Seeing Stars With the Star Tattoo

Well, first of all let’s talk a little about stars.  Just so that we are all on the same page about why stars are important symbols…

When we look up toward the skies above during a clear night, as Carl Sagan would say, we can see billions and billions of stars.

For eons, the shining and twinkling stars above have awed humans.  Many cultures and religions have attempted to explain the purpose of these celestial stars where the gods reside.  Stars have been found carved in caves.  We have used the stars to measure our time and direction.

By definition, a star is a massive ball of plasma energy.  In case you were wondering -- a star is bright because of the nuclear fusion that is happening inside its core, which releases incredible amounts of energy that radiates into outer space.

There is another category of star tattoos that are called, “shooting stars."  But, “shooting stars or even “falling stars" are REALLY meteors that are burning through our atmosphere on the way down to Earth.  They still make beautiful tattoos.

In short, stars have always been an important part of our lives and sure – we sometimes take them for granted because they are always consistently in the skies and they last forever.

Now let’s talk about some of the hundreds of variations of star tattoos.  They could be “shooting stars."  Stars grouped with the sun, planets, and/or the moon.  There are lucky stars, pentacles, many different colors of stars and the number of points in the stars.

Nautical star is a symbol of protection and guidance.  Sailors would have these tattooed on their forearms for a good luck symbol for finding their way back home from a sea voyage.  However, many people attach a meaning to the Nautical star as “finding their way through life."

And the biggest star of them all (at least from our perception) is… the Sun!

The Sun is the greatest star of them all because we depend on it for our survival.  It is the largest object in our solar system.  And this is a fact, 98% of the total mass in our solar system is the Sun!  The Sun is so big that 1.3 million Earths could fit inside it.  It has been estimated that our Sun is 4.6 billion years old.  And don’t worry; they say the Sun has enough fuel for 5 more billion years…

One of the more important criteria when deciding on a star tattoo is how many points do you want on your star.

The four-pointed star can be the Christmas star, which refers to the star associated with the birth of Jesus in the bible.

The five-pointed star is commonly called the “star fish" star.  The Lone Star of Texas is a white, 5 pointed star.  However, the five-pointed star can also be used to represent the Pentagram.  The Pentagram was a symbol of health for the ancient Greeks.  But the Pentagram can also be used as a symbol for Paganism and the devil.  A word of warning, avoid the upside down Pentacle if you don’t wish to be considered a Satanist…

Jewish Star of David was named after King David of ancient Israel and looks like two triangles placed on top of each other.  This 6-pointed symbol has been used since the Middle Ages.  In fact, this symbol can be found on the flag of Israel.

The seven-pointed star is considered a lucky number.  Some of you may be familiar with the term, lucky sevens.  To many people, the seven-pointed star is considered a symbol of magic.  Many police officers wear this star symbol badges.

The eight-pointed Star is the cross of Saint John.  It originated in the Maltese Cross, the emblem of the Knights of Malta, and was used by the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem at the time of the crusades.  Each point of this star is called a tenet that represents the knightly virtues of:

• Tact
• Perseverance
• Gallantry
• Loyalty
• Dexterity
• Explicitness
• Observation
• Sympathy

Most firefighters wear this symbol because the tenets represent the qualities required of these men and women…

A simple nine-pointed star is created by 3 equilateral triangles; each turned 40 degrees from the others and when placed together creates a Tetrahedron.  The 9-pointed star is also the symbol for the Baha’i faith.  As you might guess, the number nine is the largest single digit so this kind of star can also be a symbol for completeness.

There are hundreds of variations of star tattoos that you can choose from.  Many of them are spectacular to represent the brilliance and uniqueness of the stars in the skies above.  Again, avoid the upside-down pentacle if you want to avoid being stigmatized as a Satanist…