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When my son Ryker was born, I was thinking of something I could put on him to protect him from harm and evil spirits. We, as Buddhists, believe in such superstitions. As I was growing up in Cambodia, I often saw men with yantra tattoos decorating their bodies. They acquired these tattoos in the belief that the mentioned tattoos would protect them from harm and/or evil spirits.

These yantra tattoos were designed and written in Khmer during the glorious time of the Angkor Empire, the ancestors of the Cambodian people. In addition to their armors, the soldiers of this empire were also sporting these types of tattoos to protect them from harm during battles.

Tattooing my son would be child abuse and I would be hauled to jail. That was when I came up with putting yantra tattoos on my son Ryker’s apparel and on his crib. He was happy and showing off his yantra tattoo branded t-shirts and hoodies to whoever happened to cross his field of view.

As a father, I want to protect my children from all harms by any means necessary.

Dad is the only title I hold seriously.

Soon, parents whom we knew started to ask where they could get a hold on his cool looking apparel. Before long, this branded clothing became popular among our circle of parents and peers.

As marks that will always be with you, that will become as much a part of you as your freckles or your moles, tattoos hold a very special fascination for us. We may lose other things, but a tattoo cannot be lost, and it makes sense that people all over the world have imbued these permanent markings with a great deal of spiritual significance.

No where is this more true than with the Cambodian yantra tattoos, which are considered to be a very powerful protection for the people who wear them. One way that they have become known is through the fact that award winning actress Angelina Jolie wears on one the back of her left shoulder.

When you are looking at a yantra tattoo, it will be immediately evident what it is. The tattoo has two parts. The first part is known as the mantra, which is also called the muon in Sanskrit, and it refers to the lines of a protective charm that is tattooed in straight columns up and down. The second part is the yantra, which is also called the yoan in Sanskrit, and it refers to the geometric shape that is part of the design.

The design of a yantra tattoo is always done in black, and they are thought to be powerful protections from both physical harm and the harm that can be done by evil spirits.

The relationship between someone who receives a yantra tattoo and the person who receives one is that of a master and disciple. This is a relationship that is intended to last their entire life, and the tattoo that they receive from their master is one that is made specifically for them.

The symbols that are used in the tattoo are always passed down from master to master and these tattoos are always chosen to fit a disciple’s personality and life path.

The ritual that must be undergone to get a yantra tattoo is highly ritualistic in nature. In the first place, the person who receives one must not speak for three days and three nights. Once the tattoo has been put on their body, it must be consecrated. The ritual to consecrate a tattoo involves lighting five sticks of incense and five candles, in order to invoke the five incarnations of the Buddha. Petals, incense and betel leaves are ground in a silver bowl filled with water as well.

Once the tattoo is on, the bearer must follow certain rules, or else the tattoo will lose its power. Some common rules involve never being prideful and never stealing, as well as more esoteric rules like never walking under the tall Cambodian stilt houses or eating dog meat.

To break these prohibitions is to invite madness.

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