Jamieson Wolf
Number-one bestselling author
The Deathly Hallows – The Story Behind My New Tattoo
Why a tattoo of the Deathly Hallows symbol?
Well, people would assume it’s because I’m a fanboy. They would be right. I’ve loved the Harry Potter series since the first book came out in paperback (I was a little late to the bandwagon).
I’ve read them countless times; well, I stopped counting when I read the seven books in the series when I read them for the fortieth time. I’ve read the books many more times since then. I think it’s around sixty times by this point.
When my boyfriend took me to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it was a nerds dream come true. I still can’t process everything I saw and the whole trip feels as if it was a dream, even though I have photographic evidence of being there!
I have three four editions of the books (ebooks, Canadian paperback and hardcover and the US hardcover editions). I have three Harry Potter mugs, two Harry Potter scarves, a Harry Potter wand. I have a wearable time turner and a Deathly Hallows pendant. I have seven Harry Potter themed t-shirts, a Gryffindor crest and belt and more.
So, why a tattoo of the Deathly Hallows symbol? When I got my second tattoo, Harry 
Potter’s scar on my right wrist, people assumed it was just a fanboy thing. However, it was more than that. It meant more to me than just the joy that Harry Potter brought me. Harry was marked at birth to die, but rose above everything.
To me, it meant that we are not defined by our scars. Regardless of what happens in our past, we, too, can rise above it.
With the Deathly Hallows symbol, the purpose behind it is threefold. It’s a fanboy tattoo, yes, of course it is. It’s also a reminder of my recent trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter which was a birthday present from my boyfriend (who wins the Boyfriend of the Century Award for sure!).
More than that, it has a deeper meaning.
When I was hit with the MS last year, I felt as if I had died. I withdrew from everyone, from society, from life. I couldn’t walk, couldn’t see, and would have quite happily (at the time, mind you) died. I was in a bad way. For most of May, I considered taking my own life.
I was suffering from depression and trying to come to terms, however shakily, with the way my body and my mind were now. I had become someone I didn’t know how to live anymore. I wasn’t going out except when I got better to go to work. I didn’t go out with friends, didn’t really leave my apartment for anything except essentials. I was lost. It was like I had died, had already taken my own life for all that I was living the one I had. Which was not at all.
In June of 2013, after a very dark month, I made the choice to live. The fact that I had come close to quitting, to letting go…well, that frightened me. I wanted to live, even in this new body I didn’t understand. From that moment, I did everything I could do to go out into the light.
I reconnected with friends and started taking classes that would better my spirit like Tarot, Reiki and Manifestation. I started eating healthier, started walking more, even with my cane. For me, 2013 was a very long year, but it ended on a high note. I spent Christmas with my Mom and Dad, surrounded by love, comfort and joy. I had, figuratively speaking, come back from the dead.
When I got my Scar tattoo in 2007, I originally wanted to get the Deathly Hallows symbol on my right wrist. I decided at the last moment that I didn’t want something with death in it’s name on my body.
Fans of the books and movies will know that the one who possesses all three Deathly Hallows (the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak) becomes the master of death. Having survived my own “death”, it seemed like a good time as any to give myself a symbol, a visual reminder of how far I’ve come.
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Jamieson Wolf has written a compelling story about navigating multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. His story will touch your heart, make you cry, then laugh, and inspire you. A touching memoir with a bit of magic…and tarot! ~ Theresa Reed, author of The Tarot Coloring Book
Jamieson Wolf 