Bloody March 14th 2009

I’ve been thinking about this for more than three years now.
And I finally decided to had it done.

I got an ink job from Gene Testo as my personal birthday gift. I’ve booked an appointment for the tattoo at 11 am last Saturday after providing Gene’s studio the tattoo pattern the night before. He was impressed that I’ve brought my own pattern and remarked that I must be really committed on getting my first tattoo.

It was the most painful experience in my whole life to date. To describe the pain of getting a tattoo is beyond words.


And here’s what it looked like.

The tattoo is really simple: its composed of four alchemy symbols arranged in an inverted-Y position. The simplicity of the pattern gives me expansion options to add-on more symbols in the future (if I do decided to get more). I had it placed across my left shoulder blade, the side of my brazo de Diablo.

There are both short and long answers to the question “What does the tattoo mean?”

The short answer is: I enjoy activities on the air and land, I’m a Pisces, and I’m an accommodating person. I’m left-handed, so I placed it at my left shoulder blade. Pretty much a shallow explanation.

The long answer is:

The top symbol is the alchemical sign for air and directly below it is the sign for earth. At the back of my head I’ve always thought that I was an “earth” person – climbing mountains, running across fields, rappelling, camping – anything outdoor. Earth also represents the firmness of beliefs --- religion, morals, intelligence –- effectively using these as the groundwork for all their actions and reactions. Most of the time ‘earth persons’ are quiet and have a melancholic temperament.

My life experiences in the past few years dictated that I was really an “air” person. The reason for my outdoor activities’ preference is not because I had my foot on dry land but rather because I enjoy the feel of the wind against me and the thrill of being at heights. Flying objects fascinate me. I formulate ideas quickly when needed. I talk my mind when I think it is necessary. Such are the traits of people who have an affinity for the ‘air’ element. Air also corresponds to the heart and the blood, and people with such an affinity would usually serve as the most loyal of friends.

At the lower right of the tattoo pattern is the alchemical symbol for “quicksilver”, or mercury. It also stands for the planet Mercury. Quicksilver, also known as “living silver”, is one of the three prime substances used for most alchemy processes, able to accommodate any substance for purification. It was believed that quicksilver has the ability to remove the impurities of other substances to be used in alchemy, making it as pure as possible.

It took me some time to finally decide on using the alchemical symbol of quicksilver for my tattoo. I did a lot of research online. Later on, I found out that quicksilver has been ascribed to critical thinkers, because it is the nature of critical thinkers to distill out the unnecessary from the necessary.

The last symbol at the core of the tattoo has two representations. First, it’s the symbol for the Pisces zodiac. Secondly, it’s the last process in an alchemist’s quest of transmuting ordinary lead into gold, and this process is called ”projection”. In alchemy lore, by letting the Philosopher’s Stone come into contact with lead (or any other material), that material is changed into gold. Projection, however, is the skill of the alchemist to turn any material into gold without the Philosopher’s Stone coming into contact with that material (but of course, the Philosopher’s Stone must be in possession of the alchemist).

Such a simple tattoo pattern has an extensive meaning for me. Paraphrasing all the discussions above, my tattoo represents who I think I am and can be: I’m steadfast in my beliefs, quiet, occasionally melancholic, adventurous and have a deep sense of loyalty. I aim to be a better person by always thinking critically. And if I’ve become a better person as I become older, I hope it inspires others to be better themselves.

After enduring the 2+ hour session, gritting my teeth and taking deep breaths, the tattoo was finally done. It’ll take about 2 weeks for it to completely heal. I was bleeding for about three hours after the session (the shirt I was wearing was blood-stained by the afternoon).

I felt more “complete” with the tattoo on. It made me feel satisfied with my 30 years so far.

Yup, I turned 30 on March 14th of 2009, on the day that I got my tattoo. =)