Mandala tattoo question

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wkj_123

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I see a lot of people getting mandala tatoos these days. While I wouldn’t be interested in one myself, im curious if it would be wrong for a Catholic to get one just because they think the art is pretty without the religious connection?
 
My feeling would be why mark yourself permanently with another religion’s religious symbol? Even just because it was pretty. I wouldn’t. :woman_shrugging:t2:
 
While most of the time I think mandalas are pagan nonsense, there are many instances of mandala-like decorations in Christianity, think of the Rose windows of many gothic cathedrals! I think it would really all depend on the symbology and intent 👍.

Peace
 
Would it be OK to marry a woman because she is pretty, without worrying about the pesky details like how to build a life together?
 
I wouldn’t recommend it.
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks [tattoos] upon you: I am the Lord. --Leviticus 19:28
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White_Tree said:
I wouldn’t recommend it.
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks [tattoos] upon you: I am the Lord. --Leviticus 19:28
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Leviticus also prohibits the eating of pork and shellfish, the wearing of clothing of mixed fibres, and many other things that Christians do.not feel themselves bound by.

Indeed Christ Himself broke a number of such rules when he touched corpses, lepers and in one case a menstruating woman.

Clearly we are not bound by something merely because it is in Leviticus.
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A tattoo is more permanent. I’m a widow, I still have my ink
 
“Mandala” designs occur in a lot of contexts. I’ve seen mandala patterns that looked like lace doilies crocheted by my grandma. I’ve seen others that just looked like blooming flowers, or Catholic cathedral stained-glass round windows. So I don’t see it as being forbidden (and of course, tattoos in general are not forbidden for Catholics, regardless of individual Catholic’s preferences).

However, I would be a little hesitant to tattoo myself with a graphic associated with someone else’s religion, because, unless you really understand what you’re doing, it could be a cultural misappropriation or could send a message you don’t want to send. Muslims have even more amazing designs than mandalas, and while I like to look at them, I wouldn’t grab some design element I saw on a mosque and want to have that permanently inked on my body, just because.
 
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wkj_123 said:
I see a lot of people getting mandala tatoos these days. While I wouldn’t be interested in one myself, im curious if it would be wrong for a Catholic to get one just because they think the art is pretty without the religious connection?
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Mandala has such a broad and generic design that you can see it in almost every culture and ethnicity. Just type “mandala christianity” in Google Images and see what pops up. “Mandala” isn’t the name for it in Christianity, but the design is very similar.

A person would have to make a prudential decision about it.
 
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Remember that tattoos spread and fade horribly over time. Have you ever seen a 30 or 40-year-old tattoo? 😬 Eew. God knows what’s in your heart. No need to put your body through the pain and (possibly dangerous) ink of a tattoo.
 
MichelleP12 said:
Have you ever seen a 30 or 40-year-old tattoo?
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Actually I have. It’d faded alright even though was just black ink. Then there is the wrinkly skin as one gets older, and depending on where it is, the sagging of skin and flesh … not a pretty sight really.

I asked a priest this question one time and he said tattoos are sinful. I replied something like along the lines of “graffiti”. He didn’t reply to that.

So my assumption is that because we are made in the image and likeness of God, and we are temples of the Holy Spirit, as well as " “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)." [from the first article I linked to in my earlier post] I can see why tattoos would be considered sinful.
 
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CRV said:
I asked a priest this question one time and he said tattoos are sinful.
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He was deviating from the established teaching of the Church, then.
Christians have been getting tattooed since the Crusader times.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...hristian-tradition-thrives-in-jerusalem-68723

Priests get tattoos too.

denvercatholic.org

‘Forgive me Father, I have a tattoo.’ ‘Hey, so do I!’

“…You know that’s permanent, right?” So goes one of an array of responses when a discerning young person tells their parents they want to get a tattoo. “Why would you want to do that to yourself?
denvercatholic.org denvercatholic.org
 
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As far as I know there isn’t any formal document from the Church teaching specifically that tattoos are sinful - or aren’t for that matter.

Whilst Christians (and other people) have been getting tattoos since whenever, I don’t think think that is a good justification. After all, Christians and others have been sinning since year dot too. Doesn’t make those deeds not sinful.

Priests are people and yes some I guess do get tattoos.
 
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Fr Mike does a pretty good job of explaining why Leviticus doesn’t mean tattoos are always a sin, and discussing when a tattoo might be sinful.

 
CRV said:
the image and likeness of God, and we are temples of the Holy Spirit
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It’s worthwhile noting that tattooing - in the general sense of marking the body - is portrayed positively in some parts of the OT, either literally as in Ezek 9:4, and figuratively in Isa 19:16. Likewise, circumcision was commanded by God despite it being a cutting of the flesh (Lev 19:28).

Likewise, I think it’s important to note that our contemporary understanding of tattoos (this word not entering the English language until the 18th century) is not co-terminous with that of the ancient Levant. We tend to see it more along the lines of body adornment, with many Polynesian cultures using it to express tribal affinities, whilst ancient Israelites primarily associated ‘printing marks’ with cultic purposes. Haydock’s commentary, which you linked, even notes:
Marks, made with a hot iron, representing false gods, as if to declare that they would serve them forever
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Haydock even further notes:
Christians have sometimes marked their arms with the cross, or name of Jesus… The Church historians relate, that St. Francis and St. Catharine received miraculously the prints of his wounds.
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Haydock also notes -
(3 Macchabees) Theodoret (q. 18) mentions, that the pagans were accustomed to cut their cheeks, and to prick themselves with needles, infusing some black matter, out of respect for the dead, and for demons." ← perhaps this is why tattoos have been/are considered sinful as the method is the same. Granted it isn’t usually done for these reasons.
 
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