How Berber women defend themselves against evil spirits

Berbers are a people who have always been unusually interesting for their tattoos, which have a special meaning. At the moment, in the villages of Algeria, you can still see women whose face and body are decorated with pagan patterns. But for the most part it will be the venerable age of the old woman, as young people try to move away from the ancient tradition.

Berbers - the indigenous population of North Africa, whose representatives themselves call amazig, which means "free people". It was extremely difficult to make them submit to someone’s will, because most of all they respected independence. Women of this nation were also particularly liberty and were on a par with men even during battles with opponents.

Proud and freedom-loving Berber women are famous for their original tattoos, the secret meaning of which is not widely understood. They believe that their tattoos have tremendous power and protect them from evil spirits.

According to Rokaya, an 80-year-old resident of the northern region of Algeria, she would have tattooed her whole body if it hadn’t been so painful. After all, if a girl wants to look beautiful, she must get a tattoo.

The process of tattooing women Berbers is really extremely painful. Since modern methods have not reached these carriers of ancient culture, they still cut the skin and rub soot soot into the incision site.

Cross tattoos are quite rare, due to the Islamization of the population. Islamic fundamentalism has led to the fact that the ancient art of tattooing among the Berbers is fading away more and more, since the Koran forbids any drawings to be pierced on the skin.