"Ink," the origin and meaning of his tattoos...

[Eviebae]

I just found out about your podcast! I listened to the last one but not the live one (I wanna). I can't believe you've been going for so long without me knowing.

BTW I noticed you did some awesome isolations (shutup spell check, it is too a word) of the tattoos. Can Jannit and I use them for The Symbols category for the Wiki? We wanna have his head and have closeups with possible meanings (the Wiki "no more than 5 attachments" rule sucks mud)

I first recognized the Voodoo Veve on his hand in the art for Chapter 27 and I've found bunches more since.
Attachment 1685
Ah yes, fun on a Saturday night.

The thing about the veves is there are lots of sub-types for the same Loa (spirit) depending on who it comes from. Papa Damballah figures very prominently in Mr. Ink's face-lapedia. Here's a doll from a website that has a bunch of his symbols on it:
vevedoll.jpg

But here's another one from a different website that looks very much like the ones on his left cheek near his mouth and his chin.
Attachment 1678
Why this photo isn't showing up I have no clue; just click on it I guess

The sort of ginormous one on his scalp I believe is for Loko (now no longer a gray image on a black background). He was the first priest/hougan and looks after them.
Loko_2100x2100b-300x300.jpg
Funny thing is, none of the Loas he's tattooed himself with are dark or difficult. Papa Damballah is a protector and guider of mankind (hrm, sound familiar?)

Also, I am drawn back to this area on his scalp:
Attachment 3010

I think that's the seal for either the angel Bethor or Phaleg, from a book Agrippa wrote--I haven't decided which.
Seals.jpg
Here's a link that I hope works to a book on talismans and amulets which quotes it (by a guy with the wonderful name of Budge )

It was also used in Silent Hill, something about a bunch of symbols on the TVs in the mall.

Of the two, I'm leaning towards Bethor.

• #2 "Seal of Bethor who commanded 29,000 legions of spirits"
• #3 "Seal of Phaleg the warlord."

There's more but it's late...like late

[Red Shirt]

I just found out about your podcast! I listened to the last one but not the live one (I wanna). I can't believe you've been going for so long without me knowing.

Oh, it's not my podcast... I was just a guest.

BTW I noticed you did some awesome isolations (shutup spell check, it is too a word) of the tattoos. Can Jannit and I use them for The Symbols category for the Wiki? We wanna have his head and have closeups with possible meanings (the Wiki "no more than 5 attachments" rule sucks mud)

Absolutely! I used to use select/copy/paste in MS Paint, but I discovered that the windows snipping tool is much, much faster. I've been using it tonight. A lot.

I think that's the seal for either the angel Bethor or Phaleg, from a book Agrippa wrote--I haven't decided which.
Seals.jpg
Here's a link that I hope works to a book on talismans and amulets which quotes it (by a guy with the wonderful name of Budge )

That looks spot on to me.

Here's more fuel for the fire: I talked about Erzulie and her husbands Damballa, Oogoun and Agwe back here, noting that the Veve for Agwe was not visible. I might have found it:

Agwe's Veve:
agwe-taroyo-mine.jpg

Art for Chapter 11:
BackOfHead.JPG

If you squint and crank up your pareidolia... you can almost see it.

There's more but it's late...like late

I know, my contacts feel like they are glued to my eyeballs... I'm getting them out and going to bed before I need paint remover to get them out.

[FunkyDung]

I wrote a post on this topic in a different thread, and I'm just copying it here since it fits. I also don't want to lose it in the mounds of posts on 42-3.

I've been doing a bit of wandering around on the net, and a few ideas keep bumping into each other, but I haven't been able to pull out anything solid. The following are some disconnected bits and pieces that hopefully someone can help me connect. I apologize if this ground has already been covered, but I haven't had time to read all the messages in this lengthy thread.

Foremost among the ideas that frequently occur in my searches is hermeticism. From Wikipedia:



If memory serves, the fellas at We're Alive Fancast mentioned Golden Dawn in relation to one of the symbols. Interestingly, Golden Dawn gets a mention in the article on Hermeticism (as does Rosicrucianism). Someone should dig further into this. The cipher manuscripts of the Golden Dawn seem particularly relevant with respect to Ink's writings.

Hermetic teachings refer to three parts of the wisdom of the whole universe: alchemy, astrology, and theurgy.

Other topics that come up are aspects of esotericism and theosophy.

Someone mentioned that Ink may have an image of a benzene molecule. Interestingly, benzene as a tie to occult and alchemical symbolism. The fellow who discovered the ring structure of benzene said that the idea came to him in a daydream of an uroboros, a snake eating its own tail. Snakes and serpents show up in countless mythologies.

Lastly, I think the Borromean rings on Angel's ring should be looked into. I have a sneaky suspicion that the Family has some connection to Ink and his mystery cult.

Well, it's quite late here, so I should hit the hay. I hope this helps someone move the symbol and story investigations along.

[FunkyDung]

Some alchemy symbols:

[FunkyDung]

Uroboros/Ouroboros and benzene:

[Grognaurd]

I like how symbols repeat. In the second colum, second to last row is a circle with a dot. It signifies sol. The sun. In Egyptian hieroglyphics it is the symbol for Ra, the sun god. It is used in any pharo cartouches and we say Ra like Ramses or Rey like Kafre.

One of King Tut's other names was neb khepher ru re.

[Eviebae]

I like how symbols repeat. In the second colum, second to last row is a circle with a dot. It signifies sol. The sun. In Egyptian hieroglyphics it is the symbol for Ra, the sun god. It is used in any pharo cartouches and we say Ra like Ramses or Rey like Kafre.

One of King Tut's other names was neb khepher ru re.

I've noticed a lot of visual similarity between the Voodoo Veves and the Angelic Sigils and the alchemic symbols. I think there must be a lot of cross chatter between the groups.

[7oddisdead]

Careful folks...this is how conspiracy theories are born..


and by "careful" i mean...im in. What do i need to blow up? (figuratively speaking)

[Grognaurd]

I should have written this in the above, but the Egyptians actually thought gold was skin of the sun god.

Just interesting trivia, I do not think it has anything to do with Were Alive. Ink's currency is a pound of flesh, not gold coins.

[Eviebae]

I should have written this in the above, but the Egyptians actually thought gold was skin of the sun god.

Just interesting trivia, I do not think it has anything to do with Were Alive. Ink's currency is a pound of flesh, not gold coins.

Never too much trivia. You should watch Qi (Quite Interesting) on YouTube--hosted by Stephen Fry. It's kind of a quiz show where they burst all sorts of generally held "truths" but mostly have fun.

So, does this mean when they made things out of gold they thought they were actually using his flesh, or his dead skin flakes? I wonder how much the common person believed--what with grave robbers and such.