the sun is on my side

howtheheartbends:

“Ethnic Croatian Catholic communities in Bosnia suffered hell under the Turks during the Ottoman reign, with the majority of them forced to convert to Islam. Girls were raped, children were taken to Turkey as slaves, and Turkish Chiefs had the right to sleep with Christian women on their wedding nights before the bride’s husband. In response to such violations, women took to tattooing themselves on their hands, fingers, chests, and foreheads with crosses and other ancient ornaments. They believed such practices would create a spiritual guard that would ward off the Turks, or would at least let people know they were once Catholic before undergoing a forced conversion.”

Read the rest at Vice Magazine: ATLAS HOODS: THE CROATIAN TATTOOED GRANDMA CULT - Viceland Today ”