*There are a lot of things that we attach to ourselves, our bodies and we never know from whence they came.Things that we wear for the sake of fashion has origins that go beyond the latest fashion fad.I saw one person who sported a tattoo that had a nice design,when I asked what it was he said Chinese, when I asked him what it meant he said he didn't know.He could be cursing himself and didn't even know......or maybe he had the answer to all his questions and just couldn't read it.

I can remember back when I was a little girl playing in my mother's jewelery-chest. one thing that I find odd today as I think back is that the majority of the earrings that she had were clamp-on or twist-on.There were pierced ear rings around at the time but they were not that popular amongst the many.I remember that my grandmother was in her 50s when she got her ears pierced and told us never to mention it,she wore very small studs that were hidden by her hair.It was taboo for her as a christian to have body piercings of any kind,It was looked upon as being destructive. I remember when I first got my ears pierced, I did mine myself because I couldn't see myself sitting still for someone else causing me pain by sticking a sewing needle through my ear lobes; I later pierced my nose as well. It was the 70s and we were a rebellious bunch, love, peace and rebellion was what we were about. Being the hippie that I was I would hook school just to attend a peace rally, refusing to conform to the traditional. My piercings were not just fashion but a statement. Today it's not a big deal but in that point and time in history it was.

Did You Know:

* Primitive tribes believed that demons and spirits could enter through the ear.Since these demons are repelled by metal,ear-piercing would prevent them from entering the body.

* The mummified body of a 5000+ year old tribesman was uncovered in 1991 in the Austrian Glacier;both of his ears were pierced and the holes had been enlarged.

* Sailors of days gone by use to pierce an ear to improve their eyesight, and if they ever fell over board and their bodies washed to shore the ring would be enough to ensure that they got a decent burial.

* Shakespeare wore an ear ring.

* Nose piercing can be tracked back to the time of Genesis in the old testament.

* Nose piercing was brought to India in the 16th century from the middle east by Moghul Emperors.

* The Aztecs pierced their tongue in ceremony to draw blood in order to call on their god and alter their state.

* There is no recorded history of navel piercings, we are the first.

* Queen Isabella of Bavaria who ruled from 1385-1417 is credited for nipple piercings, along with the plunging neck line of her dress that went down to her navel she adorned her exposed nipples with nipple rings/coverings.

As you can see different people have different reasons for body piercings, although I took my noise piercing out years ago I do have my eyebrow pierced ( I thought it looked sexy), you can barely see it in my profile picture. Some people may have spiritual reasons, for some it is a right of passage, for some it is sexy and then there is always the fashion of it. What's yours?