What is this tattoo?

April 7, 2010 8:23 PM

What is this tattoo depicting?
posted by pintapicasso to Society & Culture (8 answers total)

Looks like a stylized Hamsa hand to me.
posted by gnutron at 8:27 PM on April 7, 2010

The two things that come to mind are Hamsa and Henna.
posted by zamboni at 8:28 PM on April 7, 2010

It also looks like a mudra. An akash mudra.
posted by dhruva at 8:38 PM on April 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

A Mudra
posted by raintheory at 8:40 PM on April 7, 2010

Definitely a mudra, though the eye does evoke a hamsa. Perhaps a combination?
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:47 PM on April 7, 2010

Best answer: Honestly, I don't think the hamsa comes into it at all; I think this is all buddhist.
Thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara is often depicted with eyes in some or all of the hands, thusly. All the more to watch over you compassionately with!
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 9:00 PM on April 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seconding Buddhist. I guess it could be Hindu, but the iconography of the eye seems Buddhist to me.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:39 PM on April 7, 2010

Best answer: It looks like the varada mudra. (Link to The handbook of Tibetan Buddhist symbols on Google Books.)
posted by The Mouthchew at 2:24 AM on April 8, 2010 [2 favorites]