Magic Tattoes
Magic Tattoes
Tattoos were a favorite charm for warriors when they were going to battle. A popular belief in Thailand, which exists right up to present times, holds that a proper tattoo can protect you against certain objects, as for example bullets or blades. The tattoos vary according to the kind of protection that you wish. Some tattoos will protect you against black magic, bad entities, or bad luck; some against weapons, and some will bring enhanced abilities as for example having extra power or complete calmness even in the worst of the situations.
The magic tattoos consist of a series of diagrams, signs, numbers and alphabetic letters in the ancient Cambodian (Khom) or the ancient Lanna script. For whatever reasons, these are the scripts of ancient magic and their use can allow access to ancient powers. In exchange for these powers, the person making the request should make a series of payments to the entity or entities who will help him. For white magic, the payments involve offerings of flowers, candles, incense and fruits. The payments are different for black magic, but I won’t say more about that, since it is a powerful and dangerous area. Anyone that is interested in this subject should be very careful and search for a good master.
The magic tattoos are done by monks (Phra) inside the temple or by some tattoo masters (Ubasok), in their own houses. The tattoos most of the time are free of charge and every one can have one done (a little donation is recommended). Before you received a tattoo, a Yok Kruu ceremony should be done, offering to the tattoo master the following: flowers, candles, few monetary tokens and tobacco. When the ceremony is finished, you will be accepted as a student in the art of tattooing and the monk will give you the first one. Most of the time the initiation tattoo is call “Kao Yod” (nine peaks tattoo), and it supposed to bring you power and protection.
Most of the time the tattoo is not actually finished. The master will purposely leave one or two letters out of the tattoo so the tattoo doesn't work. This is done for safety reasons. If the tattoo master doesn’t keep this precaution, it will be like giving a gun to a child.
Complete tattoos are difficult to get and the monk or the tattoo master should know you very well before he decides to give you a complete one. If he does give you one, the tattoo master will demonstrate the protective power of the tattoo by stabbing you in the back three times with a knife, proving that the tattoo works.
Along with certain tattoos there are rules that the person receiving the tattoo must follow. If you have the “ Suua Penn” (the tiger of Lumpoo Penn) tattoo for example, it will give you a lot of courage but you can’t drink alcohol. If you have the “Bper Tip” (eight directions) tattoo, it will give you protection in every direction you go but you can’t cheat on your wife or girlfriend. If you have the “Hanuman Sai Thung” (Hanuman holds the flag) tattoo, it will give you the ability to jump more or become more skillful in the art of fighting, but you can’t lie. There are hundreds of tattoos and hundreds of applications. No tattoo should be done below the hips or near the groin area.
If the tattoo is not well respected, when you go to see your master to charge the tattoo’s power, your body will lose control for a few minutes, screaming and jumping aggressively until all mistakes have thereby been paid for. Only after this can the power of the tattoo be charged again.
Some of the stories of the tattoos’ power throughout history are still alive today. One famous one tells of the “Baanrajan”(the warriors village). There was a group of less than 50 men from Baanrajan that stopped hundreds of soldiers coming from Burma to attack Ayuthaya. Some of these warriors had tattoos preventing them from being cut by swords. The story goes that to kill one of these villagers, the Burmese had to drown him in the river.
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