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Female devotees to the Chinese Shrine of Jui Tui work themselves into a state of trance prior to a street parade during the annual Vegetarian Festival on Phuket Island, Thailand, 19 October 2015. The festival, which has Chinese origins, is held during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar and it involves the beliefs of cleansing the body, ritual piercing, spirit medium, and the consumption of only vegetarian food as well as making merit. The festival runs for nine days with street processions featuring devotees who pierce their bodies with an assortment of weapons and implements. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)
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