How is a Tattoo Done?

How does getting a tattoo differ from getting an injection? Why do homemade tattoos look blurry and how come they seem to fade so much? Just how do tattoos stay permanent the way they do when so many other things done to the skin are temporary?

The first thing to understand is how the skin holds the image. Your skin is not a single layer. It is composed of several layers, each with a different cell structure. The outermost layer, which is rather thin, is the Epidermis. This is the layer that holds everything in and acts as a protective barrier. Below that is the Dermis. This thicker layer is the 'meat' of your skin, and is where hair is attached. Below this is the Subcutaneous layer which contains fat cells and is the transfer layer between the skin and the bloodstream.

Your epidermis is constantly being replenished and if you get too much sun, it turns red and peels. If you get a scratch or cut, it usually heals and goes away. This wouldn't be good for a tattoo - as soon as your skin refreshed itself, your tattoo would be gone! The tattooist pushes through the epidermis and leaves the tattoo in the dermis. Your dermis pretty much stays the way it is for your entire life, so a design put there is permanent. If tattoos are done too deeply, into the subcutaneous layer they often loose clarity as the inner layers also don’t hold the ink, absorbing it instead of sloughing it off.

The modern tattoo machine is primarily a motor attached to a tube that contains a bar with a needle arrangement on the end. The motor pushes the needle up and down, up to three thousand punctures per minute. The depth is set very shallow, just down into the dermis layer, and the ink runs into the hole from the fountain-pen like tip of the tattoo machine. All of these little 'ink dots' that are in your skin make up the picture. Homemade tattoos, often done with single needles, leave teeny dots and it makes hundreds of punctures with a steady hand to get a clear line. Tattoos that get infected while healing are left with blotchy white areas where the ink “heals out” and you will have to get the tattoo redone or touched up to fix the damaged areas.

When the ink is done being punched into the skin, the tattoo is essentially done! The ink is now permanently in the cells of the dermis layer of the skin, and will stay with the wearer for the rest of his or her life. Procedures to remove tattoos are three to four times as expensive as getting the original tattoo, and very often some form of skin mark or scarring remains afterwards. Think before you ink!

Throughout history the cutting of the flesh and blood letting were rituals performed to unleash supernatural powers. There is no doubt that cutting, piercing and tattooing are all connected to the satanic and demonic practices of blood letting and magic. Even pro-tattoo people, like author Steve Gilbert and others through their research and writings link the root of these activities to blood letting. One of the most extensive works ever published on the subject of tattoos was by Dr WD Hambly concluded that historically tattooing had originated in connection with ancient rights of scarification and blood letting which were associated with religious practices intended to put the human soul in harmony with supernatural forces and insure continuity between this life and the next. This magical and spiritual significance is the very reason for Gods prohibition in Leviticus against cutting the body and the letting of blood. In Leviticus 19:28 God said," never cut your bodies in mourning for the dead or mark your skin with tattoos, for I am the Lord" A study published in June 2002 issue of the journal of Pediatrics, surveyed 484 individuals from age 12 to 22 about their behaviour patterns and whether they had tattoos and piercings in places other than their earlobes. The researchers found that participants and/ or piercings other than earlobes were more likely to have engaged in risk taking behaviours- and to have done so to a greater extent- than individuals without either type of body modification. Risk taking behaviours included eating disorders, drug and alchohol abuse, sexual activity, violence and considering suicide. Whether the kids are getting tattoos to be rebellious or just fit in with their friends, the number of those going under the needle is high. It is obvious from the history and current studies that piercings and tattoos are a "not so subtle form of rebellion". It is a rebellion against societal norms, against authority and ultimately rebellion against God. Any procedure involving penetration of the skin can be a means of transmitting organisms that cause diseases like aids, hepatitus b and c, tetnus, syphilis, tuberculosis and other blood born diseases. If people only realised how difficult it is to remove a tattoo, understood how costly and painful tattoo removal is, and recognised that society as a whole still views tattoos and as a stigma, maybe they would think seriously before getting one. The title of a book "Whats behind the ink?" by REV William Sudduth talks about whos behind the ink. He believes it is no less than satan himself. We find satan and his demon spirits seeking to do what he has always done, strategically trying to gain mans attention, his affections and his worship. Satan is still seeking to take mans focus off God and onto himself. Rolling Stone magazine described famous tattoo artist Paul Booth saying, that while he does tattoos, "he allows his clients demons to help guide the needle." Satan knows his time is short, I believe we are seeing the end time fury promised in Revelation 12:12b But terror will come on the Earth and the sea for the devil has come down to you in great anger, and he knows he has little time. To be a Christian means alot more than just believing, it means to be Christlike! Since the 1970s, the widespread practice, acceptance, and popularity of body modification definitely says, "my body belongs to me", not to God! 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 or dont you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God brought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. I am not about judging people who have tattoos or piercings. Many people have chosen these things without knowledge and that is what we are judged on. I am merely here to provide the truth and knowledge that these things are of the world and not of God.You now have the truth , the choice is yours!
In Gods Peace and Love

One of the most popular tattoo design choices for women, the Butterfly reveals the feminine influence in tattoo culture. Generally speaking, butterflies are an overwhelmingly female tattoo design. Because of the butterfly’s short life span, many ancient peoples saw it as emblematic of the impermanent. Its physical beauty and its fluttering from flower to flower seeking nectar have made it synonymous with the more unstable and superficial aspects of the human soul.

In Greek mythology, Psyche was represented in art with butterfly wings. It’s all about the airborne soul – and the caterpillar emerging from its cocoon, transformed from an earth-bound to an aerial entity, is the classic metaphor. To the Greeks, a human soul emerged each time a butterfly emerged from its cocoon. Diverse cultures looked upon the Butterfly as a symbol of transformation, regeneration and flight. Souls were carried by the Butterfly from earth to heaven, or in some cases were believed to be the souls themselves returning to earth.

Butterfly goddesses have emerged in places as far apart as Minoan Crete and Toltec Mexico. Some of these deities were believed to be the personification of certain butterflies, and were regarded as symbols of beauty, love, flowers, and the spirits of the dead. They were also looked upon as the patrons of women who died in childbirth and warriors who fell in battle. At the other end of the spectrum, one of the Butterfly deities in ancient Mexico was the goddess of war and human sacrifice.

So, the Butterfly is not entirely the exclusive domain of the feminine. The Roman Emperor, Augustus, took it as his personal symbol, and the warrior priests of the Mexican Popolucas peoples sported the Butterfly as a motif on their breastplates. Their Butterfly was also the symbol of fire.

In Japan, the Butterfly, ready to fly after its long spell in the cocoon and spreading its brand new wings, is a popular symbol for young girls. It represents emerging beauty and grace, with the added notice to regard change as joyful, not traumatic. Likewise, the Native American honours the Butterfly as an emblem of guidance in change. In China, it is still a popular symbol of marital bliss and conjugal harmony.

Delightful, magical and transformational, the Butterfly reminds its admirers of the mystery of nature and the richness of human imagination.