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Body art that portrays the phases of the moon may represent the phases of life.
For some, the moon’s cycles speak of the time before we came into being, our birth, life, death and the possibility of life being renewed. A waxing moon stands for youth, growing toward maturity.
The full moon represents the prime of life, when one is at her most productive. A full moon’s curves may even remind some of motherhood, suggesting the curve of the pregnant body.
The waning moon represents aging toward elderhood, while the new moon is a transitional phase that could represent death, the time before birth or a time to waiting to be born again, if one believes in reincarnation.
In some religious practices, the moon is symbol of a goddess who has three forms. The waxing crescent is associated with the maiden goddess, innocence, childhood and spring.
In Greek myth, this is the goddess Persephone. Greek myth names the mother-goddess Demeter. “Mother” is the goddess associated with the full moon, fertile and powerful, associated with summer and the magic that makes the crops grow. Her third and final form is the waning moon, the Greek goddess Hecate, the crone, bearing of wisdom, representing mature elderhood and having earned respect.
A tattoo design of three moon phases in a line – waxing crescent, full moon, waning crescent – may show that the body art’s owner practices Wicca or a goddess-centered witchcraft practice.
The phases of the moon strongly evoke the idea of passage of time, the transition of seasons from one to another and the connection between human life on Earth and the natural world. Body art that represents the changing moon could remind you of your place in nature or your place in universe.
