Tattoo with the mask of Chania
Even in ancient times, the tattoo in the form of a Hanja demon mask was considered a strong amulet. Samurai used to put it on their bodies to protect their bodies and souls from enemies.
The modern meaning of the hanyi mask is to gain wisdom by curbing passions and vices.
The colors used for the Chania mask are lush: red, green, black, and blue. The demon is depicted with two horns and a mouth wide open with sharp fangs. The eyes look askew. The effect of cruel and cold look achieved by color with a metallic sheen. A special art is to express through the tattoo the essence of Hanja as an angry, but suffering demon.
The Hania mask is popular among men. It is most often applied to the shoulder, forearm and chest.
Woman and death How ritual masks help African tribes to solve their problems
There are secret alliances in Africa. Secret because the continent was colonized and the main religion here is now Catholicism. There are, of course, ancient beliefs and cults which, when intertwined with Catholicism, often take bizarre forms. Africans perform mysterious rituals that unite them with the spirit world, using special mystical accessories. The head of the private museum-lecture room "Ritual Masks of the peoples of the world," Tatiana Bolysova, in her lecture, held in the Museon Arts Park as part of the festival "My Planet. Planet of People," told what role ritual masks play in the spiritual life of Africa. "Lenta.ru" publishes excerpts from her speech.
The Punu tribe practices a mixture of religions. Some of them live by the beliefs of the ancients, some by the official religion. Punu masks are very unusual in appearance - their features resemble Asian: whitened face, small nose, red lips. Apparently, people of this appearance somehow got to the Black Continent, and now it is considered a certain ideal of beauty: the Punu women cover their face with white clay to be beautiful.
These masks are worn during secret burial rites. White in Africa is the color of death, the color of spirits. Africans believe that there is life after death, so they paint funeral masks as a sign that they are now dealing with something extraneous, forbidden. It is interesting that the rite of burial takes place on stilts. An important aspect is the scarring on the forehead of the mask - it was also made by the women themselves.
If a woman's funeral mask has a high hairstyle, it means that she was very revered in the village, did not do hard physical labor and did not wear anything on her head, as is customary for African women.
Masks are also worn in the Baluba tribe, where there is a secret society of the Bamboudier. The distinctive feature of these masks is the round shape. Earlier, the shamans of this tribe, in order to see the future, used a pumpkin. They cut the fruit in half, pulled out all the contents and put stones and beads in it, so the mask has remained this shape - this is an echo of the past. Similar masks are also used in fertility rites during the opening and closing of the harvest season. Any one of them is part of the costume and does not "function" alone.
The Balubas greatly valued women. They believed that only women could keep secrets and were capable of making alliances - previously only the wives of chiefs went to other villages to make important agreements. Often they were based on marriages.
Punu mask
Photo: Museum of African Art
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The Balubu statuettes of women are characterized by a seated pose on bent legs. She has very large breasts, indicating that she has nurtured many children. Such products are the canon of beauty for the Balub. They believe that a woman is beautiful if she has raised large offspring. There is a deep scarring on the belly of the statuette, a sign of a new pregnancy or evidence of a ritual that was performed to ensure that she gave birth to a strong son.
The Balubu have some signs of matriarchy, although Africa is still mainly patriarchal: the man is in charge and the woman gathers and builds the house.
The Pende tribe is divided into two ethnic groups: the Kwilu and the Kasai. The Kwilu have a mask that represents the spirit of the ancestor. It is put on top of the whole head and is also worn at initiation and burial ceremonies. The beard of this mask indicates the way to the ancestors - during the dance, it is put on the dancer and helps the deceased to find the way to them. The cult of the ancestors is characteristic of Africa - they have no deities. Everyone worships them and believes they should be honored. If someone gets sick or something happens, it means he has offended his ancestors.
Some pende masks are unusual even for Africa. For example, someone sees the image of paralysis or skin diseases in a mbangu mask. It is indeed a mask associated with skin diseases. The Pende believe that if you fall ill with something, it is your own fault. No one can help you, you have to become a hermit, and you either get well or you don't.
The shaman, however, can offer a variant of the ancient healing ritual. A mask is cut out for the sick person, and then the ritual is performed. That's why it looks exactly like this - it's a kind of fight with evil, a fight between spirits and the world in which the person is now. There have indeed been cases of healing-no one has ever cancelled the placebo effect. During the pende ritual, people hold a ladle in their hands, with which they make noise, as if causing a resonant wave (like shamans with a tambourine), trying to connect even more closely with the spirit world.
The Mambila tribe has a suaga mask. It should be said that the Mambila pay great attention to their food, as almost all animals, including dogs, were raised in this tribe solely for use as food. The Mambila ate practically everything, and even in modern sources one can read about their cannibalistic past. The suaga mask is a demon that protects the village by exorcising other demons, and since the tribe is reverent about food, the mask is associated with a fertility rite. It is accompanied by other masks that are less aggressive.
The secret male society of the Senufo tribe is considered very strong to this day - it is a society of warriors. Its members keep a constant connection with the ancestral world, and only they can engage in healing diseases. By what is placed on the head of the mask, you can understand what a person does. If, say, it is a comb, he is a farmer; if it is an animal, he is a hunter; if it is a man, he is a merchant. There is scarring on the forehead of the mask, and in the lower part - the legs, showing the connection of the deceased (it is also a funeral mask) with the world of the living.
