So I was tattooed on Monday by the fabulously talented deanocturne. Today it is all scabby and peeling, but I got enough of a picture to give you a general idea. (deanocturne, I'll send you a better one once it heals a bit more.)

First, some context. A little over four years ago I had the Behutet & star variant done that you can see here. It was intended as an image of the last line of Liber AL II:21: "The Sun, Strength & Sight, Light; these are for the servants of the Star & the Snake", and a symbol of my commitment to the Law of Thelema. I knew then that more would go underneath it eventually, but not what.

Years go by, and little symbolic resonances start collecting. Gnostic Mass alchemy. Rosa mundi est lilium coeli, thanks to my first Babalon Puja. Playing Luna in Eleusyve's Rite of Venus. As NOTOCON approached and it looked like I'd finally be able to pin down deanocturne for some good hard pain, I came up with this sketch:



Now my right arm looks like this:



and I am pleased as punch. As I said above, a better picture will be forthcoming once it is finished healing. The sun rays are supposed to fade out as it heals, as well, so they'll be a bit more subtle and less like a sunburnt flag ;)

(As an aside - if you're going to fly cross-country within a couple of days of getting a tattoo, get some travel-size lotion so you can lube up on the plane. I checked mine because it wasn't travel-size (@&%!$ useless TSA regulations...) and, like, OW. Yeah.)

Also entertaining with this tattoo has been the bruising. I don't know if it was deanocturne's gentle touch or just the fact of it being on the bicep, but I am bruised all over that upper arm, both under inked parts and others. (Aren't you just burning with curiosity?)

Future plans include more night sky & stars above the Behutet, with a bright one where the 9-pointed star is now, probably curling over the shoulder into my eventual backpiece. I also want to extend the night sky below into a twisty band around my forearm, possibly turning into a serpent. But as I seem to go a couple of years between tattoos, that'll probably be a little while yet.

And while, due to the distance involved, I can't promise that no other artist shall touch my skin, I believe I can safely say that my right arm belongs to deanocturne :)