The Ouroboros

A LOT of people have asked about my tattoo and I figured I could just put the story in one place to direct them to it.

I had never actually wanted one at all when I was younger.  But then my brother seemed to be collecting them on his person LOL   He had MANY - some just for the art, others for his USMC brotherhood.  One day he was going to get another one and told me to come along. He playfully pestered me to get one too. He told me he would even pay for it - a pretty rose? Something girly?  

I did go with him but there was nothing that even remotely appealed. I figured if I was going to submit to needles (shudders) it had to have some meaning other that, "it was pretty." LOL  He teased me but not meanly - calling me CHICKEEEENNNN - but all in fun and we left with me un-tatted.

Fast forward some years and he is now moved on to the next life.  If you read here, you can see I had a hard hard time with dealing with his death and searched for meaning everywhere I could.  At the time, a TV show called Millennium was airing and I loved it. The opening credits were this snake thingy that fascinated me so I had to look it up - old school internet via the dial up modem time LOLOL

I discovered it was called an Ouroboros and while learning more about it, realized it fit how I was thinking and feeling and learning - in regards to my brothers death.

Endings and beginnings - my ending is my beginning. Cycles of life and death, it all just fit.  And things suddenly clicked - I had a symbol that fully held meaning for me, it was also pretty LOL And I knew I wanted it tattooed on my person.   

So, I asked a close friend of both mine and my brother's where they went recently to get a tat that was reputable and he gave me a place and his wife came with me and I showed the drawing to the artist and explained the things I added to the original art and he drew it up and it was perfect.  One hour later I had my tattoo on my right shoulder blade and I have to admit, I felt my brother there with me, laughing in his sweet way and telling me to BREATHE while I was getting used to the feel of the needle (shudder) and almost passed out LOL

I finally got that tat!

I took the original snake from the Millennium art - because I liked that ouroboros best - there are a TON of them art-wise, but this one was sleek and fit how I wanted it to look. I contemplated the one Dana Scully got on The X Files but it was it was a little too "snakey," so I kept it streamline in shape.  I added a aquamarine eye to make it pop and the artist added some yellowish green shading in the body also to make it pop.    You can see at  9, 6, and 3 o'clock on the snake that there are the letters S. E. and F.  - those stand for Soar Eternally Free - which are the words I had placed on his Urn and plaque after he was cremated.  It was how I pictured him leaving the world once he was put into the fire. I think he would have totally approved.