MY SARISARI STORE

Gang Tattoos.

Joker:

The Joker is associated with playing cards and is related to 'The Fool' in tarot cards. As a playing card they usually have special powers and can be used in play or not as in 'Jokers wild'. Even though the Joker is seen as someone foolish they are also quite intelligent.

Source: Tao of tattoos.

Tiger:

Tigers are a common style of tattoo for many reasons. It is renowned

for both its beauty and strength. Because of the distinctive coloring

of a tiger it makes for a very good tattoo. It can be done in many

styles but by far the most common depiction is the Chinese style

of tiger which it was believed to be the opposite of the dragon and

often appears alongside it.

Source: Tao of tattoos.

Caterpillar:

With their strong association to the butterfly, caterpillar tattoos

are very popular and imply the early stages of growth prior to change

and metamorphosis.

Source: http://www.vanishingtattoo.com

Tikbalang:

Tikbalang or tigbalang (demon horse) is a half-man and half-horse

creature. It has a horse's head, the body of a human. It travels at

night to rape female mortals. The raped women will then give birth

to more tikbalang. They are also believed to cause travelers to lose

their way particularly in mountainous or forest areas.Tikbalangs are

very playful with people, and they usually make a person imagine

things that aren't real. Sometimes a Tikbalang will drive a person crazy

. Legends say that when rain falls while the sun is shining, a pair of

Tikbalangs are being wed. Since horses only arrived in the Philippine

archipelago during the Spanish invasion (thus, the borrowed term

'kabayo'), there is a theory that the image of a half-horse, half-man

creature was propagated by the conquistadors to keep the natives

afraid of the night.

Source: wikipedia

Gang Tattoos.

Dragon:

The dragon is a ‘classic’ tattoo motif, popular with both men and

women. In the East, the dragon represents the Four Elements - Earth,

Wind, Fire and Water - and the four points of the compass - East,

West, North and South - and dragons are simultaneously a symbol

of Water, Earth, Underworld and Sky.

In China, these mythological creatures were the symbol of both the

supernatural and of imperial power, residing in the heavenly realms

. They were often spotted looming around thunder clouds, and

became the deities of rain, producing downpours when it suited them.

As shape-shifting creatures, they became so embedded in the myths

and legends of Chinese culture, that the dragon is said to be the

ancestor of the Chinese people. In Japan, a similar claim was made

when a certain emperor declared that he was a direct descendant,

himself, of the powerful and immortal dragon. It’s not surprising then,

that the image of the dragon appeared on the robes of the emperor,

signifying the protective powers of the dragon as well as the temporal

power of the emperor.

Before the advent of Buddhism, the dragon starred in Chinese and

Japanese folk beliefs, and in Taoism. In the ninth century, the Chinese

incorporated the dragon into Buddhist concepts and art, where it took

on the role of protecting Buddha and the sacred law of Buddhism. It

could be found over temple doors and on tomb walls, warding off evil

spirits.

In the West, the dragon’s serpentine looks connoted evil. Blame its

serpent relative making trouble for itself and all mankind in the Garden

of Eden. Later, some famous Christian saints did battle with the

fire-breathing dragon, Michael and Saint George, to name two. In

images depicting the famous battle with Saint George, the dragon is

portrayed as a sea dragon, and the patron saint of England is the clear

winner.

In battles all over the Roman and Greek empires, warriors boasted

the emblem of the dragon as a symbol of terror. It was seen on Viking

ships, and in Celtic cultures it was the emblem of sovereign power.

Wherever the dragon appeared, its strength and power was supreme,

whether it was used as protection, or a force to be overcome.

Defeating the fire-breathing dragon was the supreme test of human

courage and fortitude.

Source: http://www.vanishingtattoo.com

Gang Tattoos.

Grim Reaper, Dagger-Skull, Skulls:

The Grim Reaper is a potent symbol of death and a graphic reminder

of the transitory nature of life. The Grim Reaper and the Skull were

often used as symbols in medieval and renaissance art as a stark

reminder of the fact that life is finite and hints powerfully at the

afterlife that awaits us. Many paintings of saints in particular

prominently feature skulls, and art that depicted famine and disease

often contain the cloaked and hooded figure of the Grim Reaper,

skull peeking out, scythe in hand to better harvest human souls.

