Astrology and tattoos are inextricably linked. When you ink something on your bod, you are integrating the symbol and crystallizing the astrological moment.
Hi Mystic, how are you? I was curious if tattoos play a role in astrology at all, for example, can you give yourself good vibes and such by having a certain type, placement, color, symbol, etc of a tattoo, you know kinda like wearing steel for a cap rising?
thanks!
The Inked Inquisitor
The short answer is YES! Having a tattoo done at an auspicious moment is vital. Why? Because it is a spell. Whatever that symbol represents, it’S being inked into your body. You’re not only activating it, you’re taking on its energy.
Not only that, if you think in terms of traditional Chinese meridians, you’re permanently powering one or two of them up and your body art crystallizes the astrological and other energies of the time it was etched in.
You cannot really dictate the style of emblem to get via astrology. It’s obviously super-personal.
If I were to make one astrological ‘prescription’, it would be to get the astrological glyph of your ruling planet. That is the ruler of your Ascendant. But mine is Uranus and I don’t think I have the audacity to invite the Trickster in that much. Or maybe I do? See also this post about Saturn tattoos.
This probably goes without saying but don’t just get a ‘cool symbol’ on your body because you like it – feel your way into it and do legit research.
Once you know what you want, select the most auspicious moment possible. You can do this via the Moon Calendar on here, a Transit Report, astrological consult or if you’re up for it, a good trawl through several charts and an ephemeris.
To totally fine-tune things, go for a date that epitomizes the energy of the symbol you’re activating and be prepared to wait for a while. For example, if your tattoo is to honor your recovery/survival from something, you’d pinpoint the threatening event to a certain date or astrological config and then seek a day + time with astrology that counteracted it.
Or if you wanted to invite more love into your life, you wouldn’t just seen generally harmonious astrology but a day when Venus was spectacularly aligned with your natal astro and upcoming transits.
More broadly, avoid Mercury Retrograde tattoos simply because who wants a misunderstanding between you and the tattoo artiste? And, because technically this counts as surgery and is skin-penetrating, as well as ‘aggressive’ aka Mars-like, aim for a day with a strong, sedate Mars-Saturn vibe.
Thoughts?
I have an appointment to have a tat on the inside of my arm done tomorrow memorilizing my husband who passed away 18 months ago. Today is also the anniversary of my dads death and venus is SR tomorrow. Should i try to have it done today instead? What are your thoughts?
YESSSS i ve wanting to get a tat since i was 12 MAny years ago, jaja, but i alwa felt that, the power of it, and i also vary in motive and placement.They r all meaningful, but its a orb&spade phase or a rosa de los vientos phase, since 199something…when it goes famous”, years later, i go, better not (aqua sun) . Now i ve been feeling pulled to get a specific set of lines in right hip, but i know its an energy activation so, can i hold it 4ever? till now, i just get washable ink and draw what i need for the day… super great post, thnks mm
I really enjoy my head tattoos – I have a nautilus on the top of my head, a whale tail/triple goddess symbol on the back of my head/neck and ‘Feed Your Head’ in the side – and I want more ! I like that whenever I decide to grow my hair again I will have the tattoos to myself. I have some others on my hand/wrist but my head tattoos are my favorites. Cancer Sun/Rising, Aquarius Moon
This is all so interesting to me…I have no tattoos and wouldn’t dream of getting one…nothing in my life has proven to be permanent, and the idea of something on my body that is fixed and permanent is out of the question. I am too changeable to commit to something like that…
your rising sign is permanent
I too have been fascinated with the Minoans since art school!
That’s a lovely image.
Thank you!
I don’t have any tattoos yet, but this could be the post that will finally make me do it because the astro is just too bizarrely apt.
I’ve been thinking of doing this particular tattoo for about 20 yrs: it’s a Paleo cave art horse drawing dating back about 17.000 yrs which was found in one of the caves from my home region. I’ve loved it ever since i first saw it because it reminds me of the gorgeous native horses that roam near my mountain shack & in particular to my own companion – in fact it’s probably a drawing of their ancestor.
