Lane Wilcken

Teaches at NY Shamanic Circle

Lane Wilcken is one of the few traditional Mambabatok, or tattoo practitioners who ritually applies the tattoo in its traditional context using only the ancient hand tools accompanied by prayers/chants and offerings. He the author of “Filipino Tattoos Ancient to Modern” -and- “The Forgotten Children of Maui: Filipino Myths, Tattoos, and Rituals of a Demigod” He is also a contributing author to “Back from the Crocodile’s Belly: Philippine Babaylan Studies and the Struggle for Indigenous Memory.” 

Lane was born from a native Ilokana mother from the both Ilocos regions in the Philippines and an American father of English and Scandinavian descent. Lane’s maternal family was well acquainted in the traditional spiritual practices of the Philippines, his grandmother was a mangngilut (midwife and shamanic healer). His great-great grandmother was a mangnganito or spirit medium. His grandfather understood the oral traditions & practices of the past. At an early age Lane was interested in mythology & other cultural practices which are the foundation of indigenous Filipino tattooing and spirituality.

Lane has been researching the indigenous past of the Philippines and the Pacific Islands for more than two decades. More recently he has been studying about the indigenous traditions of Scandinavia. His interest in cultural tattooing was borne out of a desire to strengthen and reunite others symbolically and spiritually with their estranged ancestors. Lane has given presentations and lectures on the tattooing and other cultural traditions of the Philippines at several universities and private forums.

His audience has included social clubs, university professors, students, and scholars. “Tattooing represents the cumulative understanding of our indigenous world view. I believe that when we understand the depth of wisdom and spirituality associated with our tattooing, many of the destructive flaws in our cultural psyche caused by modernization can be healed. We will be able to accept the past, forgive the mistakes of others and move forward in united strength with our ancestors and posterity.”