Celtic Tattooing

In the 1970s, the counter culture in America rediscovered the beauty of primitive and tribal taboos. The most copied designs are primarily from Borneo, Japan, and the islands of the South Pacific. In the 1980's, Celtic tattoos became very popular, probably as a result of the popularity of Wiccan and pagan religions.. Most modern Celtic designs are sourced from ancient scrolls called the Irish Illuminated Manuscripts, which were created during the sixth and seventh centuries. As before that the Celts did not keep written records, designs are also found in ancient stone and metal work. Before the sixth century, these ancient peoples often tattooed or painted their faces and bodies to protect them from evil spirits and ensure victory in battle. The knot work tradition of tattooing that was derived from Celtic manuscripts spread from Britain and Ireland to Scotland. Viking invaders eventually appropriated many of the Celtic designs into their own culture, often adding totem animals into the interlacing designs.

Celtic knots are "zoomorphic" meaning that each strand of the design connects or spirals into another strand. Often these designs will graphically terminate in images of the feet, heads and tails of animals and other natural symbols. These animals were to do with different Celtic tribes and nationalities.

Roman documents also indicate that ancient British and Scottish peoples may have tattooed themselves before entering into battle. Ancient stones from Gaul also show leaders with tattooed faces. These tattoos were created from woad, a plant that produces blue dye. A body of a Pict found frozen in the permafrost in Siberia indicated that these pre-Celtic peoples tattooed using puncture marks to create the forms and outlines of animals using woad as the dye.

 

Rite of Passage

  Primitive people also tattooed their adolescents as a rite of passage. The theory was that if a young boy couldn't take the pain of a tattoo at a young age, then he would be useless at battle. Similarly, if a young girl couldn't handle the pain of a tattoo, she would not be able to handle the pain of childbirth. Many of these children ended up with a tattoo anyway, that would label them as an outcast of the tribe.

Totem animals are also another common motif in primitive tattoos. Totem animals such as snakes, frogs, butterflies wolves or bears signified that the individual has taken on the physical prowess of that animal. In some cultures, the totem animal is thought to have a special spiritual relationship with the bearer of tattoo and acts as a spirit guide. From the South Pacific to the South America, primitive people have customs involved with their tattooing rituals. Usually the person being tattooed is separated from others, smudged, isolated from the opposite sex or fed a special diet.

From primitive times to now, Hawaiians celebrate specific tattoo gods. The designs associated with each God are locked away in the temples and priests conduct tattooing. Each tattooing session begins with a prayer to tattoo gods that implores that the operation goes well and that the designs be gorgeous in the end.

 

 

Japanese Tattoo's

Traditionally, Japanese tattoos began as a means of conveying societal status as well as serving as spiritual symbols  for the use of protection as well as symbolizing devotion to where there from etc., not unlike modern religious tattoos. Over time, tattoos in Japanese culture developed as a form of punishment similar to what was seen in Rome where it was common practice to tattoo prisoners of war, criminals, and slaves as a means of making their status in society instantly recognizable. Eventually tattoos were outlawed by the Emperor of Japan in an effort to improve Japan’s image in the west so that business in trade and to be able to communicate and not scare of the west from visiting. Tattoos in Japan then took on a criminal element, but this didn’t stop foreigners from being so intrigued to learn the traditional ways. The modern association between Japanese traditional tattoos and the criminal element is said to have led to the adoption of tattoos by the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia. There are a number of images and symbols used in the Japanese style of tattooing to convey specific meanings. These images are used to portray a persons belief or for now days the simple love of the artwork.
The latest recording for tattoos in the Japanese culture is around 10,000 B.C. But because it becoming outlawed and criminals in the mafia got them there not looked at as what they were back then.