where fire walking started

In an episode of Mythbusters that I watched last night the possibility of fire walking was tested. While the physics of fire walking was being worked out all I could think about was where fire walking came from. The narrator mentioned that cultures on six different continents practice fire walking. This means that, not just one, but several different people in different locations and times in history originated the idea that it would be a worthwhile use of time and energy to walk barefoot through hot coals.

I think a lot of these things that people do that I classify as a less than wise idea were originally intended to prove a person's chutzpa. That would explain why so manyof these things that I see that people in different cultures do on educational programming are rite of passage rituals. I remember one tribe that has a ritual of cutting patterns in kids' skins as part of their rite of passage. Another tribe has a pain tolerance ritual involving some nasty looking ants. None of these things seems all that pleasant.

Even though I understand the psychology of the people who currently go through this process, as you have to prove that you are man enough to tolerate the pain, I don't necessarily understand why anyone originally came up with these rituals. I have to assume that each was designed by someone who took some pleasure in pain, but was the goal sadistic in nature or masochistic in nature?

I'm just glad that in American culture rites of passage are limited to things like a driver's license rather than some pain ritual. I am neither a sadist nor a masochist.