Women and Tattoos: An Historically Symbolic Evolution of the Divine Female

Synchronously, this recent article (1/16/13) from The New Yorker was shared with me by someone who admires my work on the same day this week that I was a guest on Culture Freedom Radio’s Mind Magick with Lady Dee discussing sacred tattoos – the topic being Spiritual Tattoos for Transformation and Empowerment. The message of empowerment and freedom of self-expression in ways that symbolically have meaning and purpose (with effects both personally and collectively) seemed to be the shared thread in both my own message and what stood out to me most in the article.

The short article is titled, “A Secret History of Women and Tattoo,” by Maria Lokke and focuses on the thriving tattoo culture, especially among women, stating that:

“In fact, 2012 was the first year in which more women than men were tattooed in the U.S (twenty-three per cent of women, compared with nineteen per cent of men).”

Couple this statistical fact with a recent survey that revealed 1/3 of the people getting tattoos choose designs reflecting their spiritual or religious beliefs (especially so among first-timers) and we find how it all points to the new paradigm of awakening into our Divine Wholeness rapidly spreading.

Sacred tattoos are just one of the many choices we can choose from to do this that supports freedom of self-expression best mirroring our authenticity.

I did not find the higher percentage of women-getting-tattooed statistic to be surprising, as it actually made a lot of sense to me given my experience so far with helping clients in the co-creation of their own sacred tattoos, plus the fact that it mirrored the shifting frequencies into embracing the re-awakening of the Divine Female and conversely, the Divine Male in direct correlation to this return.

The true male is as engaged with the Divine Feminine return while they activate their own female energy within themselves into balanced partnership and empowerment. I have seen this in the work I’ve been assisting with my male clients’ sacred tattoos and how they are truly tapping into this inner dance of harmony. The new designs are all being created with rich symbolic representations of how each of my clients are empowering their Divine Female and Male into integration at this juncture on their life journey – a beautiful manifestation of the new energy we are in.

The new male is not threatened or in fear of the awakening female, but rather is embracing full support of this transition as he becomes aware of how the old programming is holding him back from his divinity. Equally so, the new female is empowering these repressed parts into full beauty and glory, without need to hide her Divinity.

Needless to say, I have been moved deeply from witnessing the transformational experiences shared by my female clients with their sacred tattoos that have assisted exponential leaps in their empowerment.

Maria Lokke goes on to share in her article:

“Tattoos appeal to contemporary women both as emblems of empowerment in an era of feminist gains and as badges of self-determination at a time when controversies about abortion rights, date rape, and sexual harassment have made them think hard about who controls their bodies—and why.” As we approach the fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, this observation is especially resonant.

Symbolically poignant in supporting how I had come to discover the healing power of sacred tattoos to transcend the personal and become collective.

Maria Lokke’s article highlights author Margot Mifflin’s work in her 1997 book (with a third edition release on 1/15/13), “Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo,” which examines this trend in a cultural, image-rich, history of tattooed women and female tattoo artists through the ages and examines the evolution of the tattoo culture in the last fifteen years.

You can read the entire article here: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo, as well as see all 9 photograph selections that accompany it (I only shared a few of my favorites for this post), along with captions by the author.

All photographs from “Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo,” by Margot Mifflin, published by PowerHouse Books.