some pics I've collected from different West African masquerades (Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin)

I think it's really cool how many similarities there are with European traditions that have their roots in paganism and/or are still practiced by European pagans

got some similar stuff going on in Japan too

also the Selk'nam of Tierra del Fuego

some cool shit going down in Papua too

name anywhere in the world and there's probably at least one cultural tradition revolving around the use of mask and costume to ritually embody some alternate persona or state of being. humans love that shit, we can't get enough of it