Some fun and interesting Pagan news – a woman with a blue crescent moon tattooed on her forehead finds it difficult to get a job. (The full story can be read inthe Elmira Star-Gazette.) Personally, I’m not surprised!
Now, putting aside the fact that facial tattoos just aren’t a great idea (case in point a father and son in central Florida), I think it is an even worse idea to get a tattoo on your forehead, to represent your faith, that is inspired by a book that has no basis in reality. For those who are unaware, in The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley the priestess have a blue crescent moon tattooed on their forehead. Apparently Camilla Nhamercedes of Millerton, New York decided to do just that. She says “It represents my connection to God, and the location also represents my connection to my Wiccan learnings.” I say, it is a very silly idea. There are many other ways to connect oneself to one’s god that don’t take inspiration from a work of fiction.
I’m probably being a little hard on Ms. Nhamercedes. It does that a lot of courage to make such a bold statement. But I’m not sure how much forethought was put into the decision to place the tattoo on her forehead. Surely she could have placed the tattoo somewhere else, and still produce the same effect.
I think that this partly comes down to the desire that many of us have of wanting everyone to know everything about us. By this I mean we do things like wear t-shirt that express our political opinions, or jewelry that loudly proclaims our religion. We seem to need to, almost literally, wear our personalities on our sleeves. And rather then making us more individual, I think this is actually causing us to reconfigure ourselves to fit whatever messages we are able to buy. I’d rather someone get to know me and gradually find out about my likes and dislikes, rather then just read a list off the back of my shirt and divine my religion from my tattoos. I guess, though, I’m part of a shrinking minority.
In happier news, it looks like I will live until I’m 78. That just might be long enough to finish all the cross stitch I want to do, and learn to read with all the Tarot decks I have… if I stop buying things today.
I'm a mom, wife, needleworker, knitter, wannabe writer, and most of all a spiritual seeker. I'm not sure yet what I believe, but I sure as heck know what I don't believe.
You’ve written about me from the perspective of a smalltown newspaper reporter who misinterpreted what I said, and then printed that misinterpretation. The fact that the tattoo is on my forehead was not drawn from the Mists of Avalon, though it is a pretty book, but was personal choice. Part of the reason it is as high on my forehead as it is, is so that my hair normally covers it. The tattoo was never meant as a billboard of my spirituality, which is eclectic. I’m sure that eventually people will come to accept facial tattoos as easily as they now accept pierced ears, and I do claim to have the right to have one now and not be even gently ridiculed by people who don’t even have the nerve to ask me myself about it. As for forethought, I happened to have put more than a few years into it. I wish you well with your crosstitch and tarot, and hope you live long and happily.