What do you think of my Hypothetical Tattoo? (ethically and aesthetically)

In My Humble Opinion
1

Quite some time ago, I was leafing through a chintzy Myths-‘n’-Folklore book when I came upon an image of the Eye of Horus and had the instant and inexplicable desire to get that symbol tattooed on me.

Now, there are some rather hideous representations of the Eye of Horus out there, but this one is, I think, particularly pleasing (and is not only the symbol in the book but the first result you get when you Google image-search “eye of horus”–it’s an omen, man! :wink: ).

If I were, in fact, to get a tattoo of this symbol, I would get it in black, to that scale, and on the back, very high and very far to the left (in other words, near the left shoulder). I know, I know, “if you can’t trust your own opinion, then don’t do it,” but…what do you think of that as a tattoo? Pretty? Hideous? Also, I’m one of those terrible and perverse people who dislikes doing things that are uber-popular just for the principle of the thing, and–horror of horrors!–a friend of mine who is semi-knowledgeable about tattoos informs me that the Eye of Horus has grown to be a relatively popular design as of late. True?

The thing that really concerns me is the ethics of it, though. Yes, it’s cool to go around and say, “The Eye of Horus is a protective symbol of the ancient Egyptians, blah blah blah,” but the plain fact is (whatever the SDMB thinks about it!) that if I got it as a tattoo, I would value it almost solely for aesthetics. However, this was a symbol that at one time really meant something sacred to a large group of people who practiced a particular religion. Isn’t it the least little bit wrong of me to shout, “Hey, this looks groovy regardless of its historical value, let’s get a tattoo of it!”

I mean, suppose Judaism (for example) died out within the next couple of hundred years (not that I would wish for this to happen), and pretty soon there were few-to-no practitioners of the religion. Then, a thousand or more years later, some random person comes upon the Star of David in a book and says, “Wow, pretty cool!”, not really caring that this was an extremely important symbol to a particular religion, and slaps it on as a tattoo? Doesn’t that display a blatant disregard to other people’s sacred beliefs?

But then again, I’ve been told I overthink things… :wink:

2

The funny thing is, Jews aren’t even allowed to get tattoos. :wink:

You should get whatever makes you happy. I think it’s pretty neat looking, myself.

3

Well it’s protective value is dubious since history tells of what happened to them. If it’s protective value is diminished, then it can’t be too sacred, can it? It it ain’t too sacred then what’s left but it’s historical and aesthetic value?

4

People who say you shouldn’t get an image you like because of its cultural meaning are being both hyper-sensitive and naive. A culture is not “owned” by any one group. Every culture in existence has adopted bits of other cultures that its members find appealing, sometimes with complete disregard of the original meaning. Culture is not a static thing to be revered, but a constantly changing thing to be experienced.

I got an Eye of Horus tattoo years ago, partly because of the meanings (not just the protective one but the mathematical one) and partly because of the aesthetics. I have gotten lots of good comments on it, and the placement is similar to yours – between my left shoulder blade and my spine. The only thing I don’t like about it is that I can’t see it easily myself.

5

And it will look really cool when you’re 70 years old and explaining it to your grandkids too. :dubious:

6

Someone always comes in and says “but it’ll be ugly when you’re 70”.

Who cares? Lots of things about me will be ugly when I’m 70. And, personally, I never saw my grandmother’s back skin as a child so I doubt there will be much explaining to do.

You get your tattoo and be proud of it.

7

Or, you know, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and die in a fiery inferno, so the issue wouldn’t even have to come up!

Yeah, I neglected to mention the mathematical thing before, but that’s also a strong inducement…hmm.

8

A close friend of mine has that one one arm and an ankh on the other. He got them because of aesthetic reasons too. Just make sure that the tattoo artist is good. Nothing worse than a poorly drawn tattoo.

9

Sorry, I really didn’t mean to offend: only wanted you to consider. Personally I find tattoos ugly, ugly, ugly. I have no idea why someone would want to permanently blemish their skin. But hey it’s your skin after all.

I just don’t get it.

10

A friend pointed me at this thread and told me I was being paged, heh. I will note right up front that I’m an Egyptian reconstructionist – one of the folks who is working on establishing a modern version of the religion of those particular ancients, in other words.

