A man walks with a giant rake during carnival celebrations in Zubieta January 27, 2015. Bell carrying dancers known as Joaldunak from Zubieta and neighbouring Ituren visit each other's villages performing a ritual dance to ward off evil spirits and awaken the coming spring. Alongside the dancers, villagers dress in bizarre and frightening costumes to harass and scare visitors. (Photo by Vincent West/Reuters)

Devotees bow to a passingTibetan Buddhist monk on his way to take part in a special prayer during Monlam or the Great Prayer rituals on March 5, 2015 at the Labrang Monastery, Xiahe County, Amdo, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, China. Labrang Monastery is one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the largest outside of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Monlam, the most important prayer event for many Tibetans was banned during the Cultural Revolution in China but once again in recent years it is celebrated in many areas. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A family poses for a picture in front of the carcasses of sacrificed buffalos a day after the sacrificial ceremony of the “Gadhimai Mela” festival held in Bariyapur November 29, 2014. Sword-wielding Hindu devotees in Nepal began slaughtering thousands of animals and birds in a ritual sacrifice on Friday, ignoring calls by animal rights activists to halt what they described as the world's largest such exercise. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

“Sperm whale opening it's huge mouth, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whales are the biggest carnivorous animals on the planet. Each teeth in the mouth of adult specimen weights more than 1 kilogram. Interestingly enough that modern marine biologists believe that these teeth despite being fearsome play little role in capturing and eating giant squid – with their main function being mainly ritual aggression between males!”. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)

Shamans perform a ritual of predictions for the upcoming US election with posters of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton at the Agua Dulce beach in Lima on November 7, 2016. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump launched into the frenzied final day of their historic fight for the White House Monday, with blow-out rallies in the handful of swing states that will decide who leads the United States. (Photo by Ernesto Benavides/AFP Photo)

A devotee is carried around town in a vessel as part of rituals during the Swasthani Bratakatha festival at Thecho in Lalitpur, Nepal, February 19, 2016. During the month long festival, devotees recite one chapter of a Hindu tale daily from the 31-chapter sacred Swasthani Brata Katha book that is dedicated to God Madhavnarayan and Goddess Swasthani, alongside various other gods and goddess and the miraculous feats performed by them. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Hannah Maule-ffinch, “Wild Swimmers”, 2020, Hinksey Lake, Oxfordshire. Category: People. The series Wild Swimmers explores how humans are strongest when coming together in the face of adversity. In this photo, Emma and Emma have an amazing bond and friendship, built through their daily ritual of cold swimming in often bracing conditions. (Photo by Hannah Maule-ffinch/Earth Photo 2022)

“The Nine Emperor Gods Festival is a nine-day Taoist celebration beginning on the eve of 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, which is observed primarily in Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and also the Riau Islands. In Thailand, this festival is called Tesagan Gin Je, the Vegetarian Festival. It is celebrated throughout the entire country, but the festivities are at their height in Phuket, where about 35% of the population is Chinese. It attracts crowds of spectators because of many of the unusual religious rituals that are performed”. – Wikipedia. Photo: A devotee gest pierced at the Bang Neow shrine in Phuket. (Photo by Paula Bronstein)