19:34,917 --> 00:19:36,375 (suspenseful music) 398 00:19:36,375 --> 00:19:37,917 - [Dan] The goal is to brush the ground 399 00:19:37,917 --> 00:19:39,375 with the lightest of touches. 400 00:19:39,375 --> 00:19:41,333 Picking the right vine can be the difference 401 00:19:41,333 --> 00:19:45,625 between success and a funeral. 402 00:19:45,625 --> 00:19:48,542 - The land diving ritual takes place every year 403 00:19:48,542 --> 00:19:52,542 from April to June when the land is at its wettest 404 00:19:52,542 --> 00:19:54,417 and the vines are at their stretchiest. 405 00:19:55,750 --> 00:19:59,458 - There have been instances where boys have gone land diving 406 00:19:59,458 --> 00:20:02,042 and they end up breaking bones, 407 00:20:02,042 --> 00:20:03,417 shattering parts of their body. 408 00:20:03,417 --> 00:20:05,208 It's incredibly dangerous. 409 00:20:06,542 --> 00:20:09,583 - The job of selecting the vines for each boy 410 00:20:09,583 --> 00:20:11,500 is left up to trusted elders, 411 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:15,625 and they do so based on the height and weight of the boy. 412 00:20:15,625 --> 00:20:18,250 So talk about a process to make sure 413 00:20:18,250 --> 00:20:20,250 you treat your elders with respect? 414 00:20:20,250 --> 00:20:23,833 This is it, because any miscalculation can be fatal. 415 00:20:23,833 --> 00:20:27,208 - A successful jump means the boy is now a man. 416 00:20:27,208 --> 00:20:29,542 It also brings good luck to the village, 417 00:20:29,542 --> 00:20:33,583 and that usually means an excellent yam harvest. 418 00:20:33,583 --> 00:20:37,333 - [Dan] So just who started this daring ritual of manhood? 419 00:20:37,333 --> 00:20:40,583 Surprisingly, not a man. 420 00:20:41,167 --> 00:20:42,708 (suspenseful music) 421 00:20:42,708 --> 00:20:44,750 - A wife is being abused by her husband. 422 00:20:45,708 --> 00:20:49,875 She flees him, she climbs up into a tree, 423 00:20:49,875 --> 00:20:54,333 attaches vines to her legs, and dives from the tree, 424 00:20:54,333 --> 00:20:59,333 saved by these springy, moist, strong vines. 425 00:21:00,583 --> 00:21:04,250 - Her husband, seeing this, attempts the same thing, 426 00:21:04,250 --> 00:21:06,583 but when he jumps, he dies. 427 00:21:06,583 --> 00:21:08,875 (pulsing mysterious music) 428 00:21:08,875 --> 00:21:11,333 - Women in the area begin jumping for fun, 429 00:21:11,333 --> 00:21:14,458 inspired by the woman's act of marital defiance. 430 00:21:14,458 --> 00:21:17,375 - But to avert the shame 431 00:21:17,375 --> 00:21:20,583 of being shown up by women of the village, 432 00:21:20,583 --> 00:21:24,792 the males claim this ritual for their own. 433 00:21:24,792 --> 00:21:28,250 (suspenseful music) 434 00:21:28,250 --> 00:21:30,792 - If this ritual sounds familiar, it should, 435 00:21:30,792 --> 00:21:32,958 because it's become a recreational activity 436 00:21:32,958 --> 00:21:34,917 that's been scaring the pants off people 437 00:21:34,917 --> 00:21:36,542 for more than 50 years. 438 00:21:38,250 --> 00:21:40,583 - In the 1970s, a man by the name of A.J. Hackett 439 00:21:40,583 --> 00:21:44,125 visits the island and he sees land diving being performed, 440 00:21:44,125 --> 00:21:46,500 and he is fascinated, he's intrigued, 441 00:21:46,500 --> 00:21:49,917 and he also thinks "I could make some money off of this." 442 00:21:51,292 --> 00:21:53,792 - He asks the locals if he can make a version of land diving 443 00:21:53,792 --> 00:21:56,542 that he can share outside of Vanuatu, 444 00:21:56,542 --> 00:22:00,458 and he makes a few safety modifications along the way, 445 00:22:00,458 --> 00:22:02,917 and ends up calling it bungee jumping. 446 00:22:02,917 --> 00:22:04,792 (dramatic insistent music) 447 00:22:04,792 --> 00:22:06,917 - [Dan] Five million people worldwide 448 00:22:06,917 --> 00:22:08,708 have tried bungee jumping, 449 00:22:08,708 --> 00:22:11,917 but land diving isn't something you can just try. 450 00:22:13,292 --> 00:22:15,708 - To this day, this ritual remains, 451 00:22:15,708 --> 00:22:17,875 and when tourists visit Vanuatu, 452 00:22:17,875 --> 00:22:21,458 the island residents perform the ritual for them, 453 00:22:21,458 --> 00:22:23,208 and quite often, of course, a tourist would think, 454 00:22:23,208 --> 00:22:24,625 "Hey, can I try?" 455 00:22:24,625 --> 00:22:26,792 and the answer is "Absolutely not. 456 00:22:26,792 --> 00:22:28,625 You're not a member of our community. 