Meaningful Cherokee Tattoos Novels & Stories

A woman in the crowd screamed when they saw my tattoos. Celtic symbols were tattooed down my spine with intricate vines weaving in and out of the symbols, the vines weaved and circled the tree of life, which was tattooed on my right ribcage with the symbols for the maiden mother and crone in the roots. I had more tattoos covering my body, but the clothes in this time hid them very well. The men poked at the tattoos and scratched at any marking they could find on my body. “Are you done yet?” I hissed with a warning.

The only word that came to mind was drool worthy. My eyes were drawn to the tattoos that littered his body. The ones that lined his chest and ribs caught my attention and I badly wanted to know what they were. My fingers twitched at my sides wanting to go over there and run them across the tattoos. He threw his shirt off to the side and turned fully towards me. I couldn't stop myself from asking. "What are your tattoos of?" "Oh these." He glanced down at the ones on his chest. "This one," He pointed to the symbol on his left peck. "is the Marine's symbol. And this says 'Move mountains or die trying'." He touched the quote that was on his ribs.

He closed his eyes, his jaw slackening as I scrubbed his scalp. A comfortable silence soon settled between us. As I leaned forward to rinse the shampoo from his hair, my eyes caught the tattoo inked across his back and upper arm. The design was bold against his skin, curling like claws and wings. Black flames wrapped around a serpent swallowing its own tail. "What does it mean?" I asked, my fingers lightly brushing the ink. He didn't answer at first. "It's a symbol of resurrection. Power earned through suffering." I traced the outer edge. "You got it before or after everything?"

The four types of tattoos were the Alpha tattoo, the Beta tattoo, the Zeta tattoo, and the member tattoo. My tattoo had seven moons at the top of my back with two versions of the Helm of Awe on each shoulder blade. In the middle of my back was Yggdrasil, the tree of life with a wolf head coming out of the roots. Finally, below the wolf and running down my spine was my name in Old Norse. In the middle of Yggdrasil’s branches, the Alpha sign of our pack was cleverly blended in.

Paul added, obviously uncomfortable with the tears. I covered my whole face as I hunched over slightly, sobbing into them. A sign of an elite warrior, one that had been trained and passed their tests, was a tattoo. It spread from shoulder, across the back and to the other shoulder. Each one was slightly different, tailored to the warrior but within a pack, there was always a specific design. It meant the world to me that they would gift me this. “Skylar.” Someone took my hands and held them. Carl was on one knee in front of me. He was smiling as reached up and brushed tears from my cheek.

Matthew gasped as he tried to struggled free, but it only made it worse. "Matthew Leverton will you stop that? What do I look like, a rope-testing dummy?" Alexander groaned grumpily. "Sorry..." Matthew said as he looked at June, "you okay?" "Yeah," June nodded weakly, "where are we?" She looked around as the tribe stood motionless around them. Matthew noticed something about these men. Every man in the tribe was wearing animal skin, some parts of their body were tattooed, including their faces. Some of the tattoos, Matthew observed, weren't tattoos as all; they were scars, scars from the past battles they had fought in, scars that were a sign of their combat, scars to show their victory and

He patted my shoulder with his tattooed hand. I stared at it, his body was so beautiful, it was like a display of art. Various inks and pictures went up his arms, to his neck and his back. It was truly beautiful, there was a wolf, a symbol, a date, a quote, a picture of some guy and my favorite tattoo was on the back of his hand. It was, 'Fuck you. It's my life' written in italic letters. "Someday you will have something meaningful enough kid." He wound his arm around my neck and practically dragged me to the back of the shop where most of the piercings were done. "Now, wait here while I get the equipments ready."

His six packs and muscular arms were perfect for his torso. The tattoos were splattered on his chest, the one that has the M symbol with a crown on it, has some words written on it. He turned around to drop the bottle, and that made me see the tattoo on his back. It was a tattoo of a large bird flying away from an arrow directed to it. He turned to face me back as he leaned back on the fridge, then I looked up to his face. I looked away but something caught my eyes. I saw those words clearly. Broken. I have a feeling every words and shapes that was tattooed on his skin has a deeper meaning attached to it. But two of those tattoos got me thinking. The M symbol with the crown on it and the wo

The tattoos incorporated yantras (designs based on sacred geometry), the Om symbol, miniature depictions of Hindu deities, and even mantras written in sanskrit. Savitri sat me on a stool, the air thick with sandalwood and something sharp, like lemon. She squeezed a muddy green paste from a cone, tracing swirling patterns on my arms—loops and flowers that looked like they belonged on a temple wall. She called it mehndi, said it was a kind of temporary tattoo made from crushed leaves, used in India for weddings and blessings, but this batch was special, mixed with herbs to keep the Vetala’s spirit out of me. It didn’t hurt like I’d feared—no needles, just a cool, wet tickle as the paste sank i

"You see my mother was part Hopi and my father part Cherokee. When I was born my mother gave me the Hopi name of Tansy. For the longest time I only knew of Tansy as the name of a flowering herb. Well last year I was finally able to find someone who knew the Hopi meaning. That meaning has been gnawing at me continuously and eventually led me to go on a vision quest." He stopped speaking and looked at me again and I swear the hair on my neck stood up. With a voice barely above a whisper I found myself asking, "What does Tansy mean?" His eyes filled with a strange light. "In Hopi, Marina, it means, immortality." *