Purification Ritual

via Criminal Wisdom

Devotees of the Chinese Jui Tui Shrine take part in a street procession marking the annual Vegetarian Festival in the southern town of Phuket on October 21, 2012. During the festival, which begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts nine days, religious devotees slash themselves with swords, pierce their cheeks with sharp objects and commit other painful acts to purify themselves, taking on the sins of the community. (Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/Getty Images)