AS I SIT here on an airplane in Bangkok flying home from Myanmar on my birthday, I am told about a feature article in the current (April) issue of Bizarre Magazine concerning my photo-essay book MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION: SPIRITUAL SKIN (Edition Reuss). My goal in this 10-year project “IS TO PROMOTE THE GREAT BEAUTY, MEANING AND SPIRITUALITY OF INDIGENOUS BODY MODIFICATION PRACTICES THROUGH THE WORDS AND IMAGES OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WHO ULTIMATELY CREATED THESE INCREDIBLE TRADITIONS” (p. 71). The 5-page spread is crammed with striking photos and vivid descriptions of extreme body scarification rituals as practiced by the Kaningara of Papua New Guinea, the Bétamarribé of Benin, and the Hamar of Ethiopia; peoples that have made a lasting impression on me and my body, as I carry over 1000 of their permanent body marks on my skin.
For the complete story, pick-up a copy of MAGICAL TATTOOS AND SCARIFICATION at your local bookseller to learn more about the religious realm of Tribal scarification and tattoo, two of the oldest and most natural forms of human expression.