1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (111 page)

839

FACT :
The Parsee, a Zoroastrian sect in India, practice the ancient ritual of “sky-burial,” where the dead bodies of loved ones are
placed on a high stone platform, stripped naked, and left for vultures
. Once picked clean, the bones are swept into a deep well.
As delightful as that sounds, I think I’ll stick with cremation.

Tim McGirk, “Shortage of Vultures Threatens Ancient Culture: Many Parsees Are Questioning the Tradition of Sky Burial,” The Independent, September 16, 1992,
www.independent.co.uk
.

840

FACT :
Every year on the eve of December 5th, St. Nicholas Day, Austrians celebrate Krampus Night, when people dress up as Krampus, a demon, and roam the streets
looking for incorrigible children to beat with a stick
. The tradition is meant to encourage good behavior in kids.
Where do I sign up?

“Eight Truly Strange Christmas Customs,” Mental_Floss, December 11, 2008,
www.mentalfloss.com
.

841

FACT :
In Spain, a Catalonian Christmas tradition features
a statue of a little man pooping as part of the Nativity scene
. The entire town of Bethlehem, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus are depicted— along with the little man, Caganer, doing his business in the corner.
We all get excited about Christmas.

Some more than others.

“Eight Truly Strange Christmas Customs,” Mental_Floss, December 11, 2008,
www.mentalfloss.com
.

842

FACT :
In Dutch tradition, Sinterklass (Santa Claus) is accompanied by a slave named Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). Children are warned that if they don’t behave,
Black Pete might take them back to Spain
.
And put them to work cleaning up all the Caganer shit in the Nativity scenes.

“Eight Truly Strange Christmas Customs,” Mental_Floss, December 11, 2008,
www.mentalfloss.com
.

843

FACT :
Ancient custom in Fiji dictated that when a man died,
his wives, slaves and friends should all be strangled
.
The custom was discontinued when they started running low on Fijians to kill.

“History Of Funeral Customs,” Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association,
www.wyfda.org
.

844

FACT :
India’s Brahmin once practiced sati, or wife burning. When her husband died, a widow would dress in her finest clothing and
lie with his body on the funeral pyre
to be burned alive.
I hope sati isn’t the same thing as satay. I’ve had satay, and come to think of it, it was a little charred.

Erin McHugh, The 5 W’s: Why? An Omnium-Gatherum of World Wars and World Series, Superstitions and Psychoses, the Tooth Fairy Rule and Turkey City Lexicon and Other of Life’s Wherefores (Sterling Publishing Company, 2005).

Jyotsna Kamat, “The Origins of the Sati System,” Kamat’s Potpourri,
www.kamat.com
.

845

FACT :
Chinese authorities are cracking down on
the practice of hiring strippers to perform at funerals
. Family and friends hire the women in order to draw more people to a funeral, since many Chinese believe that the larger the crowd, the more luck will come to relatives of the departed.
I’ve always heard that one should go out with a bang. You won’t—you’ll be dead—but maybe your friends will get laid in your honor.

“Take A Trip Around The World,” My Funky Funeral,
www.myfunkyfuneral.com
.

“China Acts on Funeral Strippers,” BBC News, August 23, 2006,
www.news.bbc.co.uk
.

846

FACT :
Among some North American Indian groups, a husband has the right to bite
or cut off
the nose of an adulterous wife.
Her nose isn’t the problem.

George Monger, Marriage Customs of the World: From Henna to Honeymoons (ABC-CLIO, 2004).