Dr. Lars Krutak, famously known as the Tattoo Anthropologist once had this amazing documentary/ show called Tattoo Hunter on the Discovery Channel. It was a 10 part series that show his quest for Tattoos and such body modification art forms and the origins, cultures, stories, beliefs behind them.
One particular episode made me really think about the human nature and the spiritual power we hold within. It was about the Magical Tattoos of the Thailand’s Mahouts: Elephant Trainers of Ayuthaya. It is the wicha (magic) practitioners and Buddhist Monks who traditionally practice such. They read the aura of an interested individual and decide on the worthiness first, of that individual and then the type of the Tattoo. Monk concentrates on a Mantra during the whole inking process, which apparently helps instil the tattoo with its power. He blows on the Tattoo at end for transferring his spiritual energy into the tattoo. It is said that that the Tattoo has magical powers only if the individual truly believes in the spirit and the power of the Tattoo.
The Tattoos are made with long bamboo sticks sharpened to a point (called a mai sak) or alternatively with a long metal spike (called a khem sak) by the Monks themselves.
Yantra tattooing, also called sak yant (Thai: สักยันต์, Khmer: សាក់យ័ន្ត), is a form of tattooing practiced in Southeast Asian countries including Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Sak means “to tap [tattoo]”, and yant is Thai for the Sanskrit word yantra. Yantras are mystical diagrams, mainly from the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions. Specific yantras are traditionally associated with specific deities.
The particular episode also showed people fainting and going out of control, becoming extremely violent at times during gatherings and listening to particular Mantras recited by the Monks. After the inking, some apparently acquired extreme levels of strength and it took quite a few able bodied men to contain them.
What belief can do!
Sources:
http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Thailand/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yantra_tattooing
