Book of Eucalypt

I’ve decided to partake in the Pagan Blog Project for 2014. And for a complete shout out, I found the link through Australis Incognita. So for a fellow Australian Pagan to follow, go check her out!

While I was down in Victoria (and there will be a proper post on that shortly, I’m still working out emotions from the trip) I planned to meet up with the wonderful and amazing artist Helen Wells. I drove to her house in Melbourne, fell in love with her area, and knew I was in good hands. Helen also does tattoos, and I’m ridiculously happy with how she turned my idea into reality!

To celebrate being “clean” and free from Self Injury for over five years now (after having the addiction for 10), and to celebrate passing first semester of uni with two distinctions, and to thank Herne and Diana for the focused attention throughout my first semester back at university, and for a million other reasons, I now have this bow and arrow on my left wrist. It was important to me that, firstly, it didn’t look like a Sagittarian arrow. Why? I’m a Leo.

The design incorporates the antlers that are associated with both Herne and Diana, and the Crescent moon for Diana. We trialled a few different arrow heads on paper before choosing this one. This is the hunters arrow, so once it’s hit its target, you can’t just pull the arrow out – it has to go all the way through. I thought that was quite fitting.

The placement of the design is what was most important to me – it’s placed over ten years worth of self injury. The scars are an echo of my past, and the bow and arrow over the top symbolise the end of that era, and things can only go forward. The bow pulled taught symbolises that I am forever ready to aim for my goal, and reach it. As Helen first began the outline, I felt myself passing out. I felt the same with Herne’s tattoo so I knew it was coming. I’m not sure how long I disappeared for, but I stayed in my chair, and disappeared from the world. I was fine, afterwards! That was the beginning of the emotions to be released through this tattoo.

It became a very emotional week.