And i have a thing for Epona & Rhiannon the horse goddesses.
So I’ve decided to do it when the Sun will be on my Epona in my 8th H (in 10 days) which will form part of a Grand Air Trine with my Asc-Rhiannon & Chiron. Also serendipitously, trans Rhiannon & trans Epona will be conjunct exact in my 8th house then too.
Still figuring out on what part of my body to do it on.
One could say the time is neigh. 😛
That sounds like great tat! There are lots of things to consider about placement. Do you want the symbolism of the tattoo to affect any particular part or system especially strongly? (I could see a horse tattoo on one—or both— of a runner’s legs, for example.) There are also practicalities. Do you want it to show when you’re wearing regular day clothes? Some parts of the body change with age more than others, and those changes would affect the tattoo if it’s placed on a part more inclined to morph. And some places just hurt more than others to get tattooed.
I got my first tat (a Viking longship) on my upper, outer right thigh. 12 years and more additional pounds than I care to admit to later, and it still looks really good. And I’ve done a lot of travel since I got it, which was a hoped-for result. But I found I really wanted to share it with people and it’s not in a convenient spot for that. Unless I’m swimming or getting intimate with someone, it’s hidden. I got my latest tat on the outer top of my left arm. A t-shirt sleeve covers it, but it’s super easy to show to others.
Thanks Calli G for this great advice. And yes – it is going to go on the outside top of my left arm for exactly the reason you mention. It’s only going to be a small charcoal-like line drawing of a horse’s neck & head (but uncannily life-like) – not the whole body. I never thought i’d get it done, but this astro is almost begging for it, and horse-love-magic has been a constant in my life since forever. I feel like honouring it. Heartening to hear that you got results from your first tattoo magic….and btw, that swallow is just beauuuutiful. Such joyful & uplifting energy too. <3 !
I’m wondering now what (if any) the double edge sword would be when getting the actual glyphs of planets inked. Is it somehow presupposed that tattoos in general are invoking the positive or ‘higher frequency’ vibe of the whatever is being inked?
Like would Saturn’s glyph compel you to see things more objectively/clearly and start working your batooka off in goal-stalking. Or would you notice your body (particularly the joints) getting slower/stiffer because you called down the planet that rules Lead by getting it needled into your skin?
Likewise – Mercury – more eloquent or all of a sudden up for gabbing with anyone because Hermes has way more direct access to your mouth and if he happens to be bored one day he decides to stretch himself out in your conversation instead of stealing his brothers sheep.
oophf, Mars I don’t wanna even imagine – but it flashed that some way or how this leads to ill thought out face tattoos or committing some crime that winds you up in prison and you get prison tattoos
The Mars tatt would go right on the front knuckles of both my middle fingers – just sayin. *smirk* #MarsInGemini
Actually, that’s a fuqing badass invocation (Mars on the knuckles) if you’re an MMA fighter or even a boxer – I’m kind of in love with the idea TBH!
When you’re inking something with conscious intent like this, you’re making an Offering of your flesh to the planets; it’s a homage. They’re going to work *for* you, not against you in such an instance, IMO.
;Chaaa, that would definitely bring the Martian fire down into the fists. for punching or any other dexterous requirement:)
I like the scene of offering your flesh to the planets via ink. Haha while I’m sitting down getting a tattoo in 3d land I’m now going to go wander off in my imagination to a ritualistic offering to inked planet.
Ok so as MM says we could consider our ruling planet glyph or symbol to be ultra potent. So Neptune is mine and I’ve just looked at the trident image and realised my whole life I’ve drawn or absently doodled arrows. My MC is saggi with its arrow but it just clicked. I’ve always drawn arrows. I feel I need it on my base chakra. Over my sacral area. My natal Neptune drives that one. In Scorpio the 8th.