457 00:22:28,625 --> 00:22:29,458 Take your butt outta here and go bungee jumping." 458 00:22:29,875 --> 00:22:30,125 Take your butt outta here and go bungee jumping." 459 00:22:31,167 --> 00:22:31,625 Take your butt outta here and go bungee jumping." 460 00:22:31,875 --> 00:22:32,958 (crowd cheering) 461 00:22:32,958 --> 00:22:39,500 (suspenseful music) 462 00:22:39,500 --> 00:22:40,625 - Do you pinky swear? 463 00:22:40,625 --> 00:22:42,333 Well, I sure as heck don't. 464 00:22:42,958 --> 00:22:46,583 As innocuous as this childhood oath may seem, 465 00:22:46,583 --> 00:22:49,542 it has a seriously dark origin story. 466 00:22:49,542 --> 00:22:51,667 (dark ambient music) 467 00:22:51,667 --> 00:22:54,708 - The Yakuza, the infamous Japanese crime syndicate, 468 00:22:54,708 --> 00:22:58,458 begins a ritual that is actually known as finger shortening. 469 00:23:00,333 --> 00:23:02,000 They call it "yubitsume," 470 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,375 which is the act of amputating your own finger 471 00:23:04,375 --> 00:23:06,667 using a super sharp knife, 472 00:23:06,667 --> 00:23:08,417 and this would be used as a punishment 473 00:23:08,417 --> 00:23:10,917 for disobeying the rules of the organization. 474 00:23:12,500 --> 00:23:16,750 - You are required to cut off the uppermost portion 475 00:23:16,750 --> 00:23:20,708 of your left pinky, wrap in some kind of a cloth, 476 00:23:20,708 --> 00:23:24,167 and present as ceremonially to the authority figure 477 00:23:24,167 --> 00:23:25,542 who you have offended. 478 00:23:27,375 --> 00:23:29,667 - First infraction? One knuckle. 479 00:23:29,667 --> 00:23:32,542 Second infraction? Next knuckle. 480 00:23:32,542 --> 00:23:35,500 You could tell someone's level of infractions 481 00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:36,917 in their crime syndicate 482 00:23:36,917 --> 00:23:39,708 by how many knuckles they have left. 483 00:23:39,708 --> 00:23:41,875 - [Dan] In a move that seems to defy logic, 484 00:23:41,875 --> 00:23:45,083 the ritual makes its way to American playgrounds, 485 00:23:45,083 --> 00:23:47,375 thankfully transformed. 486 00:23:47,375 --> 00:23:49,000 - Not quite as brutal, 487 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,042 but a pinky swear is the most solemn form of swear. 488 00:23:53,042 --> 00:23:54,417 Nobody breaks that bond. 489 00:23:55,833 --> 00:23:58,417 - As it turns out, oath rituals don't get 490 00:23:58,417 --> 00:24:00,417 any less outlandish the older you get, 491 00:24:01,542 --> 00:24:03,958 even for the planet's most powerful people. 492 00:24:05,583 --> 00:24:09,583 - Bohemian Club is set up in San Francisco in 1872, 493 00:24:09,583 --> 00:24:11,042 and basically, this is 494 00:24:11,042 --> 00:24:12,458 a club for journalists, 495 00:24:12,458 --> 00:24:13,667 for people who are exploring 496 00:24:13,667 --> 00:24:14,750 and thinking about ideas. 497 00:24:14,750 --> 00:24:16,750 The cool kids, if you will. 498 00:24:16,750 --> 00:24:21,750 Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Kissinger is in the club. 499 00:24:21,750 --> 00:24:25,583 - [Dan] But the city is no place to forge fraternal bonds. 500 00:24:25,583 --> 00:24:29,083 That happens in a hidden forest in Northern California 501 00:24:29,083 --> 00:24:31,083 called Bohemian Grove. 502 00:24:32,875 --> 00:24:35,042 - It's really like the ultimate sleepaway 503 00:24:35,208 --> 00:24:36,208 summer camp for 504 00:24:36,208 --> 00:24:37,333 rich and famous men. 505 00:24:38,042 --> 00:24:41,542 They sleep in tents, they drink heavily, 506 00:24:41,542 --> 00:24:43,000 and they also network. 507 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:44,208 (light haunting music) 508 00:24:44,208 --> 00:24:46,417 - [Dan] Don't let the laughs and liquor fool you. 509 00:24:46,417 --> 00:24:48,542 Members gather at the Bohemian Grove 510 00:24:48,542 --> 00:24:51,667 to hatch plans that change history. 