If you love tattoos, tarot cards, crystals, and sage, get excited for what’s sure to be the next item on your bucket list. Soul Tattoos are the newest ink trend to take Instagram by storm. “Soul Tattoo sessions are one-of-a-kind hand-poked ceremonial, healing, conscious tattoo experiences with each design and its medicine being divinely channeled as a mirror of deep reflection and activation for each client,” Ashley Glynn, a San Francisco-based tattoo artist, explains on her site, Wadulisi Woman. Immediately intrigued, we reached out to Glynn to discuss all things ink and soul. Keep reading to learn about what inspired the process of these tattoos, as well as what you can expect in each session.
How Soul Tattoos Came to Be
“Soul Tattoo sessions were a direct message from spirit,” Glynn, who is also a photographer, illustrator, writer, healer, seeress, and medicine woman, tells Brit + Co. “When I heard the name from my guides, I didn’t know what a Soul Tattoo was, but I knew it was an offering I was meant to create. At the time I was an artist, floral designer, and gave clairvoyant readings around NYC, but literally the next day after receiving that download, I quit all my jobs and birthed Soul Tattoo sessions into creation.” After taking such a big step into what she felt her soul was called to do, Glynn doubled-down to study herbalism, energy work, body work, and healing so that she would be better suited to help others through her art and seemingly supernatural gifts. (Photo via Ashley Glynn)
The Soul Tattoo Process
If you’ve ever gotten a tattoo, you’re likely used to the same show and dance: Make an appointment, show up 15 minutes early, discuss your design (unless it’s so elaborate it requires a pre-consultation), and get inked. When it comes to Soul Tattoos, however, that streamlined approach gets thrown out the door in favor of a customized experience that isn’t as much about what you’ve planned for months but what your energy manifests in the moment. (Photo via Ashley Glynn)
“A Soul Tattoo session consists of a guided meditation to ground into the body and present moment, some intention setting to focus in on what is asking to be healed or worked through, an aura and energy body reading where I scan the energy body to gather messages and images the spirit is sending related to the client’s growth, healing, purpose, or whatever needs to surface at this time,” Glynn explains. In terms of messages, she says that different images, colors, totems, plants, or words appear in different centers of the energy body, which then help determine where healing is most needed.
After the reading is complete, Glynn designs a soon-to-be-permanent piece of artwork that is formed as a combination of different medicines and symbols that were channeled through the reading. She discusses the piece with the client and where it will be forever displayed. “The final design is always a collaboration and discussion between myself and the client so they feel 100 percent aligned with the image, though 90 percent of the time it’s exactly what they want as soon as I show them what I am seeing,” Glynn says. (Photo via Ashley Glynn)
Once you’ve settled on a design, you might think the process is over, but, wait — there’s more. “Then we do hands-on energy work to clear the aura, further ground, open, and align with the medicine coming through,” Glynn says.
Finally the Bay Area-based artist performs the tattoo by hand with custom flower essence-infused ink while connecting to the body, the nervous system’s response, and the spirit to ensure a comfortable, minimally painful, and deeply healing ink experience.
The whole process takes around three to four hours. And, at $277 an hour, that means you’re looking at anywhere from $831 to $1,108 for an ink piece unlike any other.
what it’s really like to get a soul tattoo
As beautifully unique as Soul Tattoos sound, it’s always a good idea to look into what past clients have to say about the artist and the experience overall. Ahead, you’ll find reviews from women who have been inked by Glynn and, unsurprisingly, swear by the process.
Carmen Rodriguez (30, Brooklyn): “I actually had a session with my best friend,” Rodriguez tells Brit + Co. “Our appointment was at [noon], and we didn’t get out until 7pm. I went first, and I had a tarot reading with Ash; she then drew up my tattoo and [inked] it on. My whole process was about three and a half hours. Stick and poke is no joke! My best friend went after me, and the three of us were in a room together for seven hours. I think you hear that and you’re like ‘OMG! Thats so long,’ when it felt much shorter. I felt like I was with my friends hanging out. (Photo via Carmen Rodriguez)
“While the tattoo is the most painful one I’ve received, the experience was unlike any other I’ve had. I feel like this picture is a true representation of me. Additionally, it has made it so I am very picky about who tattoos me now. Before I was like eh whatever, but I really need to feel like I trust the artist and work with women who love what they do. If it’s going to be on my body forever, it needs to be with someone who I can trust. Whose work I love and they love too.”
Melinda Markert (27, Chicago): “I first found Ash through social media,” Markert tells Brit + Co. “It just made sense that I would see her for a Soul Tattoo session. I loved the style of her artwork, I loved the spontaneity of an intuitively channeled tattoo, and I loved the idea of tattoos as a way of healing. Every tattoo of mine has personal meaning and healing for me, so this seemed to fit right in.” (Photo via Melinda Markert)
Would you get a Soul Tattoo? Tell us @BritandCo!
