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Occult Vibrations
@occultvibrations.com
110 followers 19 following 71 posts
Exploring tattoo culture through the mysteries of history.
occultvibrations.com
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Underground queer tattoo shop, 1970s. The artist was likely Ken Meyer (also seen spelled Meyers) and the client Bobby Mack. Filmed by Sailor Sid Diller.

sacreddebris.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:55 AM
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godspeedtattoo.bsky.social
Made a new flash painting. I’d love to tattoo any of these 😍

#bayareatattoo #tattoo #flash #halloween #skulls
October 22, 2025 at 2:19 AM
occultvibrations.com
Larry Copeland hosted a gathering of tattoo and piercing fans at his Hoboken, NJ residence in 1974/5.

In attendance was Emil Gundelach who continued getting tattooed into his 90s, Tatu Scotty, Spider Webb, Dave Slack, Mary, and Ken Meyer (among other unnamed friends)
October 21, 2025 at 3:50 PM
occultvibrations.com
Dave Slack was a queer tattoo artist who worked in NYC in the 1970s/80s. He appeared in the legendary gay xxx video "NYC INFERNO" (playing a tattoo artist).

This clip, recorded in approx 1974/5, also features Emil Gundelach, Larry Copeland, Key Meyer, and Spider Webb.

sacreddebris.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM
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cassietattoos.bsky.social
Real American Patriot Betty Boop at your service 🫡 #bettyboop #traditionaltattoos
A picture of a tattoo of Betty Boop. She is entirely comprised of bombs, swords, guns, pills and blood. All things the artist associates with America.
October 14, 2025 at 12:52 PM
occultvibrations.com
This is the length (heh) I go to to not get banned on Instagram again. Leg tattoos by Raven

sacreddebris.com
A fully tattooed body with a banner blurring his penis reading NSFMeta
October 7, 2025 at 3:23 PM
occultvibrations.com
Underground queer tattoo shop, 1975. Ken Meyer (Florida) working on a homoerotic back tattoo. Screenshot from video.

sacreddebris.com
a red screen that reads UNDERGROUND, FLORIDA USA 1975 blurry screen shot of a man tattooing another man, 1970s homoerotic tattoo, 1970s
September 10, 2025 at 4:57 AM
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bodymodificationarchive.com
On Aug 16th, I gave the first in a series of lectures on the under documented history of Queer Tattooing. We covered a basic primer on some of the early (1960s-80s) queer tat pioneers, then dug into cruising culture documentarian/tattooer John Dagion.

This book serves as a lecture companion...
Indelible Identities 01: John Dagion by Shawn Porter | Blurb Books
Find Indelible Identities 01: John Dagion by Shawn Porter at Blurb Books. Compiled as a companion to his August 2025 lecture at BMXNet in Berlin, Germany, this 8...
www.blurb.com
August 24, 2025 at 1:29 AM
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thedocumentedbody.com
The finished tattoo.
A shunga inspired tattoo of a peach and a snake. Mostly.
August 3, 2025 at 9:46 PM
occultvibrations.com
Robert E. Roberts - Maddog Tattoo - 1990s.
Slide building is going well on the Indelible Identities lecture on Queer Tattoo History.
Screen shot of a lecture slide; a bearded man with a t-shirt that says MADDOG TATTOO is being interviewed by a possibly drunk woman in a leather hat A letter from Robert Roberts to Shawn Porter, 1997. The letter talks about their meeting at a tattoo convention, and a desire to talk via phone.
August 2, 2025 at 4:18 AM
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sauchellibot.bsky.social
Chicago Tattooist Cliff Raven And A Client 1972...Adults Only Photo Of Cliff And A Client...
#tattoo #tattooed #tattooing #cliffraven #tattooartist #adultsonly #nsfw
July 23, 2025 at 1:43 AM
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bodymodificationarchive.com
Pleased as punch to be invited back to Berlin by the fine folks at BMXNet!
Graphic advertising two lectures in August 2025; BMXNet Shawn Porter Indelible Identities 01- John Dagion and Evolution of a Subculture 03 Scar Wars
July 23, 2025 at 4:01 AM
occultvibrations.com
Proof copy of our lecture guide arrived with a friend. PFIQ ceased publication with issue 50 but there was one last issue cued up. Jim Ward was finally able to complete the run. So exciting.
Two books.
July 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM
occultvibrations.com
Our friend @savagesal.bsky.social was kind enough to reimagine a Cliff Raven design to add a little razzle dazzle to my latest book - a visual companion to the lecture I’ll be giving on #queertattoo history in less than a month!
Cover of a book titled INDELIBLE IDENTITIES A QUEER HISTORY OF TATTOOING 01: John Dagion by archivist Shawn Porter The cover feature a traditional tattoo design of a swallow and heart with a banner reading QUEER, designed by Savage Sal.
July 17, 2025 at 2:55 PM
occultvibrations.com
Along with Ed Hardy & Don Nolan, Cliff Raven was one of a handful of Western artists responsible for popularizing Japanese influenced large scale tattooing to America. He was also an out gay man. Screenshot from 50+ year old video at an underground queer tattoo shop.