511 00:24:51,667 --> 00:24:53,708 (suspenseful music) 512 00:24:53,708 --> 00:24:58,458 - No less than the Manhattan Project was agreed upon here. 513 00:24:58,458 --> 00:25:01,958 J. Robert Oppenheimer first breaches the idea 514 00:25:01,958 --> 00:25:03,750 at Bohemian Grove. 515 00:25:03,750 --> 00:25:06,833 We can thank atomic weaponry and atomic power 516 00:25:06,833 --> 00:25:09,250 for what happens at Bohemian Grove. 517 00:25:11,625 --> 00:25:13,042 - [Dan] Before getting down to business, 518 00:25:13,042 --> 00:25:15,167 the retreat kicks off with an odd ritual. 519 00:25:16,292 --> 00:25:19,417 This is when things get weird. 520 00:25:19,417 --> 00:25:23,583 - The retreat begins with an ornate ceremony 521 00:25:23,583 --> 00:25:26,125 called "the cremation of care." 522 00:25:27,167 --> 00:25:29,042 The idea being that we are here 523 00:25:29,042 --> 00:25:32,375 to take the weight of power off of our shoulders. 524 00:25:32,375 --> 00:25:35,333 We're leaving behind the cares of the outer world. 525 00:25:35,333 --> 00:25:39,708 - A boat known as "the ferry of care" contains an effigy 526 00:25:39,708 --> 00:25:42,833 in the shape of a body known as "the body of care" 527 00:25:42,833 --> 00:25:45,042 and it is sent across the body of water 528 00:25:45,042 --> 00:25:48,333 to these dark, mysterious, hooded figures. 529 00:25:48,875 --> 00:25:50,875 (haunting ambient music) 530 00:25:50,875 --> 00:25:54,458 - This effigy is placed at the feet 531 00:25:54,458 --> 00:25:57,958 of this 40-foot owl structure 532 00:25:57,958 --> 00:26:02,500 that's covered in moss and leaves, and it is set afire, 533 00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:05,250 and so is immolated the cares of the world, 534 00:26:05,250 --> 00:26:09,333 and so is sealed a bond of privacy among members. 535 00:26:10,667 --> 00:26:12,833 - This 40-foot owl statue, 536 00:26:12,833 --> 00:26:16,042 this shrine, is so important to these men, 537 00:26:16,042 --> 00:26:18,583 they've actually come up with a name for it 538 00:26:18,583 --> 00:26:20,625 that has deep meaning for them. 539 00:26:20,625 --> 00:26:23,208 They call it "The Owl." 540 00:26:23,208 --> 00:26:25,625 (pulsing electronic music) 541 00:26:25,625 --> 00:26:30,292 - And apparently, The Owl speaks with the voice 542 00:26:30,292 --> 00:26:33,625 of famed newsman Walter Cronkite. 543 00:26:33,625 --> 00:26:36,417 An owl that sounds like Walter Cronkite? 544 00:26:36,417 --> 00:26:40,583 Super weird, but that's how the rich and powerful get down. 545 00:26:40,583 --> 00:26:42,333 - [Dan] I am Walter Cronkite, 546 00:26:42,333 --> 00:26:44,667 and that's the way it is. 547 00:26:44,667 --> 00:26:47,125 The Bohemian Club is still active today, 548 00:26:47,125 --> 00:26:50,833 planning who knows what, because remember, 549 00:26:50,833 --> 00:26:54,083 what happens in the grove stays in the grove. 550 00:26:55,833 --> 00:26:58,375 To date, Bohemian Grove has a several decades long 551 00:26:58,375 --> 00:27:00,667 waiting list for admission. 552 00:27:00,667 --> 00:27:02,250 Wonder when I'll get my invite? 553 00:27:03,375 --> 00:27:05,000 But I digress. 554 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,542 Talking owls might seem tame compared to this next ritual 555 00:27:08,542 --> 00:27:13,250 performed by members of another powerful secret society. 556 00:27:13,250 --> 00:27:16,208 (dark atmospheric music) 557 00:27:16,208 --> 00:27:20,458 - Founded in 1832, Skull and Bones will become the first 558 00:27:20,458 --> 00:27:24,375 of what will later be called the "Ancient Eight Consortium" 559 00:27:24,375 --> 00:27:26,625 of Yale's Secret Societies. 560 00:27:26,917 --> 00:27:29,042 (suspenseful music) 561 00:27:29,042 --> 00:27:31,292 So shrouded in secrecy is the Skull and Bones 562 00:27:31,292 --> 00:27:35,208 that when two bonesmen, George W. Bush and John Kerry, 563 00:27:35,208 --> 00:27:38,708 run against each other in the 2004 presidential election, 564 00:27:38,708 --> 00:27:41,000 the media pestered them constantly on 565 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:42,667 "What was it like in the Skull and Bones?" 