Monday, September 17, 2012

Tattoos

I know plenty of people with tattoos. Some have personal meanings, some spiritual, some are just for fun. Mine are not about fun.

My tattoos are large and hard to cover unless I wear what Muslims and Amish call "modest dress" (which is not something I normally wear!). This is intentional. While it may restrict me from certain types of work and lifestyles, that is exactly the point. My tattoos are devotional, offerings to gods that I call beloveds. The type of folks who would take issue with the art on my body are usually also the same folks who would take issue with my being a polytheist and/or a Witch, too. I live my life as I am, with no pretense. I can never go backwards.

My first tattoo was on the left upper arm. It is an image of a god that came to me and changed my life. On top of that image is a sigil of the name/title he gave me in a dream, topped by a ball of blue fire. every single detail of that tattoo was given to me, I merely collected the information and sketched it out for the artist.

My second tattoo was a large black snake coiled around my right leg. In my dream, the snake had words and glyphs rising and appearing on its skin and then fading back into its scales. I had a hard time reading it in my dream, which was frustrating. Before I woke, I heard the words (which are from the Oracle at Delphi): "Know Thyself and You Shall Know the Gods." So that writing appears on the snake, which has firmly wrapped itself onto me and not about to be shaken off.

My third tattoo was another snake- a green one this time, with a fiery belly. It is biting me on the ankle. The whole tattoo is not finished, as I hope to one day have the whole lower leg covered with an owl leg- feathers under my knee, talons over my foot, etc, etc. It is to be a union of bird and snake.

My latest tattoo is not yet finished. It is a "collar piece" that centers over my breast bone and extends out over my shoulders. It is what many call a "tudor rose"- which is an artistic, precise rendering of a five petaled rose, with another inside that one, each in opposite directions. On my version, between each outer petal is a bee, not a leaf. The outside petals will be red, the inner white, and the center will be filled with craters and glowing ink to create a full moon, complete with the rabbit. Vining rose brambles extend out to each shoulder. On the left is a lunar moth, on the right is a blue rose bud. It is gorgeous and I look forward to completing it.

This piece was especially devotional, to a goddess that has commanded me to heal in her name. She is not normally known as a goddess of compassion or healing, but She is also very misunderstood. She has directed me to remove suffering from people's bodies, and offer it up to her. She devours it as an offering.

When I was getting this especially painful tattoo, there was no respite. On past tattoos on extremities, I was able to tap a hand as a distraction, or breathe deeply. While my tattoo artist was working on my chest, I had to be perfectly still. The only thing I could manage was chanting, "This is for You, Lady- this is for You" over and over. It felt like burning hot scalpels mangling my flesh for three hours. I never finished this one, as I got pregnant and then breastfed, and they advise against tattooing during those times. I am now half a continent away from the artist who needs to finish my work, but it will be finished one day!

5 comments:

  1. :( Aw, blogspot ate my comment and bleched out an error message. Guess I'll try later. If I don't, great post! ~)O(~

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  2. I love the Tudor rose
    And I LOVE YOUR RED SHOES!!!! :)

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  3. Be as you are. I have a lot of spiritual tattoos as well. Totally understand you. :)

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  4. Bless you, n bless your work with the Gods, especially your Patroness.

    respect and love

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  5. Your tattoos are beautiful, and I love how you talk about the placement and not being covered up. When I first decided to get tattoos, placement was almost more important than the actual tattoo because of the ability to be covered up, however you're exactly right - those who don't accept are probably not your sort of person anyway. Unfortunately I don't work in an industry where I can take on this attitude, but I love it just the same :) BTW I discovered your blog today from a link from The Wild Hunt :)

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