So, on Monday, I'm getting a rune tattooed on me (jera), but I cannot, for the life of me, decide on which specific design I like best. It'll be on my wrist. Opinions?


^Thicker lines, plain?


^Thinner lines, plain?


^More of a freehand look?

Thoughts? I'm so indecisive!

Can't see it, no, and no. Do not want. You're going to regret this.

I'll play...why will I regret it?

I also can't see the first one. I like the thinner one out of the second two though. The thicker, squared lines of the last one remind me of a swastika....

Weird that it doesn't show up. I found this design, and am thinking I like it...

The design sucks. It's basically half a swastika. It'll look like a prison tattoo. Especially on your wrist. Twenty years from now, you will not want this on your wrist. It's just not pretty.

edit: ^I like that one a lot better.

panic wrote:

It's basically half a swastika.

That's actually EXACTLY what I thought when I first saw the design :/

Hmm, I can see with the straight lines how that could be thought. I don't, however, see the connection with the last one I posted, so I'm thinking that'll be the one.

I agree that it basically looks like a swastika. I prefer the red one that you posted, it's more decorative-looking. However, unless this rune does have special meaning to you, I generally think getting a tattoo of just an arbitrary design that has no personal meaning is a mistake - why bother?

OvertheOcean wrote:

I agree that it basically looks like a swastika. I prefer the red one that you posted, it's more decorative-looking. However, unless this rune does have special meaning to you, I generally think getting a tattoo of just an arbitrary design that has no personal meaning is a mistake - why bother?

It most definitely has meaning to me All the pictures posted are of the same rune, just drawn a little differently.

Yeah, they look like swastikas to me too. Weird. :/

To post again, I must be blind...if I stretch it quite a bit, I can see how the first two could possibly call to mind a swastika, but how on earth could this one?

^It's the shape and angle. The swastika is so imprinted on the minds of people, that anything that shape and angle reminds them of one.

I definitely like the one that isn't all straight lines better (the red one). What colour will you get it in?

It'll be just plain black, smaller tattoos without an outline tend to have blow outs.

Also, I reread my responses and realized I could be interpreted as snarky (darn cold meds and lack of tone on the internet), which I'm not! I'm glad so many of you have chimed in to point out that the straight-lined designs could be associated with a swastika as it obviously wasn't something I picked up on myself.

I had to google what a rune was, and I got the full alphabet. Can you get any other character that would have as much meaning? None of the others look like that.

Can you explain the meaning to us, if its not too personal? I prefer the red design over all of them, but have to agree that on first glance it looked like a swastika. Sorry!

Can you myabe make it a little less... um... blunt? Obviously tradiiotnally it is just two bold lines, but could you get it a bit floraly or something maybe? In the same position but less swastika looking.

It's not too personal Here's a pretty good description of it (you have to scroll down to jera). I showed a few friends a picture of the red one. One said they couldn't see anything to do with a swastika, one said they only saw it when looking for it, one said it looked like a pair of arms and the other said it looked like a "chinese symbol."

One of your friends said it looks like a Chinese symbol? LOL. You should henceforth disregard this friend's opinion because he's obviously retarded. But I think you've already made up your mind. I think you're going to get this tattoo on your wrist. And whatevs - it could be worse. You could be getting an ENTIRE swastika instead of just a half swastika. Then again, you have a whole, huge thread of responses here, and NO ONE likes your design. Everyone thinks it sucks. If I were committing to a permanent design ON MY FRICKIN WRIST, I would at least give that some consideration. But that's just me.

I'm looking at others now, that also have meanings close to my heart/journey.



That's kenaz. From the site I listed above, "(K: Beacon or torch.) Vision, revelation, knowledge, creativity, inspiration, technical ability. Vital fire of life, harnessed power, fire of transformation and regeneration. Power to create your own reality, the power of light. Open to new strength, energy, and power now."



That's sowilo. From the same site, "(S: The sun.) Success, goals achieved, honor. The life-force, health. A time when power will be available to you for positive changes in your life, victory, health, and success."



Dagaz, "(D: Day or dawn.) Breakthrough, awakening, awareness. Daylight clarity as opposed to nighttime uncertainty. A time to plan or embark upon an enterprise. The power of change directed by your own will, transformation. Hope/happiness, the ideal. Security and certainty. Growth and release."

I'm going to scratch the original off my list...after brief reflection, if anyone thought it was tied to a swastika, I'd be horrified. Upon deeper search, the above runes all appeal to me as well...off to ponder. I'm leaning towards sowilo.

Sowilo was my favorite before you said what your favorite was!

Mmm, maybe I'm the only one who (at least for the red version) doesn't immediately think 'swastika!', though the Sowilo version says Waffen-SS right away. Are you in Europe? Because in that case I think the Sowilo would 'hurt' more than the Jera.

See, there's no pleasing everyone ... That said, maybe your wrist wouldn't be the best place. Very few people know about runes, but the Nazis had a fetish for them, and the connotation stays strong after all these years, darn them ...

I like the latter three much better than the original letter, which to me, does look a lot like a swastika.

I also didn't immediately see swastika with the original design, but I like the other 3 better too! I love the meaning behind the kenaz one, and that may just be because I just reread The Hunger Games and it reminds me of the heroine, Katniss, the girl who was on fire.

panic wrote:

One of your friends said it looks like a Chinese symbol? LOL. You should henceforth disregard this friend's opinion because he's obviously retarded.

Slight hijack here, but actually, it's the first thing I thought of us well, probably because I'm a nerd about Mandarin, but it does bring to mind some radicals from certain characters like 写.

I showed a friend of mine in Austria, and he said it looks super similar to a gang tattoo seen in prisons in that area. ( He is a cop) If you are every considering living in Austria somewhere, I would reconsider getting a prison tat.

He said Jera should be an absolute "NO!" but "Dagaz" didn't seem to ring any type of prison meaning for him.

If you wanted to get it very badly, I would get it somewhere other then your wrist. Somewhere that could be hidden very easily but also seen if you chose to expose it.

Or maybe 互?

But that's besides the point. Look, it's your body. It's your tattoo. Do these runes have a special meaning to you? Have you given it a lot of thought? Then whatever. If you end up regretting it later, that's going to be something for you to deal with, no one else.

I think if you've given it a lot of thought and it has a lot of meaning to you, rather than it being a "cool design" and that's it, you'll be fine. And actually, if you want help with design, I would ask the artist who will be doing the work to help. They normally will have some fantastic ideas and things to think about if you ask.

My opinion about the design is I like the red one. As far as size and how well it'll age, I can't help you with that since I only have 1 tattoo thus far and I'm no expert, but I'm sure you can ask your artist and they'll be able to tell you that and much more.

I'm a bit disappointed with how this thread has been going. Again, if this is something you've given a lot of thought to and there's more behind this than "it's a cool design," it's your choice. To be honest, I didn't think it was half a swastika when I first saw it, if that helps. But, I've also studied Chinese and I'm used to seeing a lot of different characters. Could be just me, but hey, if all else fails and you don't want people giving you the stink eye, you can put a watch over it when you go out. There, problem solved. As long as you like it!