The Facilitator
My name is Sean. I learned to tattoo in South Africa, and have been tattooing for roughly 11 years now, and an artist most of my life. I wish I could say I was ‘called’ to this approach, but it’s almost the opposite. Sometime in 2014 I had a deep visionary experience that revealed to me how carelessness in ones intent and approach to tattooing can sow negativity deep within the skin. Repelled by this dark and almost hellish vision, I started working on a concept which back then I called Conscious Tattooing – the process of ‘reading’ clients and holding an intent through an entire tattoo, staying as present and in tune with that intent as possible for the duration. It was a quiet and internal journey, but I felt like I was, where able, giving some recipients more than ‘just a tattoo’.
At the end of 2016 I made a sudden exit from SA and moved to Dublin Ireland with my family. I had to shelf my ideas for a while as I became immersed in building a new a life and acclimatising to working in a busy street studio.
The world has a way of knocking however, and I kept seeing other manifestations of the concept in the tattoo world, inspiring me to keep moving forward with the calling. I draw from many different disciplines, being a student of Qabalah and the Tarot, as well as utilising some practical shamanic tools and modalities, and some concepts from our wise friends in the East. I’ve also on a personal level worked with sigils for many years, and have a deep appreciation for the concepts contained with Chaos Magick, especially as an introductory vehicle to exploring different belief systems. I have experience in assisting and facilitating various ceremonial spaces, as well as some history of working with addicts in and outside of a treatment centre (I myself am a recovered heroin addict of some 16 years).
I still make regular tattoos out of Reinkarnated, but I cannot shake the nagging internal current that pushes me to tap deeper into the metaphysical potential of our craft. I believe that the depth of work possible in a traditional open plan studio is limited, thus the move towards a more curated space.