Clinical Anthropology Copyright © 2005 John Rush PhD ND
Spiritual Tattoo:
A
Cultural History of Tattooing, Piercing, Scarification, Branding, and Implants
by Dr. John A. Rush
Say
"body modifications" and most people think of tattoos and piercings. They associate these mainly with the urban
primitives of the 1980s to today and with primitive tribes. In fact, as this
fascinating book shows, body mods have been on the
scene since ancient times, traceable to as far back as 1.5 million years, and
they also encompass scarification, branding, and implants. Professor John Rush
outlines the processes and procedures of these radical physical alterations,
showing their function as rites of passage, group identifiers, and mechanisms
of social control. He explores the use of pain for spiritual purposes, such as
purging sin and guilt, and examines the phenomenon of accidental cuts and
punctures as individual events with sometimes-profound implications for group
survival. Spiritual Tattoo finds a remarkable consistency in body modifications
from prehistory to the present, suggesting the importance of the body as a
sacred geography from both social and psychological points of view.
Product
Details
·
Paperback: 200 pages
·
Publisher: North Atlantic Books, Frog Ltd. (
·
Language: English
·
ISBN: 1583941177
·
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
Contents
Author’s
Preface
vii
Chapter
One Scarification
and Tattooing:
A Cultural History of Pain
1
Chapter Two The
Processes of Body Modification 77
Chapter Three Spirituality
139
Chapter Four Pain,
Suffering, and Redemption 165
Chapter Five Purging
Emotional Pain and Trauma 181
Chapter Six The Individual and Society 223
Bibliography
229
Index
239
About the Author
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