Info on Tattoos
None of this is my own writing, but i do like it, alot. and you should read it, cause i said so.
The Revival of Polynesian Lost Art
The role of tattooing in ancient Polynesian society:
As there is no writing in the Polynesian culture, the
Polynesians used this art full of distinctive signs to
express their identity and personality. Tattoos would
indicate status in a hierarchy society: sexual
maturity, genealogy and one's rank within society.
Nearly everyone in ancient Polynesian society was
tattooed.
The revival of Polynesian lost art: Shortly after the
missionaries arrival (1797) the practice was strictly
banned, as the Old Testament forbids it. In recent
years, however, the art of tattooing has enjoyed a
renaissance in the early 1980’s. Polynesians are once
again taking pride and interest in their cultural
heritage, finding their identity in the revival of
many lost arts. Tattooing with traditional tools was
banned in French Polynesia in 1986 by the Ministry of
Health due to the difficulty in sterilizing the wooden
and bone equipment.
Tahitian art vs Marquesan tattoos: There is a
distinctions between ancient Tahitian and Marquesan
tattoos that is often misunderstood, as explains
Tricia Allen, academic in Polynesian culture. “They
were very different in ancient times. Today few know
or realize the difference. Very few know anything
about the Tahitian tradition -- even in Tahiti! In
fact, in 13 trips to Tahiti, I have yet to meet anyone
wearing Tahitian designs! Except one mark on Raymond
Graff's torso.” (Raymond Graffe is a “tahua”, a
Tahitian shaman.)
The Origins of the Sacred Mark
by Vince Hemingson
The concept for The Vanishing Tattoo found its origin
in a personal fascination with tattoos and tattooing.
As my own collection of personal tattoos grew, so too
did my attempts to understand the psychology
underlying the act of tattooing. To what purpose do
humans, and it is unquestionably a nearly universal
human practice, indelibly mark ourselves, often at
times to great peril to our health and physical well
being? What emotional, spiritual and psychological
benefits do we derive from tattoos that so clearly
outweigh the costs of pain, mutilation, blood,
sickness and even occasional death? All tattoos are
undeniably symbolic forms, some mere decoration,
others of a clearly more profound nature, symbols of
transformation even, but to what part of the human
psyche do tattoos allow us unique access? The
documentary is an attempt, like ancient diviners with
a willow rod in pursuit of an underground river, to
discern the underlying source of the extraordinary
power that tattoos wield in cultures both primeval and
modern. It is also an attempt to discover whether that
source is the nexus for all tattoos.
Early man, in a pre-agricultural world, was a
hunter-gatherer. Much of the world, the movement
across the sky of the sun in day and the moon and the
stars at night, the passage and cycle of the seasons,
the migrations of the birds and animals they depended
on for their very survival, must have seemed an
unknowable mystery. The greatest mystery of all must
surely have been the nature of life and death. In
order for a tribe of early humans to survive it was
necessary for them to kill and eat a wide variety of
animals. It was clear that in order for some to live,
others had to die. From the death of the animal came
life for the tribe. There is ample evidence to show
that early humans deeply pondered the nature of their
relationship with animals that they killed. That they
saw themselves and the animals they relied on as part
of an elaborate construct with specific roles to be
played that defined and delineated the relationship
between them.
And what was to be made of death in your midst? In one
moment a member of the tribe was beside you, warm,
talking perhaps, their eyes bright and in the next
something unfathomable had transpired. They ceased to
breathe, their eyes grew dull and their body cold. The
body was still beside you, but it was changed somehow,
the essence of the individual was gone. In time, the
body grew cold, decay set in and the body began to
rot. But what had happened to the essence? In time a
body of myths and stories grew in every culture to
explain this and the other mysteries of life. What was
once unknowable was explained in creation myths and
the myth of the afterlife. The relationship with the
animals of the woods and the plains and the air and
the rivers and the seas was explained in stories and
myths handed down from generation to generation.
Central to nearly all these stories is the presence of
a hero who through a quest, a sacrifice or a display
of great courage and skill acquires the knowledge, the
animal or the objects that are central to the culture.
The hero myth not only explains the unknowable but
perhaps even more importantly it serves as a paradigm
for an idealized pattern of behavior within the
culture.