566 00:27:42,667 --> 00:27:44,875 And zip. Mum's the word. 567 00:27:44,875 --> 00:27:47,292 Neither of them say a single thing about it. 568 00:27:48,750 --> 00:27:50,667 - [Dan] Another thing they're keeping in the vault, 569 00:27:50,667 --> 00:27:54,792 the secret society's unusual initiation ritual. 570 00:27:54,792 --> 00:27:56,417 - To become a member of Skull and Bones, 571 00:27:56,417 --> 00:28:01,417 it all begins with a ritual that takes place every spring 572 00:28:01,417 --> 00:28:03,708 and is known as "tap night." 573 00:28:03,708 --> 00:28:06,583 The men dress up in their suits 574 00:28:06,583 --> 00:28:08,458 and they stand there and they wait. 575 00:28:10,042 --> 00:28:12,583 - Literally, someone will come up behind them, 576 00:28:12,583 --> 00:28:15,083 tap them on the shoulder and say, 577 00:28:15,083 --> 00:28:17,875 "Skull and Bones. Do you accept?" 578 00:28:17,875 --> 00:28:20,708 - [Dan] And if you say yes, you're led to an ominous looking 579 00:28:20,708 --> 00:28:23,083 building called "The Tomb," 580 00:28:23,083 --> 00:28:26,375 and are henceforth known as a neophyte. 581 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,458 - From the first moment that the neophyte enters the Tomb, 582 00:28:31,458 --> 00:28:33,833 he's greeted by two members, 583 00:28:33,833 --> 00:28:36,375 a bag is placed over his head. 584 00:28:38,167 --> 00:28:42,917 - They are surrounded by figures in various macabre garb, 585 00:28:42,917 --> 00:28:45,792 including that of the devil himself. 586 00:28:45,792 --> 00:28:49,708 They are then compelled to strip bare their clothing 587 00:28:49,708 --> 00:28:54,500 and physically wrestle with other neophytes. 588 00:28:56,875 --> 00:28:59,083 - [Dan] After all the tapping, beating, stripping, 589 00:28:59,083 --> 00:29:03,000 and wrestling, the initiate meets his maker, sort of. 590 00:29:04,708 --> 00:29:07,625 - They make you lie in a coffin, naked, 591 00:29:07,625 --> 00:29:09,167 in front of everyone, 592 00:29:09,167 --> 00:29:12,292 and then offer up a detailed recounting 593 00:29:12,292 --> 00:29:14,000 of your sexual history. 594 00:29:16,083 --> 00:29:20,000 - They then read the oath of secrecy 595 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,417 and they drink a red, viscous fluid 596 00:29:24,417 --> 00:29:28,375 that's supposed to be blood from an upended skull. 597 00:29:30,125 --> 00:29:34,417 Afterwards, the pledge is slapped in the face 598 00:29:34,417 --> 00:29:36,042 with the devil's tail. 599 00:29:36,042 --> 00:29:37,083 (smack) 600 00:29:38,792 --> 00:29:40,250 - To wrap it all up, 601 00:29:40,250 --> 00:29:43,167 he kneels before a person dressed as the Pope. 602 00:29:44,792 --> 00:29:49,083 The Pope is seated in a chair in full Pope garb. 603 00:29:49,083 --> 00:29:51,917 On his left foot, there is a white slipper, 604 00:29:51,917 --> 00:29:55,542 and that foot is resting on a human skull. 605 00:29:55,542 --> 00:30:00,458 The initiate walks up, kisses the foot of the Pope, 606 00:30:00,458 --> 00:30:03,208 and at that moment, becomes a bonesman. 607 00:30:03,208 --> 00:30:06,250 They are now a member of the Skull and Bones. 608 00:30:06,250 --> 00:30:08,000 - [Dan] If drinking blood and foot kissing 609 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:09,917 doesn't sound like your thing, 610 00:30:09,917 --> 00:30:13,083 membership does have its privileges. 611 00:30:13,083 --> 00:30:15,167 - Apparently, if you're a bonesman, 612 00:30:15,167 --> 00:30:18,167 you get thousands of dollars upon graduation, 613 00:30:18,167 --> 00:30:21,792 access to mansions and different buildings 614 00:30:21,792 --> 00:30:24,000 around the country, around the world, 615 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,792 and some of the most powerful people in American history 616 00:30:27,792 --> 00:30:30,542 have been members of Skull and Bones. 617 00:30:30,542 --> 00:30:32,875 (dramatic whoosh) 618 00:30:37,208 --> 00:30:39,208 - Health rituals are a part of our everyday lives. 