The Czech Republic's Naughty Little Easter Ritual

Some old Easter traditions die hard. One of the oldest still practiced is a type of naughty little Easter ritual practiced in some parts of Eastern Europe such as the Czech Republic where attractive young women are playfully whipped with a type of handmade whip decorated with a ribbon called a pomlazka. It is a form old fertility ritual that manages to survive to this day, although dousing attractive girls with water is becoming more popular in recent years as a less outrageous or sexually overtoned Easter rite.

The reality is that any young woman who is not the victim of one of these playful whippings probably feels unattractive and not the marrying sort of material. The sign that several boys might take the time to whip a young girl only proves her popularity with this outrageous old fashioned Easter ritual.

An important word of warning here. This is an old Eastern European Easter fertility ritual only. For God's sake don't even think to try this here in the U.S. at all. This is no doubt sexual assault or some other serious crime here and the argument that you're practicing an old Czech tradition probably won't keep you out of jail or worse.