Tattoo Update

Though delayed, here are some close-ups of my tattoos.

The Tattoo one my left shulder was my first. It is an inverted Blue Triangle (representing focus and symetry) with the Left eye of Horus in the Middle (in this case, representing my recent reinvention of myself upon going to college - I was a complete loner in high school). In a circle around the eye are three dolphins head to tail (I studied Marine Biology) Each corner of the Triangle has a Greek Symbol in it (Phi, Delta & Theta - my fraternity in undergrad). At the base of the triangle is a banner reading "en coelo quis est" which is Latin for "in heaven there is rest" which was our fraternity epiteph, though we took this to mean you can sleep when you are dead. I got this tattoo after getting into my fraternity. For someone who never had any real friends up until college, being part of a real tight knit group for the first time in my life was a big deal to me.

My second tattoo, on my right shoulder is a square, a circle and triangle combined. The square represents stability and strength, the circle represents life cycle, rebirth and the cyclical nature of life, the triangle represents focus, being pointed to a single goal. In the middle of the circle is a figure kneeling in meditation. This symbol was the caligraphy signature of Sokaku Takeda, the originator of Daito Ryu Aiki Jujitsu and the "Grandfather of Aikido", a martial art that I study to this day. Over the figure's head is a traditional Japanese wave. These images together represent being calm amidst the chaos of life, a key tenet of Aikido (which literally means "Way of Harmony with the Spirit"). In each corner of the square are the caligraphy for the shinto concepts of earth, air, water & fire. The remaining vertical conji (caligraphy) read as follows: "Aikido" - the martial art of harmony "Kannagara no michi"" - Shinto term that can mean spirit, but more accurately, it represents collective consciousness over time (basically all sentient knowledge ever collected by "the source" or "Gaia" "Shinrai" - trust "Shinjutsu" - truth "Jikogisei" - sacrafice "Satori" - enlightenment "Hi No Ki" - a japenese wood known for its strength and use in shinto spiritual practice "Musubi" - the process of living "Zanshin" - Harmony with ki (or spirit). I got this tatto after beginning to study Aikido. This martial art changed my perspective on many things and taught me that strength is not always what it seems and that sometimes blending with adversity is the best way to beat it.

The third Tattoo that I received was my "tramp Stamp" above my lower back. To clarify, I got this tattoo in 1993, long before the placement of ink in this area was deemed the mark of a slut. Nonetheless, part of blending with the world is dealing with its illogical misperceptions. Such is life. This tattoo depicts another japanese wave, crashing at sunset. The wave is set inside a square celtic knot, signifying how tied to the ocean I was at the time. I lived within a mile of the beach and surfed every chance I got. My girlfriend at the time got a very similar tattoo, but with the square changed into a diamond shape (we both were very superstitious about having identical tattoos). As it turned out, we broke up after dating for two years, so the evidence for such superstiion is yet inconclusive, but swaying towards the feeling that we were right.

My fourth tattoo (one my chest over my heart - picture to come shortly) is a simple japanese conji (or caligraphy) for the word "ai", which means "harmony" or "peace". This is printed in a mirror image, so that it looks backward to those who look at it, but I can read it in a mirror. This tattoo reminds me to try to harmonize or blend/love people when I do not feel like doing so. I have had several people of Japanese decent come to me and tell me that it is backward. When I tell them why, they usually understand.

My fith Tattoo is on my right arm, just below my shoulder. Orginally, it was supposed to be an upper arm band, but I decided against this when arm bands became very popular in the mid to late 90's. The band conists of a snake, wrapped in a circle, biting its own tail. Across the circle are Phoenician letters that spell out a word that I will not disclose (only one other person knows what this word means). Originally, the tattoo was supposed to comemorate a long-term relationship that I thougt "was the one". The meaning has morphed into "Love and pain are forever". I will let you decide why.

My sixth/seventh (done in two parts) and final tattoo(s) (so far) icomprise the big back piece. This tattoo came into my life after a long, drawn out breakup with my girlfriend at the time. To make a long story shorter, I met this girl, fell for her, then fell for her two kids, moved in, became boyfriend, dad and best friend to all three only to have mom freak out after 9-11 (can't really explain why, just know this date changed our lives) and kick me out of the house, out of her life, and worst of all, out of her kids lives. So I guess the tattoo is pretty self explanatory. The original image (the man) was taken from Henry Rollins' book "Solipsist". Henry has always been a hero of mine, and the term Solipsist basically refers to the belief that a person can only truly know ones self, and nothing else. The tattoo represents feeling restrained by powers that I could not control and feeling that my heart was torn out at the same time that I felt my heart was all that I truly knew. The three stars were added later, and represent the three people that I lost from my life at that time. Since then, I have made amends to some extent with the lady in question. We are now friends and I still keep in touch with her kids on a regular basis. This is the only tattoo that I can remember physically hurting. The mind and body are one I guess.