Belated Birthday

Yes, those are gummy bears.

While I was away from blogging NeoPagan Ink had its second birthday, how 'bout that?

Symbolic Trio

Angelic Devil and Fairy

Hummingbird and Sun

Here, have a twofer.

Beltaine Sun and Moon

Beltaine Ink 4: All Seeing Butterfly

Here's another great tattoo from Beltaine; this is another very nice piece belonging to Chelsea.

Beltaine Ink 3: Hawk

Another of the great tattoos photographed on Beltaine! This belongs to my cool new friend Bob and was inked at Electric Voodoo Tattoo in Springfield, Missouri.

Beltaine Ink

This lovely tattoo comes from the even lovelier Larissa who made a great May Queen for some recent Beltaine festivities I attended. It was inked at Electric Voodoo Tattoo in Springfield, Missouri. This tattoo is just the first in a series of many great tattoos I was able to snap photos of while celebrating the day. I hope you all had as good a Beltaine as I did!

Botticelli Ink

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Okay, so it's still in progress but I don't care. This Birth of Venus, from the original Botticelli masterpiece, is too gorgeous to not post. This lovely tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of artist Shannon Archuleta and is licensed under Creative Commons.

Venus, or Aphrodite if you're more inclined to the Greek side of things, was born from the foam, we all know that. But what many people don't realize is that, according to Hesiod, she was born from the foam of the ocean because Uranus was castrated by his son Cronus. Said member was thrown into the sea which became pregnant and voila! Venus. Her older, Greek name, Aphrodite, comes from aphros "sea foam". How's that for a birth story?

Iris for Imbolc

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These lovely tattoos, of iris and a butterfly, come from the Flickrstream of Rambleonsylvie and is licensed under Creative Commons. This tattoo, except for the original butterfly, was inked by artist Tom Meyer.

The iris is just one of many flowers associated with the spring-is-coming-please-hurry-up holyday of Imbolc so I thought it fitting to share this nifty tattoo.

Incidentally, this Imbolc marks the 11th year since my initial dedication to the pagan path. Yay for me!

More Great Froud Ink!

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The above image features some more amazing artwork from tattoo artist Lisa Schmoldt of Otherside Ink from our good friend Daniel who has contributed more to NeoPagan Ink that any other reader. Yay Daniel! Here's what he had to say:

The tiniest of Faerie offering up a berry as some times a little bit of magic in your life is enough to see you through.

These tattoos feature art by Brian Froud and Amy Brown. To see more of Daniel's great tattoos go here, here, and here.

And a great big "Thank you" to Daniel for sharing so much amazing tattoo art with us here at NeoPagan Ink.

Negura Bunget Ink

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This tattoo comes from reader Iulia and is one of the most unique tattoos ever featured here on NeoPagan Ink. It was inked at Black Ink Studio in Bucharest. Here's what Iulia had to say about it:

The symbol is above my left wrist and it represents the principle of four, the natural form of the Universe to manifests itself - the 4 seasons, the 4 phases of the moon, the 4 moments of the day, the 4 winds, the 4 cardinal points, the 4 elements.... Macrocosmos’ manifestation in microcosmos. It is also the logo of one of my favorite bands, Negura Bunget, a Romanian Black Metal band whose ideology is deeply rooted in Transylvanian spirituality.

Thanks so much to Iulia for sharing this great tattoo!

And here's some Negura Bunget for all you black metal lovers out there.

Kingfisher Ink

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These gorgeous Kingfishers come from the Flickrstream of Graeme Fraser and are licensed by Creative Commons.

In ancient Greece, the week before and the week after the winter solstice were peaceful days on the sea allowing the kingfisher to hatch her egg. As the Greek goddess Alcyone was represented by the kingfisher we now call these days the Halcyon Days. From Wikipedia:

The myth of Ceyx and Alcyone describes how Alcyone, as recorded by Ovid, pines all day by the shore where Ceyx was destined to return. Unfortunately Ceyx, who is referred to as the son of the morning star (a reference to the solstice, not anything satanic), has died in a shipwreck. Alcyone finds this out, and throws herself into the sea. The gods feel pity for Ceyx and Alcyone, transforming them into Halcyon Birds. The first Halcyon days were those days in winter, on which Alcyone first lay her eggs. Her father Aeolus, god of the wind, calms the seas each year since so she can lay them again.

These are considered days of peace and prosperity. I like to think of these days as a calming time before the insanity of the mainstream holidays kicks in.

More Froud Ink: Crumb

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This amazing tattoo, a take on Brian Froud's Crumb, comes from reader Daniel who says:

Watching over me...still to be joined to some dog roses and vines.

Thanks to Daniel for sharing this tremendous tattoo!

P.S. Be sure to check out the comments on this post! Daniel chimes in with some more background about this tattoo. The artist who inked this tattoo is Lisa Schmoldt of Otherside Ink out of Florida.

Athena: Watchmen Style

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This gorgeous Athena tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of Ohnocriso and is licensed under Creative Commons.

This tattoo is based on original art by Dave Gibbons from the comic The Watchmen.

Snake Oil Ink

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This nifty tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of Opacity and is licensed under Creative Commons.

I guess this is technically an advertisement but it's so cool I don't care. The oil refers to a product of the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, which just happens to be one of the coolest stops for your aromatherapy and other witchy needs. What I like most about this tattoo is it's similarity to old fashioned hoodoo items.

Spider Fairy

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This ooky fairy comes from the Flickrstream of Opacity and is licensed under Creative Commons.

Just another dark goddess type to mark the season! I'm kinda thinkin' this might be based an original painting so if someone knows anything about it be sure to speak up.

Bat in Flight

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Here's a nice bat from the Flickrstream of Earley Curley and is licensed under Creative Commons.

If you look closely you can just make out what appears to be two nipples, so, I don't know how accurate this is but it's neat all the same!

Halloween Every Day

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This groovy tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of Katie Cowden and is licensed under Creative Commons.

I know we're still two weeks 'til the actual day but I'm getting the Halloween/Samhain fever so here's the first tattoo celebrating my favorite season. If you haven't already done it this is your official NeoPagan Ink message to get out your pumpkin lights and skull candles.

Haida Ink

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This awesome tattoo, of an egg, a raven, a whale and a woman with a labret piercing, comes to us from the Flickrstream of Zach_ManchesterUK and is licensed under Creative Commons. It was designed by Haida artist Freda Diesing.

The Haida were and are American Indians of the northern coast of British Columbia near the border of Alaska. Like many native peoples their use of symbols and mythic figures on masks, totem poles, etc., often denote lineage and status. Unfortunately, much of their myths have been lost to time leaving us with only educated guesses as to the meaning of many of their symbols. We do know that the raven features heavily in Haida mythology and art and serves as their trickster who provides freedom but also threatens chaos.