I made my 5th tattoo with Shinya of Studio Muscat in Shibuya, Tokyo. I learned about the studio from Instagram. I travelled to Japan in 2018 Christmas and year end. I made a booking by email one month prior to my departure. Late December—holiday season—was a busy time for them, many people are travelling to Tokyo and booked tattoo session. However, they managed to squeeze in an appointment on 28 December 2018 at 11:30.
Studio Muscat’s senior artists are women. I was hoping I could work with a female tattoo artist for the first time. Nevertheless, only Shinya who was available at that time. I never have doubts on Shinya’s artistic qualifications. I browsed his portfolio and love his works. It just seems that tattoo art industry is still male dominated despite tattoo artist is a gender neutral profession. I wanted to have more gender diversity on my skin.
Regardless of my feminist aspirations, working with Shinya was such a pleasant experience. He has a J-Rock looks: blonde-dyed hair with beard and moustache. My pre-conceived notion is that he has this bad boy personality. But when I met him, he is the calmest and quietest tattoo artists—with Japanese overt-politeness that is borderline awkward—I have ever worked with. Unlike Chris Hewish the Londoner and Adith Setya the Jakartan, he does not chat while working. A sign saying something like ‘Please be quiet. Your tattoo artist need to focus and will finish faster if not talking’ is posted on the wall.
I have low tolerance to pain, I always screamed during tattoo sessions. Chatting with the tattoo artists is one way to distract myself from the pain. But this time I did it the Japanese way: to suffer in silence. I only sighed and dropped some tears.
Shinya finished quickly. For such a complex tattoo with brush effects he finished within less than 2 hours. We did not chat much even after the session. He has limited English, but we connected beyond words. We are connected by the image, the symbol, on my left arm: Odin’s ravens, Hugin and Munin. Thoughts and Memories or Reason and Intuition.
I became interested in Norse mythology after following the film series American Gods, which are based on Neil Gaiman’s book with the same title. I first read the book in 2008 and reread it in 2017 in order to understand better the series.
American Gods is a great book, but the film series allow further expansion. The book, which was written in early 2000s, made no reference to the ubiquity of social media and the internet as one of the new gods. Jesus—one of the most powerful gods in America—was only briefly mentioned in the book (trying to hitch a ride in Afghanistan). While in the series, Jesus is manifested in multiple racial personalities (White Jesus, Mexican Jesus, Black Jesus, etc). This time, the film is better than the book.[1]
Gaiman is fascinated by Norse mythologies. He even wrote a book about it (with the same title).[2] Norse Mythologies are his version and interpretation to the myths. He may not be the first or the most authoritative scholar on the subject, but he is a great storyteller. Therefore, his book is an entertaining and reliable source to learn from.
I also read D’Aulaires Book of Norse Mythology, an illustrated children book, and National Geographic Magazine issue March 2017. I binge watched the series Vikings on Netflix. It is like Game of Thrones, but the plot centred on the Pyke, and the places and characters are historically real. All the violence and sex portrayed in the series are so carnal and appealing to our reptilian brain. Hot muscled men and sultry fierce women fighting and fucking are enjoyable to watch—especially Katheryn Winnick. However, the series are also educating on the moral matrix of pre-Christian Europe. The pagans were more violent but sexually liberated and less patriarchal.
I learned that Norse gods may be as cruel, yet their gospel is less confusing than the seemingly compassionate but wrathful Christian god (or other Semitic religions’). Vikings’ belief celebrates virtue of warfare: courage, strength and cunningness. Their version of ‘paradise’, Valhalla, is a continuum of fighting and feasting until the end of times Ragnarok. The only way to get there is to die in battle. Hel is reserved for those who died of old age and sickness. The Vikings and their gods were unapologetically brutal.
