-Marks of the Spirit-


I have always been interested in the body adorned. Go figure... among many things I'm a jeweler. My interest in metalsmithing comes from a love of history and anthropology. One of the things you realize when you look at history and culture is that humanity has almost always manipulated the human form. I am going to argue that the few cultures that -don't- do this are dominated by some oppressive force. A primary example is the Medieval Church's edicts against pleasure, beauty and body-adornment. It is important to realize that Europe was forcibly converted to this faith by a ruling class with the political aims of creating feudalism and stark class divisions. Creating a caste of serfs necessitates convincing them to expect no more from life than painstakingly working for the profit of others.

The Heathen people of Northern Europe were fond of body-adornment. The Picts were 'painted,' the Vikings and Scythians were tattooed... in fact almost every ancient European body found with intact skin shows intentional markings. There are earrings in graves indicating pierced ears. The Celts smeared their hair with lime and some of them probably looked like punks. I have heard anecdotal tales of Roman soldiers with pierced nipples. I find it telling that today's purely cosmetic and vain face lifts and boob-jobs are socially acceptable while an intentional tattoo, piercing, scarification or branding that might be deeply spiritually inspired is "offensive".

When the aspiring feudalists came along, many Northern European converts simply started tattooing Christian imagery on their bodies instead of Heathen subject matter. Despite initially praising this change in tattoo subject matter, the Church eventually saw a need to put a stop to the entire practice. Why? Because intentionally marking your flesh indicates an appreciation for this world. It indicates that the body and soul are equal and wholistic rather than hierarchical and oppositional. It indicates that life happens here and now, and that you might be inclined to enjoy living thus.

Those who promise happiness sometime "later" are usually enjoying themselves greatly at the expense of those who believe them. Whether they be medieval feudalists or modern corporate capitalists their goal is the same: to convince you to suffer that they might profit. To do that they must break and hide the human spirit.

They must make you conform.