rise and root

***

~*~*~*~



The Flame Haired Solstice Dreamer

Cold winter brings the Everfrost and jewels every tree
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
A flame~haired dreamer wanders there and shelters from the wind
And spins her dreams around the trees to break the ties that bind
She takes her thread and spins anew and how the Greenwood smiles
As she spins a spell for freedom and for her spirit Wylde

The dreamer finds an ancient oak and shelters in his lee
In a forest new as birth and old as old can be
Tis summer now and birdsong weaves its magick through her spells
And humming bees drum drowsily in the foxglove's bells
The dreamer sits beneath the oak with yarn upon her knee
And spins and knits and weaves her dreams and sets her spirit free

***
"When birds fall from the sky and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people...shall come unto the earth from many colors, classes, creeds, who by their actions and deeds shall make the earth green again. they will be known as the warriors of the Rainbow"

Hopi Prophecy

~pagan skin~

yesterday we had our very long awaited appointment with lil rob at tattoo magic in southampton.

i have long wanted to incorporate the sun/moon and celtic knot on my right arm into one larger piece of work and had a vague idea of what i wanted.

as most of you now know i am history lover, and most of my love is for pre-history.
when we travel around i track our route and know where we are by the sacred sites, hill forts and barrows
.
and of course my love is for the ancestors~my direct ancestors and those of the land as a whole.
given the the spread of early human migration we have to be aware of our own connections to these early humans~consider the matrilineal descent we women have that goes back to 'mitochondrial eve' and 'the seven daughters of eve' who are said to be 'clan mothers' and are the common matrilial ancestors of all humans.


"...man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots,

whose flower and fruitage is the world..."
Ralph Waldo Emerson




but what has this to do with tattoo's? i hear you cry

well the 'vague idea' i had for my tattoo developed into an ongoing project based on the tattoo's of prehistoric ancestors.

tattooing of both men and women was a part of many prehistoric cultures as seen with the pazyryk mummies~including the 'ice maiden'~scroll down here and you can enlarge the photo showing some of her tattoo's, otzi the ice mummy and takla makan mummies of the tarim basin.
of course we can never know why they were tattooed although it has been suggested that they have a spiritual significance.

interestingly some of the tattoos on otzi were groups of short, parallel, vertical lines and it has been suggested that because of their placement and the research, which revealed he suffered with problems linked to the tattooed areas, suggest they were somehow linked to pain relief from acupressure or acupuncture.

the 3000 year old mummies of the tarim basin were a people with long red/blond/brown hair and european features and their clothes were associated with the celtic hallstatt culture.
there are lots of photos of all of these these if you do a search of the 'tinterweb and an article about the tarim basin mummies from 2006 here


~by golly am i drifting off subject today, i blame my new pain killers for making me feel slightly drunk right now~anyway...i wanted my new tattoo to reflect this huge love of mine (cant you just tell by my ramblings here today?!) and i want something quite random and primitive but at the same time have a kind of flowing connection.

i had to hunt the 'tinterweb for those elusive images, small pieces of a whole, and printed them for jon to come up with something freehand.

i had also had a chat with jon when we went into speak with him about what we wanted because of my fibro i was worried about the pain being more than usual, he advised an anesthetic cream  to be applied to numb the area.
now, i have seven tattoos and the pain tattooing causes does not bother me-its a nice hurt if that makes sense.
well the pain of the thin initial outlines of this new one was bad...really bad.
either i did not put on enough cream, or it had worn off while i was waiting for swampy to be finished in the chair.
when he changed needles to do the thicker lines it was fine, just like the pain i remember-still after an hour and a half i was glad it was over...until my next session in two weeks to freshen up the two older tattoo's i had done when i was 21 and finish my new work...



these three were taken about two hours after it was finished, red and sore




yesterday it has settled down an awful lot...







today it is better still and i have some bruising under my arm where it is most sensitive and i am impatient for my second session to arrive!

9 comments:

Kath said...

Fabulous!

Miss Robyn said...

tell me more about : 'the seven daughters of eve' who are said to be 'clan mothers'

brilliant work!! it is a nice hurt, I know what you mean :)

Rebecca said...

The tattoo looks lovely and interesting to hear the story behind it. Are you going to get a whole sleeve? x

Mad Madam Mel said...

wow, love the new tattoo :)

mel said...

GASP! it's beautiful!!

i love the swirling, tendril-y, spiral-y design....and really, really enjoyed hearing the story behind it.

wow!!

LOVE it!!

xo

Elizabeth Rhiannon said...

Nice work. Can't say I'm into tattoo's after having 3 removed several years ago (talk about pain)...but I LOVE that you got them for the right reasons; meanings that are deeply rooted in your soul and beliefs...and the work is niiiiice :) I enjoy nice work...on other people now, haha! Blessings (and I learned a few things here, as well!) ;)

Leanne said...

looking good lee, looking good!!

Leanne x

jill said...

Nice tattoo's and lovley story.I have some tattoo's and agree with what you say about the pain,funny sensation.Look forward to seeing more.Lots of love Jill xx

Rowan said...

Your tattoos are really nice but you are brave to have them done:) This was an interesting post, I read Britain BC a few years ago and must re-read it. Have just finished Britain AD and am now reading Farmers in Prehistoric Britian by Francis Pryor. I like his books because they make complex subjects easy to understand.

All things share the same breath~the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.



Chief Seattle






Johney Gaul~1915

Johney Gaul~1915
1890-17 september 1918~France