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Do you or significant other have a Tattoo?

Do you or significant other have a Tattoo?

  • Yes

    Votes: 9 14.5%
  • No

    Votes: 53 85.5%

  • Total voters
    62

CalGalTraveler

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@DaveNW Those are nice designs. I have pierced earrings with blue opal turtles that you buy at the international market in Waikiki. Not expensive, not unique, not a tattoo but these earrings remind me of happy Hawaiian vacations. My happy place.

Do whatever makes you happy.
 
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Luanne

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I haven't finalized anything yet, but I know I'd want something tribal that evokes the spirit of the Honu. These ideas below are just some images I've collected from various places online - none are better than any other. I think when I get to Hawaii next Summer I'll talk with a tattoo artist and see what ideas they may have. There are any number of tattoo artists on the Mainland I could use, but this has to carry a feeling of the aumakua from someone with Hawaiian roots - the artist has to know the spiritual aspect of what I'm after, and help me to achieve it. I also don't want this to be huge tattoo, maybe only about 4 inches square, so I know it can't be too detailed. But who knows? It's all up for negotiation. As I said, "We'll see." :)

Dave
Dave, I love the Honu. If I were to ever actually get a tattoo I think that is what I'd get.
 

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Which is your favorite? We should take a poll! :) I am unfamiliar with the history and significance of what you are striving for. Which comes closest?
 

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I am not going to respond directly to religious interpretations, but I remind myself of this often when I become too smug in my opinions:

Opinion is opinion.
Truth is truth.
Opinion on truth is opinion on truth.
 

DaveNV

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Glynda, you can think of it like a spirit animal. In Hawaiian culture, an aumakua is an animal or plant that represents a family history and ancestors, and can be a protector of the current family members. It isn’t religious, per se, but it is a spiritual, personal thing. (None of the images I posted are specific to what I want, but they illustrate the idea of what I’m after.)

I first moved to Hawaii when I was 14, a troubled teenager sent to live with my Father, after things got to be too bad at my Mom’s house. (Long story, details unimportant.) When I stepped off the plane for the first time, Hawaii welcomed me, in a way I can’t express. I am not a religious man, but I was overwhelmed with a sense of peace, and belonging. I knew I’d come “home.” I embraced Hawaiian culture and history, because it felt right, on a deeply personal level. I spent a lot of time alone on the beach, trying to figure out who I was, and how I fit into the world. The honu was often a companion I saw when I was snorkeling, or when I was on the beach. I always acknowledged them, and “knew” things in my life were going to be okay. That feeling has never left me.

As an animal, the honu represents perseverance, longevity, and constant application to the task at hand. For me, as a person, those traits are how I live my life.

So it isn’t a specific design or pattern that I’m after, it is the emotional connection to how I feel about the honu, and acknowledging it as my aumakua. :)

Dave
 
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Glynda

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Glynda, you can think of it like a spirit animal. In Hawaiian culture, an aumakua is an animal or plant that represents a family history and ancestors, and can be a protector of the current family members. It isn’t religious, per se, but it is a spiritual, personal thing. (None of the images I posted are specific to what I want, but they illustrate the idea of what I’m after.)

I first moved to Hawaii when I was 14, a troubled teenager sent to live with my Father, after things got to be too bad at my Mom’s house. (Long story, details unimportant.) When I stepped off the plane for the first time, Hawaii welcomed me, in a way I can’t express. I am not a religious man, but I was overwhelmed with a sense of peace, and belonging. I knew I’d come “home.” I embraced Hawaiian culture and history, because it felt right, on a deeply personal level. I spent a lot of time alone on the beach, trying to figure out who I was, and how I fit into the world. The honu was often a companion I saw when I was snorkeling, or when I was on the beach. I always acknowledged them, and “knew” things in my life were going to be okay. That feeling has never left me.

As an animal, the honu represents perseverance, longevity, and constant application to the task at hand. For me, as a person, those traits are how I live my life.

So it isn’t a specific design or pattern that I’m after, it is the emotional connection to how I feel about the honu, and acknowledging it as my aumakua. :)

Dave

So different families chose other animals or plants as their aumakua? The green sea turtle, honu, is just one of a number of aumakua? Your spiritual connection with Hawaii and the honu stems from the peace you found there, what you learned of its history and culture, and particularly felt on/at the beach where you swam with and saw the honu. I can understand your search for the one design that embodies all of those feelings. Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me.
 

CalGalTraveler

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Aside from the stupid college drunken tattoos, there are many tattoos with stories behind them.

Some use it to commemorate a lost loved one or friend. Several young adult girls who graduated from my dd's high school got a small tattoo just under their underarm (so they could hide it under a top) to commemorate their good friend from high school who committed suicide. I don't consider these girls "trashy."

Others commemorate lost 911 family members. I have heard of former addicts and alcoholics putting tattoos on their fingers or wrists to remind them to stay sober and well.

Although I am a wimp and would not get one myself and don't advocate them for my kids because they are permanent, I am fascinated by the stories behind them.
 
