My tattoo, the short version
I took some pics last night when the tattoo was still pretty fresh. At right is a shrunken view of one of them. The new one is below the biohazard. (Don't worry; I've got some bigger views of it.)
I'm feeling kind of lazy, partly because it's one of those grey days and partly because my sister is here and partly because, well, I'm a lazy bastard. So I'm not going into the whole story right now. I am, however, going to share some pics. I'll also quote from The 72 Names of God, from which I took the design of the tattoo (it's name number 21, eradicate plague):
The Kabbalists tell us that the concept of plague has a wider meaning than the biblical hailstones, frogs, and darkness. The plagues that appear in our generation are far more subtle and deceptive. No need to feel paralyzed and hopeless- we can remove plagues at their seed.
That's the meaning of the tattoo; it's a meditation on ending plague. Its placement next to the biohazard was no accident, as my feelings about the biohazard have evolved in the two or so years since I got that one.
For the full sized version of the pic you see here, and a close-up of the tattoo itself, click the cut tag.
The images were taken in the mirror of our bathroom, if wasn't obvious, and when I edited them (they were really dark) I also mirrored them so that the symbol wouldn't be backwards. I'm kind of amused at how buff I look, mostly because of the way I had to hold my arm in order for the tattoo to be clear. For the record, it's totally an illusion; I am very very out of shape at the moment.
I'll say more about it later, in the next couple of days, because right now hugskitties19 is wanting to get her next tattoo and we found a place that's open today. For the moment: the more I think about it, the more I realize that the tattoo's meaning might not so obvious.