Me too with the arrows! Love the thought of aligning it with a chakra
Really interesting! Now I am thinking about my tattoo. Everything from the symbol to the location makes it very Yang. It’s the Star of Vergina, which is an Ancient Macedonian symbol (my family is descended from northern Greece). It’s on my back, right on the “governing meridian. It was the summer of 2007, and Uranus was exactly trine my Venus in scorpio, and ebbing away from the trine to my Cancer moon. I don’t think I had any intention beyond trying to look cool tho lol. I have to say, I still love it.
I just looked up the image you described. It’s lovely and so iconic!
I have a tattoo of Kokopelli in my left hip. I loved the symbol for a variety of reasons, especially when I realized it is the archetype of the traveler, trickster, teacher, and fertility. I woke up and decided to get one.
The day and period turned interesting. My beloved grandfather had a dehabilitating stoke that day, and it was also the death knell of a very significant love relationship. Both died a little later.
I’m still grasping the tattoo’s symbolism in my life, and at times I wondered if I wanted to remove it.
Oh shit I just remembered I have the lilith glyph on my sternum!
I started becoming heavily tattooed as soon as my progressed ascendant moved into Aquarius. I didn’t realize it until a year after the fact.
I’ve always said tatts are sigils 🙂 I’ve had the most random and cool interactions in the unlikeliest of places based on hawking someone else’s ink and starting a conversation about it. Most recently, I was responding to the excellent thigh piece on the gams of a teal-haired gal with a bull ring nose piercing (so Uranus in Taurus!) when we fistbumped in a moment of solidarity and I noticed the front of her knuckles were also adorned with !!!planetary glyphs!!! Cue copious heart-eyed emojis. It was one of those situations where even though you don’t know someone at all, you can instantly tell that you like them – I would love to see the synastry behind our interaction because the affinity was immediate. Probably super Uranian, I’d wager.
For electing to be inked, I’d just like to add that avoiding being tatted during Venus Rx is also a really good idea since we’re dealing with a visual Art. There’s one coming up in October, FYI, in case anyone has been thinking about it. Shadow period starts in early September, right after Mars clunks out of retrograde gear so waiting until after the 1st of the year is a good idea given the Mercury Rx also being in the mix during the tail end of 2018.
I love the glyphs on the knuckles idea. Almost like nonstop creation / conjuring energy in the “mundane” world.
My first tattoo is the Cantonese Sanskrit symbol for ‘Buddha’. It’s the symbol that whatever you put it on or with, it becomes. so put it on your head – Buddha Head, on the table – Buddha table, on the heart – Buddha Heart. I had it inked on my inner right wrist, right near where you feel for a pulse Easter Sunday in 2010. I had worked with Zen Buddhist Nuns for a few years (from Taiwan) and when I showed them this symbol that someone had given me, their eyes lit up. ‘Yes, that’s the one!’ my Nun friend shrieked with glee. Mao had decimated their language, and all but wiped out cantonese sanskrit. When I worked with the Nuns (doing all sorts of jobs) I put it on t-shirts, on the heart area. The shirts were sold at their Buddha birthday event to raise money.
Flash forward many years later, to me sitting in the tattooist’s chair determined to keep this important word alive by putting it on my skin. It didn’t dawn on me at the time that I was doing this on Easter Sunday, the resurrection.
OMG looove
Love!
Trust in the Universe!
This is awesome!
Beautiful choice! Hey try slapping the tattoo to take the itch away. It’s a non damaging alternative.
Thank you! I’ll give that a shot when the itch starts back up again.
First tattoo was a naïve teen decision for a bass clef on the neck. Def want this changed to something else as over the past few years I’m like ‘really? So aqua cerebral that I think my bass is the bottom of my head?’ pffft.
More thought through ink is an hour glass on the inside of each wrist referenced from a Mark Twain book (that a friend gave me cos she could quickly see it would take me forever to decide on a design.)
Right wrist time is less, left wrist there’s more sand in the top. An ode to staying present and centered as past and future move in all directions. Got it..2007..8 I think. Amusingly noticed a year or so later that the left one had a small line missing in it so makes me think that future was eternal.
I’m supporter Saturn ruled, but found this out post tattoo.
