Thai Tattoo Magick: The Initiatory Practices of the Thai Buddhist Magicians Paperback – August 12, 2025

A magickal vision quest for enlightenment and personal redemption in Thailand• Details the author’s profound encounters with Thai magick during 4 separate pilgrimages to Thailand• Explains the ritual process of the author’s 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 soulSharing 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 practitioner—from 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. Read more