About tattoos and Orthodoxy. The Bible is explicit about this:
“For the sake of the deceased, do not make cuts on your body, and do not prick writing on yourself. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28); “You are the sons of the Lord your God; do not make cuts in your body, and do not cut off the hair above your eyes after the deceased; for you are a holy people with the Lord” (Deuteronomy 14:1-2).
God repeated this commandment to the priesthood:
And the Lord said to Moses: Tell the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ... They must not shave their heads and trim the edges of their beards and make cuts on their body ”(Leviticus 21: 1, 5). It is very important that the prohibition is accompanied by a reference to the fact that their God is the Lord. That is, to the first commandment of the Law:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3).
Tattooing has played a different role throughout human history. In the ancient world, where one person could become the property of another, a tattoo, for example, served as a brand. The tattoo reduced a person to the level of an animal: the cattle wears the brand of the owner, and the slave is tattooed with the name of his master.
However, in the pagan world, the basis of the foundations of the meaning of the tattoo was an appeal to spirits (that is, as we Christians know, to demons). Through the image on the body (sacred signs), a person calls the spirit he worships into his life.
The tattoo is rejected by the Church precisely because of its mystical significance. Through a tattoo, a person is associated with unclean and evil spirits, but not with God. The nature of a tattoo is inevitably cult, magical.
Of course, today tattoos are not done as some kind of mystical ritual, but rather for the sake of fashion or tradition. But this action itself - tattooing - is deeply pagan ... Therefore, there is nothing strange that tattoos negatively affect a person's life.
Stories about tattoos and Orthodoxy
So, journalist Svetlana KUZINA, in her article “Fatal Tattoos”, after talking with tattoo removal specialist Konstantin Avramenko, gave many examples of this: Alexei Voronin from Odintsovo wrote to us in the newspaper: “My beloved girl was a quiet, kind angel. They lived with her soul to soul for two years, they even planned to marry. And then one day in the salon she got a tattoo on her buttock - a devil with a dagger. And her character suddenly changed dramatically. She began to quarrel over trifles, get jealous and became angry with her tongue. It was as if this imp had stabbed her in the ass with a knife. In the end, we parted ways. Can a tattoo really change a person?
“Maybe,” Konstantin Avramenko assures, “Tattoos change the lives of people — those who, through thoughtlessness, made tattoos of dubious content. I made sure from my own experience.
Konstantin Avramenko, an optical physicist by education, has been removing tattoos from the skin of his clients for several years. He said that tattoos sometimes change the character of people and literally attract trouble. But the fashion for these "decorations", unfortunately, does not pass. Usually, patients tell Konstantin why they decided to get rid of the tattoo.
DAEMON.
“A girl with a Chinese character came to me. Also on the priest, says Avramenko.
She was crying and begging to have the tattoo removed immediately. According to her, misfortunes rained down on her immediately after drawing the picture. Within a year she lost her job, gave birth to a stillborn child, and her husband left her. And the last straw that almost led her to suicide was the gang rape by drunken youngsters. I recovered a little and ran to remove my tattoo, which, as I found out, meant the word "demon". Now everything in her life is settled.
PARATROOPER AND SPIDER.
- I had a former paratrooper with a complex tattoo: airplanes, wings, a parachute and death with a scythe. He begged me for any money to erase the drawing of death. I am, he says, a realist and never believed in magic. But when I started walking around with this tattoo, luck seemed to turn its back on me.
GUARD AND NUMBER "13".
- Twenty years ago, a 40-year-old security guard in a bank on the Arbat got a tattoo on his little finger - the number "13". And all these years, according to him, "bad luck" pursued him. At first, the mother fell seriously ill, and in order to pay for the treatment, the dacha had to be sold. Then he got into a car accident, for which he had to pay with an apartment. The daughter became a drug addict. The family fell apart.
When I erased the tattoo, everything in his life changed ... I met the woman I loved, and from the deceased grandfather, he inherited a chic dacha. Now the number "13" still looks a little. Recently, he called me, asked: come - finish off, maybe life will change even more abruptly?
GIRL AND BUTTERFLY.
- A 16-year-old girl made herself a tattoo on her back - a beautiful colored butterfly. Since then, the main business of her life has been to meet a new boy every evening. After school, she did not go to college, but ran around nightclubs. Young people treated her without respect. And she did not get out of other people's beds.
