Hand Poke Tattoos as Medicine

Elevating the Tattoo Experience Towards the Sacred

I recently completed an online course called Sacred Tattooing which was facilitated by two lovely ladies, Ashley River and Rachel who together founded The School of the Sacred Arts (which has recently closed as of 8/2023). What motivated me to take this 8-week journey was a realization of my own spiritual growth as well as the motivation of the clients who have been finding their way to me.

Maybe it’s the private studio filled with plants, crystals, and artwork, or perhaps the intimate, meditative nature of hand poking - but I’ve noticed something special emerging. As I’ve committed myself more and more to tattooing as a creative endeavor as well as a vocational one, my intuition and processes have gotten more honed and polished. I have had more clients choose me to mark them because they need more than just body art, they are also desiring a special experience. Something to commemorate an important shift, something beyond the art itself.

I’m still processing what I’ve learned and figuring out how to apply my own magic to the tattoo experience. I do know that there seems to be a need for ceremony and sacredness. Maybe it’s living through a pandemic as a global community, maybe it’s the shared concerns regarding climate crisis, political upheaval and division, encroaching AI, and fast-paced tech whirring all around us every day. Whatever the motivations, I am energized to peek into the ether and bring forth necessary remedies in the form of presence, beauty, vulnerability, and ceremony through my art and tattoo work.