619 00:30:39,208 --> 00:30:40,417 Catch a cold? 620 00:30:40,417 --> 00:30:42,792 Eat chicken noodle soup and pop a few aspirin. 621 00:30:42,792 --> 00:30:44,583 Works like a charm. 622 00:30:44,583 --> 00:30:46,417 But 400 years ago, one British king 623 00:30:46,417 --> 00:30:49,083 embraces a different healing ritual, 624 00:30:49,083 --> 00:30:52,458 one in which the cure might be worse than the disease. 625 00:30:53,083 --> 00:30:56,000 (suspenseful music) 626 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,083 - King Charles II knows how to party. 627 00:30:59,083 --> 00:31:02,708 By golly, he makes sure to have as much fun as you can fit 628 00:31:02,708 --> 00:31:04,000 into one lifespan. 629 00:31:05,708 --> 00:31:09,500 - He has multiple mistresses, 630 00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:12,333 12 illegitimate children. 631 00:31:12,333 --> 00:31:17,292 He also is consuming delicacies left and right, 632 00:31:17,292 --> 00:31:22,292 fatty, rich meats and delicious wines, day in and day out. 633 00:31:23,833 --> 00:31:25,625 - [Dan] The King's party boy lifestyle 634 00:31:25,625 --> 00:31:27,375 finally gets the better of him 635 00:31:27,375 --> 00:31:30,167 and he falls victim to gout and a stroke. 636 00:31:31,167 --> 00:31:32,542 - He wants something to make him 637 00:31:32,542 --> 00:31:34,167 feel better after his stroke, 638 00:31:34,167 --> 00:31:37,917 and so he decides that the most incredible thing he can do 639 00:31:37,917 --> 00:31:40,167 is choose an almost magical implement 640 00:31:40,167 --> 00:31:42,292 called "Goddard's Drops." 641 00:31:44,292 --> 00:31:46,750 - [Dan] Created by physician Jonathan Goddard, 642 00:31:46,750 --> 00:31:48,417 the drops are a strange tincture 643 00:31:48,417 --> 00:31:51,292 containing a most unusual ingredient. 644 00:31:51,292 --> 00:31:53,583 (pulsing suspenseful music) 645 00:31:53,583 --> 00:31:55,708 - These aren't just any drops. 646 00:31:55,708 --> 00:32:00,708 These drops contain up to five pounds in one batch 647 00:32:00,708 --> 00:32:03,042 of crushed human skulls. 648 00:32:03,042 --> 00:32:06,625 (haunting music) 649 00:32:06,625 --> 00:32:09,417 - [Dan] Charles II's doctors begin ritualistically 650 00:32:09,417 --> 00:32:12,542 administering Goddard's drops to him every day. 651 00:32:12,542 --> 00:32:16,208 - King Charles II becomes so enamored of his drops 652 00:32:16,208 --> 00:32:21,208 that he ultimately buys the formula for 6,000 pounds, 653 00:32:22,542 --> 00:32:25,333 which roughly translates to half a million in today's money. 654 00:32:25,333 --> 00:32:28,542 At that point, they stop being "Goddard's drops" 655 00:32:28,542 --> 00:32:31,750 and they start being called "the King's drops." 656 00:32:31,750 --> 00:32:32,958 - It doesn't actually cure him. 657 00:32:32,958 --> 00:32:34,500 In fact, there's some suggestion that, 658 00:32:34,500 --> 00:32:39,500 because his physicians are giving him 40 drops a day 659 00:32:39,500 --> 00:32:41,542 as he's ailing at the end of his life, 660 00:32:41,542 --> 00:32:43,875 that it's probably the drops that hastened 661 00:32:43,875 --> 00:32:46,500 his final end in 1685. 662 00:32:46,500 --> 00:32:48,500 (dramatic music) 663 00:32:50,167 --> 00:32:52,875 - [Dan] Next up, another 17th century ritual 664 00:32:52,875 --> 00:32:55,250 that involves ingesting something 665 00:32:55,250 --> 00:32:59,083 that sounds a little more appealing, at first. 666 00:32:59,083 --> 00:33:00,708 (suspenseful music) 667 00:33:00,708 --> 00:33:04,292 - The Salem Witch Trials truly begin with erratic behavior, 668 00:33:04,292 --> 00:33:06,375 showed on the part of a few young women, 669 00:33:06,375 --> 00:33:09,375 in particular, a young woman known as Elizabeth Paris, 670 00:33:09,375 --> 00:33:11,500 more commonly known as Betty. 671 00:33:12,917 --> 00:33:15,292 - Betty and several other young girls 672 00:33:15,292 --> 00:33:18,542 are suffering convulsions and acting erratically, 673 00:33:18,542 --> 00:33:22,375 and everything is going wrong in Salem. 