Her boyfriend told her nasty things and started dating her friend. Someone advised her to get rid of the tattoo by sending her to me. I explained to her that according to old beliefs, a butterfly is a sign of a prostitute. After removing the tattoo, her boyfriend returned to her, and a month ago they got married. Now she is expecting a baby.
BOY AND DEATH.
“Recently, I was asked to come to the 1st City Hospital to remove a tattoo from a 15-year-old boy who is in a coma,” Konstantin recalls. - I was very surprised: is it really impossible to wait until he comes to his senses? It turned out that his parents insisted on my arrival, who only in the hospital saw a terrible inscription on their son’s right shoulder: “Live quickly die young” (in Russian “Live quickly, die young”).
It turns out that the parents sent the boy to rest in Cyprus. There they made him a tattoo. Then he broke loose like a chain. In two months, he managed to abandon school, several times to get into the police for hooliganism and pick up a venereal disease. And then he took his father's car and crashed into a pole at a speed of 120 km per hour. The airbag saved me. But he broke his pelvis and hip.
“I was afraid to erase the entire inscription,” Avramenko continues, “what if complications arise? I decided to display only the word "DIE" (die), which changes the meaning. And then something strange happened. The guy was unconscious. And I also did local anesthesia. He began to erase the tattoo, and the boy in a coma (!) suddenly began to move his shoulder away, and with his other hand he tried to push the device away.
The pulse rose to 138 beats. I doubled the dose - the boy still felt everything. The three nurses present at the same time and the head of the intensive care unit, like me, were in shock. The impression is that Satan himself moved into him and did not let him get rid of the fatal words. When I removed the tattoo, the pulse dropped to normal, and the boy recovered very quickly.
Tattoos and Orthodoxy Continued
“I believe that tattoos should not be pricked,” Avramenko sums up. - No wonder there is a ban in the Gospel: "Do not decorate your bodies with drawings and writings."
“It’s easy to make a tattoo,” Konstantin says. - Much harder to get rid of. Unfortunately, people have no idea what they will have to face. What torment to endure ... Surgical intervention is necessary here. The oldest way is to cut off a piece of skin with a knife or scalpel.
It takes several years for plastic surgeons to remove a large area tattoo. The time can be reduced by transplanting skin into the place of the excised area, for example, from the back or buttocks. But then there will be wounds in two places. They try to erase tattoos with a laser. It burns tissue to a considerable depth. They are dying. Scars appear in this place. Why am I telling all this? And so that you think ten times before getting a tattoo.
On the Kulturologig.ru website, an article about tattoos analyzes this phenomenon.
For example, it is obvious that the owner of a tattoo provokes others to pay attention to it. It gives a sense of self-importance. Any tattoo attracts attention, but it is necessary to specify - attention to what? First of all - to the body ... A tattoo by its nature is a confession of corporality. A person who has made a tattoo, one might say, professes the cult of his body ... Of course, such an escape to the outside is a sign of spiritual weakness.
mystical component. Tattoos and Orthodoxy
A tattoo can change a person's life. To understand this, it is not necessary to turn to mysticism. Having made a conscious act of applying a tattoo on his body, having taken some sign as defining himself, and often challenging the people around you, a person can no longer remain the same. And this change does not bring a person either peace or peace in the soul. The tattoo works like an anchor, psychoanalytically speaking. She constantly reminds her wearer of the choice he made, spurring the corresponding emotions. You can’t gouge out a wolf for yourself and not get a little wolf at the same time. Naturally, the habits of a real wolf have nothing to do with it, we are talking about the image of the beast, as we imagine it.
In general, a person is a symbolic being, and the world that we perceive and realize is, to a lesser extent, the physical world.
Behind every physical object, behind every thing there is a tradition of understanding, symbols and signs that we do not even always notice. Many signs influence us through the subconscious.
Sometimes we underestimate the power of a sign, but a tattoo is by no means such a case. Do not just succumb to the commercial advertising of tattoo parlors, in a hurry to present the tattoo as a kind of fashionable decoration. It's not profitable for tattoo artists to say serious things. But those who take the tattoo seriously know its symbolic power.
That is why you should not prick and innocent, at first glance, drawings. Even an image of a butterfly pinned to the body, as the example above showed, can lead to negative consequences in life.
Tattoos and Orthodoxy. Continuation.
Also among the signs used in tattoos, there are many, including those whose magical nature is not obvious. But she is; such, for example, are hieroglyphs or runes. Since ancient times, magical signs have been used for various pagan rituals, in which blood and sacrifice were usually required. The tattoo is not done without blood; the person on whose body it is done acts as a victim.
