I saw a program about this on one of the cable channels - it was either Discover or TLC. Anyway, yeah, it’s all based on the rituals that some of the American Indians used to do/still do. From what they were saying in the program, it definitely isnt’ sexual in the least - everybody on the show seemed to be of the opinion that it was a very spiritual thing.
They showed a lot of different piercing rituals -all sorts of variations and while I have to say that it was kinda interesting to watch, it sure looked painful. You couldn’t pay me to do that…
The Sundance (still practiced) is actually a spiritual ritual. A variation of the chest-piercing is where the back is pierced and a buffalo skull is dragged around while the participant dances. Dancers sometimes chant or blow whistles to help cope with the pain.
Vision quests also often use pain as a method of spiritual transcendence.
I remember a man called Horse, I saw it when I was pretty young and it disturbed the fuck out of me. Also I read some comic book with the same thing, it disturbed me too.
As for BDSM as a whole, a lot of times it is a quasi-spiritual mysticism. If you’ve met any number of people who are REALLY into it, the devotion is incredible and I’d definitely say they get something much more than being turned on out of it. In many cases the orgasm is a big part of it, in most cases actually, however I think that is not the whole of it. I guess you just have to witness the slavish devotion to it to truely get a sense of it. And within this subculture there are many subcultures and there are people who draw the line at different things. For instance a guy may be into hook piercing suspensions, but think that dressing like a pony and having someone ride them around is just too far out there. Then there are others who are truely revolted by the idea that there are people who would want to pretend to be a baby and even have their diapers changed, while they are into being branded with a hot iron. BDSM is a VERY VERY complex subculture and covers so much ground and there is an act, lewd or not that will satisfy the entire emotional gamut.
I believe (if memory serves; it’s been awhile since I dug through the books) the chest-hook ritual (in Man Called Horse) was called Oh Kee Pah. There is a documentary on tribal piercing/initiation rituals made by a modern practitioner called “Dances Sacred and Profane” (the IMDB has almost no info on it, but I’ve seen it on video). It follows the hobbies of a man named Fakir Musafar, who has recreated many tribal rituals from all over the world (including the Oh Kee Pah: picture). His website has rather graphic photos of what he’s done to his body over the years, but if you’re interested, it’s here. He and another guy…Jim somebody, famous body piercer out in California…go through the Sundance Ritual; involving piercing the chest, threading the piercing with a hook/thong, and dancing around a pole whilst pulling on it until it rips free. Said to be out-of-body intense.