Hey guys, as I may have mentioned before I am in the process of culling various ideas for a butterfly tattoo on the left-side of my chest rendered in the neo-tribal style (though, it's gotta' have the sexy lines this particular style's so well known for--I was watching a programme on TV last night dealig with a tribal tattoo competition, and one tribal piece simply took my breath away!). However, I want it to have some very real meaning, besides just being the modern, meaningless, tribal motifs that are so popular. So...I'd like to have the lines that constitute the piece to hold various significant associations. Ya' know what I mean? For example, an ideogram incorporated that means "pride", "esteem" or "protection", "courage" and "strength", etc... Sadly, my usual "go to" site is fairly useless, proving to be pretty narrow: symbols.com But.........because I am astute (at least I think so, anyway!), I'm also interested in why a symbol means what it means, or from where it may have evolved. So, I was wondering if anyone might have know of any good resource-type books that are pretty thorough examinations of symbols, their traditional meanings and their evolutions, etc. Anyone know of any that'd be worth my while? As for my tatoo-idea in question, I'd like to keep any incorporated symbols within a Northern, European, etc. stream or "cultural" environment. Of course, one of these days I shall have to set down with pen and paper and write a list of "Key Words" detailing what Gay Pride means to me. (The reason I desire a butterfly is becayse it represents not only witches [who were thought to shape-shift into red butterflies], but the soul and liminality or transformation; however, in the 70s lavender butterflies were ideograms of Gay Liveration, and in Spain a derrogatory term for Gay men [mariposa] translates as "butterfly"--I know it's supposed to be derrogatory, but I still think it's pretty!) Of course, before I get this tattoo I really want to hit my local gymn--hard! Hey, it's cheaper than pec. implants! LOL...

Take Care,
Wade