Right off the bat I’m putting the warning out there.  This post features SI cutting, so if that is triggering for you, don’t read it.  The images will be behind a clickthrough, so they can be easily skipped.

Alright, with that all said, let’s get on with this post.  I wanted to post these two pictures as they have an interesting dichotomy.  While both are recognizable as SI photos, the two are very different.  Keep on reading to see what I mean.

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I’ll admit it, Lucass is one of my favorite image submitters.  The reason:  he’s always up for doing something fun with his mods.  I asked him a while back to send in pictures from his trip to Europe, and got this photo of the Eiffel tower in response.  Recently his friend Brad had a birthday, and this is what Lucass did for him that day.

Now that’s a dedicated friend.

IAM:Meriken_Metals recently sent in a photo series entitled “Vitality”.  While there wasn’t a lot of description given, it appears that it combined play piercing with blood play to create a blood print of the results of the piercings.  Instead of using the traditional play piercing needles, he used long pieces of flexible metal to weave the piercings together.

Head over to the ritual and play piercing gallery to see the rest of the photos.  Just a quick note, given the length of the wire, setting up a completely sterile environment would be difficult, so please don’t attempt to recreate this without first taking the proper safety precautions.

The last few times we’ve done a Beauty Over Harm post, the focus has been on putting a scarification piece over top of self harm scars.  I’m not going to put this behind a click-through, but if you are prone to being triggered by images of self harm scars, then you probably should move on to the next post.

BandagesandButterflies sent in several photos of her arms to the ritual cutting and ritual branding galleries.  While some of the photos are just of the scars, this photo in particular is of a tattoo she has that not only covers some of her scars, but also incorporates them into the design.  It’s hard to see, but the gaps in the leaves are scars, the picture in embiggenable, so just click it to get a closer look.

Tattoo by Taylor from Saint Sabrina’s in Minneapolis, MN

You’ve got to hand it to the #Leeds Suspension Team.  Not only do they come up with remarkable photos for their suspensions, but also for projects that don’t involve suspension at all.

Now, before you continue on with the post, be aware that these photos do contain some violent and possibly triggering content.  Also there are boobs.

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I first saw these photos on G333’s page 2 weeks ago, and I knew right away they needed to be posted on ModBlog.  These are just three of the many photos from this shoot, all of which can be found in the play piercing gallery.  I’m in awe of how incredible these look.  Photo credit belongs to Gene Laakso from NJB Photography.

I first saw this photo on Brian’s page a few days ago, so when I saw he had submitted it to his portfolio gallery I made sure to get it up as soon as possible.  Now there is a fantastic story behind this piece, and since Brian explained it so nicely, I’ll let his words explain the bands.

I don’t remember if i posted about this last year, but here is some scar work i did on a young, Native American girl. In her Blackfoot tribe it is customary to have a line scarred around their arm for each year they’re alive. It is known as Ponn Miistis, which literally translates to “the rings of a tree”. When they run out of room on one arm they move to the other, then the legs, but apparently their average life expectancy is only 43.

Anyhow, her parents are more modernized now and didn’t want her having this done while she was growing up. She was intrigued by her grandfather’s rings, which covered his arms and legs, so decided to come to me from Montana to catch up. Last year i worked on her upper arm and finished it up this time. She’s 24 now.

She promises to be back every year for another line, too!

I love the fact that not only is this scarification so deeply personal for the girl, it is also a way to remind the rest of us where our modifications come from.  When I read news stories talking about a “new trend” of people getting scars, it saddens me to think that we live in a world where the vast majority has no concept of just how significant cultural rituals involving modification are.  Of course I’m speaking from a North American perspective.  There are many places the world over where not only are these rituals remembered, they are still practiced.  Thanks to this brave young woman, and Brian’s talents as an artist, the people she encounters in her life will be able to learn of a tradition that has faded away.

For those that may not know, today is Self-injury Awareness Day.

Self-injury Awareness Day (SIAD) is a grassroots annual global awareness event / campaign on March 1, where on this day, and in the weeks leading up to it, some people choose to be more open about their own self-harm, and awareness organizations make special efforts to raise awareness about self-harm and self-injury. Some people wear an orange awareness ribbon, wristband or beaded bracelet to encourage awareness of self-harm. The goal of the people who observe SIAD is to break down the common stereotypes surrounding self harm and to educate medical professionals about the condition.

