The Hidden Meanings Of Tribal Tattoos

Tribal tattoos are one of the most popular tattoo design categories. Tribal can actually be used to describe a wide variety of tattoo designs, but most often, it refers to tattoo designs that resemble the markings and signs of Native Americans and other cultures.

History of Tribal Tattoos

Tribal tattoos all originate from tattoos of early cultures. The earliest tattoo designs are likely to have been sun or flames in honor of the sun gods. In the beginning, tattoos were for spiritual and physical purposes.

Receiving a tattoo was thought to take a person to another spiritual plain where they could enhance their spirituality. Getting a tattoo was an amazing experience that was not done for fun, but for real meaningful reasons.

This is one reason why tribal tattoos are so popular. Many people want a tattoo design that has some meaning to it. Tribal tattoos are seen as a way to express oneself without being obvious about the message. They provoke conversation because people ask what they mean. However, many people that get tribal tattoos may not even consider the meaning behind them. They simply get them because they look cool. Once you find the meaning behind them, though, it makes a tribal tattoo much more than a design.

Tribal Tattoo Meanings

The early tribal tattoos were all given for a reason. There was a range of reasons why someone in a tribe would get a tattoo. As mentioned, the reasons for a tattoo were very important and sacred.

Tribe members would often get a tattoo to serve as a physical marker. The tattoo design would designate what tribe they belonged to. It served as a helpful way to find the tribe and was thought to help in the afterlife in finding ones tribe.

Tattoos were also given to signify marriage. They were used much like we use a wedding ring today. Some people still honor this tradition and get a marriage tattoo.

Tattoos were also used to serve as a rite of passage. It could be the marking that a child had reached maturity and was now seen as an adult. It was also used in women to prove that she could handle pain and therefore was suitable for childbirth.

Magical reasons were often behind tattoos. Some were given to honor animal totems, which were thought to guide and watch over an individual. Some tribal tattoos were made magical through mixing a magical potion with the ink before giving the tattoo.

How to Find Tattoo Meanings

When getting a tribal tattoo it is common for a person to want to understand what the design stands for. Finding the meaning behind a tribal tattoo design can be difficult. Many modern tribal designs are simply made up. They are created from other tribal designs and really do not hold significant meaning.

In order to find a tribal tattoo that does have a specific meaning you should try researching designs. You can use the internet to find a range of original designs that were used as actual tribal tattoos.