dag, kris asked you a question.
yeah, she did. and what's it to you?! Sheesh!
(no, and i'm not planning to. she'll see it when she sees it if she does).
That's a gorgeous piece of artwork, Miss D.
Me and my brother
Were talking to each other
'Bout what makes a man a man
Was it brain or brawn
Or the month you were born
We just couldn't understand.
Our old man didn't like our appearance
He said that only women wear long hair.
So me and my brother borrowed money from mother
We knew what we had to do
We went downstairs past the barber and gymnasium
And got our arms tattooed.
Welcome to my life tattoo
I'm a man now, thanks to you
I expect that I'll regret you
But the skin-graft man won't get you
You'll be there till I die
Tattoo
Now I'm older
I'm tattooed all over
My wife is tattooed too
A-roody-to-to
Rooty-tooty-to-to
Rooty-tooty-to, tattoo too
To you
Great tat Dag!
To make myself more recognizable to other members I recently got some work done.
dagmaraka wrote:Oh I have no problem with that. I ain't gonna wear no ordinary wedding dress IF i ever get married. I'm thinking of some sort of a barroque gown, only cut very short. And with one of those high standing collars, like Queen Victoria wore. Will have to cut a hole in the back to show my tattoo.
how is this going to play to the Pentecostal in-laws-to-be?
I never saw this -- it's really cool-looking!
Can you explain the symbolism/ why that specific one was chosen and what it means? Also, did you choose the whole thing or did you assemble it from different elements?
bethie, i think the victorian collars and short short skirt are out of the question at the moment. plain white dress, most likely. then again, i don't really give a rat's arse anyways.
soz, not sure if you're asking me, but if so, i assembled it from multiple sources and drew it. the tattoo artist then traced it and copied it on my back.
it is gustav klimt's Tree of Life in the back, Alfons Mucha's princess warrior type of a woman, whom i gave a helmet with a Nepalese symbol of power on it.
This is Mucha's
The Blonde:
Klimt's
Tree of Life:
and the nepalese Phurba, (symbol of power, axis mundi, and also of healing and exorcising and binding demons and all evil away from a person or a group)
That's what I was asking, pretty much. Very nicely done!
The rest of what I was asking was why you chose those particular elements -- just because they're cool-looking, or do they have particular meaning for you? (Or combination thereof?)
The Nepalese thingie seems very similar to the Biswo Bazra, which has been a front-runner for a tattoo long enough (at least eight years) that I'll probably eventually get it:
Not sure how much of it I'd get if so, just the central thunderbolty thing (that destroys ignorance, kaboom) or the surrounding stuff too. Surrounding stuff gets too complicated I think, and I don't want a particularly big one.
Better pic, scanned directly from the card I have (the other one was when I was messing with it, trying to simplify it for some reason):
it must be the same, or related thing, i'd imagine. symbols most likely have the same roots - the axis of the world, the snake around the axis, the tree trunk, blablabla. when you read about phurba on wikipedia, it gives links to other symbols and their meanings.
why i chose what i chose? that, too, is a compilation of things. the phurba itself was given to me by the Monster, who brought it for me from Nepal. I carry it with me everywhere, and since the Monster's gone, I suppose it was also to mark embracing of the experience coming from that relationship and getting to a different stage in my life. Putting it on the woman's helmet, it's also in a way to symbolize a power of a woman, individual, and not in the least a tribute to my mother (who hates tattoos, but that don't matter much here). Klimt and Mucha are among my favorites. I've been drawing a tree since I was a kid - one particular tree, and this one is very much like it. Plus, the whole thing together is a journey of sorts to me. And then, both Klimt and Mucha are from Central Europe, so it's also a piece of home on my back.
So, not one particular reason, but a mosaic of things that are meaningful and close to me.
Thanks. It's one of the things I really like about tattoos, the stories behind them.
Turns out that they are the same thing. Spelling varies, I found 'basra', 'bazra', 'bajwa', and 'vajra' (the last most common) - and that's nepalese for what in tibet is 'dojre' or 'phurba'. ha. genius minds think alike, ain't it?
Vajra (from wikipedia):
[edit] Symbolism
The vajra is made up of several parts:
In the center is a sphere which represents Sunyata, the primordial nature of the universe, the underlying unity of all things.
