Dies sanguinis

Following several days of mourning and abstinence, when the Day of Blood arrived, the priests of the goddess Cybele (the galli) flogged themselves until they bled and sprinkled their blood upon the image and the altars in the sanctuary, while others are said to have imitated the god Attis by castrating themselves. Such painful and dramatic acts allowed the worshipers to identify with Attis' pain and death. The Day of Blood was followed by a Day of Joy and Relaxation (Hilaria and Requietio) to celebrate Attis' resurrection, with feasting and good cheer in honor of the Great Mother, Cybele. This was followed by a rest day, and then a day of revelry for ritual bathing in the Little Almo River (Lavatio). The holy image of the Great Mother was bathed, and worshippers would also bathe.[2]

On the Day of Blood, the priests of Bellona (the Bellonarii) mutilated their own arms and legs with sharp knives and drank their own blood or offered it to Bellona, asking her to unleash her war fury. Because of this, the day was also known as Bellona's Day.

They also used a deadly nightshade plant known as the Bellonaria (solanum). The name is a corruption of Belladonna. When a priest ate its seeds, they would start to hallucinate. Those hallucinations were used by them to make prophetic and oracular statements in the name of their goddess.