It is no coincidence that the heart is one of the most popular tattoo subjects. It is the most important symbol of life and love, as well as intelligence.
The image of a Sacred Heart is a very powerful talisman and inside every beating living heart there is the Heart of the World, the breath of God.

Heart of Gold
When we talk about a strong emotion, whether positive or negative, we say “it touched my heart”. A dream which did not come true, an indelible memory or a person we have loved and can no longer see, can be said to remain in our heart. When we are sincere, we speak from the heart, when we give something to someone we can say it comes with all my heart and to describe a very generous person we can say they have a heart of gold. In many fairy tales, when a character has gone through a painful experience they are said to be broken-hearted. One saying in particular has also become the title of a best-selling novel: Follow your heart.
The associations between the heart and feelings belong to our everyday language, but in the world of symbolism, the heart takes on an even more important role: it is the Heart of the World, a very important and magical symbol as the most precious of all talismans. In many cultures it is the temple, the altar of God, the divine breath which resides in every living thing. It is no coincidence that it is one of the most popular designs in the tattoo world and that many people choose it as a tattoo. Even the “random” choice of a symbol is never a coincidence…. but that’s another story.

The heart is the centre
Our own heart is more or less the size of our fist. This bundle of blood-filled muscles contracts untiringly every second of our life and pumps blood all around our body. Every time our heart pumps and relaxes we can feel a heartbeat. For a living being the heart is the centre which distributes blood and heat to the body and is therefore life itself. When it stops beating, life stops too.
In other words, the heart is the central organ of every individual and even in the world of symbols it is considered the centre. For centuries the Western world has considered it the home of feelings, but in traditions all round the world this symbol means much, much more…

The centre is everything
The language of symbols brings us into contact with other worlds, parallel to the physical world. The spiritual world is one of these and on this level the heart represents the totality of being, the home of the body’s physical life, but also the soul. Its meaning, as well as its shape (a triangle pointing downwards) is related to the symbol of the cup (the Holy Grail), a magical container which encloses, keeps and distributes love, emotions, desires, memories but also will…
In the tattoo world a wounded heart can have a connection with the sentimental world and we often see it associated with names (Mum, Dad or any loved one…). The names recall the nearest and dearest of those who wear the tattoo.

The Sacred Heart
The Sacred Heart is a symbol we often see in the tattoo world. Some people get it as a tattoo for religious reasons, but some choose it because they are irresistibly attracted to its meaning or design.
The Sacred Heart represents the Heart of Humanity, the spiritual and natural principle, the divine breath, of the universe which contracts and expands, the origin and end of everything. The Sacred Heart can also be called Heart of Hearts and the symbol appears in many religions, from the West to the Orient, via the Middle East.
The heart sometimes bears a wound or a mark on the outside (bleeding, pierced by thorns or a dagger etc.). the wound refers to the Eye of the Heart, the divine principle which resides in the centre.

Intelligence and wisdom
For the world of symbols, human beings have three sacred centres of great importance: their sex, heart and head. In all cultures the heart is considered the home of pure intelligence but not reason. The latter comes from the mind and is lit up by reflected light, like the moon is illuminated by the sun in the physical world. The light of reason is in fact a cold light, like that of the moon, while the heart is a source of heat, like the sun. In many tattoos it is surrounded by flames and the flaming heart is a particularly powerful symbol. For the Chinese it represents the sun itself and the light of the spirit and revelation shines in the “cavern of the heart”.
In Jewish tradition man’s “heart of stone” must become a “heart of flesh”, and the “wise of heart” have the spirit of wisdom.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the home of thoughts, emotions and memories, and they used to put heart-shaped amulets next to the dead to help them in their voyage to the afterlife. These amulets were in the shape of a vase, the precious container of the spirit which we also find in the tradition of the Holy Grail, the cup which collected the blood of Christ and was sought by the knights of King Arthur.

The heart is the King
The heart is the King and in many tattoos is topped by a crown. Thus it governs our life and also controls our choices and our deepest being. For taoists the sovereign heart is also the “master of breath”, probably because its beat and our breath are closely connected, but as a “breath” it represents Light and the spirit.
Also in Celtic culture the heart symbolises the centre of life and the superior kingdom. In the Celtic world there is a connection between the name of the centre (kreiz in Breton, craidd in Welsh and Cornish, cridhe in Gaelic) and that of the heart.
Kreiz, craidd and cridhe are connected to the Indo-European root krd which means heart, centre, middle; the names for the heart in Latin (cor, cordis), Greek, German, Slavic and Armenian are derived from krd. A Latin motto to encourage and give strength and courage is sursum corda, which means “hearts high”.

The colour red
In the world of symbols and tattoos, as in reality, the heart is red. Red is the colour of blood, primordial energy, unbridled vitality, passion and love, the force of nature, erupting volcanoes and fire. Connected to fire and blood, red is also linked with violence and rage, or death (remember Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death) and a consequence of transformation.
Red is the fire which burns and destroys the cold, viscous forms of negativity. In fact the colour red is feared by all the dark forces, precisely because it is the colour of fire, which creates light. So, magical beliefs have always stated that bright red, the son of Fire and Light, is a powerful barrier against envy, the evil eye, negativity and its derivatives.
On an energy level, the colour red releases a very strong, warm chromatic vibration around it and can “burn” feelings which come from cold places such as envy, hate and resentment. In popular folklore red clothes, ribbons, jewels, talismans and other objects have been used for millennia to combat the evil eye and negative forces. A traditional custom which is still followed in Italy is to wear something red against your skin on New Year’s Eve. Tradition dictates that red attracts good luck like a magnet.

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