Almost a year ago, I posted an article in which I talked about tattoos, their popularity in the Pagan Community, and getting my own tattoo – “The Goddess Must Love Tattoos.” This post quickly became quite popular with my readership, as fellow inked Pagans shared with me their own experiences of getting a tattoo, as well as emailing me pictures of their own body art. This prompted me to write another post – “Tattoos, Paganism, and This Blog,” where I shared some of my thoughts about getting a tattoo, as well as posting some pictures sent in my friends.
Together these two posts continue to be the most popular here at Deaf Pagan Crossroads. It seems that everybody loves tattoos!
Not only are tattoos popular in the Pagan Community, but the Deaf Community loves its tattoos as well. I know of several Deaf individuals who have tattoos, and some of them have sent me pictures as well.
The most recent addition to my collection of “Inked Deafies” is my friend John Lestina. Many of you in the Deaf Blogosphere know John… he vlogs over at ABC – Always Be Cool, where he keeps us laughing with his ASL jokes.
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting John and his wife Jill, and staying in their home. They are truly beautiful people and I enjoyed my visit. Thanks to John and Jill, and I look forward to seeing you both again soon!
John and Jill have two children, both boys – Johnnie is 19 and studying music at a school in Florida… one might consider it ironic that the son of Deaf parents would be interested in music, but John and Jill are very proud of him and supportive of his dream to become a musician. Jason is 18 and a senior in high school, with plans to attend Purdue University next year.
Johnnie and Jason are what is known as CODA – Child Of Deaf Adults. This refers to the hearing children of Deaf parents. Like many CODAs, they are both skilled in ASL (American Sign Language) and have been involved in the Deaf Community since they were young. Younger children are known as KODAs…Kids Of Deaf Adults.
This past Christmas of 2007, John along with his sons got a special present – yup, you guessed it…
tattoos.
Because John is known for his ABC and is indeed a pretty cool guy, he decided to get a tattoo that represents this aspect of himself:
you can see a close-up of this tattoo at JohnABC’s vlog http://johnlestina.blogspot.com/2007/12/johnabcs-surprise.html
Johnnie decided to get a tattoo that reflects his love for music:
Notice that on both sides of the CODA are hands, representing the use of hands for communicating in American Sign Language.
You might be wondering…”Hey! Where’s the mom?” Well, it appears that Jill decided to leave the tattoos to the guys and currently remains inkless. Maybe in the future she will change her mind…smile!
I think these tattoos are pretty cool. What I also like is that the Lestinas got their tattoos together, and use them to help show their family pride.
I suppose you could say that the family that inks together, stays together!
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads 
Those are pretty cool tattoos.
I have three tattoos myself, but the one that means the most to me is a custom design that my wife and I both got together to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. It’s a Celtic knotwork design with hearts in it.
Enjoy those tattoos. You must be pretty dang proud of those sons of yours, John.
I agree with HAWK, those are cool tattoos!
I want to get a tattoo also, but I’m a little chicken. Everyone tells me it doesn’t really hurt, but…
(does it hurt???)
Hey Ocean, you should have Deaf people email you pictures of their tattoos, and then you can put up a collection of different Deaf people’s tattoos here at Deaf Pagan Crossroads!
That would be fun to see! 😀
cool tats i like mine too wish i could send pictures of mine
Some of the tattoos that are pictured on the other post (“Tattoos, Paganism, and This Blog”) are actually from Deaf people… I won’t tell you which ones, tho!
If Deaf people want to send me pictures of their tattoos for me to post here at the Crossroads, I would be happy to do that… would be fun to have a collection of all the different tattoos!
You can send me a picture to oshginva@gmail.com
(And if hearing folks want to send me a picture of their tattoos as well, feel free! Heck, I will take pics of tattoos from anybody! Just make sure they are in good taste…)
Nice tattoos. I like your cool tattoos! I ever seen a man with great tattoo on deafromance.com/ his tattoos were the best I had seen at that time. However, yours are nicer than his. I always like something different!
Thanks for you sharing…
As a fellow musician, I really like Johnnie’s tattoo. But the others are cool too!
Never knew about the CODA thing… that’s pretty neat to know about.
Loved the tattoos.
I thought their tattoos were original. Especially CODAs. Beautiful work!
I have a tattoo myself, it’s red/yellow scorpion on my left ankle along with 5 different stars on my upper left calf. Working on getting another tattoo–two dragonflies to symbolize our wedding last summer. 🙂
LOVE LOVE LOVE the CODA tattoo! I have been dreaming of one to display for years, that builds in the CODA too. How totally awesome!
Enjoyed the post.
Lisa
http://codadiva.wordpress.com
Yeah Firespirit, whoever told you they dont hurt, lied to you. they do but not the kind of pain you imagine. once you adapt to the feel of it its really not all that bad but you do feel a constant physical pain the entire time. the only times where its really bad is if its going over a bone or something but when your done you have the most incredibly satisfied feeling. tattoos are expression of culture and pride and any group such as the Deaf community can use it as a medium to present their pride to the world.
[…] The Deaf Community Loves Their Tats Too! […]
tat,s are a good way to express your self, or how you feel about religion music what ever hay long live tats and the right to express your self