After a session in the Asian study room drawing Bi, I wandered through the current exhibition of Pilgrims, Wizards and Healers where this display caught my eye.
The figure above shows a tattooed man: the black tattoos reach from his waist to his knees with the red ones enhancing his personal power. The dots on his neck and arms show where silver discs inscribed with protective letters and diagrams would have been inserted under his skin to give extra qualities such as courage,invulnerability and strength.
The discs below were taken from one person from Shan state in Burma who was imprisoned by the British in the Andaman Islands in the mid-1800s.
Below is a page of tattoo designs: those of animals such as a tiger conferred their qualities of speed,strength and agility to the bearer.
This jacket, above and below, performs a similar task for the wearer with protective and auspicious imagery drawn from Buddhism as well as numerology and spirits.
Each motif gives a specific result such as protection from bullets, persuasiveness and would be chosen for its function.
I think I can safely say that the invocation for protection against bullets doesn’t work. I can, however, understand the appeal of being more persuasive, stronger or faster though.
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