If you’re thinking “WOW, this FAQ section is LOOOOOOONNNGGG”. You are correct. Holding someone in ceremony is very different than a regular shop tattoo. My time with you is very sacred and I want to have a shared understanding of that container. Before we schedule anything I ask folks to please take the time to thoroughly read through all the info - most questions will be answered here. This saves both of us time and energy that can go towards the actual ceremony.

How do you book an appointment?

All prospective clients must fill out the tattoo ceremony booking request form. Please be clear, succinct, honest and mindful of the length of your answers. Any emails or booking forms with exceptionally lengthy answers will not be read or considered, as that is precious time and energy only reserved for confirmed rituals or other healing services offered. If you secure an appointment for a tattoo ritual, there will be intentional time for you to share more at length and in-depth with me. After I've reviewed your booking form and follow up with you, I will schedule a 20- minute free consultation call only if it feels aligned to me for us to potentially work together. Please read all FAQs before the consultation call so that you can ask questions that are not already covered. If we both feel good after the consultation call, we can move forward with confirming the date of your Kilubansa ritual reading and the date of your ceremony.

WHAT ARE KILUBANSA AND TAWAS?

Tawas is a divination system from the Philippines that uses a variety of materials to gather information for a client. I tend to use tawas sa papel (paper tawas) or tawas sa itlog (egg tawas). Kilubansa is a technique that focuses on working with the four elements: air, fire, water, and earth. Kilubansa utilizes the sound and energy of a person’s name through Baybayin (one of several ancient Filipino writing systems) and intuitive divining. Kilubansa allows me to identify how the elements exists within you, affects you, and how to achieve emotional, physical, and spiritual equilibrium for your body and soul. I use one or more of these techniques to inform the potential placement(s) and motif(s) for your tattoo.

HOW ARE DESIGN AND PLACEMENT DETERMINED?

My designs tend to be nature-based and incorporate both illustrative and traditional motifs and symbols. Designs are determined based on your kilubansa and/or tawas reading, Chinese medicine and acupuncture meridians, ancestry, culture, family background, visions/dreams you may have had, and/or custom-made by me for you. If you know anything about your ancestry, I will ask you for any motifs from textiles or pottery that you might have access to. If you do not know your ancestry, I will custom design something for you based on your Kilubansa and your life story. Not all of us know our ancestry. Some of us come from lineages that have been displaced or taken from our homelands. I am aware of this and will work with you to create a design that is significant and meaningful that honors you and the legacy you come from.

If you are Filipinx, we can do motifs from the Philippines based on if you know your ancestry and/or familybackground. I may also consult with other Filipinx ritual tattoo colleagues and references to create the design with respect and care.

WHAT IS “TATTOO RITUAL” OR “BATEK/TATTOO CEREMONY”?

What I do goes beyond pressing ink into the skin with a needle that causes pain and surfaces a design. I utilize tattooing as a form of energy work/energy healing, in the context of tattoo ritual. Although it may be therapeutic, tattoo ritual is NOT medical care, psychotherapy, or a cure for trauma. It is also more than ornamental. Tattoo ritual is a start and/or continuation of whatever it is you are working on healing for yourself.

My role involves moving people through the pain that comes up during their ceremony, to release that energy and transform it. This kind of release and transformation can look like crying, breathwork, spiritual purging, vocally emoting, singing, even screaming for the person going through ceremony. When we allow ourselves to release, to grieve, we can then begin to experience healing.

ENERGETIC EXCHANGE (aka rates/fees)

Agimat (flash)

• $50 deposit to hold your spot which will go towards the final cost of your agimat. This is not refundable, but it is transferrable for the intended client only if we need to reschedule for some reason.

• Each design is priced at a flat rate/sliding scale instead of hourly. Please check available designs for price.
  

Custom Tattoo Ceremony

Please keep in mind that the ceremonial process may involve over 10 hours of time, energy and labor I put into each person's batek/tattoo ceremony: preparing up to the day-of ceremony, the day-of ceremony, aftercare and checking in on you within the week after your ceremony.

• Security deposit is a non-refundable $400 fee that covers several things before the day-of your ceremony:

  • Secures ceremonial appointment (fully transferable for intended client only, if reschedule is needed)

  • Required one hour tawas and/or kilubansa ritual reading or follow-up ritual reading if you are a returning or recurring client (video call)

  • Up to one hour of consultation time. for example: 30/40 minute video consult to initially discuss your tattoo ceremony and 30/20 minute phone check-in the week of your ceremony

  • Ritual and energetic preparations leading up to day-of batek/tattoo ceremony

  • Email and text communications and preparation of your tattoo motif/design.

• Batek/tattoo ceremony together for the day of is a maximum of 7 hours (including one hour lunch break, stretch breaks, snack breaks that will not be charged). In that 7 hour day, 5 hours will be ceremony (ritual tattooing & energy work)

• The energetic exchange overall for batek/tattoo ceremony is a flat rate sliding scale of ($1000-2000). What this flat rate covers:

  • everything encompassed in security deposit (as stated above) which will be deducted from final total

  • opening and closing invocation of ceremony and spiritual cleansing

  • 5 hours of energy healing, in addition to the technical tattooing aspect on the day of your ceremony, as well as operational and/or travel costs

  • Herbs for tattoo healing

  • Example breakdown of flat rate sliding scale:

    • $1000 chosen flat rate, deduct $400 deposit

    • Total due before or by the day of ceremony: $600

  • Cash, Debit, or Credit accepted for remaining balance

• If another ceremony needs to be scheduled to continue surfacing your batek/tattoo then that can be secured with a (non-refundable, but transferable) $200 deposit that will be deducted from the final new total. This deposit is forfeit if a cancellation happens with less than one week notice, no exceptions.
  

