MY SARISARI STORE

Protective / Orasyon tattoos.

 

 

 

 

 

The source of many, if not all, orasyones is a librito, a booklet jealously kept by its owner to preserve the potency of the orasyones contained herein.

The orasyones written on its pages are accompanied by notations regarding their specific use and purpose.

An example of an orasyon against bladed weapons.

OR

Kontra sa Henagiban

Adtem Peni Eke

Desim Aleloya

Aleloya Aleloya

Egusom

Amin

Another example against fire arms.

OR

Kontra sa ambos amino

Toas domini komini

Komindom esperito

Meyom henit

Pecabit

Herosalem

Payrabala

Egusom

Amin

 

Text: Mr. Dulce Cuna Anacion from his thesis "Yunal: the orasyon tattoo as folk practice and art in Leyte."  

Protective / Orasyon tattoos.

 

 

 

 

 

The Spanish word for prayer (oracion; plural – oraciones) has not only assumed a vernacularized spelling (orasyon) but has also acquired several other meanings aside from prayer as petition or supplication. Several other meanings are implied.

An orasyon, in still another sense, is a collection of nonsensical though allegedly potent, Latin sounding vocals written on a piece of paper or cloth and carried around as a talisman.

Orasyones, are generally composed of a mishmash of lines lifted from the Roman Missal, the Latin Vulgate and a dash of Visayan and Spanish prayers mixed with gibberish. 

The seemingly puzzling orasyon text can actually be partly or totally deciphered and understood through simple educated guesswork – that is, getting the Spanish and Latin meanings for Spanish/ Latin derived words and the original signification for these appearing to be corrupted vernacular terms. The following orasyon for instance may appear perplexing at first.

LOS TODOS PILIGROS EKO PEDERA DEYOM JESUS MAGNEM ESPIRITO SALBAME EGUSOM AMEN

Los todos Piligros is a misspelling of the Spanish equivalent for “ all dangers”.

Eko is a possible corruption of “ako” the Filipino word for me.

Pedera comes close to the Spanish  “perder” or to lose.

Deyom is a vernacularized spelling of the accusative case of Deum or Deus-God.

Magnem Espirito is most likely taken from the Latin Spiritum Magnum,  Great Spirit or Holy Spirit. 

Salbame is the misspelling and contraction of Ego Sum, Latin for “ Therefore I am “ or “ Therefore I exist”.

The orasyon above may then be translated in this way:

Lose me and Save me Lord Jesus Holy Spirit from all Dangers.Therefore, I am. Amen.

Text: Mr. Dulce Cuna Anacion from his thesis "Yunal: the orasyon tattoo as folk practice and art in Leyte."  

Protective / Orasyon tattoos.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The orasyon in folk belief is considered as a type of anting-anting which can be either be used as an amulet that has a preventive force against witchcraft, sickness, accidents and the like or as a talisman that brings good luck or transmit new qualities.

An orasyon written on paper by a tambalan (healer) might be enclosed in a container by the recipient and worn around the neck. In order to avoid losing the orasyon some people have it buried under the skin or tattooed on the skin particularly on the arms, hands, legs, chest and back.

This makes the orasyon an indelible anting-anting and explains the existence of the orasyon tattoos.

Text: Mr. Dulce Cuna Anacion from his thesis "Yunal: the orasyon tattoo as folk practice and art in Leyte." 

Protective / Orasyon tattoos.

 

 

 

 

To understand the “orasyon” or “protective” tattoos man has to go back to the folk belief of “anting-anting“. Anting-anting is the term for amulets and talismans. In folk belief, amulets have a preventive force against evil things, places and events, whereas talismans bring good luck. 

Anting-anting come in various materials like rocks and minerals, teeth and bone, bark of trees, strange roots of plants, seeds, shrunken animal parts , feathers, miniature icons, images of Jesus Christ and the Saints, oils, cloth, medals, scapulars, prayers, prayer books, anagrams, codes in pieces of paper and tattoos.

Those various shapes and physical forms are believed to have telltale meanings and myths in them which can only be divulged by a “tambalan” (a healer, local medicine man, diviner) or by the possessor. They also vary in usage and potency.

To secure the potency of one’s anting-anting the possessor ought to carry the object with him every day or wear it next to his body. The mystique of the anting-anting persists up to this day. Anting-anting are still worn up to the present by different individuals in different social categories, be it the businessman, the student, the vendor, the fisherman or the prisoner. It is always synonymous with the practice of folk healing and spiritism.

Text: Mr. Dulce Cuna Anacion from his thesis "Yunal: the orasyon tattoo as folk practice and art in Leyte." 

 

 

 

Protective / Orasyon tattoos.

 

This is the fourth instalment of my visual documentation of tattoos in the Philippines. 

I first documented commercial tattoos during the yearly Dutdutan Tattoo festival. You can find this photo essay here.
 

 

 

Soon after I documented gang tattoos inside the Quezon and Manila City jails. I have collected more than 1000 different tattoo designs. I believe this is one of the first comprehensive studies of Filipino gang tattoos.

A selection of gang tattoos were published in several magazines and e-zines. In addition the study gained the interest of the Canadian Border Service Agency who wanted to learn and gain information on some of the gang tattoo designs which they had previously not encountered.

You can find this photo essay here.

 

I also went to Kalinga where I documented Kalinga tattoos and several of my pictures were published in Lars Krutak’s book “Kalinga Tattoos” which is probably the most comprehensive book about the subject.

Some of my pictures were also included in Lane Wilcken’s book about Filipino Tattoos.

You can buy Lars Krutak’s book here and Lane Wilcken’s book here on Amazon.com

My photo essay about the Kalinga tattoos can be found here.

 

 

Finally I documented the orasyon or protective tattoos. Orasyon tattoos are unique in their design and specific to the Philippines. Over the course of three years I documented these tattoos and would not have been able to photograph so many protective / orasyon tattoos without the help of journalist and scholar Dennis Villegas.

The accompanying explaining text is almost literally taken from a thesis written at the University of the Philippines by Mr. Dulce Cuna Anacion and titled: “Yunal: the orasyon tattoo as folk practice and art in Leyte.”  

The copyright to all the text is owned by Mr. Dulce Cuna Anacion.