Sign, sacrifice and blood are all in place, which makes tattooing a pagan ritual.
Tattoos and Orthodoxy. Conclusion.
Modern consciousness considers such rituals to be toothless archaic, but human psychology has not changed much. In the past, with the help of such rituals, the power of one person over another was established. There is reason to believe that even today a tattoo can be used as one of the zombie techniques, that is, subordinating a person to someone else's will. It remains only to say that the will can be not only human, but also demonic. Therefore, the religious consciousness unequivocally defines a tattoo as an appeal to demons... It is impossible to turn to God without breaking with the demons...
Christian tattoos primarily mean the Orthodox faith of a person in God. Historically, they are strong amulets that help in life. Now Christian body painting is incredibly popular because of its unambiguous meaning, which is simply deciphered and says a lot about a person.
Christian tattoos and their types
Such tattoos are valued not only for their meaning, but also for their appearance - the modern execution of wearable designs, stylish and variable, allows you to immortalize on your body a one-of-a-kind image that will attract attention and distinguish the owner of the tattoo from the crowd.
There are many different types of Orthodox tattoos for men and women, and each of them is distinguished by its sacred meaning and unique appearance.
Faces of saints in a Christian tattoo
The most popular images are Archangel Michael and Jesus Christ. The face of the latter on the body characterizes a person as repentant of a past sinful life. However, a more popular and significant meaning for tattoo wearers is the denunciation of the desire to help one's neighbor. Such a drawing will make it clear that its bearer is a kind and sympathetic person, and also has a unique taste and style: the faces of saints can be filled in a modern design, which makes them look spectacular, will attract all eyes.
Angels and Archangels
Christian tattoos for men have a rich selection, and one of the most popular designs is the image of angels and archangels. Such tattoos are made in black and gray tones and symbolize inner strength, purity of thoughts. The archangel is the protector and arbiter of destinies. Such a drawing will show how strong the faith of its bearer is. Modern design allows you to fill a tattoo on the entire back, complementing it with patterns and ornaments - such an image will look original, without losing its appearance and meaning.
Orthodox tattoo and crosses
The Christian cross is one of the most common symbols in a tattoo, which sometimes may not even have anything to do with religion. From an Orthodox point of view, the cross symbolizes the desire to draw closer to God, symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the removal from sin. Places for stuffing such a tattoo are very variable - there are such Orthodox tattoos for men on the arm, on the chest, on the back and on other parts of the body. Orthodox tattoos on the arm depicting a cross are the most popular - such drawings are always noticeable, they distinguish their wearer from the crowd and say a lot about him.
Christian tattoos primarily mean the Orthodox faith of a person in God. Historically, they are strong amulets that help in life. Now Christian body painting is incredibly popular because of its unambiguous meaning, which is simply deciphered and says a lot about a person.
Christian tattoos and their types
Such tattoos are valued not only for their meaning, but also for their appearance - the modern execution of wearable designs, stylish and variable, allows you to immortalize on your body a one-of-a-kind image that will attract attention and distinguish the owner of the tattoo from the crowd.
There are many different types of Orthodox tattoos for men and women, and each of them is distinguished by its sacred meaning and unique appearance.
Faces of saints in a Christian tattoo
The most popular images are the Archangel Michael and Jesus Christ. The face of the latter on the body characterizes a person as repentant of a past sinful life. However, a more popular and significant meaning for tattoo wearers is the denunciation of the desire to help one's neighbor. Such a drawing will make it clear that its bearer is a kind and sympathetic person, and also has a unique taste and style: the faces of saints can be filled in a modern design, which makes them look spectacular, will attract all eyes.
Angels and Archangels
Christian tattoos for men are rich in choice, and one of the most popular designs is the image of angels and archangels. Such tattoos are made in black and gray tones and symbolize inner strength, purity of thoughts. The archangel is the protector and arbiter of destinies. Such a drawing will show how strong the faith of its bearer is. Modern design allows you to fill a tattoo on the entire back, complementing it with patterns and ornaments - such an image will look original, without losing its appearance and meaning.
Orthodox tattoo and crosses
The Christian cross is one of the most common symbols in a tattoo, which sometimes may not even have anything to do with religion. From an Orthodox point of view, the cross symbolizes the desire to draw closer to God, symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the removal from sin. Places for stuffing such a tattoo are very variable - there are such Orthodox tattoos for men on the arm, on the chest, on the back and on other parts of the body. Orthodox tattoos on the arm depicting a cross are the most popular - such drawings are always noticeable, they distinguish their wearer from the crowd and say a lot about him.
