Patti Wigington, About.com’s guide to Paganism and Wicca, has created a special tattoo gallery for her readers. The gallery features a collection of submitted tattoos that represent the reader’s spiritual beliefs. Enjoy browsing through the gallery or submit your own to Patti for inclusion in the gallery.

The tattoo you see here belongs to Dean and he says that he originally just wanted a small triquetra on his leg. His artist wisely talked him into a larger and more ornate design, which Dean now loves. It pays to listen to your artist!

“I really hope someone can help me; I got a tattoo on my foot and going up past my ankle 5 months ago. It’s not my first tattoo so I knew what to do to look after it. When I got home my foot swelled up really bad and I was not able to put my foot to the floor for about a week, then it did go down and start to scab over. The vine has healed ok but the flowers 5 months on are still quite raised and bumpy and have got tiny little holes all over them. I have tried all sorts but nothing is changing it; I went back to see my tattoo artist and he said he thinks I have just had a bad reaction to the ink and to give it more time but it never changes. It looks rubbish close up. Has anyone got any ideas please?” - Jill6299

Question: I’ve had an 8 gauge Prince Albert piercing for 3 weeks. It seems to have healed nicely, but I’m still keeping it clean. My question is, how long do I need to wait before I can stretch the piercing? Also if you recommend I buy a taper for the next size or if I should go back to my piercer to have it stretched. I am used to the process of stretching earlobe piercings; I buy a taper, lube it with vitamin e oil and slowly stretch the hole, usually taking an hour before putting the next size jewelry in. However, I’m a little intimidated by the thought of taking the CBR out of the PA and changing the jewelry.

Answer: I would recommend that you wait until your piercing is at least 4-6 months
old before you attempt a stretch. I know it seems healed now after 3
weeks, but there is a lot of tissue on the inside that still needs time to
mend. The penile glans is much more fibrous and dense than an ear lobe,
and it’s obviously also a much more sensitive area – damage to the tissue
from a premature stretch could cause a lot of pain with regular movement
and urination, which is something you kind of can’t avoid!

Once you’re ready to stretch, I would suggest going to your piercer at
least once and see how they do it. It’s not a straight shot like through
the earlobe, and again – the last thing you want to do is cause any
damage.