![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
O Fortuna: regarding my tattoos
Feb. 22nd, 2016 01:54 pmI feel I have been extraordinarily lucky in my life. My aptitudes, my temperament, and my opportunities have lined up to provide me a life that I could never have imagined on my own. And, in honor of this, I'm gradually etching into my skin the symbols of the Roman goddess Fortuna, patron of fate and luck.
The process started in late 2007, when I had a quote from Virgil inked onto my chest. Poetically translated, it's familiar as "Fortune favors the bold", but is more accurately rendered "Fortune helps the one who is bold". It was a reminder to dare, to stretch myself, and to continue taking the daily leap of faith that is a career in the arts.
I've been so in love with this tattoo that it took years for me to conceptualize a second. One of the attributes of Fortuna is the cornucopia, representing the abundance that is in her hands to give, and I used as my model a statue (albeit of Concordia) found in the ruins of Pompeii. My artist was a very good friend of mine, with whom I'm already discussing a third piece to be done when next we're in the same region.
I saw its shape and shading in a mirror last December and a little bit of selective googling filled in the details. It's a Roman coin of Fortuna, dedicated to her aspect protecting travelers: Fortuna Redux, luck of the return. Importantly, it includes depictions of two of her symbols while omitting the third. I've discussed the cornucopia already, but she's also often depicted as holding a rudder since she was the one to steer men's fates.
That third symbol will be, eventually, another tattoo. It's the most famous: the Wheel. We all take our turns in a life that involves highs and lows, but I'm waiting to hit a deep trough before I embrace the cycle. I'm flying high and I recognize that it can't last forever, but some day I'll need the reminder that the Wheel turns and that highs will come again.
The process started in late 2007, when I had a quote from Virgil inked onto my chest. Poetically translated, it's familiar as "Fortune favors the bold", but is more accurately rendered "Fortune helps the one who is bold". It was a reminder to dare, to stretch myself, and to continue taking the daily leap of faith that is a career in the arts.
I've been so in love with this tattoo that it took years for me to conceptualize a second. One of the attributes of Fortuna is the cornucopia, representing the abundance that is in her hands to give, and I used as my model a statue (albeit of Concordia) found in the ruins of Pompeii. My artist was a very good friend of mine, with whom I'm already discussing a third piece to be done when next we're in the same region.
I saw its shape and shading in a mirror last December and a little bit of selective googling filled in the details. It's a Roman coin of Fortuna, dedicated to her aspect protecting travelers: Fortuna Redux, luck of the return. Importantly, it includes depictions of two of her symbols while omitting the third. I've discussed the cornucopia already, but she's also often depicted as holding a rudder since she was the one to steer men's fates.
That third symbol will be, eventually, another tattoo. It's the most famous: the Wheel. We all take our turns in a life that involves highs and lows, but I'm waiting to hit a deep trough before I embrace the cycle. I'm flying high and I recognize that it can't last forever, but some day I'll need the reminder that the Wheel turns and that highs will come again.
