December 08th, 2025

Getting tattoos is both an ancient tradition (in some cultures) and a popular practice today. There are many reasons to get tattoos, which can vary from just liking the picture, to them having deep personal or spiritual meaning*. Regardless of the reasons you have gotten ink, or reasons you have not/would never, they are all valid.
That said, let’s look at some of the personal or spiritual reasons to sport some body art.
 
Ancient cultures, like the Greeks/Romans, Egyptians, Samoans, Japanese, and Native Americans, to name a few, have used tattoos to communicate a plethora of information. Tattoos have been used to display rather neutral forms of social status like family or tribal ties, achievements, or military rank. However, they have also been used to denote less desirable social situations, exact punishment, or exert control over others like slaves, criminals, and prisoners of war. An example of this today would be prison tattoos that represent the crime(s) one has committed.
 
Many tattoos done today are used to represent important events or achievements in our lives. Births, deaths, marriages, friendships and other relationships, personal victories or hardships, and many more. This types of body art both permanently reminds us of that even, and shows others that this event or achievement happened. They can make excellent conversation pieces too.
 
Some ink represents severe hardships. Things no one should have to go through, but, unfortunately, happen all too often. While they are often worn discretely, they have deep meaning. One such tattoo includes Medusa, who represents the struggle and strength of sexual assault victims. If you do not know her story, you should read it. She does make the perfect representative icon for this particular heinous act. Another is the semicolon tattoo, which is worn to support individuals who have battled (or are battling) mental health conditions like (but not limited to) depression, anxiety, and/or have done/contemplated self harm. These tattoos can be extremely empowering.
 
From a metaphysical point of view, tattoos can be used for ritual and even medicinal uses. Ritual tattoos can include (but are not limited to) protection symbols, elemental symbols, bind runes, symbols of fertility, health, or abundance, and more. This kind of body art could be used in actual ritual, on-the-go spells, or to deepen the connection between the bearer and that tattooed symbol/concept. Tattooing these symbols on the body can be helpful, however, one should activate them by imbuing them with energy/intent. I would especially advise this for protection symbols, particularly if one is going somewhere/doing something that might need enhanced spiritual protection, like ghost hunting (I am always surprised ghost hunters do not utilize this tool more often), or entering unavoidable toxic situations/dealing with unavoidable toxic people (especially helpful for mediums and empaths). Mediating on, or spending time activating/using them can help build a better connection to them; possibly making them easier to use when needed. This can also apply to tattoos that display our guides, totem animals, or animal guides. They can be a constant reminder that they are always with us, and help us connect with them quickly, especially in times of need. Not unlike wearing jewelry or carrying an object depicting them (carving, picture, etc..), except that it is always with us, no matter what, and cannot be lost. Tattoos that symbolize aspects of our culture, or cultures that we are drawn to, can help make us feel more connected to ourselves and our ancestors. (Cultures we are drawn to can be ones we experienced in a past life (if you believe in reincarnation), and so are still a part of us.)
Medical tattoos were once used to not just to bring health to the tattooed person, but also to show particular markers for health on the body like meridians or acupuncture/acupressure points. These last ones would be particularly helpful if you suffer from ailments whose symptoms could be alleviated by applying pressure to those points.
 
To recap, any kind of body art, permanent or not, can communicate many different concepts, ideas, or information, be used in ritual, or healing, and empower us. It can connect us with our ancestors, our culture, or our guides. They can have deep meaning, or just something we think is very cool. Though, given my own spiritual beliefs, I would question why I thought it was so “cool” that I wanted it to be permanently placed on my body. What connections could be made about that? Is there a deeper meaning to my attraction to it? That is just me though.
 
So, do you have any body art? If not, would you? Would/did you choose something significant to you personally or spiritually? I would love to know.
 
 
*I am aware that placement of a tattoo on the body can also have significance. I chose not to cover that into this post.