The human body to early man was clearly the vessel for
something unique and special, something that came to
be held as sacred, that essence of life, individual
consciousness. I believe that early man saw the tattoo
upon the body as a sacred mark that served the
consciousness, both in the interests of the individual
and in the larger interests of the collective
community. I believe the tattoo allows us as
individuals to access two universal human desires. The
first is to divine an understanding of the basis, the
core root, of our underlying spirituality. The second
is to reach some rapprochement, if only at a basic
level, with death.
Every culture, every tribe, has a mythology, and
central to every mythology is the story of the Hero’s
Quest. I believe the act of tattooing allows the
individual to access and identify with, at what is
often times a crucial transitional period in the
individuals personal life journey, the role of the
Hero. In most cultures, the mythology of the Hero
centers on a journey, either physical or spiritual. It
is not accidental that many of these Heroes must
undertake a quest that requires them to enter the
Underworld and confront the deities of that culture.
This is so for the Iban of Borneo, the Maori of New
Zealand, the Samoans, many of the North American
tribal peoples and many other cultures around the
world. The act of being tattooed allows the individual
to vicariously experience the Hero’s journey on a
personal level. The tattoo then becomes proof within
our culture of our heroic virtues, those of bravery,
the ability to withstand considerable pain with stoic
endurance and resolve until our own personal journey
is complete, the tattoo finished. The tattoo is a war
act, a physical act, a sacrificing of ones self in the
larger Quest of the Hero. The act of tattooing is a
very conscious spilling of ones blood on behalf of the
culture.
The act of getting tattooed is usually also the
journey of the initiate. The tattoo is symbolic of the
transition between adolescence and adulthood. By its
very nature tattooing, because of the permanence of
the tattoo and what it symbolizes, is a transformative
act. The initiation ritual in most cultures requires a
child to give up his childhood and become an adult.
The child, the infantile psyche and personality must
die in order for the adult psyche and personality to
emerge. Therefore the motif of most cultural
initiation rites is one of transformation, of death
and resurrection. The tattoo, its pain, its blood, its
intense suffering, is the symbolic death, the
transformative act that leads to resurrection and
rebirth. This is a fundamental human experience. The
individual experiences childhood until the early
teenage years and then the death of the dependent
child which must occur and the resurrection, the
emergence and the life of the independent, responsible
adult on whom the survival of the culture is
absolutely dependent.
Tattooing is unique in that it fulfills the needs of
so many cultures in a single explicit act. The tattoo
allows an adolescent to take ownership of the newly
mature adult body. The tattoo explicitly symbolizes
the difference between the body of the child and the
body of the adult. It is a means for the mind, our
adult consciousness, to take control of the body,
which is the vehicle, which serves and carries the
consciousness. Tattooing is often a symbol, an
expression if you will, of the essential duality of
man. The tattoo is a bridge, a connection between the
conscious and the unconscious worlds of man, the
physical plane and the spiritual plane. The tattoo
connects for us that which we can see and that which
we can only imagine.
The tattoo is the Sacred Mark, its origins usually
found in the Myths of Heroes and Gods. In most
cultures the practice of tattooing is a gift from the
Gods or the Spirits to man. And in many instances the
gift of tattooing is given only after a Hero has made
a perilous and arduous journey to retrieve it. In many
cultures it is thought that without ones identifying
tattoos it is impossible to enter the Underworld or
the Spirit World or the Afterlife. The tattoos are
your mark of identification to the Gods and Spirits
and allow you to make the journey after death
unimpeded. Tattoos are sacred marks for this very
reason alone.
I believe it is a very revealing act that most of the
major organized religions of the West, Christianity,
Judaism and Islam, all generally frown on tattooing
and have often passed sanctions against its practice.
They recognize the deeply spiritual nature of
tattooing as the Sacred Mark within traditional tribal
cultures and understand it is a threat to conversion.
Tattooing connects us with a deep, more ancient
spirituality, connects us with the ancient mythologies
that are the foundation and bedrock of tribal
cultures.
Beyond Our Horizons
November 2004
Ancient Times
The art of tattooing is thought to be as old as
mankind. It is believed that tattooing was
accidentally discovered as a result of people falling
or stepping into pigment-carrying, sharp instruments
or materials, like e.g. sharp, charcoaled branches
from leftover fireplaces or wooden spears/arrowheads
hardened in fire. This scenario would leave trapped
pigment in the dermis, and such accidents are by the
way the major reason for pigment removal research even
in modern times. Although the earliest reference to
tattooing is credited to Egypt, it is unlikely that
they were the only society to make this discovery. In
all likelyhood tattooing was discovered in multiple
places at many different times, with knowledge and
popularity spreading along the established trade
routes of the time.