Emerging from the sphere are two eight petalled lotus flowers. One represents the phenomenal world (or in Buddhist terms Samsara), the other represents the noumenal world (or Nirvana). This is one of the fundamental dichotomies which are perceived by the unenlightened.
Arranged equally around the mouth of the lotus are 2, 4, or 8 mythical creatures which are called makaras. These are mythological half-fish, half-crocodile creatures made up of two or more animals, often representing the union of opposites, (or a harmonisation of qualities that transcend our usual experience).
From the mouths of the makaras come tongues which come together in a point.
The five pronged vajra (with four makaras, plus a central prong) is the most commonly seen vajra. There is an elaborate system of correspondences between the five elements of the noumenal side of the vajra, and the phenomenal side. One important correspondence is between the five 'poisons' with the five wisdoms. The five poisons are the mental states that obscure the original purity of a being's mind, while the five wisdoms are the five most important aspects of the enlightened mind. Each of the five wisdoms is also associated with a Buddha figure. (see also Five Wisdom Buddhas)
The following are the 5 poisons and the analogous 5 wisdoms (with their associated Buddha figures in parentheses):
Poison | Wisdom | Buddha
greed | wisdom of sameness | Amitabha
hatred | mirror like Wisdom| Akshobhya
delusion | reality wisdom | Vairocana
pride | wisdom of individuality | Ratnasambhava
envy | all accomplishing wisdom | Amoghasiddhi
Hey, very cool! I only have the barest info about mine, so the additional info is very welcomed. (I bought the card in Chicago maybe 10 years ago and the back of it had "biswo bazra" and something about "dorje" and the information about the thunderbolt that destroys ignorance but it didn't fit well in the frame I wanted to put it in so I cut the back off and now I don't know where it is :-().
I think the thunderbolt part might be its own thing, within the larger wisdom-y framework.
Now I don't want to separate them, though (had considered getting only the thunderbolt symbol at the center).
are you sure it's a thunderbolt and not a snake around a pole? in this case, the pole would mean the axis mundi, and the snake wisdom, or somesuch... some dorjes have it.
The thing on the card definitely said "thunderbolt that destroys ignorance" -- but that's all I've got.
Well, I found a website on
Murukan, the Hindu Destroyer of Ignorance, son of Shiva and Sakti... he seems to be wielding some sort of a stick...but there's far too much information for me to process at the site right now.
Wow, cool site!
I'm very fond of Ganesh too, may get something for him, or some combination.
I'll see if I can find anything from what you've given me so far -- I don't want to get a tattoo of something I think means one thing only to find out it means something else entirely!
It seems that Murukan is on the right path. He is also a brother of Ganesh, so there ya go!
This from that same website:
Quote:All puranas and works referring to Murukan authentically state that Siva and Muruka are one and the same. The light of Siva in the form of six circles gave way to six-faced Murukan also known as Kanda. He and Siva are one and the same. (Tirumantiram: Enthaipiranukku Irumunru Vattamai) Siva has six faces and as Kanda also has six, both are same, though they are named differently (Tirumantiram Arumukathil Atipati) Lord Siva created Murukan at the request of the devas who were tortured by Surapadma and the asuras. It is quite interesting to note that from his own six third eyes Siva brought out six fire sparks which were handed over to god Vayu who in turn gave to Agni who deposited the same in Ganges, who in turn took the fire to the Saravana tank near Himalayas. The six fire sparks became six babies taken care by six Krittikai maidens. Siva and Parvati reached the tank and the six babies taken in one embrace by Sakti became Arumuka (six faced) with six heads twelve eyes and hands and one body. He became the worthy son of Siva by defeating the asuras, gracing the devotees, and becoming very knowledgeable. All the five natural elements are associated with the birth of Murukan. Siva himself is the controller of all the five elements.
dagmaraka wrote:bethie, i think the victorian collars and short short skirt are out of the question at the moment. plain white dress, most likely.
this I can believe
dagmaraka wrote:then again, i don't really give a rat's arse anyways.
this is a little trickier :wink:
~~~~
In any case, I think your ink is great and it's been fun reading on the new info you're providing about its origins.
(now if I could remember what I was looking for when I came back to this thread)