Knife or Dagger though a Skull symbolizes Death. This tattoo is

often used as an amulet or talisman for protection. In many cultures,

particularly in Southeast Asia, warriors often get special tattoos

that are meant to repel a knife attack. A Burmese tribesman with

a magical tattoo goes into battle knowing he is impervious to the

thrust of a knife. In Prison Culture, such a tattoo may represent a

man who has committed murder.

One look at a skull and we can see death staring at us from those

big empty sockets. It’s not surprising then that the skull is known

all over the world as a symbol of death. In many cultures, it is held

up as a reminder of our own mortality or, in the universal Latin, a

memento mori - a memento of mortality.

In Christian art and culture, the skull has been seen as a symbol of

eternity, repentance, and human vanity and, therefore, a reminder

to keep to the straight and narrow. It appears in medieval religious

paintings as Adam’s skull placed at the foot of the Cross and symbolizing

the Redemption. An ancient symbol of the skull with a serpent

crawling through the sockets was the symbol of knowledge and

immortality. The serpent in the skull is also a favorite emblem denoting

‘knowledge surviving death’. Many great Renaissance masterpieces

prominently feature skulls, and most portraits of Saints, Cardinals,

Popes and Royalty contained a skull as a reminder of the importance

of living a virtuous life.
Historically, the skull was a popular symbol of triumph over the enemy,

and a warning to the people defeated in battle. Collections of skulls

might be stacked by the victors in public places, as an obvious declaration

of victory and grim reminder of the losses of the vanquished.

When tattooed on the arm of an outlaw, it is a death-defying symbol

believed to cheat death.

Today, the skull is as popular as it ever was. In movies, games,

literature, comics, and of course, tattoos, the skull continues to gather

different symbolic implications as the creative imagination of the artist

lets loose. Some designs are humorous, some macabre and threatening,

but always Death is part of the picture.

Source: http://www.vanishingtattoo.com

Gang Tattoos.

Spider and spiderwebs:

Struggle is what the spider web tattoo symbolizes -- struggling in

the “web of life”. Suggle in a spider's web implies capture, and

the multiple strands of the web itself is often a metaphor for bars.

Prison bars.

Spider web tattoos have a dark history going back some seventy

years, when Aryan, or White Supremacy gangs reportedly wore the

spider web tattoo, a sign that they had terminated a visible minority.

The spider web became popular in prisons, with each ring of the web

representing time spent inside, or how many “prey” have been

ensnared in the wearer’s web. You might spot one on an elbow,

sometimes on the back, or on the side of the neck, emerging from

behind the ear, and more rarely, on the face. It has served as a

billboard that the wearer is in for murder, or as a warning to enemies

to keep their distance -- especially one worn on the left elbow -- which

advertises the web-wearer as one who has a deadly weapon tucked

away.

A more philosophic prisoner might use the spider web as a reminder

that they aspire to freedom, to escape the web from which they have

become entangled.

Spider web tattoos have traditionally been associated with racists

and other antisocial elements, but as the tattoo has become more

main-stream it has taken on different meanings -- or none at all.

Prisoners, bikers, gang members and ex-cons must be dismayed

to see the spider web co-opted by members of the middle class,

who might take to the spider web in order to be ‘cool’.

Source: http://www.vanishingtattoo.com

Gang Tattoos.

Religious tattoos (3)

 

Gang tattoos.

Religious tattoos (2):

 

 

Gang tattoos.

Religious (1):

The Philippines being a Catholic country it is not surprising to see

a lot of religious imagery in the tattoos.

 

Gang Tattoos.

A fatalistic world view / quotes:

Tattoos are also used to express gang members' often fatalist

philosophy of life. One popular tattoo is a depiction of the smiling

and crying comedy and tragedy masks, meaning, "play now and pay

later," or "my happy life, my sad life."

Gang Tattoos.

Hand tattoos:

Gang tattoos.

Head tattoos: