Meraki is a Greek word that means to do something with soul, creativity or love.
When you add this symbol -the small crescent moon- next to the name of your tattoo design it means: “I endured the pain because I wanted to do this tattoo.” It’s about having courage when getting tattoos. The courage and the will to take some pain and go through it as an experience. That’s why meraki tattoos are so intense. It’s not only the pain itself, it’s also about the feeling you get when you’re tattooing yourself or getting a tattoo done by your loved one with love and good intentions.
This is very common in Japanese culture. When you see two kanji characters next to each other, one is the main word and the other gives an idea about what it means. This is called a So-Den.
And this makes absolute sense since meraki tattoos are often done by yourself (or with your loved one’s help) or in your own language. That’s why a lot of meraki tattoos have their meaning in Greek, Latin or even Sanskrit.
But it can’t be denied that there are some beautiful traditional tattoos with meraki symbolism. Take a look below and enjoy!
Credit instagram
Credit instagram
