If you are considering getting a tattoo, you might consider an angel tattoo. They’re not just fat little babies adorning Renaissance paintings. An angel tattoo is any figure or creature with a pair of wings (usually bird wings). Your angel tattoo can be naked, clad, androgynous, sultry, protective or an animal with wings. You don’t have to be of any particular ethnicity or religion to appreciate a good angel tattoo.
Universal Symbol
Angels appear in most of the major religions of the world. They are mentioned in Hinduism, the Koran, Christianity and Judaism. Wings are usually attributed to the invisible spiritual realms. Much art form all over the world featured winged men or winged people of some sort. Depending on how you were raised, angels might mean what anything dead turns into. Or, you might look as angels as their own spiritual species which just happen to look human on occasion. Since they act as messengers and intercessors in so many religions, many New Age and Pagan belief systems include or incorporate a belief of angels, too. A Time magazine poll in the 1990’s found that more people believe in angels than they do God.
Animal Angels
In the cable reality show Miami Ink, a large percentage of those followed getting their first tattoos were of deceased pets. Sometimes people alter the pet’s appearance slightly by adding wings and maybe a halo. This is a way of saying the beloved pet has passed on, but is never far from the bereaved owner’s thoughts. These angel tattoos are usually socially acceptable for most any Western culture. They are also a loving memorial to a much missed family member.
Guardian Angels
Most cultures have traditions of an invisible spirit watching over us to protect us, especially children. Christians and Pagans especially believe in guardian angels, where a particular angel’s job is to protect you, yet does not interfere with your power of free will. Some people choose a guardian angel tattoo to remind themselves of their angel, or to commemorate being saved from a desperate situation. Some like to have an angel tattoo as a reminder to the actual guardian angel that “Hey! Yo, Angel! Over here! I’m the one to be watched over!”
Other reasons people might get an angel tattoo include living in Los Angeles, wanting a picture of a nude woman on their bodies be more artistically and socially acceptable by including wings, and being fans of the cult show Charlie’s Angels.
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