Brynhildr - Valknut

I am a servant and god-slave to Odin. Odin says I am valkyrie and told me to get "marked". This was my first ordeal, because I did not even have my ears pierced before this time. The valknut is three colors; blue for Odin, gold for me, and green for Freyja. Freyja does a lot of the teaching even though I belong to Odin. The sun motif around the valknut is due to many visions I have had where Odin refers to me as the sun and my arms and armor have symbols of the sun on them. This is the first of several marks He will require of me. This one sits above my elbow on my sword arm (right).

Raven - HELGRENZE

This tattoo spells out the word "HELGRENZE" in runes. It's a Germanic word meaning "bound to Hel", as I am a servant of Hel, the Norse/Germanic goddess of the Dead. It's my passport into many worlds, and a constant reminder that I serve a greater cause. I do see it as a slave brand, in the sense that it shows that I am owned body and soul by my patron deity. For more information on why I got it, and what it means to me, please check this Journal Entry.

Nahi - Celtic Knotwork with Blue and Purple Flowers and Vine Work (Protection Spell)

Location: Upper left back shoulder
Symbol meaning: The knotwork is a symbol of Protection
Artist: Sean Petrin
Design: The symbol is designed to look like it is made out of wrought iron. Wrought iron is a material I am very drawn to and seems very strong and durable, the kind that could withstand being used for protection. The purple and blue flowers with vine work was added in to soften the look but the blue represents the water element and purple to me has always represented air. The vine work going in and out is an attempt to fuse protection with softness and not be so abrupt, adding that gentle and caring touch.
Circumstances: I had originally found this symbol when I first started along the road to paganism and always felt strongly drawn to it. At the time I got this tattoo, I was starting on a difficult time in my life. Something drove me to get this tattoo just before Beltane and on the Maypole, I requested it to be "activated" to protect me from forces seen and unseen, as that was the intention behind it. Then the tattoo started feeling very weird energetically. During the healing, this tattoo "dumped" a lot of color, as my situation got worse. My life had gotten more complicated and harder and I assumed it was expending itself. I went for touch up once everything calmed down, I haven't had trouble with color dumps since. ;)

Nahi - Anpuhemet Cartouche tattoo (Cosmic Employee ID)

Wintersong Tashlin - His Lady's necklace

Brigid's Own: Ritual Tattoo and Nipple Piercings

I had my nipples pierced about one month after the fire and my subsequent separation from my ex-husband. He had always said that his favorite physical feature on my body was my breasts. I had always felt that they were one my more attractive features as well. I felt very powerless in that relationship and having my nipples pierced was the beginning of me taking control of my life back from him.

The tattoo I am in the process of getting has several layers of meaning. I will begin by explaining the significance of the individual elements. The skulls represent my ancestors. Ancestors whose names I don't know but whom I carry with me and whom occupy the homeland, Othila, which I carry in my heart, mind, and spirit. They are part of the tattoo as a way of honoring them, giving them a place in my life. The spider on the branch is my totem and from a Celtic perspective the spider reminds us that all things, all experiences no matter how unrelated they may seem, are connected. The snakes depicted are the divinatory and healing creature(s) associated with Brigid. Snake sheds its skin thus teaching us that what we are becoming has been there, under the surface, all along.

In Celtic lore, the Apple Branch is also called the Silver Branch and the Branch of Reason. Generally it was a branch with bells on it. The branch was shaken, ringing the bells, and facilitating the trance state wherein one could journey to the Otherworld to seek help, healing, and information for others. It was also used by leaders as a tool to call an assembly to order. The Apple Branch is usually associated with the Bards and Druids and was considered to be a part of their tool kit. The Apple Branch in my tattoo sprouts from among the skulls and reaches upward and outward from the past into the present; from my internal homeland to the outer world in which I physically live and across the boundaries into the spiritual realms in which I "work" ; from death into rebirth; from entropy into a dynamic redefinition of life.

The Ogham character for apple tree is Quert. It signifies protection, shelter, choice, immortality, and Otherworld journeying. The apple tree has marked my life in numerous, synchronistic ways. But it is most important to me because when I was a child my grandfather planted a very special apple tree for me onto which he grafted branches from five varieties of apple trees. Five varieties of apple; five points to the pentacle within an apple cross sectioned; five sacred functions to Brigid, the goddess I serve: Warrior, Artisan, Poet/Prophet, Healer, Leader. I do not pretend to be all of these things but I try to keep these archetypes in mind when I go out into the world, interact with others, and do my job(s).

The final element is the Ogham inscription on the branch "Is Le Brigid" which translates to "Brigid's Own". It is my job and my place in things.

Joshua - logarithmic brand

My brand was done by Tanya Bystedt, an amazing woman from Edmonton who I had the pleasure of sharing a house with in Philadelphia. It was done freehand, drawn onto my arm with a modified cautery pen -- something like an electric woodburning tool -- rather than being done by one or more strikes with a heated piece of shaped metal. The pen is so hot it kills the nerves instantly, so it hurt very little to get done. Unlike a tattoo which only effects the skin, the heat from the brand damages the underlying fat and muscle as well, and healing that damage was quite painful for the first week. It progressed from open wound to scab to bright pink scar tissue, and then over the course of a year faded to the pale raised scar which I now have.

The symbol is a doubled version of the logarithmic curve sometimes known as the "Golden Spiral", based on a mathematical sequence called the Fibonacci sequence. Approximate logarithmic curves are often found in nature, from seashells to hurricanes to galaxies. To me, this mark symbolizes the beauty that underlies naturally ordered systems, and the microcosm which reflects the macrocosm. As above, so below.