In the middle of the first century AD, Egypt was conquered by the Arab armies. This invasion is not entirely correct to call "conquest", because the invaders did not meet any resistance from the Egyptians.
However, hostility to the new order, which the invaders brought with them, began to appear later. Word Copts the Arabs called the representatives of the local population of Egypt, who by that time were overwhelmingly Christians. Coptic Christianity is one of the most ancient branches of Christianity, basically, this religious branch belongs to the Orthodox Church.
In the heart of old Jerusalem, a Christian of Palestinian origin named Wassim Razzouk, in his own tattoo studio makes tattoos for everyone. The sign of his tattoo studio says since 1300- this means that he is a hereditary tattoo artist who supports the tradition of Christian tattooing, which has a history of more than seven centuries.
The tradition of tattooing pilgrims has deep historical roots.
“My ancestors are Egyptian Copts. For centuries, Coptic Christians have maintained the tradition of tattooing themselves. It is believed that the first Christian tattoos appeared in the XII century from the birth of Christ, when Islam began to spread in Egypt. And at that time Egypt was predominantly Christian. Arab conquerors forcibly tried to convert Christians to their religion. To do this, they came up with a very interesting thing - to impose an additional tax on those who did not want to convert to Islam. Wassim says.
The tattoo showed that its owner belonged to the Coptic Church
“One form of resistance to this was that Coptic Christians made themselves tattoos on the inside of their wrists - an image of a cross. Over time, such a gesture of intransigence was transformed into a tradition. For a very long time, belonging to the Coptic Church could be proved in the only way - by presenting a tattoo of a cross on the inside of the wrist of the right hand..
Pilgrimage used to be a life's work
“My great-great-grandfather came to Jerusalem at the beginning of the 18th century and his craft was tattooing on the skin of pilgrims who came to Jerusalem from all over the world. Today, everything is much simpler - you buy a plane ticket on the Internet and the next day you are already in Jerusalem! But a hundred years ago things were different. They prepared for the pilgrimage for many years - it became the main event of a lifetime! And the tattoo was proof that its owner was in holy places, as well as a proud symbol that it is worn by a Christian..
Wassim says that the practice of pilgrimage tattoos has gained unprecedented popularity these days - “Sometimes there are queues of 50 people lining up for me! People are ready to wait for hours to take away the symbol of Jerusalem. And there are even those who come to Jerusalem every year, and every time they make themselves a new tattoo..
From the grandfather there were stamps carved from an olive tree
Not all pilgrims welcome the practice of tattoos, but they do not want to lag behind the more daring brothers in faith. For such cases, in the arsenal of a tattoo artist there are stamps carved from olive wood depicting Christian motifs. He got them from his grandfather, who was not only a tattoo artist, but also a carpenter, as well as a wood carving master.
Wassim Razzouk does not consider himself a member of the modern tattoo movement
Wassim Razzouk a very famous figure in the world of Israeli tattoos. He takes part in many exhibitions, collaborates with leading museums, but he does not consider himself a member of the modern tattoo movement: "This is not my world" he briefly explains. “I am not a tattoo artist in the modern sense of the word. My clients are pilgrims, monks, priests, the elderly.”.
“I am very surprised when someone starts to say that this or that religion forbids tattooing. Regardless of what these people say, the demand for pilgrimage tattoos in the holy land of Jerusalem is growing year by year!”
"Glorify God in your body and in your soul, which are God's"
(1 Corinthians 6:20).
Are Christians allowed to have pictures on their bodies? To understand this, let's turn to the Bible and patristic writings, the dogmas of ecumenical councils, as well as literature for preparing for confession, because it usually lists all kinds of sins in great detail. For a Protestant, there is only the authority of the Bible. A Catholic should heed the decrees of the Pope and the councils.
Nothing is said about this in the dogmas of the Orthodox Church and in the writings of the Fathers of the Church. Let us turn then to the Bible, there is only 1 verse in it, which clearly speaks of impaled images. Here he is:
"For the sake of the deceased, do not make incisions on your body and do not prick writing on yourself. I am the Lord"
(Leviticus 19:28).
The line above says:
"Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard" (Leviticus 19, 27).
These Old Testament quotations speak of the inadmissibility of adopting pagan rites, that is, performing these actions for the sake of the deceased and for the glorification of pagan gods. If we assume that tattooing is unambiguously prohibited here, then the ban on cutting the beard must also be recognized. Moreover, the Gospel abolished many old norms, for example, rites with the blood of animals.
