Cecilia's Spiritual Dreamcatcher (at the NYC Urban Tattoo Convention)

<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4e2800; line-height: 18px;">Even though the 4th annual </span><a href="http://www.nycurbantattooconvention.com/index.html" style="background-color: white; color: #b5643a; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">NYC Urban Tattoo Convention</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #4e2800; line-height: 18px;"> was at the end of June, I'm still reliving the experience through posts of tattoos I saw there.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4e2800; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #4e2800; line-height: 18px;">While speaking with one attendee named Cecilia, she pulled her shirt up to reveal this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcatcher">dreamcatcher</a> tattoo on her ribs:</span></span><br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrFW4sCU0-pqOm53imd75zjxkaTBWL_1Kl8uV8Jc33Se3sF41LJV5vqIfLGe5lkPCwKtEnNSJ4pnI0UWJ38fD0k4sD7JJuz3YgX_wkp8qts3ClQgcvdWCOjbS1BTjYWQJbLXmaGDPFWAo/w274-h659-no/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrFW4sCU0-pqOm53imd75zjxkaTBWL_1Kl8uV8Jc33Se3sF41LJV5vqIfLGe5lkPCwKtEnNSJ4pnI0UWJ38fD0k4sD7JJuz3YgX_wkp8qts3ClQgcvdWCOjbS1BTjYWQJbLXmaGDPFWAo/w274-h659-no/photo.jpg" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #4e2800; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4e2800;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">I recently followed up with Cecilia and asked her specifically about the tattoo.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4e2800;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4e2800;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">First, she credited this lovely work to <a href="http://southseas-tattoo.com/section/220523_Kristin.html">Kristin Lowery</a>, owner/artist at <a href="http://southseas-tattoo.com/home.html">South Seas Tattoo</a> in Hilo, Hawaii, who used a feather Cecilia had found in New York as reference material. She said she was "pretty sure, after researching, [that] it's a hawk feather."</span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4e2800;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4e2800;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Cecilia was very detailed, explaining the spirituality behind this dreamcatcher:</span></span></span></span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"... I wanted to incorporate something like a dream catcher using the symbol of the 3rd <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra">chakra </a>... the hawk - in animal spirit medicine/as a totem in Native American tradition means</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">-messenger of the spirit world<br />-focused power<br />-power to see/clear vision<br />-connection to spirit, spiritual awareness</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I got [the tattoo] on my left side which represents the feminine and I got it on my rib cage for it to land close to my heart and aligned with the 3rd chakra solar plexus and heart chakra.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Chakras are energy points in the human body.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">3rd chakra is a energetic center for empowerment, where your ego lives, where your inner warrior develops and where you decide who you are and project it out unto the world. It is from this place that our principles are born and developed, and where our codes for living get created and maintained. It is from here that we assert our will and stand up for 'who we are.' Self-esteem is the result of the third chakra.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">[This tattoo] represents for me a rite of passage to connect with my true nature, to gain spiritual awareness, to own my power and to become the person I was meant to and fulfill my purpose in this lifetime!"</blockquote><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4e2800;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Cecilia's spirituality should come as no surprise, as she is an New York-based artist, whose photography can be seen <a href="http://www.ceciliat.com/Index.html">here</a>. You can also visit her Etsy shop <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/celestineimages">here</a>.</span></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4e2800;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4e2800;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Thanks to Cecilia for sharing this lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!</span></span></span><br /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday.</span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" style="font-size: small; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span>

Cecilia's Spiritual Dreamcatcher (at the NYC Urban Tattoo Convention)

Even though the 4th annual NYC Urban Tattoo Convention  was at the end of June, I'm still reliving the experience through posts of tatto...

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Shom's Chakra

I met Shom very briefly as he was about to board a train at Penn Station.<br /><br />Aside from shoulder pieces and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> text circling his upper left arm, he has a couple of other tattoos, including this one on his inner left forearm:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_nsdgTztnGbX4orpOqyXC-JBxUm7xC57hmUOrfv9jGV_3S3LKAr5Bw5JTMW96PCIVNL-wm7S4uUiH8e5eldvqFMscmdI712ki8oW46EljXGn_l5RkcVvvkMrIfuiGIG1QsYJ80ZU/s1600/Sanskrit.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406550753394833922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_nsdgTztnGbX4orpOqyXC-JBxUm7xC57hmUOrfv9jGV_3S3LKAr5Bw5JTMW96PCIVNL-wm7S4uUiH8e5eldvqFMscmdI712ki8oW46EljXGn_l5RkcVvvkMrIfuiGIG1QsYJ80ZU/s400/Sanskrit.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 201px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />This piece represents one of the many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra">chakra</a> for meditation.<br /><br />It was inked at <a href="http://www.jinxprooftattoos.com/">Jinx Proof Tattoo</a> in Washington, D.C. Work from that shop has appeared previously <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2008/12/michaels-mariachis-celebrate-life-with.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Shom had to board his train before I could get more information, but I express sincere thanks for his brief participation here on Tattoosday!

Shom's Chakra

I met Shom very briefly as he was about to board a train at Penn Station. Aside from shoulder pieces and Sanskrit text circling his upper l...

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