| Seeking ideas for symbol of life tattoo |
Question:
Can I pick the brains of all you r.a.b.bits on a theme for my second
tattoo? I would like a tattoo which represents life in some form whether
a symbol (I had considered Chinese/Japanese - any thoughts?), or maybe
something like a moon or a type of star. This is the very early stages
of planning at the moment, but I found you all most helpful last summer
when I was working on my first tattoo which was on a feline theme (I
ended up with an ocelot to represent my wild side coupled with my love
of dogs!).
The new tattoo will probably be on the outside (or around) my right
ankle. I am not looking at anything too big )ie no more than about 2
inches square maximum).
Any ideas from the experts would be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
- I was looking through an Egyptian art magazines recently and came across a
life-giving design: the moon, with the "rays" being arms coming out,
holding ankhs in their hands (only 3 at the base of the sun). Looked
pretty cool (esp. in 18 kt gold *grin*).
Another design is The Tree Of Life -- many groups have this in their
mythology (germanic tribes spring to mind for me)... has large roots going
down into the earth, and hundreds of animals living in it (you'd obviously
tone this down for a small tattoo, heh)... and the top is supposed to
reach into the heavens; basically existing as a link from the originating
earth to the destiny of the afterlife.
- In Norse Mythology, Yggdrasil (I think it's pronounced iggs-drah-sihl) is
the tree of life. It supposedly had one root in each of the four lands
(land of frost, humans, gods and underworld? something like that).
- The two symbols that I most commonly associate with life, or the cycle of
death and rebirth, are the yin/yang symbol that I'm sure you've seen
before, and the ankh (which is also very popular among the dead right
now). You might also consider looking in decks of Tarot cards; the Aeon,
or the World, is usually an image of a woman holding a staff, surrounded
by a border of flowers with the four winds blowing at her. The card is a
symbol of completion and wholeness. There are also a lot of beautiful
sun images in different Tarot decks on the Sun card. It's worth checking
out.
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