4 reasons for my Tattoo
9 Aug 2009
In my last post, I gave the background to story and context to the “Ecclesia’ tattoo I recently had on my right forarm, and promised in this post to give as many reasons as I am aware of for why
I had this done.
Some researchers hold that the word ‘Britain’ is derived from a word used by The Picts (a pre-Celtic people) that meant ‘land of the painted people’, and that the Romans learned and copied the process of tattooing from the Britains. In 50 BCE, Julius Caesar wrote in his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars that, during his campaigns in southern Britain in 55 and 54 BCE, he observed that “all Britons paint themselves with woad, which turns the skin a bluish-green color; hence their appearance is all the more horrific in battle.”
For some reason I take some comfort that Tattooing might have such a long tradition for the British. So in no particluar order here are my reasons for a tattoo (and please remember these are my reasons for my tattoo).
1. Appeal: I like the idea of a tattoo, and like many people have thought about it for some time, but never had the nerve to have it done, or have something in mind that was important enough for a design. The idea for the word ‘Ecclesia’ as a tattoo has sat with me over the last year.
2. Family: I wanted something to mark on my body my identity in the family of the church, in light of the abuse and lack of family I have experienced. Church has been and is my family, and I wanted that on my body just as people mark the names of their family and friends.
3. Name: I do wish I had changed my last name when I was younger, and it would have been easier to. Too many people know me as ‘Clark’, and it’s all my kids have known for their name. Marking the word “Ecclesia’ on my body was another way of affirming that my identity in Christ has transformed my family name. There is a larger family within which I have located and reframed my name and identity.
4. Embodiment: My PhD research, my work, my sense of calling, is located in the Church. Within that I’ve been exploring how so many things have power over our bodies, replacing the relationship and identity that is found in the Church, whether that is dictatorships, the recent emergence of Nation States, and now secularism, consumerism and the market. There are alternative and false realities, for the ordering of public life, and our relationships that have more to do with the human condition and it’s brokenness than the kingdom of God.
Consumerism, historicism and Darwinianism too often leave human identity and relationships organised around competition, contract and survival of the fittest. The result of which is the collapse of life into the private, and Church as one voluntary society amongst all others, optional, and non necessary.
The tattoo ‘Ecclesia’ the term most used by the church for it’s self identity, borrowed form the the greek word meaning ‘assembly’, speaks of embodiment, of life together, of how the Church, the body of Jesus Christ is not one choice amongst many, but is the ultimate choice for identity and relationship with Jesus. The Church is the public of the Holy Spirit, and is embodied, lived out with others, in preperation for eternity.
One of the reasons people have tattoos is to remind themselves of what they believe life is really about, what they should be committed and located within. Having the word ‘Ecclesia’ tattooed on my body, is a way for me to literally embody and and be reminded of that commitment.
It just all came together the week my family emigrated, and the design was by a good friend, Brett Jordan. Brett was one of those people who I realised that through my blog, face-book, twitter, SMS, email, that I had gotten to know and would call a very good friend. He has encouraged, prayed and walked through the trials of our suing our local authority over our daughters special education needs. Yet Brett is someone I had never met and spent time with on my own.
So we planned to meet up in London, it coincided with the week my Dad left, and a visit to the tattoo parlor. It struck me that my online friend, became a very embodied friend, as I took a design he had made as my tattoo and then spent time over a meal sharing our lives together. I was glad to have him there, to share in the process, as a friend, and to remind me of the process and need for embodiment itself.
So there you are, and now I just need to explain it to everyone in my Church family 
8 comments
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Comment by Ed
1.13 pm on 9 Aug 2009
Jason, Just curious, but how painful was the process?
Comment by Jason Clark
6.44 pm on 9 Aug 2009
Mmm 50% of the two hours was ok the rest if time was very painful but just bearable
Comment by Philip
3.12 pm on 10 Aug 2009
Hi Jason
Glad you like the tattoo – looks quite nice.