Early Spiritual Connections:
It is evident as to why people would make the
connection and survival of bad wounds may even have
helped the magical or religious meaning of tattoos
into existence. The current first proven incident of a
tattoo dates back 4,000 years B.C. a traveller was
found in Italy near Austria, preserved in the
permafrost of a glacier. Carbon dating and artifacts
found near the mummified remains suggest that he is
over 5,300 years old. The skin bears a cross behind
one knee and a series of lines above his kidneys. This
has given rise to the speculation that the man was a
shaman or otherwise holy member of his clan, and for
millennia tattoos were reserved in many if not most
cultures to members of the castes of priest or secret
sects.
Egypt:
Egyptian mummies, as well as clay figurines bear
tattoos, dating between 4,000 and 3,000 years old.
These types of tattoos were thought to be applied by
puncture with a needle or other sharp instrument
steeped in pigment, much like the prisoner tattoos of
later times. Egypt - an empire with traffic into most
countries it bordered - was in contact with Greece,
Persia, Central Asia and Arabia and spread tattoos
along the main merchant routes.
Asia:
Western Asian nomads brought facial tattooing to Japan
when they crossed over to the Japanese islands, for
them tattoos firmly belonged to the realm of religion
and magic. 1700 year old Chinese documents confirm
their habits of decorating the whole body with
tattoos. The Japanese themselves rejected the
religious meaning of tattoos brought by these nomads,
and turned towards the graphical and ornamental of the
practice. From Southern China the practice spread
along the silk route.
Japanese tattoo art has several names - irezumi or
horimono in the Japanese language. Irezumi is the word
for the traditional visible tattoo that covers large
parts of the body like the back. Since the influence
of Confucianism and Buddhism on the Japanese culture,
tattoo art has a negative connotation for the majority
of the Japanese people. Historically the Japanese
tattooed their criminals, which is an obvious negative
connotation, but that practice was abolished in 1870,
but the stigma remained. Today, in the eyes of an
average Japanese a tattoo is considered a mark of a
yakuza - a member of the Japanese mafia - or a macho
symbol of members of the lower classes. Despite these
negative connotations, some of the most beautiful
tattoo art has come from Japan, and artists today are
highly respected in the tattoo community as is the
style, which, combined with new school Western
methodology has produced some amazing results.
Australia, New Zealand & Polynesia:
The Polynesians carried the tattoo culture across the
Pacific Islands to New Zealand and are probably
responsible for the largest dissemination of the
practice. As there is no writing in the Polynesian
culture, the Polynesians used this art full of
distinctive signs to express their identity and
personality. Tattoos would indicate status in a
hierarchy society: sexual maturity, genealogy and
one's rank within society.Nearly everyone in ancient
Polynesian society was tattooed. The Polynesian view
of the body also differed from that of the Europeans.
Polynesians believed that there were two worlds: the
world of light and ordinary life (ao) and the world of
darkness and gods (po). Humans came from po at birth
and returned there at death. This gave the body a
potentially dangerous primal power, which would
overcome the present world if it was not contained. A
number of rites from infancy onwards were designed to
restrain this power by lessening the body's
sacredness. In Tahiti, these rites culminated in the
act of tattooing the body around the time of puberty
in order to 'seal off' its power. According to the
mythology, the 2 sons of the God of Creation Ta’aroa
taught the art of tattooing to humans. It was a tapu
or sacred art form. It was performed by only shamans
(tahua) who were highly trained in the religious
ritual, the meaning of the designs and technical
aspects of the art. The designs and their location on
the body were determined by one's genealogy, position
within the society and personal achievements. In
preparation for the tattooing, one would have to
undergo a period of cleansing. This generally involved
fasting for a specified length of time and abstaining
from sexual intercourse or contact with women.
Their style still survives among the Maoris and the
inhabitants of some of the Pacific Islands, strict
regulations and ceremonies accompany the procedure.
