Water tattoo designs, or tattoo designs where water is a prominent feature are both very old and very popular across a wide variety of tattoo genres.
The world was once thought to be composed of the four basic elements of water, fire, earth and air. In both the West and the East, there are many symbols associated with the different elements.
The four elements still maintain a powerful symbolism within the overall realm of imaginative experience and are thought to still possess a strong correspondence to internal states and emotions. In traditional tattooing among the Polynesians, water and waves form a strong graphic element among the standard design elements.
Water as an Element is thought to represent the Feminine, and is see as a powerful force for change. Water is associated with the principle of "moisture" and the circulatory movement of blood and sap as life within vegetation and animals. It is also associated with the water of the womb where individual life comes from and from the water of the oceans where human life evolved from. Water has the power to abolish, dissolve, purify, wash away and regenerate. In opposition to this is the principle of "dryness" and the static condition of life.
See also: Nautical Tattoo Index, Marine Life Tattoo Index and Japanese Tattoo Index.
