Tuesday, June 15, 2010

How to Find Cultural Significance in Butterfly Tattoo Designs

If you ask a woman what tattoo she would like to get or what she already has, the answer you are most likely to get is butterflies. Many ladies like butterfly tattoo designs because they can personalize it to the way they want it to be and it is elegant and feminine. They can be of any size and just about anywhere on the body, so women tend to go for butterfly tattoo designs because they have such a variety to choose from and because they are so popular but in their own way.

These tattoo designs bespeak femininity. The butterfly is an insect, but in this case and theme people would classify it as a creature. This is a creature that can be whimsical, sexy and flirty. Well, this depends where on your body you would like to have the tattoo done and also how you would like the tattoo depicted.

Many people look at butterfly tattoos simply as a way of expressing themselves. It can also be some kind of embodiment of a certain cultural meaning. If you take the Greek for example, they believe that when a caterpillar sheds the cocoon and comes out as a butterfly, a human soul is released into the world.

Depending how you look at it, butterflies may symbolize birth, and a person having one on their body could be rediscovering herself and/or starting a new life. A perfect example is a new life with a new born baby, a new life being married, or a new life out of marriage.

In the Mexican and Japanese cultures butterflies and butterfly tattoos are a symbol of love, youth, grace and joy, and these are wonderful representations of life. Ancient people on the other hand viewed the butterfly insect as a symbol of a person's soul. Other cultures believed the butterfly being a spirit guide to a neverworld.

Despite the culture, these colorful insects are viewed as characteristic and magical of human imagination. This also applies to the butterfly tattoo designs of these creatures.

Choosing the right tattoo designs from the many butterfly tattoo designs can be a very tough task, because there are around 20,000 types in the world. Now all these are represented via ink, though, but there are quite a few butterfly designs floating around. The right tattoo will be there, and if you know what you are looking for then you don't have to look too hard. It is said that if there is enough importance behind the tattoo and it truly symbolizes something in your life, it will be looking out for you instead of you looking out for it.

Once you have been through all the butterfly tattoo designs and you have come across the perfect one, you have to decide if you want the tattoo seen or if you want it to be intimate. Your shoulder, ankle and lower back are perfect places if you want to show it off. If you want to keep it intimate, the best and perfect butterfly tattoo designs can be tattooed on the buttocks, along the bikini line or on the breasts.