Europe:
The Iberians, who preceded the Celtic tribes, also
wore tattoos. The Gauls, Teutonic tribles, the Picts
and Greek tattooed, the Romans branded or tattooed
criminals and slaves. Invaders (Norseman, Saxons,
etc.) brought more refined and artistic tattoos to the
British Isles. It was usual for warriors and sailors
to have their tribal symbols tattooed. This usage
still survives with some aristocratic families. Early
Christians often had the sign of the cross tattooed on
their bodies, particularly their face or arms. Such
tattoos were seen as a permanent mark of the
believer's faith. However, around AD 325 the Emperor
Constantine outlawed tattooing of the face because he
believed that the face was in God's image and should
not be disfigured. In AD 787, a council of churches
meeting in Calcuth, Northumberland, renounced all
forms of tattooing and sealed the fate of the practice
in the eyes of the Christian church once and for all.
Much later, a representation of the crucifixion
tattooed on a slave's back was said to preserve the
bearer from a whipping. It was thought that no
Christian, however cruel, would lash the image of
Christ.
It was not until Captain Cook brought news of the
practice and the word to Europe after seeing tattoos
performed 1771 in Tahiti that tattooing once again
began to receive the attention of the modern world.
The New World:
Tattooing travelled to America either via the large
Polynesian migration, or across the northern land/ice
bridge with Siberian tribes who learned tattooing from
the Ainu. Mayas, Incas and Aztecs tattooed and the
practice had an important role in their religious
rituals.
In the U.S. tattooing gained prominence through
sailors. As they traveled to many exotic destinations,
sailors wished to bring back souvineers from their
travels and tattoos fit the bill perfectly. Soon a
symbolic language evolved to represent various aspects
of their travels. It is interesting to note that
attributing symbolic representation to tattooed images
seems to be a universal aspect of the tattoo
phenomena, and sailors were no exception.
The word "Tattoo":
Cook referred to the operation called "tattaw", using
for the first time the word "tattawing", before
tattooing has been called painting or staining. The
word tattoo resembles the sound the tattooing
instrument made on the skin of those being tattooed
and derives from the Polynesian word ta which means
striking something. The English word tattoo however
was already mentioned before Cook's voyages to
describe the beating of military drums. Both words may
have been rolled into one, with both having roots in
Latin for something naming the action of striking or
beating.
The Revival of Polynesian Lost Art
The role of tattooing in ancient Polynesian society:
As there is no writing in the Polynesian culture, the
Polynesians used this art full of distinctive signs to
express their identity and personality. Tattoos would
indicate status in a hierarchy society: sexual
maturity, genealogy and one's rank within society.
Nearly everyone in ancient Polynesian society was
tattooed.
The revival of Polynesian lost art: Shortly after the
missionaries arrival (1797) the practice was strictly
banned, as the Old Testament forbids it. In recent
years, however, the art of tattooing has enjoyed a
renaissance in the early 1980’s. Polynesians are once
again taking pride and interest in their cultural
heritage, finding their identity in the revival of
many lost arts. Tattooing with traditional tools was
banned in French Polynesia in 1986 by the Ministry of
Health due to the difficulty in sterilizing the wooden
and bone equipment.
Tahitian art vs Marquesan tattoos: There is a
distinctions between ancient Tahitian and Marquesan
tattoos that is often misunderstood, as explains
Tricia Allen, academic in Polynesian culture. “They
were very different in ancient times. Today few know
or realize the difference. Very few know anything
about the Tahitian tradition -- even in Tahiti! In
fact, in 13 trips to Tahiti, I have yet to meet anyone
wearing Tahitian designs! Except one mark on Raymond
Graff's torso.” (Raymond Graffe is a “tahua”, a
Tahitian shaman.)
The Origins of the Sacred Mark
by Vince Hemingson
The concept for The Vanishing Tattoo found its origin
in a personal fascination with tattoos and tattooing.
As my own collection of personal tattoos grew, so too
did my attempts to understand the psychology
underlying the act of tattooing. To what purpose do
humans, and it is unquestionably a nearly universal
human practice, indelibly mark ourselves, often at
times to great peril to our health and physical well
being? What emotional, spiritual and psychological
benefits do we derive from tattoos that so clearly
outweigh the costs of pain, mutilation, blood,
sickness and even occasional death? All tattoos are
undeniably symbolic forms, some mere decoration,
others of a clearly more profound nature, symbols of
transformation even, but to what part of the human
psyche do tattoos allow us unique access? The
documentary is an attempt, like ancient diviners with
a willow rod in pursuit of an underground river, to
discern the underlying source of the extraordinary
power that tattoos wield in cultures both primeval and
modern. It is also an attempt to discover whether that
source is the nexus for all tattoos.
