Who wants to go fishing for some fish tacos or maybe some fish tattoos. Hey you want fish, then go get some. I will go for the fish tattoos myself, like this colorful display right here. Looks like a giant catfish to me, but it could be a space age fish for all I know. I like the way it circles and curves around the shoulder, looks very sweet with all the cute whiskers curling all over the skin.
A lot of the fish tattoos you run into now days reminds me of work done by Andy Warhol in the wild 60’s when everyone was doing a lot of LSD and other mind altering drugs. Now this tattoo has that very magical look about it, I would say it’s almost mystical, check out the eyes, they almost look human. No matter what, fish tattoos like this open up the mind for a lot of discussion about designs and meanings. I bet this artist has a fetish for fish, just like a lot of artists have fetishes for butterflies and others cute animals. I found that most people that get fish tattoos are very gentle people, they love friends and family. So what does that tell you about fish?
Fish tattoos are revered tributes to a symbol that is known the world over, the lowly fish. For aboriginal and indigenous peoples of the world, particularly in coastal regions, the fish was a bountiful food source and powerful animal totem. And no fish was more revered and mythologized than the salmon, symbol of abundance, fertility, and wealth. On a more mystical level, the salmon was, and still is, admired for its instinct and persistence. And also for the determination it shows in its heroic journey upriver from the ocean to its spawning grounds, often located many hundreds of miles up freshwater rivers.
The miracle of its migration to spawn and die has made it a revered symbol of courage, tenacity, steadfastness and dependability. Celtic myth relates how the salmon became the symbol of wisdom after swallowing sacred hazel nuts at the site of the well of knowledge. Eating salmon was associated with gaining wisdom. Perhaps the beginning of the theory that eating fish is good for your mental health and intelligence. Because it lived in the ocean, the realm of mystery and the unknown, it also came to symbolize the unconscious, inspiration and prophecy. As you can see a fish tattoo can be more then just a beautiful design, it can allude to a deeper meaning. |
1 Jan 2009
