Under the Needle - Ouroboros

The weather has been getting mercilessly hot down here in the south. I think it's only right to take a few hours to cool off when a break is given! Somedays, I wish I could just walk down the street in a bikini to keep from burning into a crisp in this Georgia heat. How is the weather where you are Stares goers?

I wanted to share my second tattoo with you guys today and my inspiration behind getting it. 

This is the Ouroboros symbol, expressed in the form of a Japanese dragon.

(*as a side note: if you ever needed a quick analyzation of dragons, Japanese dragons have 3 toes, Korean dragons have 4 toes, and Chinese dragons have 5 toes. Now you know!)

Ouroboros means "one who eats its tails", and it is often depicted as a serpent eating its tail, forming into the shape of a circle. It is known to mean a variety of things, including the well known interpretation of infinity. Digging a little deeper, Ouroboros was known to be a sign of the standing of life by death, and death by life under the command of the Universe. One cannot stand without the other. Right cannot be right without wrong. Light cannot be light without the dark. One needs the other to exist.

Creation comes to life out of destruction, and destruction can come to live out of creation. One is not better than the other - in fact, they are both quite necessary for life to be life. For what is the sun without the moon, and the light of the stars without a dark sky to hold them together? 

I think it has been taught in society that opposites need to be kept separate in order to be understood, when in reality, opposites cannot be understood without the other's existence. Opposites give life, and ourselves, meaning and balance.

Just as a snake or a serpent must shed its old skin so that it's new self may begin, Ouroboros has embodied this for many centuries. It is a cycle that is infinite and necessary so that we may grow into the purest forms of ourselves.

In Japanese culture, a Japanese dragon and any dragon in Asian culture has been represented as a sign of good, whereas Western culture depicts dragons as evil.

Japanese dragons are known to be protectors of the universe, and of all things we cannot see or touch: gods, stars, and all things we carry our faith in.

They are also cleansers of bodies of waters and in control of the rains, which can be compared to the intensity of emotions.

Now Ouroboros has been interpreted in many different ways in many different cultures. But this is the one that has moved me most. I find great comfort in knowing that this world has the potential to be a better place through the harmonization of opposites. I can only pray we can continue to find the ways in bringing them together. Join me next time to see Ouroboros with a little color...

And remember. Try to embrace all things you don't understand. It may not only bring you new understanding in the world, but a complete sense of happiness. Happy climbing my dears.

Ouroboros - by Kylie Greene
Hat - by Gucci (given)
Black Monokini - (online)
Sandals - by Cathy Jean (Cathy Jean)
Rings - (Dynamite boutique)
Choker - (Dynamite boutique)

Photography by Jazmyn Wormely