674 00:33:23,708 --> 00:33:26,333 - Betty is examined by the local doctor, William Griggs, 675 00:33:26,333 --> 00:33:29,417 who can't find anything physically wrong with her. 676 00:33:29,417 --> 00:33:32,417 That's when they decide it has to be witchcraft. 677 00:33:34,458 --> 00:33:37,875 - Enter the Paris family's neighbor, Mary Sibley, 678 00:33:37,875 --> 00:33:39,500 who believes she has the answer. 679 00:33:41,375 --> 00:33:42,417 A witch cake. 680 00:33:43,292 --> 00:33:44,833 - Mary Sibley's cake 681 00:33:44,833 --> 00:33:47,375 is a little bit different than your average cake. 682 00:33:47,375 --> 00:33:51,958 It's rye, it's ashes, something personal of Betty's, 683 00:33:51,958 --> 00:33:54,833 and then there's one last ingredient, 684 00:33:54,833 --> 00:33:57,083 a dash of Betty's urine. 685 00:33:57,083 --> 00:33:59,583 (mysterious pulsing music) 686 00:33:59,583 --> 00:34:02,708 - [Dan] That last ingredient isn't the icing on the cake, 687 00:34:02,708 --> 00:34:06,042 it's the key to making the dough do its thing. 688 00:34:06,708 --> 00:34:08,375 - That is right. 689 00:34:08,375 --> 00:34:12,292 You have to take the urine of the affected individual 690 00:34:12,292 --> 00:34:15,208 and then mix it in with this rye flour, 691 00:34:15,208 --> 00:34:17,917 and then you bake a cake that kind of looks a little bit 692 00:34:17,917 --> 00:34:20,042 like this ball with spikes on it. 693 00:34:20,042 --> 00:34:24,958 - And when baked, it has to be fed to something particular 694 00:34:24,958 --> 00:34:27,250 to figure out if Betty is a witch, 695 00:34:27,250 --> 00:34:28,667 and that's something particular 696 00:34:28,667 --> 00:34:31,208 is the Paris's family dog. 697 00:34:31,208 --> 00:34:33,458 (dog barking) Poor dog. 698 00:34:35,625 --> 00:34:39,375 - The folk belief around this witch's cake 699 00:34:39,375 --> 00:34:44,417 is that feeding it to a dog will induce in the dog 700 00:34:45,625 --> 00:34:48,833 the same symptoms that are displayed by the accused witch. 701 00:34:50,583 --> 00:34:54,292 - More bizarre still is that the dog 702 00:34:54,292 --> 00:34:57,750 is meant to fall into a trance 703 00:34:57,750 --> 00:35:02,750 and then somehow, dog speaks and says the name of the witch. 704 00:35:03,500 --> 00:35:04,875 (dog barking) 705 00:35:04,875 --> 00:35:06,875 - I bet all of the girls in the village named Ruth 706 00:35:06,875 --> 00:35:09,708 were probably pretty nervous at this point in time. 707 00:35:10,875 --> 00:35:14,042 - [Dan] After the Paris family dog has eaten the cake, 708 00:35:14,042 --> 00:35:17,750 the results are in, and as for Betty's fate? 709 00:35:17,750 --> 00:35:19,292 - Betty Paris gets off. 710 00:35:19,292 --> 00:35:21,458 Her dog does not rat her out. 711 00:35:22,458 --> 00:35:23,542 - In this particular instance, 712 00:35:23,542 --> 00:35:26,667 the witch cake ritual doesn't definitively 713 00:35:26,667 --> 00:35:30,583 mark out a specific person as a witch. 714 00:35:30,583 --> 00:35:34,458 - Over the next year, the witch's cake 715 00:35:34,458 --> 00:35:37,500 is considered a valid tool of justice 716 00:35:37,500 --> 00:35:41,333 and serves as a device of mass hysteria 717 00:35:41,333 --> 00:35:44,250 to point fingers at increasing numbers of victims. 718 00:35:45,375 --> 00:35:49,083 - That's one cake I do not want the recipe for. 719 00:35:49,083 --> 00:35:51,125 Next up, some hygiene rituals 720 00:35:51,125 --> 00:35:53,667 that promise a different kind of transformation. 721 00:35:57,458 --> 00:35:59,208 - We all have our morning rituals. 722 00:35:59,208 --> 00:36:01,125 For some of us, it's a hot shower. 723 00:36:01,125 --> 00:36:02,792 For others, a quick wash of the face. 724 00:36:02,792 --> 00:36:04,458 Some can only manage to brush their teeth 725 00:36:04,458 --> 00:36:06,375 before getting out the door. 726 00:36:06,375 --> 00:36:08,417 The citizens of ancient Rome, 727 00:36:08,417 --> 00:36:13,250 they like mouthwash, and the go-to flavor? 