Evolution Of Dragons

The dragon is a mythical creature typically depicted as a large and powerful serpent or other reptile with magical or spiritual qualities. Mythological creatures possessing some or most of the characteristics typically associated with dragons are common throughout the world's cultures.

Although dragons (or dragon-like creatures) occur commonly in legends around the world, different cultures have perceived them differently. Chinese dragons and Eastern dragons generally, are usually seen as benevolent, whereas European dragons are usually malevolent. Malevolent dragons also occur in Persian mythology and other cultures.

In Revelation 12:3, an enormous red beast with seven heads is described, whose tail sweeps one third of the stars from heaven down to earth (held to be symbolic of the fall of the angels, though not commonly held among biblical scholars). In most translations, the word "dragon" is used to describe the beast, since in the original Greek the word used is drakon.

Over the years, having tattoos of dragons have changed. From the more oriental or mythical looking to more modern contemporary ones. Most choose to have this kinds done on their skin, so as to not to run out of the "Trend" by having traditional dragons done instead, even though there are many who still prefer the traditional looking ones.

Artwork and Photography : Immortal Tattoos

Japanese Demon

The hannya mask is the vengeful and jealous woman turned demon. Pointed horns, metallic eyes and teeth, and the expression all exhibit the full wrath, anger and resentment of her nature. The origins of hannya masks may have come from early snake masks but most likely the image was taken from painted hand scrolls of stories and legends of the Muromachi period. In fact one of the oldest hannya masks is dated 1558. Of course the most prominent feature is the horns. Even to this day a hand gesture of two index fingers sticking up from a man's forehead is an indication that his wife is mad at him or jealous.

There are many variations of hannya masks. The coloring of the face also signifies the degree of passion in the demon's anger. For example, a more reddish color indicates strong resentment and anger and is used in such plays as Dodoji and Kurozuka, whereas a paler color would be more appropriate for Aoi-no-ue. Dodoji is the story of unrequited love between a woman and a priest of Dodoji (temple). She turns into a demonic serpent who wraps her body around the temple bell consuming it and the priest in the process.

For more information on Japanese Mask and their history check out http://www.yoshinoantiques.com/masks.html

The Cross

The Cross is one of the most ancient human symbols, and is used by many religions, most notably Christianity. It is frequently a representation of the division of the world into four elements (or cardinal points), or alternately as the union of the concepts of divinity, the vertical line, and the world, the horizontal line (Koch, 1955).

The word cross was introduced to English in the 10th century as the term for the instrument of the torturous execution of Christ (gr. stauros', xy'lon), gradually replacing rood, ultimately from Latin crux, via Old Irish cros. Originally, both 'rood' and 'crux' referred simply to any "pole," the later shape associated with the term being based on church tradition, rather than etymology. The word can nowadays refer to the geometrical shape unrelated to its Christian significance from the 15th century.

Artwork and Photography : Immortal Tattoos

Phoenix

Creatures from the world of Legends and Myths have been evolved into something else in this Era. For many years, tattoos such as the phoenix have been collected by many. I had the chance to tattoo a phoenix on someone not long ago... So here it is !! (Still In Progress)

The phoenix bird symbolizes immortality, resurrection and life after death. In ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology, it is associated with the sun god.
According to the Greeks, the bird lives in Arabia, near a cool well. Every morning at dawn, the sun god would stop his chariot to listen to the bird sing a beautiful song while it bathed in the well.

Only one phoenix exists at a time. When the bird felt its death was near, every 500 to 1,461 years, it would build a nest of aromatic wood and set it on fire. The bird then was consumed by the flames.

A new phoenix sprang forth from the pyre. It embalmed the ashes of its predecessor in an egg of myrrh and flew with it to Heliopolis, "city of the sun," where the egg was deposited on the altar of the sun god. In Egypt, it was usually depicted as a heron, but in the classic literature as a peacock or an eagle.