On and off for the past several years I've kind of been considering getting a tattoo. There's plenty of arguements against them, mostly surrounding the fact that it is a very permanent mark made to the skin. There's also plenty of cultural significance around them, but I'm talking your basic young white girl thinking about getting one.
I can't say I agree with those people who suddenly decide to go get one, or think it'd be really "cute" to have a little flower or butterfly on their shoulder. People's tastes change and before you know it, that little butterfly is really stupid. But what if the symbol chosen is well thought out? What if it represents something that has stayed with you steadily for years? What if its custom drawn by the person who is going to have it? Does it then change from something inappropriate to something right and proper?
I've lived with the fox as a totem symbol for many years now and I am starting to think that enough time has passed that I should be able to carry it on my skin with decorum. The drawing I'm working on right now is of a kitsune - a Japanese fox-woman, dressed in kimono. I'll have to see how it turns out. Another thing I was thinking about was seperating out one of the foxes in the Japanese woodblock print I own. I like how each of the foxes in that print has their own little ball of foxfire floating around them. But no matter what, it isn't a decision I'll make haphazardly.
Posted by Galatea at November 16, 2003 12:38 PMWhen I got the big one on my back, I first printed the design out on paper and hung it by my computer. After three months of looking at it ever day and still loving it, I got the tattoo.
I figured that if I liked it consistently for that three months, I was safe.
Posted by: Missie on November 17, 2003 02:03 PMI have two Slytherin snake tattoos (the snakes on the Slytherin shields - one of them actualy looks like the snake head on the Slytherin shield you have displayed in your links section). And I will never regret them - I know this because I have loved Harry Potter ever since the first book came out - but more importantly, I have always stood by Slytherin and Snape. It means a lot to me - no matter how imaginery. :-)
Posted by: Cindy on November 24, 2003 09:39 PMI got my first tattoo two years ago... my general thinking was that I would wait for the perfect design, and then sit on it for a full year. I figured if I still felt as strongly about it after so much time had passed, it was probably the right one for me. And the result? I still love it, and I still intend to get more (possibly for the winter holidays--winks at bf ;).
Like you, of course, I identify heavily with fox, and also will wear it on me, hopefully soon, in a permanent fashion. I have no intention of regretting any such decisions--whether or not I still feel as strongly about fox in twenty (or thirty, or forty, etc...) years, I will know that it was deeply important to the person I was at this point in my life.
I wouldn't like to imagine myself becoming the type of person to whom that would mean nothing. :)
Posted by: Fox on December 3, 2003 04:42 PM