“I made it through to the K’s before stopping.
Here’s the thing: when the book is telling you about tattoos, it’s pretty interesting. The secret language of tattoos, the traditions, and so on. But when you get to an entry like “cross” and it tells you an extremely abbreviated version of what the meaning of the cross is, no thanks. I think most of us are aware it’s a jesus thing. I came here to learn about the history of tattoos, not the history of the objects being tattooed on people. Which sounds like an unimportant division, but it’s totally important.
For example, in the entry on jesus, you learn that there’s a story, possibly apocryphal, that sailors would have jesus tattooed on their backs so if they were getting a beating or being whipped, the punisher might see the face of jesus and go easy on them. THAT is interesting.
Telling me what Ganesha is all about while not really talking about the meaning of tattoos of Ganesha? Or telling me what a Celtic knot is without really mentioning tattoos? Pass. “