Symbolic Trio

Beltaine Root Beer Fanny

Cornucopia Ink

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This gorgeous tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of my_new_wintercoat and is licensed under Creative Commons. (To see another cool tattoo from my_new_wintercoat, go here.)

This tattoo was inked by Mike at Black Cat Tattoo out of Boise, Idaho.

The word "cornucopia" means "the horn of plenty" and is most closely associated with the Greek goddess Copia, a goddess of prosperity and plenty, who carried it with her. She belongs in the posse of the goddess Fortune, goddess of fortune and luck. There are various versions of its origins. The most popular one states that the cornucopia was originally a goat's horn from which the god Zeus drank as a child. To protect him from his father Chronus, who was eating all of his children to prevent them from usurping him, Zeus was sent away to live in a cave. The story goes that either the goat herself tore off her horn to nourish the infant Zeus or that he, jerk that he could be, tore it from her head. Now, you might ask, how does a horn, from the head of animal, provide milk to feed a child? I don't know, I really don't, I just work here. To read more about the cornucopia visit The Flower Shop Network.

Pomegranate

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This tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of Ragz1138 and is licensed under Creative Commons.

This tattoo was inked by Ragz Rejected of Katalist Konsepts out of Fort Collins, Colorado. (Also home to the beloved Mez Love whose work has been and will be featured here many times!)

30 September marks the ancient Roman holiday in which Meditrina, goddess of medicines, is given fruit offerings.

The pomegranate, however, is also a key element of the myth of Prosperpine (Roman) or Persephone (Greek) and the ancient explanation of the seasons. Persephone was the daughter of Zeus, chief of the Greek pantheon, and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. The story goes that while she was out gathering flowers in a field Hades, god of the underworld and one of her many admirers, caused the Earth to open up so that he could rise up and grab her. Her mother Demeter was in such distress after she went missing that she neglected her duties. The crops began to fail and the people began to starve. Eventually the other gods interceded and Hades promised to release Persephone but only after giving her a pomegranate. When she ate of the fruit it caused her to be forever tied to the Underworld which meant she had to stay there at least one third of the year. During this time her mother Demeter refused to let any plants grow which created the season of winter.

Grapes

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These grapes come from the Flickrstream of Rambleonsylvie and are licensed by Creative Commons.

Today is the festival of the Vinalia Rustica; it is a day to make offerings to the ripening vines. It is a day belonging to the goddess Venus (Greek Aphrodite) in her aspect as patroness and protector of gardens, olive groves and vineyards. This day also marks the founding of her oldest temple in 293 BCE.

Corn for Lughnasadh

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This tattoo image comes from the Flickrstream of Steve Rhodes and is licensed by Creative Commons.

Hey folks, Happy Lughnasadh! Today marks the halfway point between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox and is the traditional beginning of the harvest season.

Lughnasadh was begun by the Celtic god Lugh, a god of many, many talents, in honor of his foster mother Tailtiu who, after clearing and thus preparing the fields of Ireland for planting, died of exhaustion.