Was curious myself so found the answer....would be rude of me not to share: "n 1940, Mexican photojournalist Enrique Díaz captured this intense moment at the San Juan de los Lagos Fair in Jalisco, Mexico.The image shows a female penitent performing a severe form of auto-flagellation or voto (votive penance). Her crown of thorns evokes Christ’s Passion, while the veil reflects humility and anonymity before God. The nopal (cactus pad) pierced in her chest stands for both pain and sacrifice, deeply tied to Mexican identity and endurance.The pelt dish she carries collects blood from her wounds, linking this act to a living tradition where physical suffering is offered to atone for sins or fulfill a manda (promise) made to a saint or the Virgin Mary in gratitude for a miracle.San Juan de los Lagos honors the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos, one of Mexico’s most revered figures, attracting pilgrims who engage in such dramatic acts of devotion and penance."
Yes, married couple doing weird shit, not couple getting married amid weird shit. Title is remarkably vague.
对,这是两口子在干什么诡异的事儿,而不是两口子在诡异的背景下结婚。标题写得也太含糊了。
Ok_Nefariousness973656 赞2025/9/21
Well, the woman is forced to do weird shit for sake of marriage, as usual
呵,反正就是女人为了婚姻被迫搞这些乱七八糟的呗,老传统了。
Brief-Translator1370109 赞2025/9/21
Did you misunderstand the post entirely? It has nothing to do with their marriage. It was her religious beliefs
你是不是完全理解错了?这跟他们的婚姻压根没关系。这是她的宗教信仰。
stormchaotic150 赞2025/9/21
It's a disgusting religion if the pain is only put in the woman. The guy should be bleeding as well if he believes this trash
如果这种痛苦只加在女人身上,那这宗教真够恶心的。既然他信这破玩意儿,那他也该跟着流血才对。
nessking1165 赞2025/9/21
Men do it too, clearly in this case the husband does not share the same penitent beliefs.
男的也这么干,很明显在这件事里,她老公不信这套忏悔的玩意儿。
Akavinceblack56 赞2025/9/21
Or he does but it’s not practical for both of them to do penance at once, especially since her sight is obstructed.
或者是他信,但两人同时做苦修不现实,尤其是她视线还被遮住了。
F6Collections26 赞2025/9/21
Shhhh this is MEN BAD comment time
嘘——现在是“男人真恶心”时间的固定喷点。
Akavinceblack23 赞2025/9/21
Both sexes can be, and are, penitents. She can’t SEE. He’s helping her to do what she wants to do.
男性女性都可以,也确实都有人成为忏悔者。
她看不见。那个男的是在帮她做她想做的事。
beewithausername103 赞2025/9/21
Yup, in my parents hometowns in Mexico Theres a religious festival where they lay a thin carpet around town and people walk on their knees on it all the way to the church. Not uncommon for people to have bloody knees at the end of
My parents did this after asking the Virgin Mary to help my sister through her open heart surgery. A few months after the surgery, my parents went back to thank her and did the knee walk again.
It’s the fault of the awful caption that has nothing to do with what we’re seeing. Should be more like “1940: Mexican woman performs extreme Catholic penance to evoke Christ’s Passion.”
Fascinating. I’ve seen some religious penitents in México doing truly shocking stuff. This is particularly artful and complex. Edit: don’t be confused by my calling this artful and complex. It’s fascinating and bizarre, horrifying even. You would have to really understand the context to get the full understanding of the power dynamics but you can probably correctly conjecture something about patriarchy, gender and old school Catholic practices. I once watched a man craw on his bloodied hands and knees down a road to a church in México, with a number of heavy objects trailing behind him on a rope. People gave him water and a very dejected woman walked along with him. Compared to that, the display in this photo looks theatrical. I’m not here to judge it - there are much bigger problems in the world obviously.
Tied to mexican identity, it’s interesting how the spanish who did such horrible things and forces conversion on the people and they still adopted it.
和墨西哥的身份认同有关,很有意思的是,西班牙人做了那么多恶心事,强迫人家皈依,结果人家还是接受了。
Any_Blacksmith65085 赞2025/9/20
Some Native Mexican cultures practiced auto sacrifice prior to colonization. The Maya are a popular example of this as they would practice self blood letting for religious reasons. Even though they adopted a new religion that was basically forced on them, a lot of ancient traditions still exist.
You know cutting is a form of “emotional release”.. when I see these things all I can think is humans have been experiencing mental health issues for as long as there have been humans.
I used to cut, and I believe *in my case* the urge had mostly (or entirely) physiological causes. A chemical imbalance in my brain that I was born with, influenced heavily by hormonal fluctuations. The urge completely disappeared when I was diagnosed and medicated for ADHD.
Christianity was way better than getting your heart cut out to make sure the sun comes up
相比于为了让太阳升起而被人掏出心脏,基督教简直好太多了。
ootnabootinlalaland76 赞2025/9/20
Do you actually think they sat around weighing the benefits of this or that religion? And decided they prefer Christianity? lol The Spanish came with force & deadly weapons. Natives adopted their religion because it was that, or not be alive.
Well, when Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexico, he had 400 horsemen who were joined by some 50.000 locals, who were fed up with paying tributes or giving their best men for sacrifices, to toppel the Aztecs. So, maybe the pre-Hispanic Mexicans didn't love Christianity, but surely they hated human sacrifices
I was listening to a documentary about the Aztec which said that before settling and rising to dominance the Aztec were on the hook for tribute to another king and he sent one of his daughters to marry a chief as part of the deal, as was common all over. So they invite the king to dinner and an Aztec priest comes out wearing his daughters skin??? And so the king has many of them outright slaughtered which was like was the obvious inevitable ending?? Seems like they might have been a tad antagonistic as a culture.
