I have always been interested in magic of all kinds: charms,spells,talisman,etc. In the mid-90’s I discovered electional astrology and the power of choosing an auspicious time to create planetary talismans. I was fascinated by many of the talisman designs that I saw and decided,at 36,to get my first tattoo. My first tatto was a Mercury talisman(Mercury is on my ascendant)and I elected a time when Virgo was rising and Mercury was in Gemini in the 10th house with Venus,Saturn,and Mars. I lived in Thailand for two years and heard often about Buddhist magic tattoos that were performed by monks and holy men with special powers. These tattoos are called “Sak Yant” and can be found all over Southeast Asia. I returned to Thailand after a two year absence, during which time I had been reading a very interesting website called www.sak-yant.com for about a year. I was ready for my next tattoo. I’m going to write more about my sak yant experience on travel.ancientsky.com, so be watching for that, but I wanted to talk a little about the astrological synchronicity on that day. The chart information is below. March 1 2008 3:30 pm Bangkok, Thailand What was amazing about March 1 is that the Moon was approaching my ascendant all day long. In traditional astrology both the ascendant and the Moon represent the body. The Moon was approaching an opposition to Mars. Mars rules sharp objects,stabbings,piercings and the pain that results. Jupiter, my natal chart ruler is at the end of Gemini where Mars was transiting. Gemini rules the shoulders,arms and hands. I should mention that I was originally going to have the sak yant done on Monday March 3,but the Ajarn(teacher)agreed to do a special session for me. If the tattoo had been done that day, the abovementioned transits would no longer have been in effect. As you can see from the above image,sak yant tattoos are performed with a long metal rod into which is inserted a sharp bamboo point. The person receiving the tattoo is repeatedly poked,prodded and jabbed with this instrument. It is much more painful than the tattoo artists’ machine. The first tattoo for all who receive sak yant is called “Gao Yod” or nine peaks. It acts as a beacon to attract the deities and spirits. The Gao Yod tradtionally goes between the shoulder blades. So, we have the Moon(the body) on my Sagittarius ascendant(the body) opposed by Mars(sharp objects)in Gemini(the shoulders). I can’t think of an experience that is more descriptive of the planetary indicators. I must admit that I was worried about what the Moon/Mars opposition would bring, being right on my ascendat/descendant axis. Another point of interest: All of the classical planets in this chart except Saturn are within 5 degrees of my natal placements. The Sun is on my natal Saturn. Jupiter is on my natal Sun. Mercury and Venus are on my natal Venus. And Saturn? He’s actually exactly on the ascendant of the chart for my first tattoo!. I couldn’t have planned things better if I had sat for hours trying to find an election. You can see some of the pictures of the sak yant process at my Flickr account. You’ll also be able to see pics of the rest of my travels so far. http://flickr.com/photos/24081049@N07 Join discussion...