Magical Tattooing; Sak Yant
The origin of Yantra tattoos date back to Ancient Southeast Asia, about 2,000 years ago. Yantra, also called Sak Yant in Thailand, is a sacred practice of tattooing only done by Buddhist monks in a Buddhist temple. The purpose of an individual receiving a Sak Yant could be for numerous reasons. The most common would be for protection whether it was for the physical body or spiritual purposes. Originally, Sak Yant was meant for warriors entering battle seeking strength and protection. It was believed that the magic prayers symbolized in the Sak Yant engraving protected the warrior from getting penetrated from arrows or knives. Sak Yant tattoos are also associated with healing powers, luck, strength and protection again evil. Sak yant tattooing is usually done with a long metal spike or a sharpen bamboo. The point if then dipped into ink and jabbed in the flesh by hand. Today, sak yant is still practiced in Southeast Asia and anyone that is interested, warrior or not could obtain a sacred sak yant.
Buddhist monks also known as a Master are the only individuals to perform the art of a Sak Yant tattoos. Depending on your aura, a master often determines what sacred design you receive on the day of the tattooing and the part of the body the yant would be done on. A particular design of a Yant possesses a particular purpose and along with the sak yant, there are also rules of conduct the individual must follow after receiving the tattoo. Determined by the design of a sak yant, the wearer of the tattoo must follow special rules according to the master that grant the tattoo. The most common 11 rules are:
Matthew Karsten, a blogger on Expert Vagabond took a trip to Thailand to get his own experience of getting a Sak Yant. He traveled to War Band Phra Temple in Thailand 40 miles west of Bangkok and home of the famous Sak Yant practicing monk, Master Luang Pi Nunn. This temple is crowed everyday with Thai people wanting to receive a magic tattoo. At least 30 to 40 people were present in the temple as Matthew waited his turn for his first Sak yant. After watching twelve people go through the process, his turn was coming up. As he got closer to the station, he realized the sanitation with the needles was not the safest. The same needle was used with every individual but was usually wiped down with a sterile alcohol pad between each tattooing. Although there were two needles, there was only one pot of ink. Despite his doubts, he continued on and received a Yant Gao Yord and was very happy with the outcome. The Gao Yord, or 9 Spire holds a prayer to protect Matthew against violent physical attacks and magic assaults. It is also alleged to bring him luck. After his yant was finished, he was made familiar with the rules of conduct and his reaction was pretty hilarious for the common 11 rules. Of course, the rules of conduct might not make too much sense to us foreigners but for the Thai people, it is probably part of their everyday lives and culture therefore much clearer for them to understand.
If you would like to check out Matthew's blog about his experience in Thailand, the link will be posted below.
Buddhist monks also known as a Master are the only individuals to perform the art of a Sak Yant tattoos. Depending on your aura, a master often determines what sacred design you receive on the day of the tattooing and the part of the body the yant would be done on. A particular design of a Yant possesses a particular purpose and along with the sak yant, there are also rules of conduct the individual must follow after receiving the tattoo. Determined by the design of a sak yant, the wearer of the tattoo must follow special rules according to the master that grant the tattoo. The most common 11 rules are:
- Do not eat Star fruit, Pumpkin, or any other ‘Gourd’ type vegetable.
- Do not be anybody’s lover who is already married.
- Forbidden in extreme to slander anybody’s mother
- Do not eat food from a wedding, or funeral banquet
- Do not eat left-overs
- Do not duck under a washing line, or an overhanging building
- Do not duck under a banana tree of the type Thaanii
- Do not cross a single head bridge; large or small bridges are not forbidden
- Do not sit on a ceramic Urn. Especially a cracked, or broken one
- Do not let a woman lie on top of you, or sit on top of you either
- Do not permit a man to be brushed by the blouse or skirt of a woman, or crossed in from of; especially during the menstruating period.
Matthew Karsten, a blogger on Expert Vagabond took a trip to Thailand to get his own experience of getting a Sak Yant. He traveled to War Band Phra Temple in Thailand 40 miles west of Bangkok and home of the famous Sak Yant practicing monk, Master Luang Pi Nunn. This temple is crowed everyday with Thai people wanting to receive a magic tattoo. At least 30 to 40 people were present in the temple as Matthew waited his turn for his first Sak yant. After watching twelve people go through the process, his turn was coming up. As he got closer to the station, he realized the sanitation with the needles was not the safest. The same needle was used with every individual but was usually wiped down with a sterile alcohol pad between each tattooing. Although there were two needles, there was only one pot of ink. Despite his doubts, he continued on and received a Yant Gao Yord and was very happy with the outcome. The Gao Yord, or 9 Spire holds a prayer to protect Matthew against violent physical attacks and magic assaults. It is also alleged to bring him luck. After his yant was finished, he was made familiar with the rules of conduct and his reaction was pretty hilarious for the common 11 rules. Of course, the rules of conduct might not make too much sense to us foreigners but for the Thai people, it is probably part of their everyday lives and culture therefore much clearer for them to understand.
If you would like to check out Matthew's blog about his experience in Thailand, the link will be posted below.