Magico-Religious Aspects of Piercing

Piercing, when used as a self imposed rite of passage, has distinct magico-religious connotations. An understanding of the relationship between magic, religion and ritual is vital in the understanding of the modern primitives approach to body piercing and other forms of body modification. It must be realised, however, that the degree to which magic and religion play a part in piercing varies considerably between individuals. Magic is seen, by many, as a primitive form of religion in which attempts are made to manipulate the spiritual via ritual in order to produce specific effects. In such a way magic acts to reinforce group identity and solidarity during periods of social instability or stress. Magic is most often resorted to when the use of technology cannot be seen to ensure the outcome of specific actions. Interestingly parallels have been drawn between modern science and ritual magic, procedures are followed and results are expected but the knowledge of why the results occur is held by only a few wise men, or scientists.

Religion and religious beliefs are seen as less direct than magic, no immediate outcome is necessarily expected by believers. Also whilst religion is seen to have a socially cohesive effect, acting to enforce solidarity and provide ritual release from tension, it does so by acting as a reflection of present social structure. Magic, however, is a product of society and as such is seen as far more of a tool. Marx famously expressed the view that religion is also a tool used by the dominant social class to justify their position and suppress others (MacMillan Dictionary of Anthropology).

Body piercing as used by the modern primitive is one of the methods by which they proclaim themselves as a distinct sub-cultural group, and as such the piercing ritual is often built and elaborated upon to the point at which it is used in much the same way magic or religion is used, that is to produce specific effects, reduce tension and reinforce group identity. Piercing, in its use as a magico-religious rite which is in direct opposition to the socially dominant religion, also serves as a protest against society. Also due to the background and ideology of many modern primitives magic and magico- religious practices, such as modern witchcraft or pagan religions are likely to have played at least a minor role at some point in their lives. A rite of passage can, in itself, be a very emotionally powerful event. By the addition of a magical or religious significance to the ritual the whole piercing can be transformed. Not only does the use of magic or religion reinforce the status of the piercing by giving it 'higher' or 'deeper' significance, the psychological effects can be enormous. The symbolism involved in piercing, voluntary submission to pain and damage, bloodletting, the sealing of the piercing with, most often, a continuous band of steel (a ring, the power of which is legendary in magic due to its self perpetuation), can easily be, and often has been, related to laying oneself bare before ones beliefs in order to experience, even briefly, some form of communion and then to symbolically seal the event permanently to the person who experienced it. It should be noted that in body piercing a ring is the easiest and most convenient piece of jewellery to use in a fresh piercing, this does not, however, detract from the symbolic significance of the sealing of the piercing and the experience, no matter what jewellery is used. The degree to which this magico- religious attitude towards body piercing is taken varies enormously between individuals, from absolute belief to a complete disregard for all such possibilities. From experience, however, for most practitioners of body piercing the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes with piercing playing an important role in their lives, and who they are, beyond what would be expected of a rite devoid of either magic or religion. Indeed in some instances the piercing and the rite involved accounts for the only such magico-religious aspects in their lives.

In addition to any potential on going magico- religious connotations piercing, as with many other forms of body art, has been linked with more direct, and in essence magical properties. The use of body art for its medicinal or protective properties is documented throughout history. The Shan, who live on the Thai, Burma boarder, have been noted for their use of tattooing as a form of medicine (Gell 1993), and in the West, until recently, the wearing of gold earrings was thought to improve sight (Piercing World). In the Oceanic societies studied by Gell tattooing made up an important part of their lives, socially. The tattoos were seen to have a number of different uses including magical protection. Similar themes are present in contemporary tattooing as witnessed by Greg Kulz (Juno and Vale 1989), who states that his tattoos take account of meridian lines. In particular he notes that one design he had tattooed on a lung meridian coincided with the clearing up of bronchitis which he had at the time. Also one of his customers requested a tattoo of a Mayan dragon on a point on his leg he wished to strengthen. The link between piercing and sought for beneficial effects, whether mental or physical, affects, to a great degree, the choice, position and timing of many peoples piercings. Piercings placed at certain points on the body may be done so in the hope of beneficial effects in much the same way as tattoos. Similarly one woman states that she always seemed to get pierced when she was feeling low, the piercing then was seen as an aid to happiness and relief from tension. In some instances the exact reason for the piercing is not known, even by the person who owns it, they simply felt they needed to have it. This absolute, but unexplainable, need for a piercing is one of the most common reasons I have come across for having one, though a long standing piercer, Warren of Perforations, has stated that in his opinion those people who are driven to be pierced are doing so to rectify an unconscious imbalance in themselves. As such piercing is a powerful, 'magical', aid to redressing balance in such peoples lives.

Finally there are some similarities, noted earlier, between piercing and shamanism. Shamanism is a term used to describe the attaining of altered states of consciousness via sensory deprivation or stimulation. The altered states reached are desired for their ability to "prepare people for new learning's or behaviour by reducing the effects of previous learning and thought habits" (MacMillan Dictionary of Anthropology). The shamanistic viewpoint, and most certainly its close links with hallucinogens, marks it as particularly interesting in the eyes of the modern primitive. It is here that piercings ability to produce otherwise rarely experienced sensations becomes especially valuable to its practitioners.