They were used to ward off evil, celebrate some victory, signify marital status or keep the bearer healthy. Some cultures believed that decorating their bodies with tattoos of fierce beasts would transfer the animal's strength to them. It wasn't until organized religion spread across the globe and banned the ancient practice of tattooing, that it fell into disgrace.
Even so, in a desire to ensure a Christian burial if they were killed in battle in a foreign land, the Crusaders (circa 1095 AD) tattooed a small cross on their hand to announce their religious wishes.
Today, the popularity of religious tattoos, including the Christian cross, is making a very strong comeback and is responsible for nearly 25% of all tattoos purchased in North America.
Religion is taken very seriously by those involved in religions of any sort all over the world. When someone has a religious symbol placed on his or her body, they are announcing their religious convictions with pride and devotion, along with drawing their personal spirituality closer to them.
Those religious symbols take several distinct forms, with the cross being the most popular and taking many forms, like a simple cross, a Celtic design or the Crucifixion. The Crown of Thorns is another symbolization of the death of Christ and is often used to mark suffering.
Other often seen religious symbols include, angels, biblical characters, biblical verses, doves, praying hands and the Madonna. The Alpha/Omega symbol is used to recognize that the Lord is the beginning and end of all things.
By far the most dramatic symbol is the Catholic Church's Sacred Heart, a medieval symbol of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. This tattoo symbol is used to represent not only the redeeming love of God, but announces God as the light and happiness of the wearer's soul. Besides being a major religious symbol, the Sacred Heart is a particularly beautiful tattoo, with a bright red color, enhanced with flames and crossed by thorns.
Since ancient times, thousands of years before organized religion or the birth of Christ, body decoration with tattoos has always been based in the spirituality of every existing culture, whether primitive or modern.
