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Pain and the body are both very important topics when researching modern primitives and body modification. Body modification, as suggested by the term itself, are rituals performed on the body and the actual experience is felt though the body, generally in the form of pain. To a Modern Primitive or Body Mod the pain felt is a freedom of passage which assists define themselves.
Modern Primitives and Body Modification
Pain, the Body and Spirituality
Bound feet, stretched necks, deformed skulls, flesh permanently marked and scarred, elongated ear-lobes - as suggested by the standard terminology of "mutilation" and "deformation" itself, these are practices that have long fascinated the West where they have been viewed as exotic distortions of the body (Mascia-Lees et. Al. 1992: 1). Still relatively unusual, but perhaps no longer quite as exotic, practices of body modification are becoming increasingly prevalent in America. The "modern primitives", as a subculture constructed around practices of altering the body, have been pivotal to their promotion and conceptual framing. In their book - Modern Primitives - V. Vale and A. Juno spoke of the modern primitives and body modification, in 1989, as `a vivid contemporary enigma' (Vale & Juno 1989: 4).
Pain and the body are both very important topics when researching modern primitives and body modification. Body modification, as suggested by the term itself, are rituals performed on the body and the actual experience is felt though the body, generally in the form of pain. To a Modern Primitive or Body Mod the pain felt is a freedom of passage which assists define themselves.
Pain, undoubtedly, is a basic sensation that we as humans have all felt at one time or another. When speaking to a Body Mod it is commonly heard that the pain redefines their life their passions their spirituality and it reminds them that life is truly a journey of self discovery in which pain is essential in forming the true and evolved human spirit.
`...pain is objective; that is, the experiencing system has nothing to do with it. The system simply registers 'pain' whenever a `painful stimulus' is present. This view of pain is modeled after a simple stimulus-response concept, the physical basis of which may be thought of as a bell that rings whenever an electric current is sent through the wires to which it is connected' (Szasz 1975: 83).
Society as it stands now only knows pain as something that they wish not to endure. Understanding the release and spiritual enrichment you can receive as a result of experiencing pain on a level inflicted for the purpose of ascending to a higher level of self awareness is clearly out of reach for the everyday person’s mind to comprehend.
However, when reflecting on times and religion even the bible references pain associated with love and a pain worth enduring for faith and not only was this experience a celebration of the pain but was eroticized later by numerous scholars and artists by showing Teresa in throws of ecstasy which could easily be interpreted as an orgasm.
The experiences of Saint Teresa of Avila, whose bodily pain was joyful suffering, the famous visionary experience, Teresa wrote of an angel that appeared to her:
`I saw in his hands a large golden dart and at the end of the iron tip there appeared to be a little fire. It seemed to me this angel plunged the dart several times into my heart and that it reached deep within me. When he drew it out, I though he was carrying off with him the deepest part of me: and he left all on fire with the great Love of God. The pain was so great that it made me moan, and the sweetness of this greatest pain caused me was so superabundant that there is no desire capable of taking it away'.
When most persons are asked if they love respect and are proud of their nude body – the response is ultimately NO. When asked if they would consider walking around nude – they bluntly say Nope. There is no celebration for the shell we inhabit in this life. No acknowledgement of what we are fortunate to have. We hide, our bodies whereas, the nakedness of Adam and Eve, symbolized the glory of their innocence. In modern times we see the nude body as something not to be seen by anyone person but ourselves.
The adornment or modification of the body as a form of expression or rite of passage has been practiced for many years in many many different cultures, however, we in America tend not to partake of any rite of passage so Body Mods are not widely accepted – rather Americans gawk, stare and question their sanity.
When taking the time to speak to any person who has experienced any form of Body Modification or ritual such as body suspensions what you will hear is a person in touch with themselves on a deep spiritual level. Intelligent, kind and yet full of life and light so strong that you know that they are truly living the way they find best for them.
The term "modern primitive" was coined by Fakir Musafar, `the father of the modern primitive movement', in 1967. According to Musafar, it was formulated in response to the increasingly popular trend of young people to get pierced and tattooed and was used, by him and subsequently growing numbers of people, to describe `a non-tribal person who responds to primal urges and does something with the body' (Vale and Juno 1989: 13).
