Berber Tattooing: in Morocco's Middle Atlas

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Felix was ahead of his time in his art and an individualist in his lifestyle. The younger generation of tattooers knows little to nothing about his story in tattooing and I feel that I am the best person to tell it. In August 2018 my daughter Aia Leu, the publisher of seedpress.ie, encouraged me to put together the material I had begun to gather about Felix’s tattooing. She would then publish it. We had collaborated on “Berber Tattooing in Morocco’s Middle Atlas” in 2017 and we worked well together once again on this book. Together we chose the format, paper, fonts and worked out the layout. I wrote some texts and we included Felix’s own words in excerpts of interviews he had given. With her help and a lot of hard work on both our parts the book came to life. Many of the symbols depicted in deq tattoos are inspired by nature, with common designs including plants, stars and animals. The meaning behind them varies from strength to productivity and fertility. But whilst many are well-acquainted with eldest son Filip Leu’s Japanese-style works (thanks largely to the tattoo publications which grew in number and accessibility during his rise), fewer people have been able to appreciate the art of his father and mentor Felix Leu (1945 - 2002). Aesthetic function: The tattoo is often done in an aesthetic way, which gives women the virtue of beauty. Therefore, the woman places it in different parts of her body, especially the appearance and exactly where it is engraved in the chin, forehead, nose and cheeks. The however is to attract and impress others, like the textual style of many Berber tribes. In other words, tattoos are a kind of makeup that is generally used by women for beauty, arousing admiration, the body becomes a painting canvas with its bright and shiny shapes, lines and colors or a text where the tattoo becomes a speech. This means that the tattoo was the true indication of the beauty of Berber women but also a faithful articulation of her beauty, which impressed others with interest and lust. Function of purity: The tattoo is associated with the function of purity: as it purifies the human soul from evils and sins, and purifies them from impurities, sins by arousing fear, empathy, repentance and the desire to seek forgiveness … That is to desperate: The tattoo in the sense of scratching and penetrating the skin in the desire to purify, according to a group of rules of rituals and rules of ceremony. Additionally, tattoos are penances and fidelity, loyalty, sincerity, redemption for spiritual fulfillment. Thus, obtaining holiness of soul and attaining perfect transcendence. what it means to cleanse with the intention of attaining spiritual purity thus The tattoo also expresses an intermediate bridge between matter and spirit, between body and sanctuary.

This book is a must-have for those wishing to expand their knowledge of tattoo history, providing a thorough and intimate account of one of its most unique characters. Tattoos or ticheret in Tifinagh, the traditional Berber language, is not a recent practice despite its popularity among new generations. Indeed, tattoo has always been linked to practices, beliefs and ideologies by a large number of people on all continents. Berber weddings hold significant cultural significance, symbolising joy, and community cohesion. The festivities span three days, filled with exuberant singing, dancing, and abundant culinary delights. The bride takes center stage, adorned in elegant attire and embellished with henna tattoos. Felix & Loretta Leu, both born in 1945, were artists, “freaks”, and adventurers. From 1965, when they met in New York City, until 1978, they travelled and lived in America, Europe, North Africa, India and Nepal, and in time were accompanied by four children, who were all born “on the road”. In 1978 they discovered tattooing as an art form, one with which they could support their family anywhere in the world. In 1981 they chose to settle in Switzerland where they created “The Leu Family’s Family Iron Tattoo Studio”. Felix died of cancer in 2002. Loretta, lives in Switzerland, walks in fields and forests with her two dogs, and is writing a history of her life with Felix.Spiritual virtues: Berber tattoos are known to have a purifying nature, according to the Amazigh people they have the ability to purify body and soul. Spiritually, they represent sacrifices for the purification and redemption of the soul, the tattoo would act as a bridge between the body and the spirit aiming to attain spiritual fullness. While traditions vary among tribes, in some communities, a Bedouin girl's tattoos are chosen by her mother and are selected on the basis of a trait the parent would like to see in their child. For example, a dot on the nose means the hope of a long life for the child. To Lola : it's totally false, people of North West Africa are in majority berbers, and from berber origin and culture. Stop falsificating the history.

Despite the traditions of tattoos for certain tribal groups of Middle Eastern women, their religion, Islam, forbids tattooing. Non-permanent skin decoration in the Arab world in the form of henna decorations is very popular.

Besides symbolically chronicling major events, the patterns also serve to protect against evil spirits, as well as being a sign of beauty.