Lotus tattoos
Lotus is the flower that symbolizes fertility, especially in the cultures of Ancient Egypt, India, China and Japan. The unique meaning of the lotus, the water lilac, is based as on the beauty of this flower, son on the analogy between it and the idealized form of vulva as the godly source of live.
As a result, lotus became the symbol of birth and rebirth and also the source of cosmic life and the gods – creators of the world or the gods of sun. Lotus can symbolize the spiritual growth of a person and the ability of the soul to achieve the divine perfectness.
In Egypt growing lotus, that places its flower towards the sun, was glorified as the sun itself from the chaos.
In metaphorical depiction of the creation of the world lotus became the plant used to not only pray to the gods of sun or fertility, but also to pray for the Nile as the source of live. Blue lily, more honored than white one, was the emblem of shyness and purity in Egypt and among Buddhists of China. The composition from lotuses in the burial ceremony was the symbol of resurrection.
As a decorative burial thing, symbolizes resurrection, lotus was also used in Ancient Greece, Italy, nearest Asia. The decorative ornaments from lotuses that was taken from Egypt, became the basis of the ionic order of capitals in architecture (“Lotus eaters” in Greek mythology have nothing in common with the sacred flower: in Homer poem, probably, there is a juice of North Africa lotus).
In Hinduism the sacred lotus was growing from the Vishnu belly when he was resting in the water given the birth to Brahma. Lotus is the symbol of divine and immortal beginning in the man, practically the synonym of perfectness.
Indian iconography, as well as Buddhist and Hindus, is full of the depictions of gods, sitting with crossed legs in the center of the burning lotus. Lotus here is the attribute of the gods of sun and fire, the main symbol of Padma, the Vishnu wife. Lotus tattoos also symbolize the realization of the inner abilities of the person, or in tantric traditions and yoga, the ability to use the flows of energy going through the chakras (often depicted as lotuses) and going away as lotus of enlightenment. Such concept exists in China, that took it from Buddhism. They consider lotus to be the symbol of “spiritual development”.
The honoring of lotus equally exists in Indian, Tibet, Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. Lotus tattoo is the emblem of Buddha himself and the heightened development of spiritual knowledge that can lead to the state of nirvana. Sexual image of lotus, more notable in tantric Buddhism, sometimes combine stem (male beginning) and flower (female beginning) as the symbol of spiritual unity and harmony. It is the “treasure of lotus”
Repeating the Egyptian symbolism of the birth of gods from perfect vulva – lotus, the Tibet Buddhism father Padmasambhava said that he got lotus in his heart when he was eight years old.
Chinese Buddhism in which lotus – one of Eight Good Signs, gives him more wide associations – honesty, thickness, decisiveness, family harmony, development and especially the blessing with fertility (a boy with lotus). The sacred and world symbols are mixed in Chinese traditions – courtesans were called “golden lotuses”, however lotus is more connected with purity and even virginity. In Japan it is the symbol of virginity. Lotus tattoos also can be present in the form of Maya pictures, evidently as the symbol of resurrection.
In every culture lotus tattoo designs brings only positive emotions and association in itself, so the stalk means the masculine, the flower itself means the feminine and the combination of stalk and flower in the whole shows the harmony and unity.