The modern primitives can be said to have been born in 1960's and 70's California, sprouting mainly out of various "underground" movements such as gay and lesbian, hard-core, SM and fetish, and were comprised of individuals sharing a collective, fundamental fascination with the "revival" in the "western" world of what they perceived to be ancient practices of body modification.
This "revival" of body modification was clearly composed of a number of factors. First, since the 1960's, the practice, nature and setting of tattooing has changed drastically. This progression - that has since been dubbed the `tattoo renaissance' - was `the result of dramatic shifts in the social, economic and cultural environment in which tattoo is practiced' (Rubin 1988: 235). For example, information, equipment and supplies became more readily available, sterilization procedures were radically improved, and the clientele certainly changed.
Second was the increasing interest in piercing, a practice that, other than piercing women's ear-lobes. Doug Malloy (a.k.a. Richard Symington), later dubbed `the father of the modern rebirth of piercing' was central to this development (Vale and Juno 1989: 24). Shortly, Jim Ward started Gauntlet, the first professional supplier of piercing jewelry and equipment, and Piercing Fans International Quarterly (PFIQ), a magazine for piercing enthusiasts.
A certain understanding of tribal peoples, a notion of the "primitive", then, stands at the center of modern primitivism. Fakir Musafar, earlier referred to as the originator of the term "modern primitive", has been the foremost patron of this tenet of the ideological framework of modern primitivism. Establishing the publication Body Play and Modern Primitives Quarterly in 1991, Musafar contextualized the revival of practices of body modification, using this characteristic idiom of the primitive. This conceptual shift, placing the primitive squarely at the core of modern primitivism, represented an attitude that was to become a salient feature of large sections of the growing community of body modifiers - the reference to, identification and association with the practices, ideologies and plight of tribal peoples. Oftentimes, entire primitive rituals involving body modification (like the Mandan Sundance [O-Kee-Pa] and the Malay Thaipusam) are adopted and repeated and primitive forms of body modification and adornment (such as stretching piercings in the ear- lobe and some patterns for tattoos or scarification) are imitated.
In the case of modern primitives, body modification denotes a series of practices involving the temporary or permanent modification of the body, generally through a ritualized process entailing some measure of pain. The term, however, is highly elusive and general, and includes a dizzying array of modifying practices. These may be loosely divided into a few fluid and overlapping categories.
First, there are permanent modifications, often regarded as adornment or decoration. Whereas more common varieties of permanent body modification include tattooing and piercing, and scarification (branding and cutting), less common ones cover, for example, some surgical alterations (such as implants and tongue splitting).
Second, there are temporary modifications; these include, for example, surface and play piercing, pocketing, and practices like `the bed of nails' and suspension by flesh hooks. The latter of these often draw extensively on customs of tribal peoples and tend to be highly ritualized.
Thirdly, there are also non-surgical alterations by `contortion' (high-heeled shoes, for example) or by `constriction' (corsetry and bondage) that may be more or less permanent depending on the extent and duration of the exercise (Body Play issue #15: 15-23, issue #9: 19-25).
Seen in this way, body modification, as a loosely constructed categorical term, is thus often inclusive of more accepted and frequently encountered practices such as cosmetic surgery, weight lifting, wearing high-heeled shoes and even growing long nails and hair removal. The fact that these practices are classified, to some extent, as body modification, indicates an attempt, on the part of modern primitives, to situate their practices within a more firmly established framework of more or less acceptable bodily alterations and manipulations. The difference between the ideological frameworks and the motivations of "mainstream" modifications and the controversial practices of modern primitives, however, are generally emphasized. Acceptable forms of body modifications are viewed as triggered by aspirations to conform to a mainstream bodily ideal, whereas controversial ones are seen as consciously transgressing established norm, breaking boundaries, and creating new possibilities through the revolution/evolution/devolution of the human form and experience.
