Moon and Broom

Here's another tattoo from Sabrina.The broom and moon is on my lower back; it's a reminder to me that I always have the means to fly and no one can take that from me. Thanks to Sabrina for sharing her broom and mo...

Pagan and NeoPagan Ink

The history of tattoos is tightly bound up with that of paganism because the first people to create and receive them were pagans or, at the very least, their ancestors whose shamanistic ways gave birth to paganism. Tattoo is one of the oldest forms of art, right after cave and rock art from prehistoric times. In fact, the ancient history of tattoo is so varied and universal that simply picking a spot on the globe reveals a rich history of body art. Throughout history tattoos served many different purposes. Some were rites of passage that marked a person’s journey into adulthood. For some peoples, a tattoo was an attempt at healing or pain relief. Some tattoos labeled a person a criminal. Others were reserved for shamans, priests and priestesses. Still more were exclusive badges of...

Flowered Ankle

These pretty flowers come from Sabrina from Goddess a Day, which is a really cool site. She is the eleventh person to submit her art and had this to say about the meaning behind the various images: The flower piece on my ankle is a rework of a single poppy; it was my first tattoo (at age 30!) and needed an update before 40, which is coming up all too quickly. The poppies are for me (my birthday is 11/11); the tiger lily symbolizesthe courage to pursue my dreams that I get from my husband; the daisy isfor my son, with its ladybug for luck; the holly leaves and berries arefor my daughter (a Yule baby); and the spiderwebs are for me (since I makemy living writing and creating on the Web).Sabrina...

Grateful Backpiece

This back piece comes from Jackie, a cool gal I just found on Witchvox. She is the tenth person to submit her art to NeoPagan Ink! Whoo hoo! Thanks Jackie for submitting your a...

The Sorcerer

I know this picture is tiny but I couldn't help sharing it once I found it. This tattoo comes from the Just the Life of a Wiccan Mom blog. This is the first tattoo of this kind I've ever found. It comes from "The Sorcerer", an image from the Trois Freres cavern in France. It dates from approximately 13,000 BCE and may be the precursor to later Horned Gods like Cernunnos and Pan. I would share an image of the actual cave art but it is so degraded that all we have to go on is a modern drawing of it. The Sorcerer is a fascinating bit of history as it could be a vision of the earliest shamans in a state of ecstatic communion with the gods. It could also be an image of a hunter preparing for...

Green Ganesha

This gorgeous Ganesha comes from the Hindu Blog. If you have an interest in Hindu tattoos I recommend you check it out. I know Hinduism isn't strictly pagan but it is of great interest to many non-Hindus, as pointed out on the Hindu bl...

An Eye on an Arm

This awesome eye tattoo comes from the arm of Em's husband. She is the ninth person to submit art to NeoPagan Ink. If it looks kinda familiar it's very similar to eyes featured on some TOOL albums and with good reason as it's based on the artwork of Alex Grey whose work has been featured on cd artwork by various other bands including the Beastie Boys and Nirvana. Just for the hell of it I thought I'd post the lyrics to one of my favorite TOOL songs, this is the song Lateralus from the album of the same name. It is one of the albums which features the eyes of Alex Grey. To learn more about TOOL visit The TOOL lyrics page. And thanks to Em and her husband for submitting their image!Enjoy.Black...

Colorful Brighid

This absolutely stellar Brighid comes from Tattoo Now. Art by Mulysa Mayhem out of Saugus, MA. I am so in love with this tatt...

Floral Moons

These pretty moons and flowers come from Tammy of Mimmsical Creations; she is the eighth person to submit her art! She had this to say about it:I have had it since 2003. I had thought about a tattoo for many years, and finally came up with the idea for the design. I am quite drawn to the moon and its symbolism. Therefore, the triple moon symbol (birth/life/death or maiden/mother/crone) is what I chose as the basis of the design. The artist who did the tattoo took my idea and made it his own design incorporating flowers.Thanks to Tammy for submitting her tatt...

Stylized Pentagram

This beautiful black and gray pentagram comes from Amy; she is the seventh person to submit her art to NeoPagan Ink. Yay! Soon I'll be into double digits. Anyway, Amy had this great story to go along with her tattoo:This summer, on vacation to see my mom and brothers, I was checking out my brother's tattoos and asked him who did them. He looked at me like a kid in a candy store when I said I was considering getting one. (My first, and until then, my last, I had gotten ten years ago lol) He was on the phone in a flash to his artist, who normally takes appointments a month in advance. He got me in the next day! I was so psyched, and so was my big brother, who was dying to see his baby sister...

White Snake

This white snake comes from Anna from over at Life's Too Short for Mediocre Chocolate. She is the sixth person to submit her art to NeoPagan Ink. Given my recent post about purely white tattoos I asked Anna how her snake has held up over time. I got it around St Patrick's Day of this year. So far, it is just as beautiful as the day I got it. I have very pale skin, though--I think that's part of the reason it's visible at all.I got a tattoo with white highlights about that same time and the white is now all gone. So Anna must have gotten the special white ink I keep hearing about. Here's hoping her white snake lasts forever! Thanks Anna for sharing your tatt...

You see, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.

Julio Rodriq...

Flamin' Hoot

Michael R...

Sweet Puddin'

This is a crossover post from another blog, Batman Tattoos, where this Gabe Tucker tattoo is also posted. I think Harley qualifies for pinup status too, ...

Hello, Puddin'

Gabe Tuc...

Would you like to know which of them were cowards?

Dennis Prev...