Kwilu Pende ancestor spirit mask
Photo: Tribal and ethnic
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The Songye tribe had a secret society of kifwebe, very large and strong. The masks of this society could be obtained only after passing a number of tests. The people who wore them served as police officers. They were present at all ceremonies and supervised order. Often the members of the society opposed the power of the chief and inspired awe even in neighboring villages. The kifwebe also had a penitentiary function: if someone had done something wrong, they came to him and punished him as they saw fit - banished, scarred, or put to the test.
The chihongo mask could only be worn by the chief's son. He wore it to the villages and collected tribute, promising to protect the settlement from evil spirits. In modern times, this mask is also used, but more for theatrical purposes - people also wear them in the villages, act out performances and collect money. The Chihongo people of Chokwe have a distinctive mark on their forehead resembling a swastika.
Salampasu is a tribe of warriors, hunters, their masks have masculine strength. Boys of this tribe were taught the art of war from childhood, they did not live with their parents from the age of eight - they went into a secret society.
To get the highest mask of salampasu, mukinka, one must first get the mask of a hunter, then a warrior, and finally the mask of a ruler. It turns out that the ruler is both a hunter, a warrior and a wise man. The filed teeth and aggressive facial features suggest that the wearers of such masks underwent initiation rites.
For young men it was primarily circumcision and sawing of teeth. The latter was done not only to boys but also to girls to prove their strength and to have a connection with the totem animal, the crocodile, and also to make it convenient to eat meat. During these rites it was not allowed to cry or shout, as this meant failure of the test.
The figure of the nkisi konde may seem like a voodoo doll - it is studded with nails. Conde expresses an aggressive beginning. Such figurines are very common, they perform various functions: protection of the home, revenge and wish fulfillment. In order to make a detailed product, one must go to a mganga sorcerer and clearly articulate why they are needed. Only after that he begins to work on the figurine. It is important to note that the sorcerer is not only a shaman, but also a woodcarver.
Nkisi figurine
Photo: Minneapolis Institute of Arts
After he's done that, work begins on the figurine. Warlock breathes life into it, and if his powers are not enough, he takes the product to the cemetery - in order that there it was infused with the power of ancestors. When the figurine is handed over to the customer, there are no nails in it. By hammering in a nail, the customer activates the piece, awakens it. Therefore, by the number of nails one can know how many times the nkisi was addressed (by the way, before hammering in a nail, it is necessary to lick it).
As a rule, the figure is placed in front of the house and buried in the ground, so that it is in constant contact with the spirit world. Often the nkisi comes with a tab in the abdomen - soil and herbs from the ancestors' grave are deposited there. To increase the strength of the figure tries to decorate the balls, which are inserted stones and beads.
Masks samurai
More often portrayed warriors, less often perform tattoo masks of Japanese samurai. They look intimidating, carefully detailed to enhance the effect. The mask usually has thick, furrowed brows and sharp, protruding teeth.
The tattoo signifies stealth, a willingness to go undercover, but to go all the way to victory. The image represents a warrior who is used to hiding emotions and feelings. It is an image of strength, loyalty, evenness, courage.
Tattoos with the masks of Japanese samurai choose men, they are applied on the back. Warriors did not demonstrate strength unnecessarily. On the back, the tattoo is sufficiently hidden from view.
Large drawings are performed on the hip, abdomen, shoulder. Widely used black and white and black and gray scale. The inclusions of red indicate courage and readiness for combat, blue and yellow emphasize a person's restraint and calmness.
Men choose tattoos with samurai masks to show their reverence for the warriors' way of life. Such an image on a girl's body signifies a willingness to fight for the family, as well as intelligence and strength.
History of origins
The earliest evidence of ritual masks is found in the caves of the Sahara. These are rock paintings created in the 5th millennium B.C. The primitive frescoes depict a hunting scene. The bird-catcher is depicted wearing a mask with a beak and feathers. Similar camouflage is still used by South African hunters today.
The use of masks has moved into the realm of pagan and mystical rituals aimed at attracting good luck and achieving a desired goal.
The making of ritual objects developed among sedentary African peoples. In a society where the functions of farmers and artisans were clearly separated, the mask carver became a profession in its own right. The craftsmen who created cult objects were respected by their tribesmen and perfected their skills without being distracted by other household duties.
African costume rituals interested foreign travelers. Information about the masks can be found in European and Arab sources of the XIV-XVII centuries. In the XVIII-XIX centuries there came a period of colonization of Africa. The invasion was accompanied by the conversion of the natives to Christianity and Islam. Ancient pagan cults were eradicated.
Ritual masks were destroyed by the Africans themselves or by the colonizers. Sometimes the new religions were intertwined with local beliefs. Pagan attributes continued to exist and were enriched with details borrowed from Christianity and Islam.
In the early twentieth century, Aboriginal mystical objects took on new life. Europeans and Americans appreciated the aesthetic merits of naive African art. Modernist artists Picasso, Modigliani and Matisse reproduced the geometric contours of exotic masks in their paintings. In the twenty-first century, ritual masks continue to be used by African peoples who have preserved the primitive system.
African wooden masks, photos and originals of which inspired the painters, can be seen in museums in Europe and America. Exotic artifacts are displayed at auctions and replenish private collections of connoisseurs. Cheap copies of wooden masks you can buy in tourist shops in Africa and ethnic stores of home accessories.