Most recent one is of a cartooney but graceful scene on my left deltoid of a llama looking up eyes closed and a donkey looking down, eyes closed with a lil mustachio’d plant between them. Originally represented my feelings around my lover then (he the llama, me the donkey) but have since zoomed out to more imaginative connection around the archetypes of disembodied Spirit (llama) and dispirited Matter.(donkey)
Through nature and love/middle way(the plant), ones humanity and wholeness can be experienced.
It’s been years since I’ve gotten any new ones/felt the desire. It appeared a few months ago very excitedly, but I was quickly turned off by the process of researching/contacting people. Ive learned I’m outrageously sensitive to the idea of someone inking me. And it’s not something I can just plan out in the sense of knowing what I want and just finding the best person who can get it on me the fastest.
(Ex: artist I found who would have done an amazing job aesthetically I just happen to know a few things via grapevine and while nothing against them as a person, I don’t want any inked memories affiliated to them.)
Ink under skin is pretty fuqing intimate so I do to some degree correlate it to sex.
With that, I tracked down the artist who did my shoulder but they are not currently doing tattoos. This felt so right. I can wait however long I need to til they start again or I organically meet someone, in person, who I feel good about.
Which definitely won’t be this year consider Mars retrograde is in my 1st house the whole time and then it’s basically Venus retro right after, of not overlapping, through my 10/11th house which will incontinent natal Aries Venus in 3rd.
I know the prices I want and am content to sensually fantasize about them and their placements on my body. (Uranus in Taurus?)
Really should spell check prior to posting (though likely irks me more than any of you..)
Suuuuuppppper Saturn, not supporter.
I see there are others but care less about it.ebbe Saturn’s just like ‘yo, respect me.’
Mine was right around my 16th birthday (don’t remember the “exact” date). Got a rather large Japanese letter that says “star” inked on my right shoulder blade.
No rhyme or reason … other than that I loved Japanese culture, was just getting into anime and my best friend at the time got a tattoo a few months before and so … of course I needed one, too.
I don’t dis-like it, but I don’t feel connected to it. It’s not bothersome enough to warrant the effort of removal (since I can’t see it and barely remember that it’s there), but it has prevented me from getting anything else.
I love the idea of sleeves, tribal art, geometric patterns, and have seen some gorgeous ink, but nothing has moved me enough to want to keep on my body forever since. Might get a mandala with my sisters in honor of our bond (and our dad who passed a few years ago) …
Looking at Astrodienst, I think there were some transits a’ happening back then. Like Uranus & Neptune squaring my natal ascendant, Neptune in sextile to my natal Neptune(?) & Mercury.
So interesting and enlightening, as always, Mystic. I almost want to have a chart reading done for that time period to see if it would connect some dots!
I totally agree with you on the importance of getting the right person to do your tat. Part of the impetus for me to get my recent one when I did was knowing that I’m actively trying to move hundreds of miles away, and wanting to get things done by the local guy I trust/felt the right vibe from before the astrology became problematic.
Haha. Pluto or Neptune tats make me a bit nervous haha but maybe id do it
I’ve always waited for a tattoo idea to stick around long enough. When studying abroad I had constant henna arms which I grew sick of visually. That being said I love! some of the symbols on vanadiums tarot – maybe one of those for nep pluto somewhere hidden
Yesss I am loving those symbols, they would make sick tattoos. That’s also my philosophy when it comes to getting a tattoo- waiting. I’ve yet to have an idea stick around long enough since my first and only tattoo:
Just yesterday felt a sudden impulse toward getting the PLUTO glyph (below my neck, upper back). This water trine has been flowing through my Kataka ascendant which is trine natal Scorpio Pluto, 5th house.
Truthfully, I am uncertain if I ever want tattoos. The lymph node thing, my generally mercurial/shapeshifter vibe. Today just so happens to be the anniversary of a close friend’s crossing over. He had designed a tattoo, an infinity sign/hourglass motif with 12/12 in Roman numerals (his birthday –and he was fascinating by “12” and yes had his sun plus several other planets there. I used to text him “happy solar return” at exactly 12:12 every year, 2012 of course being a particularly fun one) . My friend talked about getting it with me, adding a lyric from one of his songs, “I’ve got the time, if you’ve got the state of mind.”
