Friday, March 11, 2011

Aztec Tattoos: The Long History and The Stories

By Zack Ballack


Tattooing was an crucial ritual in Aztec society. Religious rituals were a essential aspect of everyday life to appease and curry favor with the gods. Since the language of the Aztecs hasn't been entirely deciphered yet, the original meaning of some Aztec tattoos is uncertain. Extremely stylized, complicated and elaborate designs expressed devotion to the gods, identified tribal affiliation, announced tribal status, and recorded important events like births, deaths, rites of passage, and victory in battle.

The sun god, Huitzilopochtli, was the most crucial god. He's the giver of life also as the god of war. He's central to the calendar and guarded the heavens. Modern day day sun tattoos express a belief in the afterlife. They might be completed in any color mixture, with any style face within the center of an intricate ray pattern.

Essentially the most powerful god, Quetzalcoatl, can be a feathered serpent. Sometimes he's depicted full physique, often he is represented by a extremely stylized feathered serpent head. Occasionally the feathered serpent tattoo is given a human body. He represents wisdom and intelligence.

Coatlicue gave birth to the sun, stars, and moon. She is recognized by her skirt of writhing snakes. Also generally known as the Mother of Gods or the Goddess of Earth, she depicts the life cycle and typically serves to identify a birth or a death. She is the goddess of life, death, and fertility.

The crocodile can be a popular tattoo chosen to show fearlessness. He's not truly a crocodile. He's a monster like creature that closely resembles a crocodile.

The warrior god and also the eagle are often placed together on the proper shoulder. The warrior god, Tezcatlipoca, is normally pictured with his tongue sticking out along with a fierce expression on his face. He signifies the journey of the soul to the afterlife. The eagle was revered for his flying expertise, powerful nature, and significant size. He represents energy, strength and courage. The warrior gets his strength from the eagle.

The calendar is an elaborate design displaying facial images of mythological characters surrounding the sun. Each and every creature represents a month. Each creature imparts spiritual characteristics to those born in that month. Several of essentially the most common tattoos are based on the mythic creatures of the calendar. Also dates of special events have been and may be recorded with this design.

Other well-known pictures portray complicated and stylized representations of princesses, animals, stars, along with the moon, to name just a couple of. Animals are usually drawn in a rectangular form that fits well on the arm. Large motifs may be placed on the shoulder, back, or stomach. Smaller tattoos could be attractive adornment for a wrist, ankle, or neck.

These are just some of probably the most well-known and nicely known pictures. The Aztecs worshiped, feared, and revered hundreds of mythic deities. All Aztec tattoos are beautiful in design with elegant geometric shapes featuring bold colours and complicated patterns. Finding an Aztec tattoo can show respect for an ancient culture. The calendar may be applied to memorialize important dates. Mythic gods and supernatural characters are chosen for the belief system and character traits they represent.




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