Berlin
Senior Lister
In the mayhem that is the MCA'S baraza there was a bizzare clash on tattoos and their significance, the thread got derailed on the aspects of middle class but in general it seemed talkers had no grasp on the importance of bodily marks.
Below, is a piece from Dan Brown's The lost Symbol.
'The goal of tattooing was never beauty, the goal was change. From the scarified Nubian priests of 2000 b.c to the tattooed acolytes of the Cybele cult of ancient Rome, to the moko scars of the modern Maori, humans have tattooed themselves as a way of offering up their bodies in partial sacrifice, enduring the physical pain of embellishment and emerged changed beings.
Despite the ominous admonitions of Leviticus 19:28, which forbade the marking of one's flesh, tattoos had become a rite of passage shared by millions of people in the modern age-everyone from clean cut teenagers to hard core drug users to suburban wives.
The act of tattooing ones skin was a transformative declaration of power, an announcement to the world: I am in control of my own flesh. The intoxicating feeling of control derived from physical transformation had addicted millions to flesh-altering practices... cosmetic surgery, body piercing, body-building and steroids.
Even bulimia and transgendering.
The human spirit craves mastery over its carnal shell. '
Below, is a piece from Dan Brown's The lost Symbol.
'The goal of tattooing was never beauty, the goal was change. From the scarified Nubian priests of 2000 b.c to the tattooed acolytes of the Cybele cult of ancient Rome, to the moko scars of the modern Maori, humans have tattooed themselves as a way of offering up their bodies in partial sacrifice, enduring the physical pain of embellishment and emerged changed beings.
Despite the ominous admonitions of Leviticus 19:28, which forbade the marking of one's flesh, tattoos had become a rite of passage shared by millions of people in the modern age-everyone from clean cut teenagers to hard core drug users to suburban wives.
The act of tattooing ones skin was a transformative declaration of power, an announcement to the world: I am in control of my own flesh. The intoxicating feeling of control derived from physical transformation had addicted millions to flesh-altering practices... cosmetic surgery, body piercing, body-building and steroids.
Even bulimia and transgendering.
The human spirit craves mastery over its carnal shell. '
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