Body suspension -- What do you think?

I wouldn’t do it myself and I won’t pretend to understand why other people choose to do it. Everyone has their own reasons for what they do.

It’s definately not for everyone. I respect a person’s decision to do whatever; I can understand the spiritually of it. I’ve never been into pain for myself tho…lol

I’m afraid to look at your video. I have an inversion table and even that hurts my ankles.

lol….the video’s not that bad, Judi! And they are doing this willingly.

I simply think it’s dumb, as far as a whole spirituality thing. It’s amazing the control over their mind and bodies, and it’s quite a feat, but the satanic nature of the video I just find ridiculous, and really unsettling.Just my opinion though. =/

It’s not satanic. The Pain Tribe originates from Louisiana and it has a lot of different cultural elements to it. The performances are fantastic—mesmerising to watch, and a lot of that has to do with how deeply the performers feel about what they do.

I have trouble watching. If those guys want to do it to themselves, then let them. But I can’t watch it, and I see no value in it. I had to turn off Ichi the Killer when it came to the body suspension bit (see about 8 minutes into this video).

surprised ppl get that upset by it—it was a hit at the tat convention over the weekend.

@deaddolly: I’m sorry, but the red lights, self-inflicted pain, the eery music, the fashion sense, that is satanic. This is my opinion entirely, but I’m sure there are thousand’s of people out there who would agree with me. Then, there are probably thousands that would agree it isn’t, but not as many as would say it is I don’t think.

Funny – none of the ppl involved are into Satanism. Just goes to show you!

I never knew ppl considered someone’s fashion sense Satanic.

omfg. I’ll stop now.

@Moo – The act itself is not Satanic. People who do these things create their own meaning for the act. Some even use body suspension to meditate on God.

Satanism isn’t a mood or a fashion – it’s a belief system.

Well said, Shading21. Thanks!

Well, I’m sorry then. Every person that I have ever met that practiced, or at least said they practiced, satanism had a similar fashion of, for lack of a better word, ‘darkness’. Maybe they were all just ‘posers’, and I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. Just from what I know about Satanism, and I guess I don’t really know that much, it seems satanic to me.

@shadling21: The act itself may not be satanic, but self inflicted pain, once again from what I know, is part of satanism.

I don’t know that much about Satanism either, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to jump to assumptions about a person’s religious beliefs.

I’ve seen sites that name self-harm as a part of Satanic ritual. But it’s a part of nearly ALL other religions, too. I mean, take a look at this Wikipedia page – Satan is not mentioned once. A lot of websites tie self-harm to suicide or psychosis.

@MooKoo what about the priests that do self flagellation?

There are a lot of spiritual beliefs (including Christianity – with modern crucifixion) that use self inflicted pain, fasting or exhaustion to bring about heightened spiritual states. With so many examples around the world and throughout history, it suggests deeper origins than religious beliefs themselves. There’s often a big element of spectacle, like this BME freak show, designed to shock people. Spooky makeup and costumes can emphasize themes of death and redemption and allude to the many complex belief systems which explore these issues. Calling any terrifying practice Satanism can be a way to dismiss something that makes us uncomfortable. Overcoming fear and discomfort and seeing ourselves as spirit (not mortal flesh) are central aspects of spirituality (hooks optional).

I think this particular depiction is peformance art and it does evoke a visceral primitive response from one’s psyche. I wonder if the participants are true masochists or extreme exhibitionists? As for hanging constantly as a lifestyle, it loses the appeal as a rite of passage, ritual, spiritual thing and just becomes self aggrandizing spectacle.
For the record I think the self flaggelations and crucifixions practiced by other cultures as fetish also miss the mark. Their focus seems to be the man as opposed to the transcendent spirit.

I have difficulty seeing anything so dependent on eliciting physical sensation as transcendental. Sounds pretty visceral to me.

@SeventhSense—you beat me

@fundevogel
No lurve my mustachioed man? :)

ah, remedied my panhandling primate.

<—-scarfs down the monkey treat