Tattoos

[soap fairy 20]

now I feel really dull! I've got a tatoo on my right hip but its because I used to work on building sites {conservation building} and we were working on a cathedral . I spent three weeks cleaning and repairing this one frigging gargoyle , when I got to the end I got a little tired and socially confused if you know what I mean and decided to get a tatoo of it , I've also got a green butterfly on one ankle and a rennee mackintosh style flower on the other but neither of them particularly symbolise anything except me being a bit impressionable as a teenager:patsch:

[Leigh 15]

I inherited my tattoo in the form of my husband. Personally, I have issues with needles. Much as I've considered getting one of my own, there's no way in hell I'd sit still for it.

 

Anyhoo, I'm putting up a pic. He designed this with a friend and had it done in the early nineties. Written in Kanji, it says (roughly translated), "The way of the gods and the way of the warrior, were not orginally two different paths."

 

Here's his explaination of the whole: The pentagram represents man as microcosm, within the Tao, which represents the universe and its duality. The Dragon represents the five elements (water, fire, earth, wind, and spirit) and also represents the five virtues (power, courage, nobility, divinity, and will). The Dragon holds the Tao/pentagram -- if one can embody the elements and virtues, he can embrace the universe.

[LadyAlicia 10]

Hi All -

 

I am new here and this seemed like an interesting discussion to say hello in. I have two tattoos. One on my left breast which is a blue crescent moon with a star between the tips and a phoenix rising from the flames on my back, it runs from the crack of my butt to the middle of my back. It was the last one and a huge job - 5 hours which I did in one sitting. I knew if I stopped it would be awhile before I would get it finished so, held my hubbys hand and had her finish.

 

I would place a picture but as I said I am getting use to the forum and it will take a bit until I can get fancy. I love the pictures I have seen here so far, there are some really beautiful tattoos. Oh, and I love Abby in NCIS, it is the only t.v. show I make a point of watching.

 

Allie

[anjeaunot 279]

I feel out of this because I don't have any tattoos. However, many of the girls in our coven have designed their own tattoos. They consist of antlers and horns to honour the god forms we work with. Some are quite ingenious designs. One is an intermingling of ram, bull, stag and goat with leaves. No one would pick what it represented unless they were told. I like Abby's tattoo also. I am a fan of NCIS.

[Storm 10]

alright finally got a few pics of some of my ink

 

 

this was done when i was 15, it was my first tattoo.

 

[Storm 10]

more to come, i still have to take pics of the rest on my left arm, gota get my right arm, and my chest. oooooooooo the suspense!

[Cairelle 55]

Wow, those are great!! I'm ready for some more, but we're renovating our house right now and I need doors for the bathrooms first... lol...

[Storm 10]

so you can poop in peace? or do you need doors for your bathroom so you can get new ink? lol

[Cairelle 55]

I personally don't care if there's a door on the bathroom... but my guests might mind, especially if they're the ones on the toilet!! :eek:

 

I'm compromising... a small tattoo and one door. For now, lol... :D

[Storm 10]

thats my girl!!!!!

[Cairelle 55]

:D

[Guest SnowSpirit]

The newbie has to throw hers in, I am really happy with mine. My husband wanted a tat for a long time but he kept picking out all of these awful ones. So I would throw a fit about it and he wouldn't get. I was military and went away to school and what did I do got a tat. I started with a rose on my chest which now it has been almost 20 years and I think I want to cover it with something else.

 

I have 5-

Rose on chest it says Harley for the motorcycles in it

Native Indian style arm band on my left bicep

Horses head with Native feathers on right ankle

Trails End Indian on right shoulder

My most special is two unicorns on my right bicep, the baby unicorn has a red mane. My daughter died when she was 4 months old and it is to represent her and I.

 

The others I went with because of the symbolism for the American Indian...I am supposed to be Cherokee Indian, no real proof though.

 

From the pictures everyone posted I love yours they all look great. I hope to do another her at some point.

[Droghon 61]

Meet Wolfie ;)

[Cairelle 55]

VERY nice!

 

I can't wait to get another one. I'm also getting my nose pierced. ;)

[eagleheart75 11]

alright finally got a few pics of some of my ink

 

 

this was done when i was 15, it was my first tattoo.

 

I love these tats. I have always wanted to go get a tat but never had the money for them plus I was always to scared of what my family might think. It is rather unfortunate really. As now I am an adult and still I dont get one out of respect for my family. Instead of being true to my own wants and desires.

[menteith 10]

I've got one tattoo, of my family crest on my shoulderblade.

 

 

I've also got a facial scarification piece, but don't have a healed picture because they've faded to almost nothing (like I wanted).

 

 

What I've been doing a lot more of is branding. There's just something about it that makes it a much more spiritual experience. So far I have three, one was done just last night. Here are the other two:

 

 

 

 

Every modification that I've done has brought me more in touch with both my body and the world around me. I've also noticed that I get approached by a lot of people asking about them, and have had very little negative reaction to the fact that I do these things to my body. It's a great journey.