I still note every time I see “12:12” on a clock, which I happened to as I began this comment–so I decided to share this.
if I do get that one I selected 12/12/2022 (breaking down to 12)–haven’t checked the chart for this date yet though!
I’ve not got one yet but I fancy a lotus flower spot on my heart chakra.
That sounds divine. Also … like it might hurt!
No pain no gain so they say.
I love the Minoans art, all the swirls and geometry. this is a rad idea
Thanks! I love how they have so many everyday images in their artwork—picking crocus, fishing, walking through lilies.
So according to this site https://horoscopes.astro-seek.com/retrograde-planets-astrology-calendar-2018#mars it looks like the current planets in retrograde are:
Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto. Is it OK to get a tattoo during “these” retrogrades and would this be correct, that these are the only 3 in retrograde until Neptune goes retrograde June 18 right before Mars does on June 26?
That is sooo beautiful! wow! I need to find something like that, that resonates.
Thanks! I bought a reproduction of the fresco detail and contemplated the tattoo for nine years before getting it. Which is almost certainly overkill, but at least I’m reasonably sure I’ll keep liking it.
It is funny you mention this as I was researching my avator just yesterday, which by the way is Diktynna from Crete 🙂
Cool!
I got a tattoo on my shoulder when I was 18. I had it lasered off at the age of about 32 at a high end place with the latest technology. Some sessions left me shaking and disoriented. I have a small scar where it was, and now I’m pretty sure that something so permanent is just not my thing. Guess my chart ruler, haha.
Was the shaking & disorientation from the pain of removal, or do you think it was about “exorcising” what the tattoo meant (or a combo of both?)
You’re right, I believe it was both. I checked the dates and it was during the time that Saturn crossed my ascendant. Major changes.
My dream tattoo is a fuzzy kitten playing with a ball of yarn and she has a bow on her head. Basically Marie from Aristocats. I want it on my left forearm. Don’t laugh, guys.
I think that if you could find a good still of Marie from the Aristocats, that would be a great place to start designing with your tattoo artist. The images from the Disney cartoon have good black outlines (which help a tattoo last over the years) and lots of different poses, so you could choose something close to what you have in mind.
Thank you ☺️
ooh! not overly keen on the venus symbol…mite hav a rethink…think pluto symbol first, on my finger.
i was reading s bk review of a female forensic person? sorry, forgotten the term-and she said she always knew if peopke had tattoos coz the ink collects in the lymph nodes and stays there forever.
kinda put me off…
I have one small tattoo, it’s the glyph of asteroid/dwarf planet Ceres. Long before I was ever seriously into astrology, I was obsessed with the Ceres/Demeter, Persephone, Pluto/Hades myth. Lo and behold, all are extremely prominent in my chart. Ceres is tightly conjunct Moon and Uranus, Persephone is right on Neptune, and Pluto in Scorp is square ASC, Sun, Mercury, Venus, and opposite Jupiter.
I specifically remember picking a day to get it that was based on good transits and positions. I got it on the 13th of April 2008.
-Venus in Aries trine my natal Venus/Sun in Leo.
-Waxing gibbous Moon in Leo (so it would be conjunct my Venus, Sun), my natal moon is also waxing gibbous
-Asteroid Persephone conjunct natal Ceres
-Mercury trine natal Venus and Moon/Ceres/Uranus
-Asteroid Prosperpine conjunct natal Mercury, Mercury opposite natal Proserpine
-Saturn trine and Pluto conjunct natal Persephone/Neptune
Most don’t care about minor asteroids like Persephone or even major asteroids like Ceres, but for me it was important considering the subject matter. IMHO if you’re going to go with something astrological and you want it to have spell-like qualities, the best time to get it is when that planet/asteroid/whatever has some particularly strong aspects to your natal chart and there are other positive transits or aspects too.
