The Meaning of Monkey Tattoos

The Meaning of Monkey Tattoos Monkeys are knows to be joyful and merry creatures generally associated with happy times, childhood, bananas and tales about hot lands. That’s why monkey tattoos are not infrequent to see.

Monkey is an animal with a contradictory symbolic meaning. Monkey’s ability to imitate human behavior has always been used to make fun of vanity and stupidity, but it is possible to show positive qualities of human nature with this symbol as well. That’s why monkey tattoos may carry positive as well as negative meaning. Generally speaking, this animal has a higher symbolic rank in the east rather than in the west.

The animal was revered in Ancient Egypt, Africa, India and China while Christianity treated it with great suspicion identifying it with vices, passions, idolatry, criminal intentions, greed, lust and devil’s heresy. In western art monkey was usually depicted with an apple in its mouth as a symbol of the Fall of Adam and Eve. Later on, a lot of caricatures with monkeys were drawn to reveal minor drawbacks of human nature.

In Egyptian iconography baboon, unlike, symbolized wisdom. And the Indian god of monkeys called Hanuman embodied courage, firmness and self-sacrifice. In Tibetan tradition bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (embodied in dalai-lama) appeared first in the image of a sacred monkey that showed compassion to the giant women who gave birth to 6 forefathers of Tibetan folks. In Chinese art gibbon symbolizes maternal care while in Japan toy monkeys are considered to be talismans defending children.

It is an interesting fact that a well-known symbolic figure “three monkeys” that don’t see evil, don’t hear evil and don’t speak evil (it is situated in a temple of a First Runner Tokugava in Nikko) symbolizes wise prudence in Japan and other Oriental countries while western thought perceives it as an embodiment of curiosity and talkativeness.

So monkey tattoos can be different, as there’re numerous monkey species in the world and there’re a lot of ideas that can be shown with the image of monkey.

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Scottish Tattoos - Designs and Ideas

Scottish Tattoos - Designs and Ideas Tattoo art frequently borrows its designs and ideas from cultural heritage of ancient folks. Like tribal tattoos originate from Native American and Polynesian art, Scottish tattoos date back to time immemorial when brave warriors from the British Isles adorned their skin to show off their courage and specify battles they have won.

Since the beginning of the 17th century Scottish tattoos were used by military men and firefighters as a rule, and incorporated symbols connected with these occupations, helmets and so on. There’ were also memorial tattoos that were done by friends of a fallen person and as other R.I.P. tattoos they featured his name, dates of birth and death.

The interest towards Scottish tattoos has risen over the past twenty years. It is true about Scottish Gaelic as well, the native language of this land (though English is widely spoken there). That’ why many people want to include scripts in Gaelic into their tattoo designs, but here it is important that you know the exact meaning of this or that phrase. Dictionaries can be helpful here, or if you have a friend who’s a native speaker ask him or her for help.

Scottish tattoos may incorporate clan symbols, for there’re 13 such symbols referring to each of 13 regions of Scotland. You may also look at a plaid design and use it as a base for your tattoo. Celtic cross tattoo design is frequently asked nowadays, but decide for it provided that it is really important for you and check its symbolism as well.

There’re also Gaelic tattoos and historical Scottish tattoos. The national symbol of Scotland is thistle; the saint patron of Scotland is St. Patrick. Therefore, you may incorporate thistle, four-leaf clover or a horseshoe into you Scottish tattoo design.

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Viking Tattoo Designs

Viking Tattoo Designs Tattoo art deals not only with beautiful images to cover your skin, but also help people express themselves. It is highly symbolic and sometimes it requires deep knowledge of other lands’ culture and history to translate the meaning of a small tat.

Viking tattoos belong to this group as well. They open a door to the world of unknown and the world of mystery, evoke the image of a brave warrior in our minds and remind us of those remote times when it was a great deal to explore in our world, and Vikings did a lot in this field.

Vikings were the Scandinavian folks who lived in the north of Europe in a snowy area with rather a tough climate. When we think about Vikings the first thing that comes into our mind is their famous longships, which were their main means of transportation, for both warring affairs and trade. They visited a lot of places through their history; they travelled to Constantinople and swan along the Volga river. They were not afraid of long voyages and reached such places as Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. Perhaps it was Vikings who discovered North America first.

For now there’s a strong interest in culture of non-existent folks, the symbols of Vikings has penetrated tattoo art as well. Nobody knows for sure the exact meaning of their symbols, but it doesn’t prevent them from being popular among those who are fond of their culture. Viking tattoos and to some extent similar to Celtic tattoos as they use rich knot work. You can also find crosses swastikas and triskeles as it is common ancient signs as well as swirl Viking tattoo designs. The triangle and triangle like objects are also the peculiarity of Vikings tattoos.

Viking Tattoo Designs

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Daisy Flower Tattoo Designs

Daisy Flower Tattoo Designs Flower tattoo designs feature positive connotation as a rule, and daisy tattoos are not an exception. The peculiarity of these tattoos is that they have no gender restrictions or in other words can be worn by both men and women.

However simple and modest the flower may seem it can be found in ancient myths and religious teachings. For instance, Roman mythology tells us a story about the nymph Belides who was so afraid of gods’ anger that turned herself into a daisy to escape from their eyes. In Christianity daisies act as a symbol of Child Jesus innocence. There’s also a belief among folks that daisies can tell us about feeling of our beloved - you just have to tear its petals and keep saying “loves/doesn’t love” and the last petal would telll the truth. In some cultures, though, the flower symbolizes death.

Daisy Flower Tattoo Designs

If we turn our attention to etymology, the word daisy derives from Old English “day’s eye.” This name reflects the flower’s behavior in the best possible way as it closes at night, and its center resembles an eye. That’s why daisy tattoos may features a human eye inside to show this resemblance.

Daisy Flower Tattoo Designs
Speaking about daisy tattoos’ symbolism it should be said that they mean peace, gentleness, purity and innocence. It is white daisies that are ascribed such a meaning while other color options has different symbolic meanings. Red daisy tattoos mean confidence and life energy, yellow ones are symbols of wisdom and joy while blue ones add spirituality to the general meaning of peace.

Daisy tattoos often depict the flower itself combined with other flora elements to your taste so you can create a unique meaning from different floral symbols.

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