My sacred tattoo (Sak Yant) in Wat Bang Phra!!!

OKAY, now I finally did something really crazy. I had read about it before, but then I stumbled upon it by chance on my first day in Bangkok when I was browsing the internet for tattoos...

I GOT A SACRED TATTOO :o

And no, not in a fancy tattoo studio in Bangkok, but in Wat Bang Phra temple near Bangkok.

Here's how it went: We drove out of Bangkok in a minibus for about an hour and then took a motorcycle for another 15 minutes to get to the temple. Once we arrived, I bought an offering for the monks for 75 baht (1.50 euros) which included cigarettes, a flower, and incense sticks. Then I walked into a temple building where tattoos were being done. There was already a group of Thai girls waiting there, and they kindly let me go first.

Then, I presented the offering with a bow on my knees and sat in a cross-legged position in front of the monk/tattoo artist/whatever. I knew beforehand that the monk would look at you and decide based on his intuition which sacred tattoo to give you and where to place it (some protect against bad energy, some give you strength, etc.). He chose my neck, or upper back, and off we went. The tattoo was done by hand with a long metal rod (in the past, it was done with bamboo rods, but that has been modernized), and it didn't hurt more than a regular tattoo. The spot is quite painful though (right on the spine), and the last few stings were intense. But it only took 15 minutes, and it was done. Afterward, I went to another building and had to give another 40 baht as an offering and then I was blessed again. I knelt before the monk (who looked pretty cool with a tattoo on his shoulder and sunglasses) and he smeared gold oil on my forehead and stuck gold leaf on my tongue. Then he said something else (nobody spoke English, of course, but I guess that was the 'magic') and it was all over!

Oh my God, I was so excited when I came out of there :o Eileen took a photo of me first because I still hadn't seen which sacred design now adorned my back. It was a Gao Yord Sak Yant; the most commonly tattooed Sak Yant, which protects the wearer from evil spirits, embodies the 9 sacred peaks of Mount Meru (the number 9 is important in Buddhism and strangely enough also in my life because I was born on May 9, 1992 at 19:19!), brings luck in life, and contains various Buddha symbols. Each tiny symbol has its own meaning, and um, well, I need to study them in detail myself! The tattoo is said to unleash psychic and magical powers. There are certain rules that a Yant bearer should follow, including: not killing, not stealing, not lying, not having sexual relationships with married people, not spitting in the toilet, showing respect to parents, not speaking ill of people behind their backs, not consuming excessive alcohol, not doing anything evil (well, I read different sources, and they all said slightly different things, but these are all things I don't do anyway)

In the end, one could write a novel about it, but I need to take the time to read and question everything myself!

Yeah, it was really intense, and I think it's my highlight so far! I really feel blessed and sure, it's all a matter of belief whether you believe in evil energies and stuff, but it's definitely something very, very special, and once again, I am so grateful and happy to have had this unique experience. Even Eileen was excited with me :))