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So, I’m watching a show about an artist who said she went to Catholic school as a child. They asked the class what they wanted to be when they grew up. The artist said she wanted to be a Nun.

The Nuns at the school said she could never be a Nun because she was left handed!

Curiously, is this an actual thing??

I did look it up and it’s basically, according to this…yes but no 🤔 weird

https://www.catholic.com/qa/was-being-left-handed-ever-a-sin

@apple_dumplin @chromeratt @scottdhansen

In India (just like ancient Rome) there's the same concept, but instead of good vs evil, it's purity (or order) vs impurity (or chaos). Since there is/was no toilet paper, the reason comes from using the left hand to wipe the butt after taking a dump. Thus the left hand is considered corrupt, while the right is pure. Hence also eating food with the right hand, shaking hands with the right hand (to use the left is an insult), etc.

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamachara

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@apple_dumplin @chromeratt @scottdhansen

Vamachara and Aghor yoga in particular is kind of interesting in that context. In Aghor practice the concept of disgust is considered a learned cultural taboo. For instance children will happily finger paint with their faeces until they're taught that it's disgusting. The premise is that this taboo is responsible for the cultural prejudice towards lower class people (eg. Sudras/Dalits) and those who are afflicted with disease (eg. leprosy). So a common initiation among Aghoris is to throw faeces at newcomers and require them to eat their own faeces to demonstrate their conviction to overcome cultural prejudice. This allows them to minister to lower classes, and treat diseased members of the community without fear or disgust, because in Aghor philosophy the soul/spirit is considered incorruptible, and taboos against corruption are an impediment to overcoming fear of death, etc.

It's also inherently superstitious.

https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1037/0022-3514.50.4.703