This year was my 18th birthday. Exciting? I guess. Nothing changed too much. Don’t we all grow up expecting there to be some miraculous change when we turn 18 just becuase the government tells us that that’s when we are of legal age? Weird.
Anyways, I wanted a tattoo. I’ve wanted a tattoo for the longest time. But I strongly dislike (and disagree with getting) tattoos that hold no meaning to the canvas they lie on.
So.
I waited.
I’ve known for about a year that I wanted to get an Ouroboros, but with my new spiritual journey, I felt it had to be more. It needed to be more than just the snake, it needed to have something else with it, something that I could look at and help me feel at peace and remember what I beleive.
To be honest, I’m still figuring out my spiritual side, but I knew a few things and I knew that they were right.
(this photo was taken the day I got it done, March 20th, 2009)
The Ouroboros is the image of a snake (sometimes depicted as a dragon) devouring it’s own tail. This symbolizes the cyclic Nature of the Universe: creation out of destruction, Life out of Death. The ouroboros eats its own tail to sustain its life, in an eternal cycle of renewal. While I’m not sure if I beleive in reincarnation or not yet, it’s something that’s always been on my mind as I don’t believe in Heaven and Hell in the slightest.
I took an astronomy class this year in school. There was a theory about the growth of the universe and that, while it is currently ever expending and moving outward, eventually it will contract back on itself and start over again. Which is why it doesn’t matter where the mythical “center of the universe” is or what happened to create the universe, it just keeps happening over and over again. I can’t remember what the theory was called but I feel like it had a name.
Anyways, when I heard that it struck a cord with me, it made sense within the ideas expressed with the Ouroboros.
At the same time…it made me…sad. How pointless we already felt, as humans, on this little planet in a universe so big most of us can’t even imagine it’s size, and here we are…making a big deal about the smallest events in the concepts of the universe, and what’s it matter…this might have happened before, in a different time and a different way. And it might happen again, different scenerio, different people, probably even a different planet…but still…think how small you feel if that were true. How small and insignificant you feel even if it’s not and the universe is just a giant thing that will forever and ever expand to lengths unknown?
Maybe that makes us more unique really…just because this could happen over and over or already happened…that doesn’t make us any less ourselves. It makes our time more precious, in some ways. We are here for a fraction of a second. The universe has been around for what…close to 14 billion years. The earth about 4.5 billion years. People have only been around for about 2.5 million years, humans as they look today have only existed for about 200,000 years. A fraction of a second comparativly wouldn’t you say?
I think I’m rambling….
Back to the tattoo…
In alchemy, the Oroboros represents the eternal, cyclic nature of the universe. It combines idea with action, efficiency with power. The Oroboros is grasping the whole by the conception of the opposite, the divine process of creation and the evil backlash of destruction.
Inside the Oroborus is the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is often a mystical concept alluding to the interconnectedness of all life on our planet. In Norse Mythology (Heathenism), the Yggdrasil is the world tree. Yggdrasil is the tree which Odin sacraficied himself to for 9 days to gain the knowledge of the Runes.
From the Poetic Edda (translated by Henry Adams Bellows)
“31. Three roots there are | that three ways run
‘Neath the ash-tree Yggdrasil;
‘Neath the first lives Hel, | ‘neath the second the frost-giants,
‘Neath the last are the lands of men.”
Below the tree lies the well of Mimir (to whom Odin lost his eye so he could gain the knowledge stored in the well).
In my Tree of Life there are 4 branches/limbs representing the elements.
Earth (green) is the feminine element. The earth is often linked with fertility, nurturing, and strenght.
Air (yellow) is the soul and the breath of life. Air focuses on wisdom and communication and helps bring positive thoughts.
Fire (red) is the masculine element. Fire both creates and destroys, it is associated with new life and death.
Water (blue) is also a feminine element. This element is used for healing, cleansing and purifying. It is often associated with passion and emotions.
That’s my tattoo.
Why did I feel the need to write a post about it?
This is a blog of growth, and this tattoo is a reminder of my spiritual growth. Without the spiritual path I’ve come to know and love, I would never have gotten where I am today, and this is a constant reminder.
This post was more for me than for anyone reading it. It was to help me write down every little thing this tattoo means to me, and I’m sure I missed some of it, but it’s here, it’s down and I can come back to it.
June 2, 2009 at 5:04 am |
[...] Continued here: My tattoo « To Dream, To Change, To Transform [...]
June 2, 2009 at 9:18 am |
Poignant.
Your tatt is lovely, and I love the meaning behind it. I, too, believe in ink with a meaning. Though I fear the one I have being drawn has a lot less than yours does. But hey, meaning is meaning.
Great entry, K. I love how introspective and wise you are. Your writing is such a pleasure to read. Thank you for sharing it.
June 2, 2009 at 2:14 pm |
thank you Kim ^_^
As long as it means more than “hey this is pretty” I’m all for the tattoo! My sisters first tattoo was a butterfly, and I don’t ever remember her telling me she liked butterflies, lol.
June 2, 2009 at 7:08 pm |
The Ouroboros is a known function of the natural world. It’s the band of the universe, commonly known of as the milky-way, that rides throught he night sky. It’s been pictured throughout the globe in several ancient cultures including the mesoamerican culture that is the root of the Maya.
June 3, 2009 at 1:00 am |
I remember seeing that, back when it was fresh and tender. It’s a very good tattoo…very meaningful. I’m still impressed by how many people I know that have good tattoos, not just skin-graffiti.
For the turning of 18…it’s almost as meaningless as turning 21. All it amounts to is that other people are finally willing to accept that you’re capable of things you may have already been capable of. Abstract, sometimes seemingly outmoded, concepts. Still, it’s always good to have the privileges.
June 3, 2009 at 1:28 pm |
Although, sadly, i know a lot more people that get tattoos just for the hell of it.
the 18 thing is interesting, i think for some reason, people view you differently in their minds when you tell them youre 18 instead of 17. It’s weird.
August 8, 2009 at 2:03 pm |
[...] have been waiting, most impatiently, to write a blog about tattoos (re-inspired when Kendra wrote her piece). I feel very strongly about them. There is no place in my life for a tattoo that is [...]