Blood and Ink - Part Three

Mini-Minion Rupert

Sorry I've been away for so long.  I've been preoccupied with caring for my Mini-Minion Rupert (my 11 year old blind and now deaf Bull Terrier).  Rupert has taken up quite a bit of my time.  It's like caring for a somewhat senile, cranky old man.  I hate to say it but I've also just not been in the mood to write.  Life happens, you get busy and this little old Crone needed some down time.

I'm going to try and get back into the habit of posting at least once a month.

Innocuous Butterfly

I've written twice before about my tattoos (see "Blood and Ink, Part Two" - 3/20/2011 and "Blood and Ink, A Christmas Gift" - 12/28/2010).   When I was in the military I was intent on getting a tattoo.  I even went as far as making an appointment, going to the shop....and then chickened out.  I wasn't afraid of the pain or the blood.  I realized that I had no idea what I wanted to get permanently inked into my skin.  I'm happy that I never went through with the appointment.  I probably would have gotten a butterfly, a rose or some other innocuous object that held no meaning and certainly wouldn't reflect on who I was!

In 2010 my son offered to give me a tattoo for a Christmas present.  I spent months deciding on what I wanted.  While the quality of the tattoo isn't world class the fact that my son did the art work and did the tattoo means a great deal to me.  I think through the process of my first tattoo my son and I became closer.  It's something we share...how many mothers get tattooed by their child?

This represents my Father

I now have a total of five tattoos.  All have been done by my son.  All of them have special sentimental or spiritual meaning for me.  I love them and my dear spouse "Himself" loves them as well.  In fact he is usually the one to ask me to show them to people. 

A couple of years ago I started to talk to my son about an idea for a new tattoo that I wanted to get.  He admitted that he didn't feel he had the artistic ability to do what I wanted.  He and a close friend of his, who makes her living as a tattoo artist, both recommended another friend of theirs who has a studio in a city not far from where we live on "The Peninsula".  

Ouch!

This artist is known around the world in the tattoo community.  He travels to Europe and Asia to work and attend shows.  People come from all over the world to get inked by him.  He is incredibly talented.  I have been on his waiting list for over half a year and I am finally near the top.  I am hoping to hear when my appointment will be sometime later this month. 

You give him the story behind your piece, what it means to you and what you are hoping to express.  He likes to do what he calls "narratives" or pieces that reflect mythology.  The interesting thing about this process is that when you show up at your appointment is the first time you see the design.  I have to just have faith that his artistry will capture what I want.  Based on photos of his work I'm not too concerned. Soon I will have an appointment for eight hours of pain, blood and ink...and at the end I'll have a unique, one of a kind work of art that I will take to the grave with me. 

BAD tattoo!!!!!

I know many people find body ink distasteful, or they think it denotes a low moral character.  Most people put quite a bit of thought into what they are getting.  I'll admit I've seen some work that you know was an impulse, done after a long night of bar hopping.  

Prehistoric German mummy

I have found my tattoos and the process of getting my tattoos spiritually and emotionally rewarding.  People have been inking their bodies for thousands of years.  Archaeologists have found pigment and bone tattoo needles in prehistoric caves.  Mummies (male and female) have been found with tattoos.  You know that these ancient tattoos were culturally and spiritually important to those who got them, and those who gave them.  This is how I view mine.   

Le Petite Crone says:  My ink is for me!



 

Past, Present and Future Crones

I'm baaaaack!  

It's been a few months since I have posted anything on my blog.  I have been busy, plus to be honest I've been in a creative and spiritual dry spell.   I dislike when this happens.  I feel cut off, empty and apathy creeps up my spine into my brain like the cold fogs of winter that greet us almost every morning here on "The Peninsula".

I have been dealing with mini minion Rupert's recovery from his eye removal (he's doing great!). We have a new grand daughter, and my dear spouse went to visit while I stayed home with the minions.  We had the holidays, family visits, doctor visits and Himself had to have skin cancer surgery (he's doing great too!).  I have not been belly dancing much and that has added to my apathy...however my lessons and troupe practices have restarted so I'm happy about that.

  

My birthday is this month and it's one of the big ones.  When you get to be of a certain age the birthdays that fall on five and ten year intervals tend to be the important ones.  The one year interval birthdays just don't seem to matter that much.  This will be a ten year one!  Oh my!  I really wanted to do something special for this birthday but will probably just go out to dinner with Himself and some friends.  I am actually quite happy that nothing much is going on.  I've found that I'm turning inward more and more as this date approaches.  Perhaps that is what I'm suppose to do, turn inward and take stock rather than have a wild celebration.

I have been thinking about my age and how I feel being a Crone.  What it means to me on a day to day basis and what it means to me spiritually.  I've been thinking about the Crones I've known who are passed, and those that I know now...and I've been thinking of the Crones yet to be.

What will the Crones of tomorrow be like, how will they be different from the Crones of today or of years past?  How will young women, growing up with social media, twitter, instant communication and that incessant pressure to conform to a certain image evolve into the Crones of tomorrow?  Will they accept the challenge of being content and happy with their age?  Will they accept the grace and power that acceptance gives you or will they fight age and ignore the gift that is being "Crone"?

I worry that true Crones may become a thing of the past.  I do hope that there will still be a few women who feel the call and recognize the peace that gives you.  I hope that there will still be wonderful women who accept the responsibility of being Crones.

I know that "being old" isn't acceptable in our society.  I applaud actors and actresses who continue being vital and popular even as they pass into their graying years.  I wish there were older models in fashion magazines.  I wish our elders still had the position of "elders" and were honored and respected as they were in the past.  We have lost so much with our quest for youth.  I am happy with my age, my silver hair and all the other aspects that come along with that.  I wouldn't go back to my youth if I could.  Accepting myself as a Crone has given me freedom, confidence and a sense of self that I couldn't even imagine as a young woman.

Le Petite Crone says:  Gray is beautiful, lines and wrinkles are sexy and Crones are powerful!