Photo by Jill Shropshire from the article Spiritual Expression: Yoginis & Their Tattoos

I love seeing how the symbolism of tattoos as a spiritual expression continues to spread. It makes me smile to witness the increase of reading about and hearing from others on this subject, including personal experiences of the depth in which this sacred body art resurgence  is collectively supporting energetic shifts.

There definitely seems to be a continued parallel between a conscious, evolving spiritual journey and spiritually reflective tattoos.

A few days ago Allison Jacobson (my dear friend that you may have remembered having gone through her own major sacred tattoo transformation with the Sacred Scarab Goddess tattoo design I helped her create) posted the article, Spiritual Expression: Yoginis & Their Tattoos, on Facebook.

Not only does this article by Sara Lovelace share some light-hearted takes on, as she puts it, the “parade of personality in a yoga class,” it also proceeds to discuss the “feminine revolution” and how the “growth in female yoga practitioners in the last decade dramatically parallels the rise in the percentage of women getting tattoos.”

“One study said women are 59 percent of the tattooed population.”

The article links both yoga and tattoos as “ancient forms of spiritual expression.”

Sound familiar? 😉

I particularly got a giggle out of her sharing this:

“Spending hundreds of dollars on spiritual garbs isn’t, perhaps, what the ancient yogis had in mind. I don’t remember Pantajali saying anything about moisture wicking organic cotton fair trade om editiontank tops. Maybe I read the abridged version.”

And loved her personal view on the feminine revolution and how it translates for her, adding, “There is a Hindu goddess by the name of Lirbai who is depicted as being covered in tattoos—full sleeves, actually. She has female worshippers who adorn their bodies with tattoos in tribute to her. When I see this Goddess, I’m so relieved to see myself staring back. To look back and not turn into a pillar of salt, but find evidence of my own divinity. I can see it in you too, sisters.”

This reminds me of a quote I share in my book Spiritual Skin:

“A man without tattoos is invisible to the Gods.” ~Iban Proverb

It also brings to mind the chapter where I include information about your body as a temple, which equates to being, by definition, a dwelling place of God or a divinity. Yes, sacred tattoos are one way to integrate the physical and spiritual into the divine wholeness of which is innately you.

As I’ve shared in my recent radio interviews, articles and book, a recent survey shares that 1/3 of the people getting tattoos choose designs reflecting their spiritual or religious beliefs and first-timers are especially prone to get this genre of tattoos. This all points to the new paradigm of awakening into our divine wholeness, rapidly spreading.

In my recent post Women and Tattoos: An Historically Symbolic Evolution of the Divine Female I shared in tandem with Sara Lovelace about the rise in women getting tattoos, as well as discussed its reflection to the Divine Female and Divine Male, and spiritual tattoos as self-expressive forms of transformation and empowerment. The post was tied in with the short article titled, “A Secret History of Women and Tattoo,” by Maria Lokke that focused on the thriving tattoo culture, especially among women, accompanied by beautiful images of tattooed women in history.

The article stated:

“In fact, 2012 was the first year in which more women than men were tattooed in the U.S (twenty-three per cent of women, compared with nineteen per cent of men).”

It’s an interesting story that is rewriting itself, as we journey further into the collective experience we are sharing together.

If you’d like to read the whole article by Sara Lovelace, you can do so here:

Spiritual Expression: Yoginis & Their Tattoos