[Twisted_Angel 12]

Here's my one tat for now...Self-designed. This is when I first got it but even 3 yrs later with being exposed to random chemicals (like pools, blegh) and sun and such, the ink is still that vivid and sharp!

 

I got it cause I was born on 11 Aug so I'm a Leo, and it all kinda fits who I am. It also makes me think of my dad (who has a similar tat for the same reasons).

 

I have a second one that I started to design for myself in Iraq (first tour) though I have yet to get it :(. It's on my other comp, but it's a nude woman with her arms and legs wrapped around her standing on a Celtic square knot of sage green thorns. The center of the knot is going to have a cerulean blue rose in full bloom. She's going to have wings in this twisted vine/wire Celtic-ish design, but I can't quite get the picture from my mind's eye to my fingertips! So, she's just standing around waiting to be inked.

 

At any rate, the 'Twisted Angel' is obviously symbolic of myself and my own obscurities and my unusual life. The Knot is my heritage and the thorns is attributable to both who I am (kinda pretty but can be painful if improperly handled!) and my Trad path (in a bow to the love/tithe to nature). The Rose, beyond being my fave color, is indicative of how I see elements of myself, unique/rare/strangely beautiful, both ensnared and protected by the Thorns.

 

It was going to be on my side but after sketching her, I realized I'd have to sacrifice alot of the detail to shrink her down in order to fit (I'm a waif, haha) or somehow magically make my side bigger. So now it's going on my upper/outer thigh. Huzzah! I'll try to get a pic of it all in the artsy section when I can hook up my other comp to the internet.

[LadyHawk 26]

Sounds really good TA.

 

I have great ideas but the link between brain and fingertip is missing altogether....;)

 

Can't draw to save myself, wish I could though

[menteith 10]

I got a pic of my latest brand online. Here it is:

 

 

[Sandy 65]

Oh christ, now you freaked me out .. I had a dream about your scarifaction last night actually being done, I log in here and see it for real LOL

[spinney 86]

Menith, what is 'history around scarification and branding? I know that the scaring is also in African cultures, what does it mean to your own culture?

thanks xxx

[menteith 10]

For me it has three significant factors: It's using the body's own natural processes to modify your body, it is (quite literally, at times) a trial by fire for my faith (since that's the reason that I got into body modification), and it's a sacrifice of flesh, blood and identity for those that I serve. I also use them as tools for spirit journeys, since if you have someone dragging a red-hot poker or scalpel through your skin you go into an altered state of mind (up to 14 hours after a brand). Finally, it makes me more comfortable and familiar with my body. Right now I'm learning where all the internal structures in my left forearm are, how they move, etc. Just like it was with my other two brands and my scalpelling. I am a firm believer that the more comfortable and familiar you are with your own body, the easier and more effective energy work is.

 

As far as dreaming about it, if anyone is going to be in Albuquerque when I'm getting one done, you're welcome to come along. It's something that until you experience it in some form or other- not necessarily getting something done, but someone has to hold the propane torch, and I tend to yell and scream and kick, so I'm entertaining to say the least- it's just completely incomprehensible. On the other hand, all I have to say to a person that has had one done is "I got a new brand on Tuesday night" and they understand.:D

 

In my culture, branding was actually used as a mark of ownership or criminality at various times and places over the centuries. I'm from one of the borders clans in Scotland (hence the Graham family crest on my back), where besides being a favored torture device, the marks of a brand were to label a person as an outcast from society. Branding was also used as a mark of ownership for slaves transported from the East Indies and Africa for hundreds of years, with a new brand done for each owner. It has strong connotations for a person that is outcast, but one that was needed for the structure of society to function... Very reminiscent of the way that witches were (and still are) viewed and needed by society.

[spinney 86]

Many thanks hun, really good answer :hugs:

 

I have a tattoo that my best friend did when i was 16, OK, its a mess but it means the world to me :)

I have a rose on my wrist and a celtic triangle thingy on my back that my husband got me on summer solstice about 5 years ago.

[menteith 10]

OK, its a mess but it means the world to me :)

 

Just because it isn't by a world-class artist, or even isn't well-done, doesn't mean that it's not significant. It's the whole concept of value, something so personal that no one else will be able to understand fully.:hugs:

[fallenphoenix 10]

I've got two tats. . . .one on my hip that's an Eye of Horus with an ankh beneath it. I've always been attached to the Egyptian pantheons (think I've had past lives there) and felt an attraction to this one. No pic though. . .it looks a mess since I had my son. I need to have it redone.

 

The second is this one on the back of my neck: An Ohm symbol being held by the goddess with phoenix wings. . .the Ohm is a reminder to me to calm the frak down, the goddess is my identifier for deity, and the phoenix wings are my current state of rebirth.

 

Yup, I'm a confused little pagan. . . .LOL

 

I want a third one done on my right hand like my avatar. . .another phoenix. . .it would cover a big scar from surgery several years ago. Need $$ though.

 

TTFN!

Amy (the other Phoenix :D)