A tattoo consisting of five dots, four in a rectangle and one in the middle (like the five on the dice — an arrangement which is known as a quincunx), usually found on the skin between the thumb and forefinger, stands for “singur intre patru pereti” (“alone between four walls”). This is a popular tattoo among Romanian ex-convicts and prison mates, letting anyone know their “bad boy” past. A tattoo is a mark made by inserting pigment into the skin: in technical terms, tattooing is micro-pigment implantation. ... Typical role-playing dice, showing a variety of colors and styles. ... A quincunx is the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on dice, playing cards, or dominoes. ...
Other uses:
It is also a tattoo for vietnamese gang members. The five dots stand for the five ts, which are, Tình, Tiền, Tù, Tội, Thù, which translates to love, money, prison, crime, revenge.
In Argentina the five dots tattoo, known as "Los Cinco Puntos", stands for "Muerte a los ratis" (Death to the cops), and it's supposed to represent one policeman being surrounded by four delinquents. It's usually done in prison, with hand made machines and ink taken from a "birome" (pen).
Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, while tattoos on animals are most often used for identification.
Tattoos have served as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, punishment, amulets and talismans, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts.
A newer method of removal is by tattooing glycolic acid into the skin with a tattoo machine: the acid pushes the ink to the surface of the skin in the scab, which is later removed.
Tattooing is one of the oldest art forms on the planet, dating to prehistoric times and cave dwellers who often created tattooes as part of ritual practices linked to shamanism, protection, connection with their gods, and embuing them with magica powers.
Tattooing for spiritual and decorative purposes in Japan is thought to extend back to at least the Jomon or paleolithic period (approximately 10,000 BCE) and was widespread during various periods for both the Japanese and the native Ainu.
Tattooing spread among the upper classes all over Europe in the nineteenth century, but particularly in Britain where it was estimated in Harmsworth Magazine in 1898 that as many as one in five members of the gentry were tattooed.
Feeds |
Contact