Today, I got a letter from a distraught mother whose 16 year old son got a tattoo without her permission on his back. She was really worried that it was somehow a “dark” symbol or something along those lines, and asked if I’d ever seen anything like it before. I told her I didn’t want to get anybody in trouble, but it also turned out I’ve never seen this symbol before. It’s sort of a cross which ends in a trident at the top. Overlaid on that is what looks like a giant “U” or possibly two horns. And there are four little arrows radiating diagonally from behind that. Here’s a simplified version of what she sent me. If anybody knows of something similar to this, I’d be interested in finding out about it.
She’s supposed to write me back and tell me what her son claims that it means. In any event, I sent her the following piece of advice, which I hope was helpful.
- speaking from my own experience, i originally never wanted a tattoo. too permanent, i thought. how would i find something that would be meaningful throughout my whole life? but somewhere along the line, i realized the permanence was part of the whole point. like its a way of committing yourself to your decisions, and taking responsibility in a very physical, tangible way for the person that you become - and that you make yourself into. from that perspective, even if it is “dark” i wouldnt necessarily worry about it, because it sounds like a good kid (with a good mom) and that this is more about psychological transformation and “claiming his identity” more than anything else. i remember being a 16 year old boy very vividly and its not the easiest thing in the world - with college coming up, all kinds of social pressure, different people pushing you to be different things. sounds like he is just trying to take charge of that whole process, and i’m sure he’ll fine.
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