In the middle of his back, right below the fish, is a star made of 5 Buddhas head. The Five Deva Faces Yantra is a common Buddhist tattoo. Each face represents an element (fire, earth, metal, water and wood) but this symbol can also be interpreted as the five precepts of Buddhism. The five Buddhas symbolize the five basic personalities of the human experience (anger, desire, ignorance, jealousy and pride) that Buddha transformed into positive traits during his journey to enlightenment.
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| Zlatan Ibrahimovic Tattoos Arabic |
Buddhism refers to these five emotions as the five human failings, because of the negative impact they have on your life. Moving through these emotions and conquering them frees you and allows you to transcend to a higher spiritual awareness. This particular image is also used to ward off illness and suffering.
On his left oblique, we can read "only God can judge me". Ibra himself explains this tattoo as follows, "The words are from a song by the rapper Tupac. "They could write whatever they wanted in the papers. Scream anything at all from the stands. They still couldn't get at me. Only God could judge me! I liked that.""
This tattoo is said to also illustrate his rebellious nature. In fact, his eccentric and quarrelsome personality is legendary, his arrogant answers to trainers and journalists are almost as well-known as his brilliant technique. It is interesting to note that this tattoo referring to his personal religious belief is on the left / yin side whereas the dragon is on his right / yang side.
2011, he added a big feather between the shoulder blades. This looks like a north-American native feather and has many interpretations. It reiterates the Rooster, Ibra's astrological sign, but also stands for birds in general. The energy of birds brings lightness, opportunity and good luck. In all cultures, humans look on birds for the feeling of inspiration, freedom and a longing to be united with the divine. The ability to soar high up in the sky is closely associated in feng shui with the ability to be near the heavens, and the ability to serve as messengers from heavens, a distinctive indication of Ibrahimovic's interest in spirituality.
Zlatan himself has repeatedly stated that he is a Catholic Christian. My guess is that he has a very broad, cross-border approach of spirituality: here is a young Swede of Bosnian-Croatian origin who chooses North-American, Maori, Buddhist and Feng Shui symbols to protect himself and his family as well as to enhance his own good luck. The different religions and cultures within his family and background do not constrain him, far from it. Very often, growing up and living between different cultures leads to being ostracized by each one of them. Ibrahamovic instead dares to seek out these differences turning potential liabilities into real assets. He even goes a step further and deliberately uses symbols from complete different cultures for his own purposes.
Zlaran Ibrahimovic's staggering success is no fluke. It is the result of talent, hard work and dare I say a brilliant use of symbols. The right timing obviously also played a major role: I doubt that a deal of this magnitude would have been possible last year (2011) which was difficult for the Rooster. Here comes a perfect example of feng shui at its best: the trinity of luck, a balance of yin and yang, protection and enhancement with symbols, and the perfect use of the time dimension.
Feng shui as a living skill is wonderfully versatile and can be adapted to anybody's sensitivity, artistic sense and culture. There is no need for a middle-aged lady like myself to get her body covered with tattoos to protect her family and to activate her luck! Fortunately I can go for more conventional means and so can you, but be creative and most importantly have fun, and enjoy your good luck and good health when you have it. This ends Part 2 of Zlatan Ibrahimovic Tattoos Arabic.