With the many various 'fly on the wall' Tattoo shows on television these days, there is one common question people keep asking me; "Why does everyone have some deep and meaningful reason for getting their tattoo?"  Like, for example, "My aunties next door neighbour's husband's cat died so I want a Tattoo as a tribute..." "Doesn't anyone just do it because they like the picture?"

Unfortunately the saturation of such 'heartfelt' stories (half of which are quite possibly scripted!) de-sensitizes us to the deeper meaning that Tattoos can have.

Now, not everyone gets their Tattoo to mark a life changing event, but for those who do, it can be an integral part of the process.

I have witnessed many such Tattoos in my years as a Tattoo Artist and it is always an honour and a privilege to be a part of something so deeply personal in a person's life. I have said before, much like the old saying "wearing your heart on your sleeve", Tattoos depict this visually, like lifting the veil to your soul.

Doing this kind of work can be a profound experience and I find myself with ever increasing empathy with my clients when working on deeply emotional Tattoos. I cannot help but be moved and humbled by the strength and love that emanates from these people. I have shared both the laughter and the tears with clients on many occasions.

Tattooing isn't the kind of job that you leave behind when you go home for the night. It is a way of life and though every design I do is just as important, there are some that stay with and affect me more than others. In a way they leave their mark on me, within me, just as I leave my mark on skin in doing them. A sort of poetic justice I guess!

It is difficult to write a piece on this subject, as the stories, so intimate and personal, are not mine to tell. So forgive me for not going into specific details of individual cases, my vagueness is purely out of respect for my client's privacy.

Recently it seems I am doing more and more of these emotional Tattoos, especially for loved ones now departed. It feels in sync to me, with the changing Season.

Autumn and death are intrinsically linked, with flowers laying themselves to rest and leaves dying from tree branches, nature prepares for its winter sleep. This feels like the right time for me to pay tribute to those Clients of mine and their loved ones, whose Tattoos have left their mark on my heart.

There are many festivals in the autumn, dedicated to the harvest and the dead.  Celtic Samhain, Halloween, and various 'festival of the dead' celebrations take place around the world at this time of year. The ancient Celts believed that on October 31st, now known as Halloween, the veil between the living and the dead was lifted. It is still the custom in some areas to set a place for the dead at the Samhain feast.

These beliefs would suggest that our loved ones departed are never too far away, a comforting thought for those who have lost someone.

I think of death much like the description on a Tarot card, not as something final

but as a symbol of transformation, passage, or change. Just as the autumn holds the promise of new life awakening in the spring, I like to think of death as transitional, with the prospect of new life elsewhere.

By Amanda Sissons

Faereality  &  Enchanted Erlina

"When asked to describe myself in a sentence, I would have to say that I am a paradox of unifiable contradictions.

Living simultaneously with my head in the clouds and my feet on the ground, on the bridge between worlds, both the physical and the Ethereal.

I have been fascinated by Faery for as long as I can remember.

As a young child growing up in London I was always searching for ways to be close to nature. Spending my early years in the bit of our communal garden that was left to grow wild, chasing butterflies and climbing the cherry trees.

I remember getting to that age when I was told 'you’re a big girl now, it’s time to stop believing in Fairies' but it never sat comfortably with me.

I’d like to think I was a reasonably intelligent child, but I just wasn’t ready to accept that the world held no magic anymore just because I was getting older. I would try to be good and do as I was told, but as I listened to the words that the grownups I had to respect taught me, I couldn’t help but hear the whispers in the background from my Faerie friends telling me they were really there.

I didn’t want to grow up if that meant closing my eyes (and ears!) to all the wonders there are to explore and discover, the way a child does every time it goes out to play.

I’m now in my mid-thirties and I haven’t changed my mind!"

Amanda has been a member of Enchanted Folk since October 2007

members.enchantedfolk.com/faereality