Sacreddebris.com
A smiling bearded man tattooing a naked friend.
June 23, 2025 at 7:01 PM
occultvibrations.com
I feel like a one-trick pony lately. All of my archival energy is going towards the first lecture in the Indelible Identities series. This page is from the introduction essay on the history of Queer tattooing- the final image is from NYC's TRON - part of the future of queer representation in tattoo.
Page from INDELIBLE IDENTITIES 01: John Dagion
June 22, 2025 at 4:02 AM
occultvibrations.com
Just finished writing a footnote explaining to my readers what a "truck hawk" is. Is it worth going into glory hole etiquette or is that gilding the lily?

I dont think the other tattoo historians have to make these choices, y'all.
June 18, 2025 at 3:31 PM
occultvibrations.com
1981 REAL PEOPLE episode excerpt. I for one think that tattoos + perversion is a rad combo.

Full video is on our Patreon:
Sacreddebris.com
June 16, 2025 at 2:53 PM
occultvibrations.com
Fired up the VCR today for some conversion. This cassette is likely from 1981 and features Bill Mokry.

Sacreddebris.com
June 15, 2025 at 10:39 PM
occultvibrations.com
Watching a 40+ year old tattoo documentary shot by Emiko Omori, featuring Don Ed Hardy. The VHS degradation is terrible (Im converting it to digital) but I'll always sit and listen when Ed is talking.
June 15, 2025 at 5:26 PM
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savagesal.bsky.social
My new convention banner came in! I’ll be in Eau Claire, Wisconsin June 13-15 for the Sawdust City Tattoo convention! savagesal@live.com to book an appointment 😊📆#eauclaire #sawdustcityinvitational #savagesal #manther
June 10, 2025 at 8:38 PM
occultvibrations.com
Little rough teaser - still working on dropping some text in it any trying to work Cliff Raven in somehow- for my August lecture on queer tattooing history.

Sacreddebris.com
June 10, 2025 at 6:04 PM
occultvibrations.com
Capturing 50 year old tattoo video…
A screen capture of a letter board reading FEATURING THE MUTUAL TATTOOED PENIS ADMIRATION SOCIETY
June 8, 2025 at 4:28 PM
occultvibrations.com
bodymodificationarchive.com Sacred Debris @bodymodificationarchive.com · Jun 7
Happy Pride Month y'all!
The history of queer tattooing is still being written (literally. Im procrastinating from writing about it right this second) but there will always be a special place in my heart for Sailor Sid Diller, seen here tattooing at his private studio, 1980s

sacreddebris.com
June 7, 2025 at 12:34 AM
occultvibrations.com
Still tweaking an essay for the Indelible Identities lecture companion book. I’m not a good writer, by any means, but I do what I can.

#queertattoo history!
Tattooing was an outlaw subculture, and the queer community, particularly pre-Stonewall, were outlaws, too. They—we—were also at the forefront of self-expression, fashion, liberation, art, culture, and freedom from sexual hangups. That opened the door for tattoo clients who were up for larger, more adventurous, artistic pieces—and, more importantly, could afford to get them. It only makes sense that tattooing would find a welcome home in queer spaces, even when we weren’t welcome in tattoo culture at large. That led to certain choices: stay in the closet and get tattooed by a straight tattooer, or find an artist who was either an ally or part of the family. That was, until fairly recently, easier said than done. While we have significant documentation of LGBTQ+ clients wearing work by legendary tattooers like Coleman, Sailor Jerry Collins, Bert Grimm, and Paul Rogers, the footprint of queer artists before the 1980s remains much smaller. Collectively, historians Paul R. King, Dr. Matt Lodder, and I have been able to come up with a list of around fifteen known queer tattooers active before tattooing exploded into mainstream culture in the late 1980s. The pater familias was Samuel Steward, who tattooed under the name Phil Sparrow. Steward
June 3, 2025 at 12:28 PM