Grimoire is a woman in her late 20s who has been getting tattoos that contribute to her very own grimoire (loosely defines as a spell book).
Grimoire explains: “Each tattoo is a personal reminder of things that give me strength or attributes I aspire to uphold. The arbutus tree in a port-hole window keeps an ancient tree with the initials of five generations of my family alive long after that tree decays and falls into the ocean [not pictured]. The fire salamander is an ode to my maternal Grandad, who fostered my love of things deemed ‘ugly’ and sparked my curiosity for creepy crawlies like salamanders. I always wanted a medieval bestiary tattoo, and decided that the fire salamander, with its translated motto, ‘I feed on the good fire and extinguish the bad,’ fits my mantra of letting go of what no longer serves me. The last in this current collection is my first tattoo, an Icelandic magical stave called Lásabrjótur: ‘unfetter yourself from what binds you.’”
Grimoire says, “I look at it as a reminder every day that past trauma, specifically from abusive relationships, does not need to bind me to unhappiness in the present. I have been able to let go of so much pain and resentment, not necessarily because I got the tattoos, but because I look at myself with more love, compassion, and forgiveness every single day and am reminded of my family and places I love to give me strength.”
STORIES FROM THE SKIN 