Not only are there acceptable forms of body modification but the previously controversial practices of modern primitives and other groups are gaining acceptability and becoming increasingly fashionable. The rapidly growing popularity of tattooing, the piercing `fad', the adoption of body modification practices by mainstream youth culture and the appropriation of modern primitive styles by the fashion industry have been especially controversial among modern primitives and other dedicated enthusiasts. Here again, efforts are made to differentiate between the reasons and conceptual frameworks of "us", the modern primitives, and "them", the "trendies". Oftentimes, you hear references made by modern primitives as to what constitutes a `pure motive', or an `impure' one, for acquiring, for instance, a tattoo. Whereas some embrace the heightened status of body modification, others denounce it, arguing, for example, that the mainstream popularity of piercing has brought about `a continuing devaluation of the pierced look' (Body Art issue #19: 37). In face of the recently fashionable status of body modification, however, a surprising majority of modern primitives insist that it will never become an acceptable mainstream practice. The pain involved is seen as too strong a discouragement and the permanence of the majority of alterations is perceived as directly contradicting to the fickle whims of fashion.
Let the person who wants a vision hang himself by his neck. When his face turns purple, take him down and have him describe what he's seen.
- Inuit proverb
(from J. Rothenberg's Shaking the Pumpkin,
cited in Vale & Juno 1989: 202)
This `wisdom', the modern primitives advocate the intrinsic importance of bodily experience, pain especially, in personal growth and spiritual development. Describing the of pain in taking Kavandi, Arin Red Dog recalls `feeling her body as one huge raw nerve, seeing the Goddess and shooting right out of her body in a sort of psychic orgasm' (Body Play issue #9: 5). Altered states and extravagant ritual are not, however, inherent to the different ways in which the modern primitives use, experience and understand pain. Lower levels and/or different contexts of pain, as entailed in piercing and tattooing for example, are also appreciated. Through bodily pain, we learn, and in a controlled context thus, it becomes possible to utilize pain for positive ends.
`For me there is no real pain, only one thing - sensation', Musafar comments, `it's nice to have sensation through a body, because then you know you're alive' (Vale & Juno 1989: 12). As we face our fear of pain we gain self confidence and pride and the experience of pain allows us to test our physical and mental endurance under safe, controlled conditions (Body Play issue #9: 4).
Beyond the experience of outright pain, however, and again emphasizing the importance of experience, the modern primitives also place some emphasis on discomfort in general. Living an uncomfortable life is in fact taken as `sometimes far more satisfactory than a placid, bovine existence' (Musafar cited in Vale & Juno 1989: 15).
Fakir Musafar argues that, `far from being penance, where one is supposed to bear pain stoically and not escape from it as payment for misdeeds and evil thoughts, these peoples seemed to find joy, ecstasy and release as their body gifts are taken.' (Body Play issue #10: 4).
`From that day on, I was liberated. I felt free to experience and express life THROUGH my body. A had an insight, an understanding. My body is mine to use. It is my media, my own personal "living canvas", "living clay" to mold and shape and mark as an artful expression of the life energy that flows through it. There are NO penalties, NO restrictions, NO limitations, NO shames for using it in that way. In fact, that's what it's for! I share this liberation with everyone who seeks truth. Your body belongs to you. PLAY WITH IT!'
- Fakir Musafar (Body Play ssue#10: 14)
The widespread practice, acceptance and popularity of body modification since the 1970's, perhaps more than anything, makes a certain statement regarding the body and, specifically, about the locus of responsibility and ownership of the body. The body, Fakir Musafar explains, is like a house we live in. `You live in a house but the house isn't you; it's your house and you do with it as you please - if you want it pink, you paint it pink!' (Vale & Juno 1989: 10).
The embodiment of the self-made freak', again according to Marenko, is the `visible manifestation of desire', a desire in fact so intense as to irreversibly determine the form of the body, in effect, to become flesh and blood (ibid. : 113). As I have suggested at numerous previous points, however, knowledge and truth are also intricately bound up in the body. There are a number of ways, known to "primitive" people, Fakir Musafar argues, `in which you can express life through the body or use the body as a vehicle to learn something about life itself' Through discomfort and pain, it becomes possible then to lean from the body, from bodily experience. The notion that `the production of knowledge is a consequence of corporeality, a pure function of intensities', is certainly applicable to modern primitives (Marenko 1999: 114).
`Modern Primitives', Fakir Musafar said, `are born, not made'
Body modification, has been clearly stigmatized. ‘A permanent marked body shares with the monstrous body an uncompromising otherness.”
Finding beauty in something that you don’t fully understand and recognizing the inner strength of the person you are gazing at with his split tongue, tattooed face and multiple piercings is the true test of acceptance. We all stumble through life but how many of us truly live? How many ascend to a higher level of consciousness and spiritual awareness?
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