Feather and Red Star

I would have wanted as my first tattoo the traditional tattoo from Kalinga etched on my back by Apo Fang-ud herself. But it is very difficult to spare more than 12 hours of travel and a couple more of hiking. I still am not in Sagada for my fieldwork, and the possibility of it seems blurry as of the moment.  I have decided to reverse my  plan and go for the machine tattoo method first.


This is my version of the mother and child, my elder sister and her firstborn.

Mock up only; not yet the real thing

My sister's name is Angel. Born only a year apart, we grew up very close with each other. Elders refer to us as kambal or twins. We always wore the same clothes, we attended the same school until elementary, we always played together as kids and were punished together by our mother. Though we attended different schools in college, we were very close we'd meet up after school to eat out and watch movies. She got married in 2008 and I missed her so much the first week she wasn't home. I tried my best to still be there for her so I made it a point to look after her especially on the latter part of her first pregnancy.


I thought of a wing (angel's wing) but over a conversation with friends, a feather seems to be the better option. This one friend told a story about another friend of his who believes in Angels and once dreamt of holding on to the Angel's wings until a feather was plucked. Upon waking up, inside his/her clasped hand is a feather.


Dreaming of feathers means a desire to achieve a goal or overcome a challenge while the feather itself "deal with ascension and spiritual evolution to a higher plane." Different cultures have believed the feather to be a symbol of connectedness to higher wisdom and spirituality.

• Feathers were worn by Native American Chiefs to symbolize their communication with Spirit, and to express their celestial wisdom. 

• As a Celtic symbol meaning, the feather was worn by Druids in the form of ornate feathered robes. Celtic Druids donned these robes in ceremonies to invoke the sky gods and gain knowledge of the celestial realm. It was believed that the feathered cloak along with the presence of the sky gods would allow the Druid to transcend the earthly plane and enter the ethereal realm.

• The Egyptians believed that feathers were symbolic of sky gods too. Ma'at, the Egyptian goddess of justice, would weigh the hearts of the newly dead in the underworld against the weight of a feather to determine the worthiness of his or her soul.

• In Christianity feathers represented virtues. In fact, an image of three feathers were made into signet rings - each feather symbolizing Charity, hope, and faith. These rings were worn as a symbol of a virtuous soul - they were also used as wax seals. 

Source: http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbol-meaning-of-feathers.html

The dream interpretation of feathers mean travel or the ability to move freely in life. Now I know why the typical "Bohemian" look is characterized by the use of feather accessories. According to the dictionary, the term bohemian (n) is defined as A restless vagabond; -- originally, an idle stroller or gypsy (as in France) thought to have come from Bohemia; in later times often applied to an adventurer in art or literature, of irregular, unconventional habits, questionable tastes, or free moral. A bohemian is also described as  a nonconformist writer or artist who lives an unconventional life or someone who refuses to conform to established standards of conduct

I never wanted to call attention to myself and I often feel awkward about other people saying what they think about me. I'm not into achieving a certain look, or creating an image of myself simply because I'm one person who don't like to be noticed so there's absolutely no point in image-making for myself. Nonetheless, I have found people branding me as such: artist, unconventional, explorer, free-spirit. And that was what my friend said about the importance of character when thinking of an image to symbolize yourself. Being one of those who truly knows me, he said the feather symbol suits my character well.

Aside from the feather, a huge part of my character is captured by the image of a simple red 5-point star.

According to Wikipedia, the five-pointed red star, a pentagram without the inner pentagon, is a symbol of communism. It is sometimes understood to represent the five fingers of the worker's hand, as well as the five continents. A lesser known suggestion is that the five points on the star were intended to represent the five social groups that would lead Russia to communism: the youth, the military, the industrial labourers, the agricultural workers or peasantry, and the intelligentsia. It was one of the emblems, symbols, and signals representing the Soviet Union under the rule of the Communist Party, along with the hammer and sickle.

Very few people know this side of me. For this reason, I sometimes feel that I live a double life. It is something I can't just casually discuss to anyone. Even if I am not actually "there", I still want to be reminded to keep hoping that one day, a hundred flowers shall bloom.

Aside from that symbolism, my firstborn niece is named Tala (star). She is the first in the family. The first grandchild, the first niece, the first of the third generation. And I love this child so much. So I offer this symbol to her and to the whole family as well.

I think tattooing is an exercise in self-awareness. It makes you think and reflect on who you are, who you live for, your motivations for living and reasons for being for it to be truly meaningful. For these reasons, I am confident that I will never regret my first ink.