Scarab Tattoo Meaning

Rebirth, cycles, transformation, and the promise of renewal.

The Scarab is the sacred beetle of ancient Egypt, the living emblem of rebirth — Khepri, who rolls the sun across the sky each dawn, the sign of resurrection and the eternal turning of the cycle. To carry the Scarab is to carry rebirth, cycles, transformation, and the promise of renewal — the holy scarab of Egypt that mirrors the sun's daily rebirth, the amulet of resurrection laid with the dead, the eternal promise that life rises again.

In ancient Egypt the scarab beetle was raised to a sacred and cosmic role as the god Khepri: Khepri, mirror of Ra rolling the sun across the sky; symbol of resurrection and eternal cycles. The Egyptians watched the humble dung beetle roll its ball of dung across the ground and saw in it a divine image — the great sun itself being rolled across the heavens. From this they conceived Khepri, the scarab-god, who each morning rolls the sun up over the horizon and across the sky, the divine force of the rising sun and the dawn.

Khepri was a form of the sun-god, associated with Ra and especially with the sun at dawn — the newborn, rising sun. His name comes from a word meaning "to come into being," for he is the god of coming-into-being, of the sun reborn each morning, of creation renewing itself with every dawn. As the scarab rolls its ball and new life emerges from it, so Khepri rolls the sun and brings the new day to birth. The scarab is the emblem of this great solar power — Khepri who rolls the sun, the god of the rising dawn and of all that comes into being anew. The scarab is Khepri, who rolls the sun across the sky — the Egyptian scarab-god of the dawn, mirror of Ra, force of the rising sun. The egyptian scarab is Khepri, who rolls the sun across the sky — Khepri, mirror of Ra rolling the sun across the sky, symbol of resurrection and eternal cycles; the Egyptians watching the humble dung beetle roll its ball across the ground and seeing a divine image (the great sun rolled across the heavens), conceiving Khepri the scarab-god who each morning rolls the sun up over the horizon and across the sky, the divine force of the rising sun and the dawn — a form of the sun-god associated with Ra and especially the sun at dawn (the newborn, rising sun), his name from a word meaning "to come into being" for he is the god of coming-into-being, of the sun reborn each morning, of creation renewing itself with every dawn, as the scarab rolls its ball and new life emerges so Khepri rolls the sun and brings the new day to birth.

Scarab across cultures

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