im planning my next next tattoo right now (going to get my next on in about a month or so). at first, i wanted to get them separate but now that i think about it, i think they would look really well together. the dragon and samurai combo is really common i decided to throw a twist in it. instead of a dragon, ill have a phoenix with it. i was planning on having the phoenix start on my thigh and gave the tail wrap around my calf and shin and the samurai holding swords on the outside of my calf. if i did this, i wouldnt know what to do with the inside of my leg because i think that it would be plain with just parts of the tail on the inside and i dont want to get a sock.
i want an aggressive looking phoenix like this:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DMsvL7sD9Pw/SN_mfUyoKUI/AAAAAAAABAY/k5hXuN5_8eA/s400/tattoo-picture-of-a-phoenix.jpg
and here’s my inspiration piece, but i dont like the phoenix in it, really love the samurai though:
http://electricexpressions.com/chris/chriscolor/Samurai_Web.jpg
maybe i should get a phoenix like that without the pupils with the eyes all white with a similar samurai like that on the outside of my leg?
Hi Nik
Sorry dude been having a real bad day and frankly I think I am gonna have to slap my brother in laws around until I get tired or break a few knuckles.
Anyhow the tattoo will be a seriously powerful piece in symbolism.
I did some research into the phoenix mythos and they are always considered to be the all seeing rebirth spirit. As each one dies and makes a pyre it passes the memories of their life into the next that rises from the ashes.
That is why you rarely see a blind phoenix (hope that helps).
Shinto belief is somewhat complex on what the afterlife is about many state that it was a gloomy place underground and other believe that spirits lived in the sky or upon mountains and could visit family ancestors when called up on festivals.
Buddhists state there are around 10 levels of hell (could be more as they have sub levels as well) with which a person can be placed before rebirth – it all seems to revolve around the fact that the spirit can go through a purgatory.
So the way I see it is if the samurai was bound by feelings of revenge or duty to their master they would not reach enlightenment and would have to face one of the many purgatories before rebirth – this could be a blindness or being faced by a creature whom they cannot defeat.
Peta [peta; Skt. preta]:
A “hungry shade” or “hungry ghost” — one of a class of beings in the lower realms, sometimes capable of appearing to human beings. The petas are often depicted in Buddhist art as starving beings with pinhole-sized mouths through which they can never pass enough food to ease their hunger.
This could at a stretch be your phoenix as they were often seen as creatures of punishment.
Anyhow even if none of the above has no meaning it will still make a rocking tattoo.
Take care
Matthew
the tattoo will have some of the meanings above but will fit into my story. the samurai symbolizes the guardian angel in my life because i feel that i have one watching over me because i escaped death once or twice before. and the phoenix symbolizes me, a person who has had MANY second chances in life, regardless of the situation, i always had a chance to make it right.
im planning to have the drawing of the phoenix but with a samurai by the base of the phoenix’s claws and have the phoenix’s tail more flared out so you can see it or have it wrap around the samurai. and the samurai would look something like that but with the mask and holding the two swords in front of him. im planning to have it done in reds, oranges, and yellows. i will go to talk to the artist in about a month or so. im planning to get this bad boy started sometime in september.
samurai mask like this instead of it being plain:
http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Samurai.jpg/250px-Samurai.jpg
holding swords in this position:
http://mythicmktg.fileburst.com/war/us/home/images/newsletter/2007_10/SwordMasterCl_01.jpg
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