First of all, pop Egyptiana is fairly popular, so there is the risk of anything you do on the subject being something that forty gajillion other people have done. And at least thirty gajillion of those will have done it badly. If that’s a matter of concern to you, I’d give it serious thought, but really, you seem to be wanting to mark the symbol because you like it, not because you want to fit in at the goth club.

As to the religious symbol – first of all, many of the religious and magical symbols of Egypt have been used by other people for a very long time. Egyptian motifs are popular in some branches of ceremonial magic, for example. So if I were going to start bitching people out for taking one of my symbols out of context, I’d probably have to start with the ancient Greeks, so it’d be a while before I caught up with you. :wink: People have been using this stuff for their own purposes for a long time.

But really, if I wanted to assign someone homework for them to demonstrate adequate respect for the symbol, it looks like you’ve done it already: you know that it is a religious symbol. You know what it signifies. You might not be able to write a five-page paper on the subject, but you know you’re not marking yourself with something inimical and more or less what it invokes for those people who believe in it (or have studied it without having religious significance on it, for that matter). If you’re still not certain about the ethics of the situation, I’d strongly suggest doing a little more research about the symbol – get a better grasp on its context (what do you know about written symbols and Egyptian religion or magic?) and minutiae (can you distinguish between the solar and lunar Eyes?) and see if you’re comfortable with that. Basically, make a well-informed choice.

On a personal note, one of the major draws I have to my religion is its aesthetics; I have no objections to someone appreciating its stuff solely on that note. (It is better than no appreciation at all.)

11

Please rest assured that anyone who has ever considered getting a tattoo under any circumstances has had several people raise such an objection and has therefore already given it whatever consideration they think it worth.

12

I say get it. Forget about what it will look like when (if?) you are 70.

As a graphic artist with a background in symbols, I can state that cultural symbology is bunk. If you care to research it you will find dozens if not hundreds of very different cultures using the same symbol.

Culture iconography by design has to be simple. Many designs are recycled over and over and…

13

I say go for it. I too have a religious tattoo. Okay, it’s “fake”*, and something I don’t particularly believe in, but it’s got a nice meaning as well as being pretty.

I can make it swim, too!

[sub]*If you don’t understand, don’t sweat it.[/sub]

14

People might just think you’re an Alan Parsons Project fan.

Well… I would advise against getting a swastika just because you thought it looked nifty. :dubious:

15

I like it. Always get someone to put sunblock on it for you, so it doesn’t fade.

16

If you do get the tattoo, be prepared to get a lot of crap. You’ve already seen a bit of that in this thread. :wink:

I always get, “But you want to be in politics! A politician can’t have tattoos!” ← On my ankles.

My reply? “If the only reason I lose the presidency is because I have a butterfly on my ankle, I’d rather not be president anyway. Seriously, I’d end up naming myself queen and killing all the stupids.”

Just be prepared.

Now, I’ve seen bunches of this particular design, so it isn’t very original. Of course, I have a butterfly on my ankle, so- clearly- I care not about this originality you speak of :smiley: .

Ya’ know what the neatest part is for me? Looking down and seeing something pretty and colorful, it brightens my day and makes me smile. Right now I’m 19. Will it have the same effect when I am 59? Who cares? So far I’ve gotten a year of smiles and that makes it worth it (wow, that sounded cheesy).

Do you like it? Would it cheer you up to see it in the mirror? Then hell yeah! Go for it.

17

A friend of mine had that tatooed on his ankle. I doubt he was aware of its singnificance/history as you were, but I think it looks good. Go for it!

  • manx, who has no idea where she wants her Wild Thing tattoo
18

That would so neat “climbling up” your ankle or something.

19

I was in a restaurant tonight, and at the next table was a 20something woman with a huge honkin’ eye of Horus (5 or 6 inches across, I’d guess) at the top of her back, centered.

Just sayin’.

20

A friend of mine gave me some pretty good advice. Put a print out of the exact picture of what you want your tattoo to be somewhere where you’ll look everyday. Like tape it to the mirror in your bathroom and just force yourself to look at it for a year. If by the year’s end you still like it, then get the tattoo, because if you don’t, then you’ll understand that having something permanently etched into your skin that you don’t like would be very very bad.