She begins the session with breathing exercises, encouraging participants to release hidden emotions and anger toward those who have wronged them.
“Your mind is a volcano. Let it erupt!” Banducci yells to the crowd, but her voice is gradually drowned out by screams and the sounds of banging sticks.
Some women were crying, others were on their knees on the ground covered in dirt and mud, some with cuts and bruises on their hands.
“When people do this and give themselves permission to release the anger, it actually expands their capacity to feel joy,” Banducci said.
“Rage Ritual” has become a huge hit on TikTok and YouTube, with some videos garnering over 39,000 likes.
“So we all felt the urge to cry at the same time while watching this right? I wish I had the money to go to this,” one user commented on TikTok.
“I literally cried when I saw this. I need this,” said another.
Two and a half years ago, cybersecurity engineer Kimberly Helmuth first participated in an anger ritual after her divorce. She’s since repeated the experience twice.
“It really is a place where you can be a wild, untamed woman and not be looked at with anything but love and acceptance and care,” Helms said.
Banducci has been performing wrath rituals in Scotland for many years, and the trend is beginning to spread around the world.
A “Sacred Wrath Ceremony” is planned in July by the local wellness community in Alberta, Canada, and a similar event is scheduled to take place in the US state of North Carolina in June.
But raging and screaming at organized events isn’t cheap.
Retreats, including ceremonies hosted by Banducci, range in price from $2,000 to $4,000, with day passes costing $222.
The charge sparked mixed reactions on social media in mainland China.
“Why don’t you just scream by yourself?” one Chinese netizen said.
“With this money you can do a lot to buy happiness,” said another.
“I think this ritual is a good thing, going crazy really helps with mental health,” a third said.
Primal scream therapy, a treatment developed in the 1970s by psychologist Arthur Janoff to release repressed trauma, is a key aspect of the rage ritual.
During the pandemic, collective emotions of anger, anxiety and sadness have led to a resurgence of the therapy.
In 2020, The New York Times introduced a “Primal Scream Line” to encourage people overwhelmed by the pandemic to air their frustrations.
While anger rituals can be cathartic, they aren’t for everyone, says Stephanie Sarkis, a Florida-based psychologist and licensed psychologist with the American Association of Mental Health Counselors.
Some people may find it more effective to practice calming strategies, such as deep breathing, taking a walk or listening to calming music, she says.
