What is it we find so fascinating?

"They're a tangible proof that storytelling can be something more than mere entertainment," it occurred to me to say to him. "Something primordial, something that the very existence of a people may depend on. Maybe that's what impressed me so. One doesn't always know why one is moved by things, Mascarita. They strike some secret chord, and that is that." (Llosa, 94)

Every single human, who has been, who is, and who will be, has had that chord struck. Some story hits them so deeply that the chord is hit and the harmonious sound of understanding resonates so completely in them that you can't speak. You can't explain why you were so moved by something, you just were. You just are.
If storytelling was all we had in this life, that would be enough until the end of time. The stories that stem from the very being that each individual calls their soul have enough vivacity and momentum to keep our very selves alive for generations to come. This storyteller that Saul so deeply tapped into is found inside of every single one of us. The storyteller is born with us, and thrives on our past, present, and future. The storyteller begs to touch the earth again with each step we take. The storyteller yells through the barred cage our ribs have trapped it in, yelling to be let out, begging to be heard. The storyteller invades our mind and brain, making it's way through our hippocampus, vividly recreating every influential memory, pervading any thought of contentedness we might have with saving our story for another day. The storyteller resides in our mouths, asking questions and forming opinions, never listening, just waiting for its turn to talk.

Stories are more than mere entertainment.
Stories bring us life. Scheherazade would say that stories saved her from death. Asclepius would say that stories can bring you from death back to life. Jesus would say that stories keep you alive after you die. And I would say that the best gift you could ever give someone is a life full of adventures, or as Mascarita would say, a life full of stories.

Mandan turned Sambian

My first initiation rite that I had to explain was the Mandan Initiation for young boys. It was on the 25 most painful initiation passages that Scott posted, and I believe it was number 6. However, another classmate also chose it, so I decided to choose a different initiation for two reasons: more entertainment for the class, and more cultural learning for me.
I chose the Sambian Initiation for young boys. There are two parts of this initiation- bloodletting and tingu. Bloodletting is a pretty common thing throughout initiations, and in the Sambian culture, young boys had sharp blades of grass or sharpened sticks shoved up their noses until blood flowed freely from their noses. This act was symbolic of purifying their blood from all bad spirits and femininity. The second part of initiation was called tingu. Every man and woman has a tingu, because your tingu is your ability to procreate. However, a boy wasn't viewed as a man until he activated his tingu. The way one activiated his tingu was by ingesting the "male essence". So young boys would be sent into the forest and would perform oral sex on an older man and would be encouraged to swallow and ingest as much of the semen as they could, for this was "male essence" and would activate their tingu. After they did this, they were considered men.