You’ll note at the end that today isn’t about passing judgment on others, but to just encourage awareness about the truths behind self-harm.  As such, I’ve selected a photo from the ritual cutting gallery to share with you.  As we do with all ritual cutting photos, it will be behind a clickthrough so those who choose not to view it have that choice.

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ModBlog is the part of BME that is meant to showcase all aspects of the community, by highlighting exceptional modifications, significant moments, or sometimes just a little fun.  Sometimes this also means ModBlog will cover topics that can be controversial, but most of the time, things are pretty mundane as most of the community has been around long enough not to get shocked by certain things.  The reason I’m mentioning all this is because when I found the image for this post, I did a bit of reading, and it seems that images of ritual cutting can evoke some strong emotions from people.

One of the main points that is brought up is that an image of a cutting can trigger the behavior in others.  Let me assure that is not the purpose of this post at all.  I want to take a quick moment to look back on something Shannon said a number of years ago.

Now, I understand that I tend to take a somewhat no-compromises or radical stance on these matters rather than seeking out the safe or mainstream stance that most people feel is “reasonable” (and I appreciate how one could come to the opposite conclusion), but I really do think it’s important to be honest about this being much more about politics and cultural bias than anything else. Ignoring the fact that it’s very difficult to make a compelling objective case that differentiates cutting from play piercing, suspension, pulling, and other ritual that’s rarely decried, the truth of the matter is that when it comes to triggering, the whole site is a giant trigger for those who are prone to being influenced by peer pressure.

One of the reasons I know this is that if I post a particularly nice serious of photos of a modification, I’ll almost always receive an influx of that particular modification over the next little while, as people see the pictures and decide that it’s something they want to do as well. How many times have I seen comments along the lines of “this makes me really want to suspend” or “this makes me really want to get another tattoo” and so on? Even in a culture that’s steeped in the concept of individualism, the truth is that a significant percentage of people are deeply influenced and “triggered” by the actions of others.

Again, I’d strongly urge people who are not able to take responsibility for their own actions (let alone control their own actions) not read BME (or at least the sections of BME that they’re not comfortable around) or other “triggering” media and get the help they need so they can be happy and self-empowered individuals. I’m sorry if some people feel that makes light of their mental illness, but I’d like to keep BME focused on people for whom body modification and ritual is a positive force, not those who see it as a mental illness.

Now, with all that said, let’s take a look at the image.

This particular shot was sent in by Sarah_B. who you may remember from her knee suspension a couple of weeks ago.

The reason I selected this image is because it shows a side of her that you didn’t see in her previous photos.  When someone is featured on ModBlog we normally only get to see a small slice of their life, a moment in time that was significant to them at that time.  Which brings us back to my opening remarks.  ModBlog is here to open the window into this wonderful community.  We’re open and sharing about moments that can be extremely personal and revealing.  This community, as wide ranging as it is, covers so many aspects of modification, even those that to some may be controversial.  ModBlog isn’t here to pass judgement, it is here to share with you, the readers, the stories and images from all corners of the community.

Now obviously this isn’t the most graphic cutting image that’s been shown on ModBlog, but sometimes simplicity can be just as important as shocking.

I’m a big fan of my hometown.  Those of us that live in Toronto will probably tell you the same.  While the rest of the country gives us grief for calling ourselves the center of the universe, we just go on about day with the knowledge that if something awesome is going to happen, it will be in Toronto.

Last week, a Toronto Star photographer took a series of photos at the Vinaayager Chariot Festival.  An annual event at the Sri Varasiththi Vinaayagar Hindu Temple, located just north of the city.  While major events such as Pride and Caribana get a lot of press coverage, it’s great to see that our city has more than just the major events going for it.

Now you may be asking yourself, why is Rob talking about this on ModBlog?  Well the answer is fairly simple.  Part of the festivities include ritual piercings and suspensions.  I’ll let some of the photos explain for me.

You can see the rest of the images from the festival over at the Toronto Star