Early man, in a pre-agricultural world, was a
hunter-gatherer. Much of the world, the movement
across the sky of the sun in day and the moon and the
stars at night, the passage and cycle of the seasons,
the migrations of the birds and animals they depended
on for their very survival, must have seemed an
unknowable mystery. The greatest mystery of all must
surely have been the nature of life and death. In
order for a tribe of early humans to survive it was
necessary for them to kill and eat a wide variety of
animals. It was clear that in order for some to live,
others had to die. From the death of the animal came
life for the tribe. There is ample evidence to show
that early humans deeply pondered the nature of their
relationship with animals that they killed. That they
saw themselves and the animals they relied on as part
of an elaborate construct with specific roles to be
played that defined and delineated the relationship
between them.
And what was to be made of death in your midst? In one
moment a member of the tribe was beside you, warm,
talking perhaps, their eyes bright and in the next
something unfathomable had transpired. They ceased to
breathe, their eyes grew dull and their body cold. The
body was still beside you, but it was changed somehow,
the essence of the individual was gone. In time, the
body grew cold, decay set in and the body began to
rot. But what had happened to the essence? In time a
body of myths and stories grew in every culture to
explain this and the other mysteries of life. What was
once unknowable was explained in creation myths and
the myth of the afterlife. The relationship with the
animals of the woods and the plains and the air and
the rivers and the seas was explained in stories and
myths handed down from generation to generation.
Central to nearly all these stories is the presence of
a hero who through a quest, a sacrifice or a display
of great courage and skill acquires the knowledge, the
animal or the objects that are central to the culture.
The hero myth not only explains the unknowable but
perhaps even more importantly it serves as a paradigm
for an idealized pattern of behavior within the
culture.
The human body to early man was clearly the vessel for
something unique and special, something that came to
be held as sacred, that essence of life, individual
consciousness. I believe that early man saw the tattoo
upon the body as a sacred mark that served the
consciousness, both in the interests of the individual
and in the larger interests of the collective
community. I believe the tattoo allows us as
individuals to access two universal human desires. The
first is to divine an understanding of the basis, the
core root, of our underlying spirituality. The second
is to reach some rapprochement, if only at a basic
level, with death.
Every culture, every tribe, has a mythology, and
central to every mythology is the story of the Hero’s
Quest. I believe the act of tattooing allows the
individual to access and identify with, at what is
often times a crucial transitional period in the
individuals personal life journey, the role of the
Hero. In most cultures, the mythology of the Hero
centers on a journey, either physical or spiritual. It
is not accidental that many of these Heroes must
undertake a quest that requires them to enter the
Underworld and confront the deities of that culture.
This is so for the Iban of Borneo, the Maori of New
Zealand, the Samoans, many of the North American
tribal peoples and many other cultures around the
world. The act of being tattooed allows the individual
to vicariously experience the Hero’s journey on a
personal level. The tattoo then becomes proof within
our culture of our heroic virtues, those of bravery,
the ability to withstand considerable pain with stoic
endurance and resolve until our own personal journey
is complete, the tattoo finished. The tattoo is a war
act, a physical act, a sacrificing of ones self in the
larger Quest of the Hero. The act of tattooing is a
very conscious spilling of ones blood on behalf of the
culture.
The act of getting tattooed is usually also the
journey of the initiate. The tattoo is symbolic of the
transition between adolescence and adulthood. By its
very nature tattooing, because of the permanence of
the tattoo and what it symbolizes, is a transformative
act. The initiation ritual in most cultures requires a
child to give up his childhood and become an adult.
The child, the infantile psyche and personality must
die in order for the adult psyche and personality to
emerge. Therefore the motif of most cultural
initiation rites is one of transformation, of death
and resurrection. The tattoo, its pain, its blood, its
intense suffering, is the symbolic death, the
transformative act that leads to resurrection and
rebirth. This is a fundamental human experience. The
individual experiences childhood until the early
teenage years and then the death of the dependent
child which must occur and the resurrection, the
emergence and the life of the independent, responsible
adult on whom the survival of the culture is
absolutely dependent.
