Rites of Passage: Aranda Tribe of Australia

At the age of twelve, boys in the Aranda tribe go through a Ceremony of Circumcision six weeks prior to what is called the Tossing Ceremony.  The Ceremony of Circumcision involves the circumcision of the boy.  Following his circumcision is another ceremony called the Parra Ceremony of Subincision.  The Parra Ceremony of Subincision a body modification where the uretha is sliced lengthwise from the urethral opening towards the base of the penis.  With this ceremony the men rub their blood on one another.  They follow with the Kuntamara Ceremony that requires a reopening of the subincision.  This is done by an elder with a stone that creates a bonding of kinship.  The Tossing Ceremony occurs six weeks after the boys circumcision.  The Tossing Ceremony requires that the boy be tossed into the air and caught by various male relatives.

Picture 1, Australian Aboriginal-Initiation and Mourning Rites of Passage.  Accessed 29 April 2014.  http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/220aboriginal_passage.htm