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I apologize if this sounds stupid, but I was wondering what I would need to do to prepare myself for getting a tattoo? For a long time I've wanted to get a pentacle on my back with the two side points equi-distance between my shoulder blades, the top point reaching up to the base of my skull, and the lower two points extending down to my sides. I wanted the circumscribe it in the traditional circle and utilize the tattoo as a focus for protection.

I wanted to get the tattoo done on Saturday night with the full moon, I would be getting the tattoo out in my neighbor's garage next to a window which would give me a clear view of the moon. Before the actual event I was planning on spending some time in meditation and spend most of the time being tattoo'ed in a gnostic state to focus the pain of receiving the tattoo and focusing upon what I want the tattoo to do.

What do you guys think about this plan? Any more I should do? Am I completely off-base here?

Also, should I let the artist know that I plan to do all of this or just let him think it's a regular tattoo?

The method mentioned is sound.

As for telling the artist, since it's a protection tattoo - it's alright. I'm sure
he's gotten his fair share of "lucky"tattoos and whatnot.
The only thing that's going to be odd is how quiet you're going to be during the
whole working.

In my opinion, there really isnt a hard and fast ritual for getting tattoo work done. If you want to ritualise your tattoo you really have to write the ritual element yourself. That said, many cultures had strong ceremonial aspects around tattooing, so if you want to ritualise your piece then drawing from cultures like the Maori and the Samoans is definitely a good place to start, but ultimately the final ritual is going to come down to what you want to put into it, what sorts of things you want to be said or be present while the work is being done, and what elements you want to bring to the tattoo itself.

I have a number of tattoos, so I'm not coming at this out of total ignorance.

My only concern would be for the actual tattooing process itself.
I noticed you said "neighbour's garage". Is this one of those Hillbilly car battery / knitting needle / small dog and some bourbon tattoos?
Because you really do want to consider hygene. [eek] [wink2]