Couple of thoughts
1. As a medical doctor I see lots of tattoos in all sorts of places. I make it a habit to ask people a.) whether they still like the tattoo and b.) if they had the opportunity to have it done again would they? Almost without exception the responses are the same: Those who have had it done more than 15 years ago regret having had it done, and most of those who have a more recent creation are at best ambivalent. Of course, none of them have had “Ecclesia” added……
Very little is permanent about our bodies but a tattoo is about as near as you will get! Let’s hope it is still as appealing after 20 years of collagen ageing and pigment fading…..
2. Does that fact that you feel the need to explain why you had it done suggest that you are insecure about it (the act not the concept)? Would you feel the same need to explain your actions if you had had a manicure or a hair cut? Just wondering……
But on a less provocative note, I quite like some of the tattoos my friends have had done – but my bodyd will remain a tatt-free zone!
Philip
Comment by Jason
5.28 pm on 10 Aug 2009
Hi Philip,
I looked at some Tattoo research (PhD level), and it seems that over 2/3rds of people never regret their tattoos, depending on why, where and what they had done. Young, spur of the moment names of friends and partners are the most common pitfall. So in that sense, I think and hope I fall into a the more considered category for future re-considerations.
Of course who knows what the future may bring into my life and how I might feel
With regards to aging, I’m expecting it to age/fade and change and see that as part of the process of the embodiment of the sentiment of the tattoo itself. We all give our bodies to things, food, thoughts, experiences, actions, that shape us for life and stay with us. This one is just a little more immediate in it’s presentation.
Am I insecure about the act? That’s a good question, I’d expect from my closest friends
and I’m sure I am at some level, but not consciously, and certainly not at a determinative level for my actions, hence the previous post I made, http://deepchurch.org.uk/2009/08/07/the-story-of-a-tattoo/.
I think given the context I made in that previous post, a tattoo due to it’s inherent nature and the context in which it arose for me, with my personal life and the nature of church, sets it apart from the what would be trite for me to write about, such as a haircut and manicure.
Great to hear from you, Jason
Comment by Larry
4.48 am on 22 Aug 2009
I had a tattoo done recently, but it was a Polynesian design on my right arm. I am a 64 year old gym rat, and committed Christian. My family (which I only superficially told I was going to get it done) was flabbergasted, horrified. I was even encouraged to go for counseling. It took a month or two for things to simmer down. I’m glad every day that I got it done. Just wondering if YOU had any strong familial reactions, or if you FULLY informed them of the impeding addition to your persona.
Comment by Jason Clark
1.50 pm on 1 Sep 2009
My wife is growing used to it, and understands my reasons and supports them, my kids think it’s cool.
I have little family to disapprove, and the ones I do, are puzzled why a middles aged Vicar would get one, given none of them are christians
My wife and kids new it was going to happen.
Thanks for some of your story, Jason
Comment by Brian Draper
12.37 pm on 1 Sep 2009
Hi Jason
One question I frequently ask when I’m speaking is, ‘If you were to get a tattoo done, what would it be?’ Not only is the tattoo a cultural phenomenon these days (for many deep and engaging reasons), but the matter of its permanence and unique personal expression make it a focus (simply hypothetically) for very deep reflection on one’s identity, and what we might really wish to express about ourselves if we were to get one done.
Whether it’s children’s names or the name of a loved one, or a football crest or something to distinguish where you come from geographically, or what you believe… The idea of a tattoo really cuts deep in our imagination.
I do think it’s one of those cultural symbols which allows for deeper connection and reflection.
Cheers for now!
Brian
PS I have come to the conclusion that if I were to get one done, it would be an exat replica of my son’s birthmark. He has a fascinating mark on his forearm which looks like three mysterious letters – very cool! – and I would have that symbol tattooed as a symbol of my love for my family and the mystery of our deeper human connectedness.
Comment by Jason Clark
2.17 pm on 1 Sep 2009
Hi Brian, thanks mate. I’ve found the history and relationship with identity and tattoos fascinating.
Often linked to deviance (outside the social norm), there are times in English history when they were very normative, but that changed in victorian times….etc.
For me it was about identity, and big step to make.
Jase
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