Tattooing is unique in that it fulfills the needs of
so many cultures in a single explicit act. The tattoo
allows an adolescent to take ownership of the newly
mature adult body. The tattoo explicitly symbolizes
the difference between the body of the child and the
body of the adult. It is a means for the mind, our
adult consciousness, to take control of the body,
which is the vehicle, which serves and carries the
consciousness. Tattooing is often a symbol, an
expression if you will, of the essential duality of
man. The tattoo is a bridge, a connection between the
conscious and the unconscious worlds of man, the
physical plane and the spiritual plane. The tattoo
connects for us that which we can see and that which
we can only imagine.
The tattoo is the Sacred Mark, its origins usually
found in the Myths of Heroes and Gods. In most
cultures the practice of tattooing is a gift from the
Gods or the Spirits to man. And in many instances the
gift of tattooing is given only after a Hero has made
a perilous and arduous journey to retrieve it. In many
cultures it is thought that without ones identifying
tattoos it is impossible to enter the Underworld or
the Spirit World or the Afterlife. The tattoos are
your mark of identification to the Gods and Spirits
and allow you to make the journey after death
unimpeded. Tattoos are sacred marks for this very
reason alone.
I believe it is a very revealing act that most of the
major organized religions of the West, Christianity,
Judaism and Islam, all generally frown on tattooing
and have often passed sanctions against its practice.
They recognize the deeply spiritual nature of
tattooing as the Sacred Mark within traditional tribal
cultures and understand it is a threat to conversion.
Tattooing connects us with a deep, more ancient
spirituality, connects us with the ancient mythologies
that are the foundation and bedrock of tribal
cultures.
Beyond Our Horizons
November 2004
Ancient Times
The art of tattooing is thought to be as old as
mankind. It is believed that tattooing was
accidentally discovered as a result of people falling
or stepping into pigment-carrying, sharp instruments
or materials, like e.g. sharp, charcoaled branches
from leftover fireplaces or wooden spears/arrowheads
hardened in fire. This scenario would leave trapped
pigment in the dermis, and such accidents are by the
way the major reason for pigment removal research even
in modern times. Although the earliest reference to
tattooing is credited to Egypt, it is unlikely that
they were the only society to make this discovery. In
all likelyhood tattooing was discovered in multiple
places at many different times, with knowledge and
popularity spreading along the established trade
routes of the time.
Early Spiritual Connections:
It is evident as to why people would make the
connection and survival of bad wounds may even have
helped the magical or religious meaning of tattoos
into existence. The current first proven incident of a
tattoo dates back 4,000 years B.C. a traveller was
found in Italy near Austria, preserved in the
permafrost of a glacier. Carbon dating and artifacts
found near the mummified remains suggest that he is
over 5,300 years old. The skin bears a cross behind
one knee and a series of lines above his kidneys. This
has given rise to the speculation that the man was a
shaman or otherwise holy member of his clan, and for
millennia tattoos were reserved in many if not most
cultures to members of the castes of priest or secret
sects.
Egypt:
Egyptian mummies, as well as clay figurines bear
tattoos, dating between 4,000 and 3,000 years old.
These types of tattoos were thought to be applied by
puncture with a needle or other sharp instrument
steeped in pigment, much like the prisoner tattoos of
later times. Egypt - an empire with traffic into most
countries it bordered - was in contact with Greece,
Persia, Central Asia and Arabia and spread tattoos
along the main merchant routes.
Asia:
Western Asian nomads brought facial tattooing to Japan
when they crossed over to the Japanese islands, for
them tattoos firmly belonged to the realm of religion
and magic. 1700 year old Chinese documents confirm
their habits of decorating the whole body with
tattoos. The Japanese themselves rejected the
religious meaning of tattoos brought by these nomads,
and turned towards the graphical and ornamental of the
practice. From Southern China the practice spread
along the silk route.
Japanese tattoo art has several names - irezumi or
horimono in the Japanese language. Irezumi is the word
for the traditional visible tattoo that covers large
parts of the body like the back. Since the influence
of Confucianism and Buddhism on the Japanese culture,
tattoo art has a negative connotation for the majority
of the Japanese people. Historically the Japanese
tattooed their criminals, which is an obvious negative
connotation, but that practice was abolished in 1870,
but the stigma remained. Today, in the eyes of an
average Japanese a tattoo is considered a mark of a
yakuza - a member of the Japanese mafia - or a macho
symbol of members of the lower classes. Despite these
negative connotations, some of the most beautiful
tattoo art has come from Japan, and artists today are
highly respected in the tattoo community as is the
style, which, combined with new school Western
methodology has produced some amazing results.
