Story Snippet: Secret tattoo

I am in Cambridge delivering a lecture at a Modern & Mediaeval Languages symposium taking place at my alma mater Girton College. I meet my old Director of Studies, now retired and into her eighties, perhaps a bit fragile but still pretty much as sharp as ever. It comes out in conversation that I have made 52 tattoo films since leaving this place (I am writing this post in a  fine room overlooking the beautiful college grounds the morning after). Those 52 films include a series called ‘My Secret Tattoo‘ which I commissioned at Channel 4. Unexpectedly, she reveals that she has a tattoo which she got in the 60s as a wedding gift. It is a snake with rays coming out of its head. Her husband also got one then – a snake eating its own tail. It must have been really unusual back then in an age where tattoos were more for sailors and the like. It is discreetly on her foot. She’s about the last person I would have expected to have ink. 

A Kundalini snake tattoo

In Hinduism and Yoga ‘kundalini’ (Sanskrit for ‘coiled’/’circular’ or ‘coiled snake’) is a form of divine feminine energy (or ‘Shakti’) believed to be located at the base of the spine. This energy in the body, when cultivated and awakened through tantric practice, is thought to lead to spiritual liberation. When awakened, Kundalini energy can rise up the spine, activating and opening the chakras, energy centres located along the spinal cord. The Kundalini snake is often depicted as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine, ready to rise up and awaken. The snake is also a symbol of transformation and rebirth, as it sheds its skin to reveal a new layer of skin beneath.