Among the Nordic pantheon, my favourite god (who is actually a giant) is Loki. The god of chaos, the cunning shapeshifter. However, no god is as sophisticated and charming as Odin. American Gods’ central character is Odin. The All-Father is beyond good and evil. He is the Wanderer who is willing to give an eye and suffer great pains of the gallows for wisdom and knowledge. His ravens are representation of human mind. Naturally, Viking’s chief god is also a storyteller. Viking culture acknowledged the power of narrative in shaping reality (or perception of it).[3]
I don’t believe in any god (at least not in a limited conventional religious concept of personal god) but I understand the importance of god(s). They are the symbolism arising of the unconscious. They live on because of the Werther effect.[4]
I am always impressed on how esoteric pursuits of prophets, saints, buddhas and philosophers from different cultures can articulate—by way of representations—almost universal archetypes, the psyche which are later defined by modern psychology. Ravens are beautiful animal. They are considered as sacred in many cultures. There is a belief in England that as long as there are still ravens in the Tower of London, the Kingdom will not fall apart. Raven is a totem animal in Native American religions.
I always try to justify tattoos on the pretext of self-expression. Therefore, I want my tattoos to have meaning(s) and demonstrate the depth of my personality. I tell myself that I will not be that guy who gets tattoo just for vanity. I made a promise that when I got inked, it will be more than aesthetics. Therefore, I try to include cultural, scientific and/or literary references. Then mix it with my personal experience that can be associated with the image (or words).
Therefore, I spun this story. Citing ancient mythologies, history, anthropology, sociology, psychology and other humanities science, to establish a notion of almost universal significance in symbolisms associated with ravens. Then I drew an arbitrary connection with my individual associations: my memetic experience binge watching the Vikings series during the months off from work,[5] the fact that I was born on Wednesday—Odin’s day, and my fascination with the exploration on human mind after reading Jung, Haidt, Sacks, Harris, Hesse, Wallace, and—yes—Gaiman.[6]
Nevertheless, all these arguments, these reasonings I presented, may be a sign of insecurities. Maybe I am just trying to look smart, a façade of intellectual snobbishness. Nothing has meaning, therefore everything can have a meaning. Art can be for the sake of an art. Aestheticism alone is sufficient reason to have a tattoo and there is nothing wrong with vanity. I (or anyone) can have a tattoo just because I think it looks lovely and makes me look better.
Shinya has a classy taste. I was considering to have the Hugin and Munin tattoo on my upper arm or forearm. He advised for forearm. I am glad I took his advice. Tattoos on upper arm can make a man look tacky. After the tattoo was finished, I was doubtful. I thought it may be too simple. But as I revisit my perception, I like it the more I look at it. It’s like dark chocolate, black coffee, or single malt whisky. I may not appreciate them on my first tasting, but I can stand them on longer term. Simplicity, the austere aesthetics, the main elements of Japanese culture, apparently suits me.
[1] American Gods is another Gaiman’s book that is better when adapted to screen. The first one is Stardust. As of the time of this writing, I have not watched How to Talk to Girls at Parties and look forward to see it.
[2] Norse mythologies, were originally told as oral stories. The Vikings had no writing culture other than the runes. Later, Christianity brought writing and reading culture. Therefore, the stories of the Nordic gods and heroes were handed down but with twists and modifications by the storyteller. Gaiman, like Brothers Grimm, retold the stories in writing.
[3] My blog name is inspired by Hugin and Munin.
[4] The central theme of American Gods is that the gods live as long as people believe them and die when they are forgotten. The gods give power to people who worship them and offer them sacrificial objects. The rituals, from praying and bowing to Mecca to cheering to our favourite team in a football stadium, provide strength and communal bond to the believers. To quote one line from the American Gods film series: ‘The gods are great but people are greater. For it is in their hearts that gods are born and to their hearts that they return.’
[5] I am particularly drawn by the characters of Ragnar Lothbrok and Eckbert. They are both sophisticated, charming, and cunning. Good corrupted men.
[6] CG Jung et al, Man and His Symbols (Dell Publishing, 1964); J Haidt, the Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Religion and Politics (Pantheon Books, 2012); O Sacks, the Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Stories (Touchstone, 1998); S Harris, Waking Up: Searching for spirituality without religion (Black Swan, 2015); H Hesse, Siddhartha (Kerala Bookhouse, 2006); BA Wallace, the Attention Revolution: unlocking the power of the focused mind (Wisdom, 2006).