Australia, New Zealand & Polynesia:
The Polynesians carried the tattoo culture across the
Pacific Islands to New Zealand and are probably
responsible for the largest dissemination of the
practice. As there is no writing in the Polynesian
culture, the Polynesians used this art full of
distinctive signs to express their identity and
personality. Tattoos would indicate status in a
hierarchy society: sexual maturity, genealogy and
one's rank within society.Nearly everyone in ancient
Polynesian society was tattooed. The Polynesian view
of the body also differed from that of the Europeans.
Polynesians believed that there were two worlds: the
world of light and ordinary life (ao) and the world of
darkness and gods (po). Humans came from po at birth
and returned there at death. This gave the body a
potentially dangerous primal power, which would
overcome the present world if it was not contained. A
number of rites from infancy onwards were designed to
restrain this power by lessening the body's
sacredness. In Tahiti, these rites culminated in the
act of tattooing the body around the time of puberty
in order to 'seal off' its power. According to the
mythology, the 2 sons of the God of Creation Ta’aroa
taught the art of tattooing to humans. It was a tapu
or sacred art form. It was performed by only shamans
(tahua) who were highly trained in the religious
ritual, the meaning of the designs and technical
aspects of the art. The designs and their location on
the body were determined by one's genealogy, position
within the society and personal achievements. In
preparation for the tattooing, one would have to
undergo a period of cleansing. This generally involved
fasting for a specified length of time and abstaining
from sexual intercourse or contact with women.
Their style still survives among the Maoris and the
inhabitants of some of the Pacific Islands, strict
regulations and ceremonies accompany the procedure.
Europe:
The Iberians, who preceded the Celtic tribes, also
wore tattoos. The Gauls, Teutonic tribles, the Picts
and Greek tattooed, the Romans branded or tattooed
criminals and slaves. Invaders (Norseman, Saxons,
etc.) brought more refined and artistic tattoos to the
British Isles. It was usual for warriors and sailors
to have their tribal symbols tattooed. This usage
still survives with some aristocratic families. Early
Christians often had the sign of the cross tattooed on
their bodies, particularly their face or arms. Such
tattoos were seen as a permanent mark of the
believer's faith. However, around AD 325 the Emperor
Constantine outlawed tattooing of the face because he
believed that the face was in God's image and should
not be disfigured. In AD 787, a council of churches
meeting in Calcuth, Northumberland, renounced all
forms of tattooing and sealed the fate of the practice
in the eyes of the Christian church once and for all.
Much later, a representation of the crucifixion
tattooed on a slave's back was said to preserve the
bearer from a whipping. It was thought that no
Christian, however cruel, would lash the image of
Christ.
It was not until Captain Cook brought news of the
practice and the word to Europe after seeing tattoos
performed 1771 in Tahiti that tattooing once again
began to receive the attention of the modern world.
The New World:
Tattooing travelled to America either via the large
Polynesian migration, or across the northern land/ice
bridge with Siberian tribes who learned tattooing from
the Ainu. Mayas, Incas and Aztecs tattooed and the
practice had an important role in their religious
rituals.
In the U.S. tattooing gained prominence through
sailors. As they traveled to many exotic destinations,
sailors wished to bring back souvineers from their
travels and tattoos fit the bill perfectly. Soon a
symbolic language evolved to represent various aspects
of their travels. It is interesting to note that
attributing symbolic representation to tattooed images
seems to be a universal aspect of the tattoo
phenomena, and sailors were no exception.
The word "Tattoo":
Cook referred to the operation called "tattaw", using
for the first time the word "tattawing", before
tattooing has been called painting or staining. The
word tattoo resembles the sound the tattooing
instrument made on the skin of those being tattooed
and derives from the Polynesian word ta which means
striking something. The English word tattoo however
was already mentioned before Cook's voyages to
describe the beating of military drums. Both words may
have been rolled into one, with both having roots in
Latin for something naming the action of striking or
beating.