A girl or boy friend's name, with hearts and roses, etc., are modern love charms, meant to make the relationship endure. Primitive love charms were often much more complex than that. The dye for a Burmese love charm tattoo is mixed with vermilion and a magic drug which was concocted from such things as the skins of trout and spotted lizard, with certain herbs and vegetable ingredients. The tattoo magician needs only to tattoo a small triangle, containing a few dots, for the spell to work. A Burmese girl will be tattooed on a part of her body that is always covered with clothing, so that no one will think that she is an old maid, who is looking for a husband.
Some primitive tribes use tattooing as a rite of social status.
The Maori, of New Zealand use tattooing primarily for this purpose. To the Maori, a person's Moko designs enhanced their prestige and show transition from one social status to another. At its highest level, Moko designs proclaimed the sacredness of chieftanship. Tattooing for health purposes has been a widespread practice in the Orient and South Pacific. The Tibetians learned to tattoo, from their southern neighbors, the Shans.