I utterly loved the moon. And time progressing. I’ve a four planet stellium in cancer. Saturn on my asc and of course I’m now heading out to sea as I age. MC in saggi and Pisces rising. We sort of can’t help ourselves.
Cue all the people lined up for surgery in these next six months, freaking out about Mars going retro… aaaand, go.
Last year Mystic gave me an awesome consult for tattoo timing and I am so pleased with the results, both in terms of the confidence I feel about it (first highly visible tattoo) and in terms of the actual results. Plus the timing lead me away from an artist I had no business mingling my energy with. I have plans for another tattoo in the next few years, but this one I would like to travel to Athens, Greece to get; I definitely plan to consult MM again! In the meantime, maybe the Mercury glyph isn’t such a bad idea for this Virgo rising writer gal. I do have the itch again …
I have a Kali yantra on my lower right arm. It was done during Uranus in Aires. in Medan by a artist from the easter islands. He has never seen a Kali yantra but the finished product was so pleasing. Most Hindus never tattoo such powerful symbols on their body but I felt I was ready. So I invited her in…never regretted it. I never think of the timing but the artist and inner compulsion to get it. The symbol is important.
Classic! I’ve always been partial to tigers myself.
I don’t know if this is connected but I started my long adventure into tattoos just as my progressed Venus entered Aquarius – and it’s still there! But in the last 10 years or so I’ve really slowed down the collection. I think it’s because my sense of self has become more concrete and I have fewer internal shifts that require an external marker. But I still love them. That said, Aries rising or no, there’s no way I’m getting Mars’ symbol tattooed on me 🙂
I got inked for the first time in my life on January the 11th early this year.
I chose to get a moon tattoed behind my ears.
I chose the date when Pluto was exact trine to my moon, and there was a Stellium in Scopr (Mars. Jup. Venus) all in good position to my Mars in Kataka.
And the Moon tatoo came after a very deep 4 session counselling I did during Saturn square my Natal Pluto on December last year.
And yes I thought of it as a spell (a good sleep speel and serenity spell) and I wouldn’t choose any other form of decorative tattooes, only meaningful ones.
It’s ONE Moon behind my left ear, not ears*.
I choose that position because it was hidden (very scorp vibe) and I could decide who to show it (Virgo rising + Pluto in first house).
And not for a venus retrograde either I imagine
I believe nine times out of ten I head to my natal plus transits when I read these delicious blogs
Mars on Chiron, Neptune and Uranus conjunct in 12th H and Pluto on natal south node and Neptune. I also just discovered natal Pluto is exactly on (conjunct?) Pandora. Today is very close to my lotus tattoo in 1993…needs some work my son said its more like an echidna now
I got a tattoo during venus retrograde and the tattooist had the dt’s, for reals. I don’t mind, it makes a good story, and I still like the tattoo, but it was also associated with a relationship with no happy ending. Oh why didn’t I consult Mystic first??
Yes. It would ideal fodder for an astro query.
Now it’s just a dinner party story and a tattoo with wobbly lines.
True! Forgot that. But yes, Venus Retro not good for any cosmetic/elective procedure that would be hard to turn back.
Uh true. Gotta get another tattoo this year, but I need to check with Mars and Venus retro and also Pluto in Cap.
This is brilliant, thank you! I have been wondering about which symbol to get as a small tattoo since January, it would be my second. The first I obtained 14 years ago on some Indonesian Island, it is a Balinese dragon, and yes it was a rather Neptunian night, but I like and cherish it until today. So, yes I thought about a Mercury Symbol, as the Ruler of my Sun sign. However I was afraid to invoke too much of that energy- same with the Mars glyph, felt too full on. So instead I find myself glancing at variations of the Venus Pentacle, which somehow resonates and also I feel that it would be cool to give my Virgo Venus a chance to shine and add some softer vibe to my Mars ruled persona (sometimes very competitive and also harsh energy, even to myself). Will keep that hatching. And since Mars is Retro for a few months I take this as a lesson in patience, waiting for a good date. Again, thanks for this!