The four tattoos I've accumulated in the past 2 years.
Clockwise (From Left)
1. Pictorial anagram. Read from right to left; starting from either the top or the bottom. "Death" on one side, "Life" on the other.
Location: Left Arm
Received: 20 September 2005
2. Tribal design with a treble clef integrated into it. Signifies my love for music; playing, listening, or writing. Doesn't matter.
Location: Top of my back
Received: 26 January 2006
3. Sad angel. A tribute to the friends I have lost in my lifetime. The five feathers signify each friend that has passed.
Location: Right side, just above my waist line
Received: 30 January 2007
4. Celtic cross. Cross to signify that Christianity (Catholicism) was part of my upbringing (I chose the Celtic cross simply because it's my favorite design for a cross). "In Aeternum", Latin for "for eternity". Although I am currently agnostic as far as religion goes, this reminds me of how I was brought up and how I should act.
Location: Right Arm
Received: 30 August 2005 (Day after my 18th birthday; would have been the day of, but Katrina closed the shop that day)
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tattoo Collage
New Celtic Tattoo
This is my first tattoo - inked by Garghoyle Tattoos of Elland, West Yorkshire. I chose this design for several reasons:
- As a Christian, the cross of Christ is very important to me; He died that I may live.
- The Celtic weave pattern is made up of one continuous line. God is above all, in all and through all that I do, part of the ongoing tapestry of my life.
- The circle behind the cross represents the world, for whom Christ died.
- A tattoo is permanent; God will never let me go.
- The Celtic design represents my ancestry; I am about a third Scottish - my grandfather and my great grandmother were both Scots.
- IC XC NIKA is "Jesus Christ, Conqueror" (or Victor) in Greek. IC XC are the first and last letters of Jesus Christ in Greek. NIKA means "conqueror" or "victor" (Nike was the Greek goddess of victory).
Many Christians seem to have severe hang-ups regarding tattoos. Their main argument is that Leviticus 19:28 appears to forbid marking your body. However, "A text without context is a pretext"... and this passage has often been quoted out of context. Leviticus 19:26-31 is clearly speaking of pagan ceremonies which were in danger of being accepted by the Israelites. The pagans would drink the blood of a sacrificed animal to gain its life source, but don't we eat meat, which has blood in it? This passage also prohibits the trimming of your beard - how many Christians today even have beards? Likewise, the pagans would cut themselves and inscribe their bodies on behalf of the dead, to appease false gods. Are Christians with tattoos really paying homage to false gods? Of course not! A Christian tattoo is proclaiming the living God! Unbelievably, I have even met "Christians" who thought that eating onion bhajis was to concede to false islamic doctrines! As Christians, we should be mature in our faith. Making up the rules based on our own assumptions, generalisations and prejudices is the way that the enemy leads people away from God's truth. Read His word, and let the truth set you free!
First
One of my Egyptian influenced tattoos. An Ankh with an eye of Horus behind. Together they symbolise life, protection and strength.
Celtic
Tattoo by Denise de la Cerda. This celtic cross was custom drawn by Denise for the wearer, Keith, in Jersey City, NJ at Modern Electric. Early 2000's. 2001-2003?
PJ tattoo 4
PJ tattoo 4
This was my first tattoo. I had made a drawing of my own version of the sacred heart. It was done down in Tennessee back in 2003. I really loved it at the time, but over the years the cross has been compared to bacon, so I decided I needed to update it and fix the lines, along with adding some flames to truly make it look more like the sacred heart.
So this is the updated version, and I think it looks A LOT better. It's still not done, as I would like the flames to have a few accents of color, and the wood fixed a bit more.
Thanks to Sean at Finest Lines Tattoo II in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio for this awesome work
