A magickal vision quest for enlightenment and personal redemption in Thailand
Details the authors profound encounters with Thai magick during 4 separate pilgrimages to Thailand
Explains the ritual process of the authors multiple Sak Yant tattoos as well as other powerful magickal rituals and initiations he experienced
Shares how his initiatory experiences with Thai Buddhist magicians helped him destroy his destructive former selves and discover profound healing for his mind and soul
Sharing his profound encounters with Thai magick during four separate pilgrimages to Thailand, writer and musician Sheer Zed details the intense personal initiations and rituals he experienced with the sect of Thai Buddhist magicians known as Ajarns.
Traveling all over Thailand to meet with holy monks in sacred places, the author undergoes powerful Thai magickal rituals. Among these are the Gold Face Blessing, where gold leaf was hammered onto his face to form a mask, and a Satuang ritual, traditionally performed for returning soldiers, that crescendos with the release of 21 unruly catfish into the Ping River during a Wolf Moon. As Zed explores the cultural context of Thai Buddhist necromancy, he details firsthand the pain and transformation of his multiple talismanic Sak Yant tattoos, ritually done by hand by Ajarns in magickal inks, including one that spiritually transformed him into a tiger. He shares his experiences of intense Serm Duang ritual baths, the insertion of a gold Takrut needle into his arm, and a rare initiation to connect him directly with spirits.
Revealing the extreme personal losses and traumas that led to his spiritual transformation, Zed shares how his initiatory experiences with Thai Buddhist sorcerers helped him destroy his destructive former selves and discover profound healing for his mind and soul. Exploring chaos magick, pop culture, and esoteric Buddhism, he also examines the artistic and occult influences that shaped him into a magickal practitionerfrom the underground electronic music scene and the work of the Beat Poets to the writings of Aleister Crowley and the Buddhist Anarchism of Gary Snyder.
Arvustused
A powerful account of traditional Thai magick written into the skin of a dedicated spiritual seeker. Sheer Zed approaches his pilgrimage and healing journey with great sensitivity and bravery and is transformed in partnership with the Ajarn and living spirits who now share his body. An important resource for those drawn to the transformative magic of tattoo and the traditional magical arts that the Thai people have gifted to the world. * Peter Grey, author of The Red Goddess and cofounder of Scarlet Imprint * An authentic initiate, Sheer Zed has written an intriguing, indepth exploration of Sak Yant and the complex initiation practices of Thai Buddhism, sharing his own moving story of loss, discovery, and transformation during four separate pilgrimages. Essential reading for anyone interested in Thai tattoo magick. * June Kent, editor of Indie Shaman * A fascinating glimpse into the invisibilia of Thai culture, and one that inviteseven needsparticipation in order to be fully understood. Herein, the reader will find luck-bringing Jing Jok spirits, a redneck ghost doctor, and a person seekingand perhaps findingsomething clear and real while still sitting with human(e)-ness with its foibles, its messiness, and its often-unseen beauty. Sheer Zed takes us along for the trip through an autobiography en spiritu traced upon skin and etched in the heart-mind. * John Anderson, DAOM, author of The Way of the Living Ghost and Opening the Vermillion Spirit * Sheer Zed offers this fascinating account of the forgotten sacred art of body inscription. Vivid, visceral, and valiant. Stories of integrity and adventure abound. As readers, we travel on the authors words to a world rarely seen and reverently understood. * Sara McCarthy, musician and professional tarot reader *
Acknowledgments
Preface: A Life Transformed
1 Sak Yant
The Spiritual Hallmark of Sacred Mastery
2 Entering the Stream
Many Tributaries Lead to One Ocean
3 Thai Magick and Buddhism
A Short History of Sorcery and the Death of My Father
4 Preparing for the First Trip
A Convergence and Assembly of Spirits
5 The First Pilgrimage
Go East, Young Man
6 First Rituals and Mistakes
Renouncing Alcohol and the Past
7 A Punched Solar Plexus
Setting My Laundry to Fuzzy
8 The Power of Amulets
The Amulet Chooses You
9 The Second Pilgrimage
Lost in Exotic Pastures
10 Thursday Is Lersi Day
Serm Duang Ritual Bath and the Second Sak Yant
11 Wat Phra That Doi Saket Jing Joks
Trapped in a Strange Unending Time Loop
12 The Acquisition of the Miit Mhor
Lek Nam Phi, Akhara Script, and the Keris Blade
13 The Year between Pilgrimages
Transformations and Processing Magickal Rituals
14 The Third Pilgrimage
Personal Revelations and Reaching the Golden Temple
15 The Ouroboros Effect
Muang On Caves and the Hair of the Buddha
16 The Cult of Mae Surasatee
In Praise of Twenty-One Catfish and All Sentient Life
17 The First Hell Garden
Chiang Dao District and Offerings for Phra Rahu
18 Phaya Naga in Chiang Dao Caves
Yant Ittipiso Paed Tidt and Unseen Energies
19 Wat Mae Kaet Noi
Ajarn Perm Rungs Gift and Goodbye to the Cats of Varada
Place
20 On the Precipice of Pandemic
The Benefits of Acquiring Magickal Protection
21 Cat Yants, Baphomet, and Jackfruit
Following the Trail of Peter Christopherson
22 Remote Rituals
Ajarns Are Buddhist Technicians
23 The Final Pilgrimage
The Death of My Mother and the Arrival of Magia Thai
24 Modern Lersi
Ajarn Nantings Magick and the Living
Spirit of Suea Yen
25 Aftermath of the Cool Tiger Sak Yant
Homage to Ganesha and the Takrut Needle
26 The Countryside Sorcerer
Rivers, Mountains, and the Temple to
Luang Phor Tuad
27 The Proverbial Full Back
One Whole Side of My Body Becomes
a Sacred Talisman
Conclusion: This Magickal Mapping
Ruminations on Silence, Chanting, and
a Spiritual Pathway
Bibliography
Index
Sheer Zed is a writer, Buddhist shaman, musician, and artist. He has contributed to Hadean Press, Indie Shaman, Rituals & Declarations, and many other publications. A countercultural activist, underground music artist, and magickal practitioner for more than 30 years, he lives in Bristol, United Kingdom.
