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| SinVille Tattoo has a working relationship with Wat Krom,via it’s head monk, Moonron, or Ron as he is often called. I met him when we had the shop house Blessed according with local tradition. He has a good, dry sense of humour and a good grasp of English. I had been refusing to do religious, magical tattoos in the ancient Pali language, as I did not feel qualified, but one day I decided to send some of these customers to see him in his consulting hours. What he did then was basically give these people a spiritual consultation, consult his almanac according to their birth dates, and drew a design which he sent them back to me to tattoo.  As pagoda tattoos are usually done for a donation which supports the old people and monks who stay at the pagoda, I understood it was appropriate for me to make a donation from what they paid me in the interests of good karma for this mystical tattoo. Ron then took it on himself to draw some designs to aid protection and good fortune, which are mantras based in and around sacred patterns and give me his blessing to do them. These people are then free to visit Ron at the pagoda where he will chant a blessing over them and their new tattoo. Tattooing by monks is very rare in Cambodia as part of the Khmer Rouge legacy, who all but destroyed the clergy.  Here are some examples. Curiously I am not unusually asked to line these pieces in colors other than black. 50% is the portion of the price I decided to earmark for donation. Ron has made it clear to me in a very Buddhist way that his motivation is to help me with my business, and whether or what I choose to give is gratefully received but not expected. |
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