728 00:36:13,250 --> 00:36:16,375 Well let's just say it's not cinnamon or mint. 729 00:36:16,375 --> 00:36:19,375 (pulsing ambient music) 730 00:36:19,375 --> 00:36:20,875 - If you're living in ancient Rome 731 00:36:20,875 --> 00:36:23,792 and you want the freshest of breath to start the day, 732 00:36:23,792 --> 00:36:26,208 why not grab the finest cup 733 00:36:26,208 --> 00:36:28,417 of urine, swish it around, 734 00:36:28,417 --> 00:36:30,500 and gargle and spit? 735 00:36:31,333 --> 00:36:32,875 - [Dan] As wild as it sounds, 736 00:36:32,875 --> 00:36:36,292 this very strange and very natural teeth cleaning agent 737 00:36:36,292 --> 00:36:39,667 actually works really well. 738 00:36:39,667 --> 00:36:43,000 - Should you distill urine for long enough, 739 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:44,958 it can become ammonia. 740 00:36:45,083 --> 00:36:47,375 Mix it with water and voila, 741 00:36:47,375 --> 00:36:50,458 a not necessarily palatable, 742 00:36:50,458 --> 00:36:52,833 but a very functional teeth-whitening, 743 00:36:52,833 --> 00:36:55,417 teeth-preserving agent. 744 00:36:55,417 --> 00:36:58,125 - [Dan] The ritual becomes so popular, in fact, 745 00:36:58,125 --> 00:36:59,625 that it turns into big business 746 00:36:59,625 --> 00:37:02,333 for urine collectors throughout the eternal city. 747 00:37:02,333 --> 00:37:04,708 - When you walk through public spaces, 748 00:37:04,708 --> 00:37:07,542 there are pots that you can go to 749 00:37:07,542 --> 00:37:10,083 to relieve yourself if necessary. 750 00:37:10,083 --> 00:37:11,958 - They are turned into ammonia over time 751 00:37:11,958 --> 00:37:15,583 and redistributed out and it is quite a lucrative business. 752 00:37:15,583 --> 00:37:19,208 - So popular does the urine mouthwash become 753 00:37:19,208 --> 00:37:22,667 that the government puts a tax on urine. 754 00:37:22,958 --> 00:37:24,917 Imagine that, a pee tax. 755 00:37:26,875 --> 00:37:28,875 - [Dan] It even coins a turn of phrase 756 00:37:28,875 --> 00:37:32,000 that somehow has a positive connotation. 757 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:33,667 - Today, if you go to Rome 758 00:37:33,667 --> 00:37:36,792 and you see somebody with exceptionally white teeth, 759 00:37:36,792 --> 00:37:39,375 there is a common saying, I don't know what in Italian, 760 00:37:39,375 --> 00:37:41,792 but it translates to, "You're full of piss." 761 00:37:43,500 --> 00:37:46,250 - I'll stick to regular mouthwash, thanks. 762 00:37:46,250 --> 00:37:49,417 But if you're still looking for natural self-care trends, 763 00:37:49,417 --> 00:37:51,708 there's a new one to get you to relax, 764 00:37:51,708 --> 00:37:54,208 but it's not for the squeamish. 765 00:37:54,208 --> 00:37:56,375 (bubbling electronic music) 766 00:37:56,375 --> 00:37:59,208 - I've been to a fair few spas in my life 767 00:37:59,208 --> 00:38:01,333 and they are very ritualistic, 768 00:38:01,333 --> 00:38:03,958 but I've never had this one done. 769 00:38:03,958 --> 00:38:05,417 (snakes hissing) 770 00:38:05,417 --> 00:38:08,542 - Instead of a massage therapist laying hands on you, 771 00:38:08,542 --> 00:38:13,625 you instead have snakes placed upon your body 772 00:38:14,917 --> 00:38:19,542 and their whole job is to crawl and slither over your body 773 00:38:20,292 --> 00:38:21,458 as you lay there. 774 00:38:21,458 --> 00:38:23,167 (snakes hissing) 775 00:38:23,167 --> 00:38:25,583 - And contrary to popular misconception, 776 00:38:25,583 --> 00:38:27,542 snakes are not slimy, 777 00:38:27,542 --> 00:38:29,667 and the reason this might actually feel good 778 00:38:29,667 --> 00:38:32,083 is that snakes are very muscular animals, 779 00:38:32,083 --> 00:38:34,875 so simply placing them on your body, 780 00:38:34,875 --> 00:38:37,292 they are gonna be just sort of clinging 781 00:38:37,292 --> 00:38:38,875 and moving around a little bit, 782 00:38:38,875 --> 00:38:41,292 and that motion, you know, maybe it can be 783 00:38:41,292 --> 00:38:42,750 kind of therapeutic and work out 784 00:38:42,750 --> 00:38:44,708 some of the tension in your muscles. 785 00:38:46,583 --> 00:38:50,000 - [Dan] So where can one go to get said snake massage? 786 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,375 - It's become very popular in Thailand, in Russia, 787 00:38:53,375 --> 00:38:55,458 and in fact, even in New York City, 788 00:38:55,458 --> 00:38:58,500 you can pay $300 an hour to be embraced 789 00:38:58,500 --> 00:38:59,958 by a boa constrictor. 