Beltaine Ink 4: All Seeing Butterfly

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

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!

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.

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.

Spider

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This tattoo image comes from the Flickrstream of Sundown27 and is licensed under Creative Commons.

Spiders are much more noticeable during this time of year for those of us in the northern hemisphere. It seems to be because many are feeding up and so building bigger and better webs between almost almost any two trees/objects that will stand still. Just last night I went to fetch a dog and walked right through a web that was easily 4 feet wide.

Grandmother Spider is a much beloved figure of American Indian lore. She once made a web, laced it with dew and tossed it into the sky to form the stars. It is a wonder and a joy to behold the wonder of spiders. If you have the opportunity I highly recommend you spend some time outside watching a spider build it's web; it's a fascinating way to receive lessons from Grandmother Spider.

Bee and Flowers

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This gorgeous tattoo is licensed by Creative Commons and come from the Flickrstream of Onion.

This tattoo was inked by Rev. Matt Ellis.

I know spring flowers aren't right for this time of year in my hemisphere but I just felt like saying a goodbye to flowers before the chill of autumn kicks in.

The Dragonfly

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This nifty dragonfly tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of Fabi Dorighello and is licensed under Creative Commons.

This tattoo was created by the fine folks at Dark Side Tattoo out of Sao Paulo. (At least I think that's where they're located; I don't understand Spanish so I could be wrong. UPDATE: In the comments section Clare has informed me that the language in question is Portuguese, not Spanish, and the shop is indeed in Sao Paulo. You'll have to forgive me folks, I'm a moron when it comes to geography and languages. Thanks Clare!)

The dragonfly has, in recent years, become a very popular critter to be found on everything from wind chimes, flower pots, clothing and yes, even skin. The dragonfly is a creature of the air as well as the water as they're larvae, called nymphs, are aquatic critters usually found around wetlands, streams and lakes. The dragonfly has plenty of rich folklore surrounding it, mostly expressed through its many names. A fascinating sampling of these names can be found at Crystalinks:

Some of these are Teufelsnadel ("Devil's needle"), Wasserhexe ("Water witch"), Hollenross ("Goddess' horse"), Teufelspferd ("Devil's horse") and Schlangentöter ("Snake killer"). Also the name Snake Doctor has been used in Germany. In England the name Devil's darning needle and Horse stinger have been used. In Denmark the dragonfly have got such different names as Fandens ridehest ("Devil's riding horse") and Guldsmed ("Goldsmith"). Different names of dragonflies referring to them as the devils tools have also occurred in many other European cultures, some examples are the Spanish Caballito del Diablo ("Devil's horse") and the French l'aiguille du diable ("Devil's needle").

As far as specific mythic figures are concerned the dragonfly is historically identified with Daldal, a hero of the Takelma who were American Indians of Oregon, mostly living along the Rogue River. Daldal does great deeds and slays monsters that would threaten his people.

Aside from all of that, the dragonfly can represent change and adaptability. Similar to the butterfly they transform from one flightless state of being to magnificent creatures of the air. And dragonflies, moving forward, backward and side to side in quick succession are masters of the air and a source of inspiration for those of us seeking to roll with the changes of our lives.

Gorgeous Wings

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These stunning wings comes from the Flickrstream of Spaceninja and are listed under a Creative Commons license. I'm usually pretty bored with wings as back piece tattoos, as they are beginning to become cliche, but these are unlike any I've seen.

(I'm not sure whether to tag this as insects or fairies, so I'll do both!)

Unique Back Piece

Also from Rate My Ink.

Mehndi Inspired Back Piece

This beautiful art comes from Inked Inc..

Pentagram, Ivy and Dragonfly

This awesome tattoo comes from Kim; she is the 14th person to submit her art to NeoPagan Ink! Yay! This tattoo is her own original design and was inked by KC at Marks of Art out of San Jose, California. Kim had this to say about her tattoo:

The Celtic knotwork pentagram came from a pendant I found online. I’ve seen it used as a tattoo motif on your blog before. I first got the idea of using it as a tattoo six years ago, but didn’t get it inked until November/07. The pendant had flowers around it, but I felt that the vines and berries would work better as a tattoo. To me, they represent growth (the vines) and beginnings (the berries). The dragonfly represents change.

Thanks to Kim for sharing her art!!

Winged Scarab

This gorgeous scarab comes from here. As most of you know, the scarab is a powerful image from Egyptian mythology and is found in many ancient writings and antiquities. This tattoo is apparently based on a scarab found in Pharoah Tutankhamun's tomb, probably the one below. Ra, the sun god, in the form of a scarab, or dung beetle, rolls the sun along his back thus explaining the movements of the sun. The scarab was a very popular symbol for this reason and features on everything from jewelry, including magical amulets, grave goods and furniture.

A lot of the significance of the dung beetle can be traced to the natural behavior of several varieties of beetle. They roll a bit of dung into a perfectly round ball with their young, larvae, inside it. The larvae then feed on the nutrients in the dung and eventually climb out. From the point of view of the ancients a new beetle emerging from a dung ball was a powerful representation of creation and life. Thus they immortalized it in hieroglyphic form with the meaning "to come into being" attached to it.

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 symbolizes
the courage to pursue my dreams that I get from my husband; the daisy is
for my son, with its ladybug for luck; the holly leaves and berries are
for my daughter (a Yule baby); and the spiderwebs are for me (since I make
my living writing and creating on the Web).

Sabrina has submitted other tattoos so we'll be seeing more of her in the days ahead. Thanks so much to Sabrina for sharing her art!

Celtic Bra

I just found this beautiful Celtic tattoo on a funky little blog called A Blingdom of God. Apparently the individual chose to get this tattoo as opposed to further surgery after breast cancer required a complete mastectomy. Very cool.

Ankh, Scarab

This beautiful art comes from here. And the artist is from my own neck of the woods, the Ozarks of Missouri. Specifically, this piece was done by Gerry Beckerman at Ozark Ink Tattoo in Ava, MO.

Beetle Ink

This is my FIRST reader submitted tattoo!! Yay! This cool scarab and earth comes from my friend, and fellow blogger, Gene. For some great reading be sure to check out his blog, Witches and Scientists.

Floral Spiral

This image comes from Rigphoto's Flickrstream
I really like this spiral and it inspires me to have my next spiral tattoo (I have two) done in a similar floral pattern. Perhaps a vine. Anyway, lovely tattoo.