A photo-essay book in praise of the ancient art of tattooing as an expression of the sacred in the contemporary world. Exploring new potentials of the skin art that has risen out of the popular tattoo culture of the streets, The Alchemy and the Agony takes the tattoo experience beyond the obvious and popular. This tatouage is transpersonal, even universal, an experience of transformation both primal and sublime. This is the natural alchemy that results when sacred images are emblazoned on the canvas of the human body.