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Passepartout

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Glynda, you can think of it like a spirit animal. In Hawaiian culture, an aumakua is an animal or plant that represents a family history and ancestors......

As an animal, the honu represents perseverance, longevity, and constant application to the task at hand. For me, as a person, those traits are how I live my life.

So it isn’t a specific design or pattern that I’m after, it is the emotional connection to how I feel about the honu, and acknowledging it as my aumakua. :)

Dave
Thanks for the explanation, Dave. I have always thought of the bold almost geometric, but not quite, of Hawaiian, Polynesian or Maori comes closest to the type of tattoo I would get it I was going to get a tattoo.

Jim
 
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DaveNV

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Thanks for the explanation, Dave. I have always thought of the bold almost geometric, but not quite, of Hawaiian, Polynesian or Mauri comes closest to the type of tattoo I would get it I was going to get a tattoo.

Jim

Yes. That is what I meant by “tribal.”

Dave
 

DaveNV

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So different families chose other animals or plants as their aumakua? The green sea turtle, honu, is just one of a number of aumakua? Your spiritual connection with Hawaii and the honu stems from the peace you found there, what you learned of its history and culture, and particularly felt on/at the beach where you swam with and saw the honu. I can understand your search for the one design that embodies all of those feelings. Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me.


Yes, every family (or family member) finds the aumakua they feel closest to, or protected by. For those with Hawaiian ancestors, the aumakua represents the present-day life of deceased ancestors, who protect the family now. Different people in the same family can choose a different aumakua, as they accept and understand which being fits their life. There is no exact answer, since everyone has a different journey.

When I was a teenager on Oahu, I was “adopted” by a Hawaiian woman who conducted blessings on people, homes, and businesses. She was sort of a female kahuna. Wonderful lady. I assisted her several times during her ceremonies, and I never felt more connected to the Islands than during those times.

If I believed in reincarnation, I’d believe I once had Hawaiian ancestors.

This page gives a bit more info about aumakua: http://www.coffeetimes.com/aumakua.htm. The sixth paragraph contains the part that I most identify with.

Dave
 
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My dear late father had a rooster and a pig tattooed on his feet before WWII when he was very young and in the merchant marine. He had it done when he was in Panama after he had had a few. It was supposed to protect you from drowning. He came back home after his first voyage and was walking from the bathroom to his room with a towel wrapped round his waist when his mother saw the tattoos and all hell broke lost. She chased him around the house hitting him all over with a rolled up magazine telling him he was "marked for life as a bum!" I can just see my 18 year old father clutching his towel and running around the house while my tiny, enraged little grandmother was beating him with a rolled up magazine and screaming at him!

A mother's words carry a lot of weight because he was ashamed of them, and always wore shoes or slippers in the house. We only saw them when we went swimming. He would be 98 now if he were still alive.

Pom0exO.jpg
 

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Yes, every family (or family member) finds the aumakua they feel closest to, or protected by. For those with Hawaiian ancestors, the aumakua represents the present-day life of deceased ancestors, who protect the family now. Different people in the same family can choose a different aumakua, as they accept and understand which being fits their life. There is no exact answer, since everyone has a different journey.

When I was a teenager on Oahu, I was “adopted” by a Hawaiian woman who conducted blessings on people, homes, and businesses. She was sort of a female kahuna. Wonderful lady. I assisted her several times during her ceremonies, and I never felt more connected to the Islands than during those times.

If I believed in reincarnation, I’d believe I once had Hawaiian ancestors.

This page gives a bit more info about aumakua: http://www.coffeetimes.com/aumakua.htm. The sixth paragraph contains the part that I most identify with.

Dave
Our family aumakua is a pueo. While it is very cool, I am a little bummed that our aumakua isn't something that lives in the water.
 

Glynda

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Yes, every family (or family member) finds the aumakua they feel closest to, or protected by. For those with Hawaiian ancestors, the aumakua represents the present-day life of deceased ancestors, who protect the family now. Different people in the same family can choose a different aumakua, as they accept and understand which being fits their life. There is no exact answer, since everyone has a different journey.

When I was a teenager on Oahu, I was “adopted” by a Hawaiian woman who conducted blessings on people, homes, and businesses. She was sort of a female kahuna. Wonderful lady. I assisted her several times during her ceremonies, and I never felt more connected to the Islands than during those times.

If I believed in reincarnation, I’d believe I once had Hawaiian ancestors.

This page gives a bit more info about aumakua: http://www.coffeetimes.com/aumakua.htm. The sixth paragraph contains the part that I most identify with.

Dave

That's a good article! I was mistakenly thinking that there was/is one aumakua that represents an entire family. Somewhat like a Scotch tartan. Interesting how the aumakua might inhabit a person for temporary strength, be it a superior dance performance or energy to do a task though once done, back to being whatever. Nothing greedy like a genie granting 3 wishes and the recipient wishing for 3 more. :) I've only been to Hawaii once for a week but didn't connect to it like some do. But I can see that there is a lot of history, beauty and spiritual connections. Thanks for sharing!
 
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