Good grief! I never expected the number of e-mails I received about my new tattoo. At last count, I have 27 asking me about where I got it, why I got it and what the significance is of using the crossed swords and skull.
I checked my e-mail this morning, and I have seven more. It’s pretty impressive, as I didn’t think anyone read my blog at all. My blog started as a journalistic barf bag, and it’s eye-opening to know that total strangers are actually reading it. One e-mail came from Canada, from a man who lives on a boat. Another came from a gal from California who has gone through a life-changing event that caused her to seek out women who have gone through similar experiences. Both said they have been reading the blog every time there’s a new post.
I usually write these posts early in the morning, when I feel at my best, before the day has had a chance to gnaw at me. Now that I’m aware of people other than my close pals reading this, I have a renewed sense of responsibility. Blogs are so haphazard, so self-absorbed, so egotistical at worst.
But, the one thing they are is messages in bottles. You’re throwing out your thoughts into the great Internet ocean, secretly hoping that someone will read what you have written and connect in some fashion. I consider myself a lucky woman that I have readers, and that they have indeed responded.
So, let me reply to those readers who have all the questions.
The crossed swords and skull is the representation of Calico Jack Rackham’s pirate flag. Why Calico Jack? Many reasons. Jack was an English pirate, born on the cusp of Sagittarius and Capricorn on the island of Jamaica. He was also the only pirate on record to employ two female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, the former of whom he made his partner. He was a gentleman pirate, but a pirate nonetheless. There are similarities in the box-office hits, Pirates of the Caribbean, to Jack Rackham as well, and as most of my friends know, all of my Scotties are named after characters from the films. The Black Pearl flies the flag of Calico Jack, and in all three films in the series, Johnny Depp wears some form of calico fabric, which was Jack Rackham’s trademark, thus his moniker (not to mention, his character is named “Jack”).
Calico Jack was not particularly successful as a pirate. He sort of fell into it accidentally, and only lasted two years before he was captured and hanged until dead in Port Royal, Jamaica. He wasn’t the best known pirate, and he certainly wasn’t the boldest or most courageous of the brethren. But, he had a great flag, and it is the single most copied symbol of pirate lore to date.
I also have a policy on tattoos. They must be able to be seen, by me, as well as anyone else. No private, secret tattoos for me. Therefore, I had the symbol of piracy placed over my heart, and it is exactly where it should be. If I had been born in the 1700s, I have no doubt I would have been a pirate, seeking my adventure and fortune in the warm Caribbean. But, I was born 250 years too late…sounds like a song to me, eh fellow pirates?
If you're in the St. Augustine area, seek out and find Ms. Deborah's Fountain of Youth Tattoo and Body Piercing, and ask for Jesse Britten (www.jessebrittentattoo.com).
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