weirdlet

When what-ifs lead to the Weirdlet's ramblings...

I’ve kind of come to a conclusion about what, if I ever want to get a tattoo, I might do.

The idea first appealed to me waaaay back when I read the second book of Promethea, the bit where she’s having sex with Jack Faust to learn about magic, and this bit about Kundalini, the Tantric fire-serpent comes up. It really appealed to me, both in a philosophical, metaphysical, and in a sensual way. It’s a cool idea, both a representation of, on one side of the coin, the higher meaning of slowly, rhythmically stretching toward enlightenment, and on the other side, the earthly and immediate meaning of sex, something I both yearn for with a deep and biting tooth, and which I respect the power and danger of. I sometimes wonder if I’m going to be deeply disappointed when I actually get in and test the waters one of these decades, but I kind of like to have my ideal of it.

That said, it’s also kind of a side-fling to things I’ve heard of old pagan worship, usually referring to old Greece- snakes as symbols of wisdom, of goddesses, connection with the earth and its secrets. I’m somewhere between an atheist and an agnostic, I think- I believe things are real that are real in their effects, even if their ‘physical’ reality is negotiable- it can’t hurt to believe in something, so long as you’re not psychotic about it or an ass to others. The image goes with a lot of things that are important to me- fertility, animal power, a flexible spine and a flexible soul; a flowing pathway and a middle-range of coiled potential, neither tightly spring-wound nor stiff, straight and static. Things I both appreciate and hope for, things I wish to claim and strive for when I haven’t got them.

Meanings aside, it seems like a really solid, beautiful, and cool image to have, both standing out and inspiring a little mystery. I can’t see myself being someone who gets a new tattoo for every fandom- I kind of value my skin as it is, it’s part of my identity that it’s (or at least it could be if I could get the acne to quiet down) relatively unblemished, that it’s my own and unusual and unique. I’ve also always been of a frugal nature- I like to get maximum bang for my buck out of one unique piece rather than dally around with a lot of busywork to drain away time and money- it’s always been that way, with my artwork, my cooking, my methods of study and of buying clothing. I balance brute-force-and-ignorance with little finishing details, and it gets shit done. This image I’ve got in my head feels like it would really coalesce a lot of my ideas and hopes and meanings into one dramatic mark. Not a lot of meandering around and scribbling (at least, not in the final, finished product), but one, brazen and slow stroke that stands out stark and potent.

It’s a thought to keep in my head over the next few years. It seems like one with sticking power, but there’s always the factor of passing time, growing up, and changing self. Plus acne (I’m sure that can’t be good for tattoos, and I have a lot of it consistently recurring on spine, neck and shoulders), money, intended weight-loss, pain, and my-parents-will-fucking-murder-me. I certainly don’t wanna be ‘that guy’ who charges in, gets a major body modification, and then regrets it almost immediately. I don’t even for certain-sure know if I *want* a tattoo- it’s something that I’ve heard my friends talk about, but like sex, drugs, and until I was 18 rock’n’roll, it’s not something that ever came up to me *personally.*

Why waste a reader’s time with this maundering, then, you might say? Because it’s still an interesting ‘what if?’ idea, and while I’m slow to act, it’s often because I watch myself watch myself to the point where I’ve got great philosophical blather but don’t really know my own mind about things that haven’t been smacked directly in my face by real life. And what’s the point of having a blog-ish space, if not to air my thoughts to the universe? So I’m writing this down here, to make sure I’ve got the notion somewhere concrete where it can’t immediately bite into me, and I’ll let it simmer for a while.

Pros, cons, and potential meanings aside- isn’t that just a *cool* image, a black-inked serpent slowly undulating its way up the spine?