Brendan the Navigator Tattoo with Celtic Waves Design gauntlet The powerful alchemical symbol of

The powerful alchemical symbol of the serpent eating its own tale is here rendered in intricate knot work and with the head of a Celtic beast from the 9th century Book of Kells

and his wife's initial in the heart

I did it a second time and added two wolves above

An upper arm half-sleeve featuring a Tibetan spiral flame interlaced with Celtic knots that form a band around the arm

The center of the cross is this evocative wheel

Brendan the Navigator Tattoo with Celtic Waves Design gauntlet The powerful alchemical symbol ofSaint Brendan the Navigator, the brave voyager who sailed all the way to the Americas in a cowhide boat. Patron saint of all those who journey over the waves. The saint's depiction in the tattoo is a copy of an old wooden chair found inside the Cathedral of St. Brendan in Clonfert, Ireland. Around it are Pictish spirals representing the waves he journeyed over.