There is a history of ritual tongue piercing in both Aztec and Maya cultures, with illustrations of priests piercing their tongue and then either drawing blood from it or passing rough cords, designed to inflict pain, through the hole. There is no evidence of permanent or long term tongue piercing in Aztec culture, however, despite the practice of many other permanent body modifications. It was done to honour the gods. Piercing the tongue has a long history in religious and performance practices. Mesoamericans such as the Aztecs practiced this as well as other perforations as a part of offerings to their deities. Islamic Fakirs and Sufis from the Middle East, and Asian Spirit Mediums of the Far East practiced tongue piercing as an offering and proof of trance state. The reason for the central [ Aboriginal Australian ] holy man's practice of piercing the tongue was to enable the holy man to "suck with his tongue the [evil] magic out of his patients body[2]. From the turn of the 20th century, Western Carnies borrowed many of their sideshow tricks from fakirs bringing to American and European audiences their first glimpses of tongue piercing.