Tui & La

Since a long time ago, when people asked me why I haven’t decided to put a tattoo on myself, my answer is usually that I need to find something that I have a deep connection with and something that I am sure it won’t change no matter if I have another job, other passtimes and other ideas.

Surprisingly, I don’t know that many things that are so universal, and so strong against time, not even salsa, which is one of the dances I have done the most in my life. There might a time in the future, where salsa is no longer popular or I don’t identify with it.

Perhaps the only 2 symbols that I thing are time-proof and will always stick with me are the Ying Yang from the taoism and the Om from the buddhism. From those 2, I identify more with the Ying Yang as it has somehow brought balance to my dual life, this life where I am an Engineer and a dancer; an introverted who became extroverted; a rebel but also a tamed sheep; and a Gemini with his sun sign being Gemini too.

However, some years passed and I found that the Ying Yang is a very generic tattoo for everybody: A dozen of surfers in Sayulita have a Ying Yang tattoo for example. So I wanted to have something slightly different. I though about 2 dolphins being the Ying Yang as one of the animals I feel related to is the dolphin and it shows also my deep connection to Puerto Vallarta and the ocean. But I was not sure about it.

However, yesterday as I was drinking coffee at Elforoteo Café and talking to Luna the barista, an epiphany came to me: I just remembered Tui & La, the 2 sacred fish at the Water Nation of the North in Avatar, one of the cartoons that I love the most, and I just discovered that was the symbol I was looking for.

in the Avatar Universe, Tui and La are 2 spirits that used to live in the Spirit World. But after witnessing the struggles among the people at the North and South Poles, they both decided to take it upon themselves to travel to the physical world, taking on the job as the Moon and the Ocean Spirits. This travel also turned their physical form into two mortal koi fish, which swim in circles following each other since their arrival. Due to their effects, they became the teachers of the first waterbenders, whether intentional or not, and have ever since resided at the North Pole oasis.

Tui is a female white koi fish with a black dot in the forehead that protects the moon. Tui ( 推 ) is mandarine chinese for “push”. La is a male black koi fish with a white dot in the forehead that protects the ocean. La ( 拉 ) is mandarine chinese for “pull”. As they are swimming in circles following each other, they represent the eternal dance of the Ying Yang.

So that’s when I decided to go for it and have it as a tatoo. Maybe for my birthday. I will let you know.