The New Testament says about the Antichrist:
"And he will do that to all, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, a mark will be put on their right hand or on their forehead" (Rev. 13, 16).
But it is also written:
"And it was said to her [the locust], that she should not harm the grass of the earth, and no greenery, and no tree, but only to one people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads" (Rev. 9, 4).
"And I looked, and behold, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having the name of His Father written on their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1).
Does the inscription or print on the forehead have anything to do with the tattoo? It is impossible to say clearly. So, it seems that Scripture does not directly prescribe anything to modern Christians in terms of tattooing.
At the same time, we must remember that Christians live for the glory of God, striving wholeheartedly for the salvation of themselves and others. Following the words of the Apostle Paul, I will say that not everything that is permissible is beneficial, and not everything edifies. The concepts and customs of our time are already far from the precepts of Jesus Christ. People make wearable drawings to please, to emphasize their beauty, to preserve the memory of worldly things. Even the name of a loved one should not be applied, because, firstly, God comes first, secondly, romance did not come from Christianity at all, but from a medieval military environment, and, finally, thirdly, real Christians love all sisters and brothers alike, make no difference between kindred and non-kindred. Romantic love and Christian love are not the same thing.
Also, you can not tattoo oriental symbols, that is, dragons, Japanese and Chinese characters, and the like. They express a completely different vision of the world, far removed from Christianity. So, a non-Christian tattoo for believers in Jesus is unacceptable. If salvation is the most important thing, then why just pay attention to worldly things?
There is no tattoo sin in the books for preparing for confession, although there are such violations of God's law as dancing and turning the road red. In one of them, however, there is a phrase: “I sinned (a) following the godless customs of this world, and also wanting to please and seduce, I cut my hair and dyed (this violated the commandment of God about the appearance of a woman)”. That is, any actions with unrighteous goals are condemned, and it is difficult to imagine Christian cosmetics.
According to the Orthodox doctrine, sacred images are needed, firstly, to remind us of God, of sacred events, the instructive life of the Lord and the saints of God, secondly, to expound the teachings of God, thirdly, to arouse religious feelings in us, fourthly, to glorifying God with art, just as they glorify even people with all sorts of monuments, just as they glorify God with art - singing and music. (According to N.Yu. Varzhansky “The Weapon of Truth”)
The Bible recognizes the possibility of correct sacred images:
"You shall make the tabernacle out of ten curtains of twisted linen and of blue, purple and scarlet [wool], and make cherubim on them with skillful work" (Ex. 26, 1).
"Cherubim and palm trees were made: a palm tree between two cherubim, and each cherubim has two faces. On the one hand, a human face is turned to the palm tree, and on the other hand, a lion's face is turned to the palm tree; this is how it was done in the whole temple around" (Ezek. 41, 18-20) .
Besides:
"Don't you know that your bodies essence temple the Holy Spirit living in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God and your bodies and in your souls who are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
The temple has the correct images.
"Show them the appearance of the temple and its location ... and all its images" (Ezek. 43, 11).
Some argue that impalement is forbidden because pagans used it. If this is understood, then it is necessary to ban sacred images in general, because even before God commanded to make images of cherubim in the tabernacle, pagan peoples depicted their gods.
In the Christian world, the Coptic Orthodox Church (Egypt) widely uses the tattoo, after baptism a cross is made on the right wrist. Egyptian law requires showing one's hand when applying for a job because Copts are banned from leadership positions. Therefore, for example, men become loaders, and women become cleaners.
In any case, the issue of salvation depends on the soul of a person, images and objects, the formal implementation of the rules alone is not able to do this. When choosing a tattoo, you should not completely trust the catalogs in tattoo parlors, because it is not known who created them, and any image reflects the inner world of the artist. It is better to choose for yourself, and bring the finished sketch to the master. The master, performing the procedure with his own hand, unconsciously brings in a particle of his "I". After all, churches are painted only by Christians, and not by worldly artists. Finding a truly believing tattoo artist in the salons is not so easy. Today, the majority perceives the owner of underwear painting as a thrill-seeker, living for the sake of pleasures and pleasures, and at the same time, a person who is firm enough to adhere to his own rules. Images applied forever are seen as something mundane, but now it is almost a modern youth language. In order to bring other people to Christ, it is necessary to convey to them the high Christian truths of Orthodoxy in an accessible way.
