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Why I have No Tattoos
Oct. 9th, 2011 06:19 pmWell, for one thing, I'm much too flighty. Yes, there have been times in my life when I've cared deeply enough about some potent symbol or aesthetic to want it permanently. But when I think of what I might have been stuck with if I'd been permitted to choose a china pattern at age 25 (that would have been pricey/fancy enough to have to keep always) - let alone a skin design . . . I blanch. Go back a little farther, and yes, there would be unicorns (medieval, yes, but still). Look, I do not like to wear even the same earrings often; the idea of having a permanent skin decoration just does not compute.
And besides, I remember being told that traditional Judaism prohibits tattooing, because in ancient times it was the involuntary mark of slaves. (I put that into a conversation the highly-tattooed Theron Campion has with his half-sister Jessica in Delia's & my book, The Fall of the Kings - of course, the Campions are not Jewish.....are they?). It turns out this is not quite right - the campus Hillel.com site explains it better.
What I do have is a set of 3 plain silver rings with words stamped on them, which I can take on and off.
I put them on for the High Holidays: for the 10 days of turning and returning that is the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The words come from a song* with music by Philip Glass and lyrics by Laurie Anderson (whose album, Strange Angels,* is, to me, a perfect expression of the spirit of the High Holidays - was she even joking, in "The Ouija Board," [from her album The Ugly one with the Jewels] when she said that in past lives she was "...Hundreds and hundreds of rabbis" ?) The song, from Glass's remarkable album Songs from Liquid Days, is called "Forgetting":
And besides, I remember being told that traditional Judaism prohibits tattooing, because in ancient times it was the involuntary mark of slaves. (I put that into a conversation the highly-tattooed Theron Campion has with his half-sister Jessica in Delia's & my book, The Fall of the Kings - of course, the Campions are not Jewish.....are they?). It turns out this is not quite right - the campus Hillel.com site explains it better.
What I do have is a set of 3 plain silver rings with words stamped on them, which I can take on and off.
I put them on for the High Holidays: for the 10 days of turning and returning that is the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The words come from a song* with music by Philip Glass and lyrics by Laurie Anderson (whose album, Strange Angels,* is, to me, a perfect expression of the spirit of the High Holidays - was she even joking, in "The Ouija Board," [from her album The Ugly one with the Jewels] when she said that in past lives she was "...Hundreds and hundreds of rabbis" ?) The song, from Glass's remarkable album Songs from Liquid Days, is called "Forgetting":
A man wakes up to the sound of rain
From a dream about his lovers
Who pass through his room. [....]
The man is awake now
He can't get to sleep again.
So he repeats these words
Over and over again:
Bravery. Kindness. Clarity.
Honesty. Compassion. Generosity.
Bravery. Honesty. Dignity.
Clarity. Kindness. Compassion.
I couldn't fit all the words on the 3 silver rings I ordered - but the ones I have serve to remind me of the verses. They are things I think I need all the year 'round. If they were on my skin, I might stop seeing them.
*Both the songs "Forgetting" and "Strange Angels" are important parts of my "Door is Opened" special.