Good evening! Today’s Tattoo Tuesday on Marry Me Ink features something that, from a first glance, you would relate it to a terrible history. However, if you look at how pretty this tattoo is, and read why Austen and her tattooist decided on this, you would see why it’s an amazing idea and a great way of “Claiming back the Swastika”
“I really wanted some sort of paisley-print inspired design on my shoulder and the day came, Deryn came out and asked how I felt about a swastika design incorporating the paisley-print..and the rest is history!
The poor little swastika is still misinterpreted as a result of Hitler’s use of it. In the tattooing-community in particular, there seems to be movement towards ‘reclaiming the swastika‘..which is brilliant because in actuality the word swastika means ‘good’. In Buddhism, it represents eternity and is a symbol of good luck in Hinduism. There’s a book called The Gentle Swastika by ManWoman which is about reclaiming the swastika and is quite interesting.
I could ramble all day about it..but I won’t!”
What an great story, thank you Austen for sharing your tattoo story with us! I love the thought of “Reclaiming the swastika”. Also – Isn’t Austen a total beauty?!!
Don’t forget you can send in your tattoo photos and stories for the weekly Tattoo Tuesday posts: marrymeink@gmail.com