I'M EXCITED BUT INTIMIDATED BY THIS MULTI-STEP PROCESS. IS THERE A CONTRACT?

I will be with you through every step of this ceremonial process with compassion and transparency, and will provide a list of agreements and a consent form through Acusimple for you to review, sign and submit your security deposit. This will serve as a sacred and legal agreement for your batek/tattoo ceremony to honor and protect both practitioner and client. Acusimple will also be where you can pay off the balance of your ceremony.

HOW DO I SECURE A DATE FOR TATTOO RITUAL/CEREMONY?

A non-refundable, fully-transferable (for intended client only) security deposit of $50 for agimat or $400 for custom tattoo ceremony is required to secure a date for your tattoo. This amount will be deducted from the final flat rate you choose from the sliding scale. A date can only be secured if we agree to move forward after the initial phone consultation (phone consultation is not required for agimat). I will invoice you through Acusimple.

WHAT IS YOUR CANCELLATION POLICY?

For cancellations due to emergency or illness, your deposit is fully transferable (to the intended client only) to a new date. However, any cancellations made less than 48 hours (for agimat) or 72 hours (for custom tattoo ceremony) before the tattoo date that is not an emergency or illness will be forfeited and non-transferable, and will require a reschedule and a new deposit. A new deposit will be required to secure any future/additional ceremonial date(s) for non-emergency reschedules.

DO YOU ACCEPT PAYMENT PLANS FOR THE CUSTOM TATTOO CEREMONY?

If you are requesting a payment plan, it must be paid in full by the day-of your batek/tattoo ceremony, unless otherwise arranged (case by case basis). Your security deposit must be paid in full first, and the remainder of the flat rate you've chosen can be discussed and arranged into 2-3 installments as a payment plan. Payment plans are not offered for agimat or flash.

WHAT PAYMENT METHODS DO YOU ACCEPT?

Debit and Credit Card transactions. Cash is acceptable in person if you can pay off your balance in-full the day of your tattoo.

WILL I SEE THE FINAL MOTIF(S)/DESIGN BEFORE MY CUSTOM TATTOO CEREMONY?

If you are able to meet me in person in Baltimore, before the day of your ceremony, I can do a sizing and placement appointment with you at least 3-7 days before the day-of your ceremony. If you are visiting, or I am guesting in your city, then the final design will be shown to you on the day of your ceremony, and only minor adjustments can be made. If more than 30% of the design changes, your initial security deposit of $400 will be forfeited and non-transferable, and a fee of $250 will be charged for re-designing and re-scheduling your ceremony to another date. Sometimes the design will be drawn directly on your skin the day-of your ceremony, depending on the placement. This wouldn't be an additional charge, as it is included in the flat rate. If you're uncomfortable with seeing the final design the day of, then a 30 minute video consultation can be scheduled at least 3 days before your ceremony date, to see the motif options and discuss changes.

IS HANDPOKE MORE PAINFUL THAN MACHINE?

Handpoke is slower and less abrasive to the skin and nervous system and does not put the body into a huge shock or adrenaline rush. For those who are noise-sensitive, there are no machine sounds. It is a much gentler method of tattooing and the healing process is much quicker. Since handpoke doesn't shock the system, the pain can be much more apparent to the receiver in a way that brings up a lot of emotions. Handpoke tattooing allows you to be truly present with feeling and moving through pain. If this is not an experience you want, then it could feel very painful to you on a spiritual, emotional, mental and/or physical level. If you prefer not to be present with your pain in those ways, then I would recommend you to instead receive a tattoo through machine, in a non-ritual context. At the end of the day, everyone's body and soul is different and how you experience pain is unique to you.

WHAT IS YOUR METHOD OF TATTOOING?

I do hand poke, a centuries-old, ancestral way of tattooing that has existed in many cultures around the world before the advent of the machine and the modern industry. I work with modern disposable single use tattoo needles, electric-free/manually handpoking ink into the skin. Ancient/traditional methods of tattooing are done by way of handpoke, handtap and skin-stitching in various parts of the world.

ARE THERE OTHER STYLES OR INK COLORS YOU WORK WITH?

I usually only work with black ink, but am open to another color only if it is requested ahead of time before your appointment. You can see some examples of my style here. If you are looking for a specific style like black and grey work, American traditional, neotraditional, Japanese, etc., then I recommend going to a shop or artist that specializes in that style.

WHERE ARE YOU BASED? DO YOU TRAVEL OR GUEST SPOT?

I offer tattoo ritual out of a private studio in Baltimore, MD. The address is only given closer to the date of your ceremony. Upcoming travel dates/guest spots are mentioned through my mailing list/wait list and on my instagram.

PREPARATION, AFTERCARE AND COVID SAFE PROTOCOLS

When you have secured a tattoo ritual appointment with me, I will email you a multi-page PDF of extensive, important details for your ceremony.

CAN I STILL RECEIVE A TATTOO THROUGH RITUAL/CEREMONY IF I'M NOT FILIPINX?

Yes! Tattoo ritual is for anyone who is ready and seeking to receive tattoo in a sacred space and ritual context. Many of my clients tend to reflect similar or parallel identities, cultures and values to my own, but we do not have to come from the same communities for you to work with me in receiving tattoo through ritual. I am here to be of service to those who need it.