#WackyWednesday: Strangest Easter traditions around the world

The Easter holidays are finally upon us, with Newcastillians preparing to celebrate the long weekend in their own traditional way.

For some, this might mean having an Easter Egg hunt or going to church, followed by a lunch with family and friends. However, there are those who will be celebrating Easter in a rather unique way.

Here are five of the strangest Easter traditions around the world.

1. Whipping girls and women

In some parts of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, women and girls dress up in traditional attire before being whipped by boys on Easter Monday.

The whip is forged from up to 24 willow rods and can be up to two metres long, decorated with bright ribbons. The practice is based on a legend which insists a good spanking will keep women healthy, beautiful, and fertile until the following Easter. It also allows men to express their romantic interest in a woman. However, I can’t see this tradition ending well for any man in South Africa.

2. Knocking for candy

In Denmark, children dress up as witches and warlocks before going from door-to-door in search for candy. Strange tradition, considering how you teach your children to not take candy from strangers, and then send them out to take candy from strangers.

While the children enjoy the festivities of getting sweets from neighbouring houses, they are required to give each house they visit a decorated willow branch. These willow branches are believed to bless the owner’s house.

3. Getting a good beating

In the Philippines, some people whip themselves until blood is shed. Yes, you read that right, as penance for their sins, people whip their backs with bamboo sticks and sharp blades as a form of worship. This is done in public, with people parading through the streets half-naked and barefoot, performing this act of self-flagellation. Apparently, it cleanses the soul and is meant to replicate the suffering Jesus experienced. I guess I will stick with chocolate Easter eggs.

4. Flying kites

Bermuda knows how to have fun during Easter, by choosing to fly kites rather than whipping themselves or girlfriends as is the case in the Philippines and Slovakia.

Apparently, this tradition began when a British school teacher in Bermuda made a kite in order to explain Christ’s ascension to Heaven to his Sunday school class. Now, children are seen with their kites every Easter weekend.

5. Being put on a cross

Portuguese and Dutch missionaries brought Christianity to the islands of Indonesia in the 16th century. Since then, Easter has been celebrated with re-enactments of the crucifixion. During these re-enactments, young men are publicly bound to wooden crosses throughout the country, while statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary are paraded through the streets.