A Little Spark

July 23, 2024

Here’s a fact about me not a lot of people know – I really love tattoos.

Before you go, “uh, ok, Brittany, why are you randomly talking about tattoos on your folklore blog,” it’s because tattoos are actually part of bodylore, a subgenre of folklore that Sara and I are totally fascinated by. Folklore is all about understanding the profound significance and meaning of stuff that seems frivolous, pedestrian, or under the radar, and bodylore in particular is about understanding the folklore – the cultural and personal meaning – of how we dress and decorate ourselves. And this stuff is powerful.  

So yeah, I love tattoos! I love looking at beautifully done intricate tattoo pieces, especially the ones in greyscale, and I have all kinds of ideas in my head of designs I maybe want someday. It’s a way of expressing myself that has deep meaning to me. But that also means that I’m really, really, really picky.

When I say deeply meaningful, I mean I think about it for years before I actually get anything. And I don’t mean just meaningful in one way either, I mean it’s got to have, like, layers of meaning! It’s a pretty big bar to clear, honestly. This is why, until very recently, I’ve only had the one tattoo on my ankle – a rose and a moon representing several of my favorite fairy tales (“Sleeping Beauty,” “The Nightingale and the Rose,” “Jorinde and Joringel,” “Beauty and the Beast,” etc.) that’s also a symbol of my then new life pursuing graduate school in folklore post a hard breakup where I had let a lot of myself wither (for example, he had disliked tattoos, so I hadn’t gotten any!) It was a sign of my renewed dedication to myself, to what I love, and what I wanted.

A few years ago, I had an idea for another, very small tattoo that I really liked. As time went by, it acquired more and more meaning to me, so I decided to get it. Ta da!

The tattoo is a small sparkle on the lower part of my right ring finger, and I absolutely love it. It’s everything I hoped it would be – subtle but totally magical and uplifting every time I look at it.

Here are the many meanings I have in my head for it – 

  1. Magic in the Making The biggest reason I wanted this little spark was to symbolize the idea of magic in the making of the things I love. Magic in writing, magic in taking action, magic in making Carterhaugh – we’re writing a book this summer in our next round of The Carterhaugh Writers Society, which, if that isn’t magic in action, I don’t know what is – magic in making me! A finger felt like the perfect place for something like that, since I use my hands for a lot of the work I do. Plus, you might know the story that several ancient cultures who wore wedding rings did so on their left-hand ring finger because they believed the fourth finger of their hands contained a vein that went directly to the heart. The Romans even supposedly called it the vena amoris, which is Latin for the “vein of love.” Now, this isn’t really true (no vein runs directly from our ring fingers to our hearts), but the tradition still stands with wedding rings. I didn’t want to do it on my left ring finger, as that was the marriage side, but putting it on my right ring finger felt like a way of symbolizing sending this magic right to my heart. As we say in folklore studies, sometimes the story is more important than the factual truth!
  2. My 40s Are Going To Be My Decade of Sparkle – At the beginning of 2024, I decided that it was going to be my “year of sparkle.” I was going to unapologetically be myself, at my sparkliest, as much as possible. I was going to speak my mind more, stand up for myself more, dress up more, and use all my nicest stuff. I was going to wear rhinestone necklaces to the grocery store and finally burn those expensive candles and actually work on myself in ways I’ve always been too afraid to do. It’s not always easy, and I don’t always succeed, but the commitment to trying has unequivocally been a fantastic thing for me. A few months into this, I realized I didn’t want to just have a year of sparkle – I wanted a whole decade, and hopefully more. So, because I turn 40 in November (!), I am making my 40s my decade of sparkle. What better way to start than by getting a symbol of it right at the end of my 30s?
     
  3. Florence and the Machine – If you’ve been around Carterhaugh for a while, you know that Sara and I are absolutely obsessed with Florence Welch and her band Florence and the Machine. Well, Florence actually has a tiny sparkle tattoo on one of her fingers that I gave my artist as image inspiration! Observe –

It’s not exactly the same, of course, or in the same place, but I loved the idea of there being a layer of meaning paying tribute to an artist that inspires and moves me so much.  

  1. NYC – Lastly, my big non-negotiable on this tattoo was that I had to get it in New York City. NYC is my soul city, my favorite place in the world, and every time I go I am rejuvenated and enchanted anew. Getting the tattoo there meant that the two things would always be connected in my mind, and so the tattoo is also a symbol of my love for that place and everything it brings out in me. I did a lot of research to find someone there who could do small, thin-line tattoos on fingers – it is NOT easy, and many artists won’t even attempt it. Shout out to the awesome Jenny at Studio 28, I am so pleased with the result!

So that’s the story! I’d love to hear the tales behind your tattoos if you feel like sharing – just comment below!

P.S. The Carterhaugh Writers Society is open for enrollment, and we’re going to write the whole month of August! I hope my spark gives me a little inspiration ;). If you want to join us, click here! We would love to have you make magic with us… and early bird pricing ends tomorrow!

Comments

  1. Lindsey Carmichael

    This is so beautiful – thank you for sharing! I am also someone who wants anything permanent to be deeply meaningful, which is why I’ve only got two tattoos.

    On my upper back, I have Celtic heart with forget-me-not flowers in the shape of angel wings, which I got the week after my mom passed away. The meaning of that one is probably pretty obvious!

    Last year a got a spiral on the front of my left shoulder, which is just for me. It reminds me that progress is not always linear. It reminds me that I’m not going around in circles, much as it might feel that way. I’m seeing the same view from higher up the mountain.

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