Meanings of tattoos

The meaning of a tribal tattoo

Values: beauty, protection, self-expression

Often people around people believe that a tribal tattoo is a frivolous and even meaningless pattern on the body, but antiquity confirms that this is far from the case.

Samoan tribes (the largest archipelago of Polynesia), one of the founders of this style in tattoo say: “A tattoo is a way to link your mental capacity to your belly button.“. That is, for these tribes, the tattoo served primarily to connect the soul with the body, to reveal their abilities, to define life principles as their own lifestyle. Tribal style today is a modern rebirth and continuation of the ancient Polynesian style.

Tribal tattoos now account for about a third of all known tattoos. The word “tribal” is translated as, generic, tribal or nominal. Most often, these tattoos are spiky patterns in black and white. But it should be noted that this style in tattooing is expanding and developing today, new patterns appear, new colors and images.

For the peoples, the founders of this style in the art of tattoo, the process of tattooing was a sacred ritual, the priests of this special art prayed for a long time before each drawing on the body. For them, the tattoo was associated with the human soul, his spiritual energy, thoughts and desires… Magic tattoos were supposed to control human life, protect the wearer from all troubles and mistakes, add strength and courage to him, relieve him of fears. The Maori peoples had a tattoo, an indicator of courage and endurance, because through the incredible pain when applying a tattoo, not everyone could and did not decide.

This tattoo first appeared in Europe through sailors who brought the tribal style from the Polynesian islands (most likely Tahiti). And, thanks to sailors, in a short time the tribal tattoo spread very quickly throughout the European and Asian space, surpassing even native, traditional European tattoos. The meaning of a tribal style tattoo is not so easy to describe, due to the wide variety of patterns and geometric shapes, it all depends on the specific pattern and its application method.

The main characteristic difference between tribal tattoos from all others is clear, even, dark contours, and the expression of meaning through perception. Tribal tattoo does not focus on the very image of the tattoo, but more on the emotions and feelings that a person evokes when contemplating such a pattern.

At first glance, simple tribal patterns may actually have an ancient, mystical meaning. In ancient times, all the lines, spirals and circles in the tattoo drawing told about the biography of the person-carrier himself. In a tattoo, one could find the place of birth, social status, exploits and battles of a person, and other important events in his life. Since 1982, ancient folk drawings in modern processing have formed a new style in the art of tattoo, which is called neo-tribal or new-tribal.

Such tattoos do not discriminate according to the sex and age of a person, it suits everyone, only it is better to get acquainted and study well the symbolic essence of a tribal tattoo in advance. They are made for different purposes, often for self-affirmation and self-expression.

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