Celtic Pentagram

This super cool tattoo comes from Nydia from Brazil; she is the fifth person to offer up her pagan art. As I'm pagan/Wiccan for almost 12 years, and I thought it would be good to have this symbol of my spiritual path in my skin for as long as I live. It was made about three years ago, though. It took me a long time to find something that I enjoyed enough to have forever. Originally this one was a piece of jewelry, a silver pendant. I love it!Thanks for submitting your tattoo Nyd...

The Hoot For Red October

image removed at request of artist ...

And as you can see, I'm a lot happier!

Mike De M...

Goddess Backpiece

I must say my favorite aspect of this gorgeous black and gray tattoo is the hair, amazing. Click through for more detail.Sou...

SUERTE

Back in the bay, Lucky olelo from soul signature tattoo in hawaii.Tattooing for a couple weeks, ...for appointments pls call the shop, 408-288-6814or come to the shop and set one up,Thanks...

Goddess Sleeve

Notice the shell on the lower left of the moons.The banners feature the names of her kids. I just love this sleeve, not only the various goddess images but the spiral vines and flowers are gorgeous. Very cool. Thanks so much to Kris for sharing her slee...

Horus

This is another image that's been stagnating in my documents so I don't know where it came from. Pretty neat though? By the way, the text is from a great Alice in Chains song that was very popular in the '90s. The song is "Down in a Hole" and the lyrics are as follows:Bury me softly in this wombI give this part of me for youSand rains down and here I sitHolding rare flowersIn a tomb...in bloomDown in a hole and I don’t know if I can be savedSee my heart I decorate it like a graveYou don’t understand who theyThought I was supposed to beLook at me now a manWho won’t let himself beDown in a hole, feelin’ so smallDown in a hole, losin’ my soulI’d like to fly,But my wings have been so deniedDown...

Stupid Tattoos

It seems that getting stupid tattoos is making the news around Europe lately. BBC reports about the foolishness of what is termed "party tattoos".A number of teenagers have become infected after getting tattoos at a house party.Several under-18s visited their doctor with signs of infection after illegally being tattooed at the event in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.The National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS) said it was unclear if safe practices were followed and warned of the dangers of under-age tattooing. It seems the individual performing the dangerous and very stupid tattoos has not been located but will obviously be prosecuted if discovered. Not only are a lot of these stupid, stupid, stupid kids having to visit their doctors for infection but they were all underage. It kinda...

The Beat That My Hoot Skipped

A tattooist submission! This is awesome, Bart Bingh...

Now I'm always smiling!

Jesse Allison (pic ripped from BME - I su...

And I thought my jokes were bad

Two Jokers for the price of one, from Gabe Tuc...

Tamara Never Dies

I love this Tamara De Lempicka tattoo, done by old skool icon Chad Koeplin...

Tamara Never Dies pt 2

Another tattoo that has that Lempicka inspired art deco style...done by aaron ...

Cute Witch

This super cute witch comes Kris. She is the fourth person to submit art to my little blog. Isn't it awesome? She's submitted other images so we'll be seeing more of her on NeoPagan I...

Yellow Fever

Reader Submission! Tina Hope sent this classic pinup in yellow, done by Gary in Illustrated Man, Sydney, Austral...

Tank Girl! (sorta)

Not so punk as the original, mind. Done by Chris Blinst...

I am a man of few words, but many riddles

...

Aries Backpiece

I found this awesome Aries symbol on the InkedBlog which hasn't been updated in two years but is still a wealth of tattoo images. Awesome Aries symbol, don't ya thi...

Aztec Backpiece

This amazing black and gray Aztec tattoo comes from the Aztec Tattoo HubPage. I'm not sure if all pagans consider Aztec (or Mayan, etc.) religions to be neopagan but I do as they are the pre-Christian religions later stamped out and now seeing a resurgence, much like the pagan traditions of Europe. As always, click through for the larger versi...

Like a Virgin!

Sorry for all the music references. Very 80s, and very gay. Perhaps my unconscious is trying to tell me something. Anyway, this Mary was done by Krist...

I'm in the Army now, woo-oo!

Another Tony Ciavarro pinup, an army tattooist girl. Which is kind of ironic, given that the army are trying to purge tattooed soldiers from their ran...

Life's a Beach!

It is for Chris Blinston, anyw...

Chicken Hoot

Lou Jac...

Pure White Tattoos

According to Mail Online the latest Hollywood craze is white tattoos. Purely white tattoos, that is, with no other color at all. But white-ink tattoos have become an overnight success with a host of celebrity followers from supermodel Kate Moss to actress Lindsay Lohan.The permanent designs are applied with a regular tattoo gun, yet use ink that is thicker and of a higher quality than normal to stand out on the skin. I'm kinda on the fence about this. On the one hand, anyone who has ever had any white highlights on a tattoo knows that it will fade. No matter how little sun you get the white will eventually fade away leaving bare skin color underneath. So, in that sense getting a purely...

You... you complete me

Chris Tho...

Hawaii Guest artist

Bong from Tattoo Krew and Lucky from Soul Signature and tattoo krew is coming infrom the islands of hawaii and will be guest spotting in humble beginnings tattoo studio.they will be tattooing during the san jose tattoo convention , from oct 23 - nov1st...or longer...for appointments pls call or come to the shop, thanks orlyvisit bongs myspace       http://www.myspace.com/bong187visit lucky                      www.soulsignaturetattoo....

Multicolored Starflower

Just found this pretty tattoo on a MySpace page. I like this design and overall look so much that if I ever get a pentacle/pentagram tattoo it will be very similar to th...