790 00:38:59,958 --> 00:39:01,833 (calming new age music) 791 00:39:01,833 --> 00:39:04,542 - You can get one of these snake massages, 792 00:39:04,542 --> 00:39:09,917 which is led by a snake handler dubbed "Serpent Tessa." 793 00:39:10,542 --> 00:39:12,542 People who do this ritual 794 00:39:12,542 --> 00:39:15,708 claim that it lowers their blood pressure. 795 00:39:15,708 --> 00:39:18,292 Some claim that it even lessens their anxiety. 796 00:39:18,292 --> 00:39:20,250 Some even say that it helps them 797 00:39:20,250 --> 00:39:23,875 to overcome their fear of snakes. 798 00:39:23,875 --> 00:39:27,042 - [Dan] Although Serpent Tessa's snakes sound scary, 799 00:39:27,042 --> 00:39:29,958 there is a skincare ritual that can suck the life 800 00:39:29,958 --> 00:39:33,000 right out of you, or at least the color. 801 00:39:33,417 --> 00:39:35,958 (suspenseful music) 802 00:39:35,958 --> 00:39:40,458 - Bloodletting, the practice of letting out blood 803 00:39:40,458 --> 00:39:44,333 in order to help the body rejuvenate its defenses, 804 00:39:44,333 --> 00:39:46,792 get rid of infections, 805 00:39:46,792 --> 00:39:49,500 it's been used for thousands of years. 806 00:39:50,708 --> 00:39:53,167 - [Dan] In the 16th century, European women find a way 807 00:39:53,167 --> 00:39:57,208 to use bloodletting to make a fashion statement. 808 00:39:57,208 --> 00:40:00,208 - You've probably seen paintings of 16th century noblewomen 809 00:40:00,208 --> 00:40:03,375 and they have these wonderfully powder white complexions. 810 00:40:03,375 --> 00:40:04,875 There's a reason for that. 811 00:40:04,875 --> 00:40:06,042 It turns out, 812 00:40:06,042 --> 00:40:08,875 bloodletting can be used for cosmetic purposes. 813 00:40:08,875 --> 00:40:11,708 And how are you going to get the blood out of your face 814 00:40:11,708 --> 00:40:13,542 to make it pale like that? 815 00:40:13,542 --> 00:40:17,042 Well, you're going to elicit the help of some friends. 816 00:40:17,042 --> 00:40:21,042 (atmospheric music) 817 00:40:21,042 --> 00:40:24,083 - Simply the temporary application of a leech, 818 00:40:24,083 --> 00:40:26,917 let it suck your blood for a bit, and then take it off. 819 00:40:28,542 --> 00:40:31,542 - Leeches have three jaws and over a hundred teeth, 820 00:40:31,542 --> 00:40:35,125 so they are the perfect thing to suck the blood, 821 00:40:35,125 --> 00:40:38,500 to suck the color, directly from your face. 822 00:40:38,500 --> 00:40:40,042 - [Dan] And where do they get these leeches? 823 00:40:40,042 --> 00:40:43,208 Let's just say a lot of rich aristocratic women 824 00:40:43,208 --> 00:40:44,917 suddenly take up gardening. 825 00:40:47,458 --> 00:40:49,708 - You've got noblewomen pinning them on 826 00:40:49,708 --> 00:40:52,792 behind their ears, to their neck, 827 00:40:52,792 --> 00:40:54,708 generally places where, you know, 828 00:40:54,708 --> 00:40:57,375 the scar wouldn't be too much. 829 00:40:57,375 --> 00:40:58,875 - [Dan] If you think leech facials 830 00:40:58,875 --> 00:41:01,667 are a vestige of 16th century Europe, 831 00:41:01,667 --> 00:41:03,583 well, you won't believe this. 832 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:07,042 (playful music) 833 00:41:07,042 --> 00:41:09,208 - You can actually get a leech facial today 834 00:41:09,208 --> 00:41:10,417 if you wanted to. 835 00:41:10,417 --> 00:41:12,958 - For $200, you can go to a specialist 836 00:41:12,958 --> 00:41:16,583 who will take a leech, attach it under your chin, 837 00:41:16,583 --> 00:41:19,917 and then ultimately rub both the extracted blood 838 00:41:19,917 --> 00:41:23,583 and the leech secretions into and around your face. 839 00:41:23,583 --> 00:41:26,458 Supposedly, it gives you a lovely glow. 840 00:41:29,042 --> 00:41:33,208 - These unusual rituals reveal many interesting things 841 00:41:33,208 --> 00:41:34,750 about us humans. 842 00:41:34,750 --> 00:41:36,625 Some of them might seem strange, 843 00:41:36,625 --> 00:41:39,042 others downright terrifying, 844 00:41:39,042 --> 00:41:42,583 but all of them are truly unbelievable.