The Tearing
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The Tearing is a rite that is performed only if a Tattooed Priestess is unable to sleep in the Rift peacefully, with no regrets, or cannot endure taking on the pain of others.[1] They can be thought of as being failed priestesses.
Preparation
Tattooed Priestess has performed her other rituals, but is unable to sleep. Alternatively, the Priestess has accepted the tattoos, but refuses to complete the ritual.[2]
The Ritual
The Tattooed Priestess is stripped of her tattoo-covered skin and the body is sent in a boat to the Other Side. The stripped skin is then enshrined in the Tattoo Altar where the Handmaiden's Song is sung by the Handmaidens, to pray for an end to the tattoo's pain.[3]
Result
The tattooed skin of the former priestess is enshrined, sung to, and prayed over so that the pain it contains does not escape. The enshrined skin serves as a warning to future priestesses.[4]