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by Aaron Tan
Despite all the advances in reproductive science, some people still gravitate towards less conventional means of conceiving children. Regardless of their authenticity, these odd customs have stood the test of time, even garnered quite a following. Here are 5 bizarre fertility rituals people still believe in:
Kanamara Matsuri
Photo: Flickr/Takanori
This list wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of this bizarre Japanese festival— Kanamara Matsuri aka The Penis Festival. Complete with phallic-shaped snacks, wooden schlong carvings, and other suggestive ornaments, this festival is a huge hit among tourists and locals (not to mention perverts) alike.
Thousands flock to the Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki Japan each spring to pray for blessings of virility, marriage harmony, and even business prosperity. Men and women dress up as humanoid ding-dongs and ‘touch tips’ with other penis-enthusiasts during this cheeky display of manhood. Wooden penis shrines (approximately 2.5 metres long) are also paraded around the streets by locals for good luck and successful fertility.
Today, the festival serves as an advocate for safe sex and all proceeds go towards the funding of HIV research.
The Weeping Column
Photo: Flickr/Chris Brown
Inside the Hagia Sophia of Istanbul Turkey lies the mysterious weeping column, where a specific hole in the column is said to ‘weep’ holy water. Believers place their thumb into the hole and rotate it 360 degrees. If the thumb emerges wet, your aliment will be healed. Anything from blindness to infertility can be cured by the column, except maybe for hangovers. They’re still trying to find a cure for that.
Chao Mae Tuptim
Photo: Flickr/Jason Eppink
Also known as the Lingam fertility shrine, this sacred area in Bangkok Thailand is home to Chao Mae Tuptim, a female tree spirit said to bestows mystical blessings of fertility to all who visit her.
Despite how obscene and strange the concept of a penis shrine might be, countless women swear by its legitimacy. With women from all around Thailand (and the world) come offering phallic shaped gifts to the goddess in exchange for a chance at conceiving.
Victor Noir’s Grave
Photo: Flickr/Natalie Marchant
Victor Noir was an unfortunate man whose untimely death (he supposedly was killed in a duel) sparked an erogenous myth. Twenty years after the death of the french journalist, Noir’s tomb has become somewhat of a symbol for fertility. A life-sized bronze statue of him was carved and placed on his grave located in the Père Lachaise Cemetery of Paris, France.
Women would put flowers in his hat and stroke his crotch to improved fertility and sexual well-being. Although life may not have been kind to poor Victor, his legacy of being an unorthodox ‘Don Juan’ will live for years to come.
The “Fertility Waters” of Kununurra
Photo: Flickr/Thomas Hawk
During the filming of the movie Australia in 2008, actress Nicole Kidman, along with few other crew members, took a swim in the waterfalls of Kununurra in Western Australia. Not too long after, Kidman announced her pregnancy to the world.
A total of seven other babies had been conceived by crew members of the film after taking a dip in the mysterious lagoon, and Kidman claimed that the waters contain something mystical. Coincidence or not, who would dare doubt Academy Award winning actress Nicole Kidman?
– Travel Inspiration
