Tattoos in the Philippines and other Cultures

Tattoos, they are everywhere and more fashionable and acceptable than ever. But how long have we decorated our skin with ink? Some of the oldest tattoos date back thousands of years.  Tattoos appear preserved on the mummified skin from the deceased of various cultures all of the world, from Europe to the Americas to Asia.

The Philippines has its own rich history of tribal style tattoos.  In the sixteenth century, the conquistadors first encountered the Pintados, the tattoo covered head-hunter tribe.  The tribes featured intricate works all over their bodies; a symbol of their prowess in warfare as well as intimidation to their foes.  The term headhunter is not just a term to scare people.

The original technique to create the tribal tattoo is a thorn from a Calamansi tree and charcoal as the ink; an arduous and time consuming approach reserved for the bravest warriors to express their obstacles in life. A painted journey on a living canvas, each ornate decoration a mark symbolizing a warrior’s kill.  The highest achievement of warrior decoration being the status of mai’ngor. The more decorated a man, the more skilled at warfare. Women too had markings, but mainly to demonstrate their beauty.

The ancient technique appears in practice still in the northern most areas of the Philippines, in fact one woman carries on the torch of celebrating the rich cultural history, the last of the magbabatuk, Apo Whang-Od. The centurion is teaching her niece the techniques so the history can be carried on for another generation. the elder woman is a prominent tattoo idol for pretty much every tattoo artist in the Philippines and the world.

My personal taste

Personally, my passion originates with the ancient Egyptian markings and the sacred meanings each design carries. In modern culture we do not have such reverence for every single tattoo; some are humorous, others are a drunken late night decision in Thailand, while others signify so much for the canvas on which they are painted. I tend to go for the latter and spend years contemplating my next piece while I search for an appropriate artist.

I received my first tattoo at age fifteen, a second at twenty one, and my Kraken piece when I went to Thailand and found Jin Bamboo: one of the best “stick and poke” artists in all of Thailand. In fact, that particular piece is on display on PADI’s Social media pages; I guess it’s one of the best scuba tats!  I spent a long time contemplating the piece and am happy to show off my amazing art every day.

The Inspiration

However, my most recent piece is an inspiration by my education in Latin at College of Charleston. For years, I wanted my latest piece created but I had not found the right artist or felt the right time to paint my body again. The quote, originating from Carmen 16, “Pedicago ego vos et irrumabo” is one of the most notorious lines in Roman poetry.  In fact the quotation raises eyebrows even now.

Sitting, doey-eyed, in Latin 202, my professor asks me to translate the latin line. I stutter and read my translation with hesitation: “I will butt-fuck then skull-fuck you.” Needless to say, Catullus and I obviously have a similar outlook on to life.

After surviving extremely abusive relationships filled with physical abuse and sexual abuse I was ready to start the next chapter in my life.  I knew it was time for me to paint my body with something to remind me never to allow myself to be taken advantage of again or to accept anything less than I deserve.  Every day I look back and realize I was never the problem and leaving such terrible circumstances has inspired me to keep telling my story and enabling other women to leave abusive relationships.  This tattoo means so much to me as it is not only a reminder to me but it is a hell of a warning to anyone who gets close to my genitals, don’t fuck with me.

Finding the perfect artist

At the invitation of Miss Eliza, the tattooed goddess of the Philippines, I attended the tattoo competition in Tagbilaran where I met Raphy Cañeda of Rap2ers Tattoo. His back piece won the top prize for best black and grey entry and I knew I had my artist.

We spoke for several weeks to set up the appointment and I traveled to Cebu to come to his in-house parlor. Raphy’s awards  and accomplishments of many years decorate the walls and I am greeted by an unassuming man with a very kind and welcoming demeanor.  A fellow sailor I am lucky to know.  His parlor is spotless and his kind wife, a successful baker, serves me a slice of mean Ube cake, I love cake.  After talking for a while he started with the tattoo gun on my pelvic area. He chuckles as I ask if he has read what my tattoo says, “yeah, that’s got hugot behind it, for sure.” Hugot being Vasyaa for “with strong feeling.” The entire process took about three hours and you can watch the entire video on my youtube channel to see the process and hear my interview with Raphy.

I am hoping to have a few more tattoos done before I leave the Philippines, but until then I am extremely proud the latest addition to the canvas of art which I call my body. Some places leave a mark on us spiritually, the Philippines gave me  a tattoo ion addition to healing my spirit.

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