So why only the woman? Why isn’t the man atoning for his sins too and getting cactus staples to his chest like her?
那为什么只有女性这么做?为什么那个男人不用一起赎罪,不像她那样在胸口扎仙人掌钉子?
bouguereaus84 赞2025/9/20
It’s not a tradition that is solely imposed on women. The Fair during which this photo was taken draws millions of religious pilgrims, who see the event as an opportunity to atone for past sins and submit “offerings” to thank the Virgin Mary for blessings that they received during the course of the previous year. If a pilgrim chooses to obscure their face, it’s common for them to take a loved one to guide their way and provide assistance if the discomfort is too extreme. Here is a post about the same event featuring a man with his face covered and chest pierced. https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlyterrifying/comments/u7pfup/ancient_religious_celebration_in_san_juan_de/#lightbox
Vile.. religion has been a bane to society since its inception. This lady was brain washed into thinking this was some sort of good thing.
真恶心……宗教从诞生之日起就是社会的祸害。这女的肯定是被洗脑了,才会觉得这是什么好事。
Successful-Crew-534326 赞2025/9/20
I found online it’s from something called The Parade of Martyrdom (El Desfile Del Martirio).
我在网上查了,这玩意儿叫《殉难游行》(The Parade of Martyrdom/El Desfile Del Martirio)。
[已删除]286 赞2025/9/20
[内容已删除]
Impressive-Swan-557085 赞2025/9/20
Only woman in the photo is suffering. Man is pretty chill
照片里唯一的女性在那儿受罪,男的倒挺淡定。
1204045167 赞2025/9/21
Because he was there to guide her. When people cover their faces to represent anonymity in front of God, they can not see, so they take a loved one to guide them through the fair. If you look at historical pictures you can see plenty of men did it too
I've gone many times throughout the years, it's women, men, and even children. They crawl from the plaza to the alter while praying.
这些年来我去看过好多次,参与的有男有女,甚至还有小孩子。他们一路祈祷着从广场爬到祭坛。
osirisattis117 赞2025/9/20
The idea of the Christian god watching this and going “sweeeeeeeeet” is so on brand for the ‘faith’.
想象一下基督教的上帝看到这一幕喊着“太爽啦”,这操作简直太符合这“信仰”的一贯画风了。
[已删除]56 赞2025/9/20
[内容已删除]
InternationalFace79090 赞2025/9/21
I have family from a town about a 2 hour drive away from here and most young people will walk at least once in their life all the way there during pilgrimage. I do remember seeing people there making the walk barefoot and some dude with out a shirt on with a Cactus on a rope poking his chest and back as he walked. Religions are....interesting.
I am all for supporting cultural traditions in different places and ways. This photo was still jarring.
我完全支持以各种方式弘扬各地文化传统。但这张照片看着还是让人心里发毛。
SnazzleZazzle16 赞2025/9/21
Humans are a nutty bunch.
人类这帮家伙真是疯得不轻。
[已删除]14 赞2025/9/20
[内容已删除]
oldfarmjoy12 赞2025/9/20
It looks like she is being tortured. Like slavery punishment. Bound face, crown of thorns, cactus poking her chest...
这看起来像是在受刑。简直跟奴隶受罚似的。蒙着脸,戴着荆棘冠,仙人掌扎着胸口……
alittletooraph311 赞2025/9/21
Amazing photo thanks for sharing
很棒的照片,感谢分享。
smittersmcgee2311 赞2025/9/20
He looks quite comfortable while i guess she’s taking on the entire role of penance for the family. Typical.
他看起来倒是挺安逸的,我猜她是一个人把全家的赎罪任务全扛了。典型。
Qtpatoti9 赞2025/9/20
Really cool photo
很酷的照片。
ExcitementNo96038 赞2025/9/21
This is yet another the part of Catholicism I’ve never liked nor understood. The self harm equalling piety and devotion.
这又是天主教里我既不喜欢也无法理解的一点。把自残等同于虔诚和奉献。
ripmatek7 赞2025/9/21
An early form of North American mental illness
北美早期的一种精神疾病形式。
sparkyoliver16 赞2025/9/21
i'll say it...people are fucking weird
我直说了吧……人类真是他妈的怪胎。
changopdx5 赞2025/9/21
I remember being 7 years old and slowly going from the back of the church in San Juan de los Lagos to the altar walking on my knees. It's hardcore stuff, man.
我记得我7岁那会儿,在圣胡安德洛斯拉戈斯的教堂里,一路跪着从后排挪到祭坛。那场面,啧,真是硬核。
Rare_Improvement64795 赞2025/9/21
Apparently, this has nothing to do with marriage. It was a ritual of self flaggelation during a Good Friday procession. It's on Google.
显然,这事儿跟婚姻一点关系都没有。这是圣周五游行时的一种自我鞭笞仪式。谷歌一下就知道了。
jasmine_tea_5 赞2025/9/21
I feel like this should be an album cover
感觉这图可以直接拿去当专辑封面。
Prior-Cobbler46755 赞2025/9/22
Would make a great album cover for a Mexican Dark wave, post punk or goth band.
给墨西哥暗潮(Dark wave)、后朋克(post-punk)或者哥特乐队做专辑封面绝对绝了。
great-day-25 赞2025/9/21
What did she do to deserve this?
她到底造了什么孽才遭这罪?
chelsea-from-calif5 赞2025/9/20
KINKY!
真变态(Kinky)!
ldwtlotpa4 赞2025/9/21
Every day I hate the abrahamic religions more and more. *sigh*