Today we’d like to introduce you to The Serpent Tattoo And Occult Shop Rachel Kolar And Nixie Vly
Hi The Serpent Tattoo and Occult Shop, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Nixie: I started reading tarot at age 14 after being recruited by my French teacher to tell fortunes at the school foreign language fair. I dressed up in excessive jewelry and a flowing skirt and she handed me a French edition of the Smith-Waite deck and a book to look up meanings.
I started tattooing ten years ago. I got my first tattoo on a whim in 2013. At the time, I was a schoolteacher, in a repressive marriage within a closed spiritual community. While I was getting the tattoo I became convinced that I had to learn the art. Following this desire played a big part in getting me out of the relationships that were holding me back. I left the spiritual group, got a divorce, sought an apprenticeship, and eventually learned to tattoo.
Rachel: I always knew I’d be an artist– in high school when people would ask what I was going to be when I grew up I said tattoo artist. I went to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for illustration and metals and after graduation worked in a medical museum for a few years while teaching myself how to tattoo. When I was laid off, I moved to Austin and started tattooing professionally… now, almost 30 years later, I have my own amazing shop with my friend Nixie!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Rachel: It’s been as smooth as any worthwhile endeavor- not at all. When I first started tattooing, everyone would assume I was just the piercer, because that was the girl’s job in a tattoo shop in the mid nineties. People would sometimes ask if there was “anyone else” tattooing when they came in for a tattoo, and the dudes I worked with were OK but were pretty oblivious to any “problematic behavior” as were most people back then. I didn’t let it get me down. I knew I was a good artist and people could get a tattoo from me or not, I wasn’t going to let their weirdness be my problem. Year by year, the number of women tattooing grew and people’s attitudes changed. Now it’s not an issue at all. I feel like the “boys’ club” of tattooing is all but dead and buried, thankfully.
Nixie: Well, as far as spiritual stuff goes, it’s been a beautiful journey, not without its pitfalls. I was raised without religion, and always had a longing to find deeper meaning in life, and I think being able to construct that for myself was a great gift. As a teenager, in addition to tarot, I got into witchcraft and Carlos Castaneda books. In college, I made a great friend who had been raised Catholic, and found myself pretty obsessed with Catholicism in general- the ritual, the imagery, the saints, and the sensual aspects of it for sure, but also some deeper resonance. I also had my first encounters with Santeria and Vodou at that time. Feeling that I was kind of a spiritual train wreck after college, I joined a group based on the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff. There, I was able to develop my attention and immerse myself in a spiritual milieu. However, such as it is with going all-in with a group or guru, I also ended up stunting my own growth and eschewing my own responsibility for critical thinking, surrendering my whole life to someone I thought of as more enlightened than myself. I stayed there for 15 years- that’s a pretty deep pitfall! Like I said, tattooing has been such a wonderful way to re-enter the world at large and learn about the multiplicity of views and experiences people can have, all of which are part of the tapestry of creation. The unbalanced power structures around me became really evident as I sought to learn and grow in that area.
Moving into tattooing, I experienced what have been the normal struggles and pitfalls for someone with a female body in the industry, as well as the more universal struggles that come up during the learning process. I left two mentors because of their debilitating addictions; another. because the shop owner groped me. I had my season of learning on my own, which is a struggle in itself. But eventually, my persistence paid off and I became an employable artist, capable of handling whatever was thrown my way. Another level of learning begins at that point, because you’re not in a hierarchy anymore so much as a collaborative learning environment with other artists.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Nixie: I do tattoos, read tarot, perform spiritual cleansings, grow herbs, make herb blends, soaps, oils, and perfumes, and paint icons of the saints and spirits of various spiritist and folk Catholic traditions! I always had the sense all these activities are part of the same practice, and now I do all of them at The Serpent Tattoo and Occult Shop, this business on Chicon and 3rd in Austin that Rachel and I have created. We sell the herb blends, oils, perfumes and soaps- all of which are made from herbs and essential oils, according to their folkloric magical uses and aromatherapeutic properties. I do both ordinary and talismanic tattoos. That is to say, I view all tattoos as talismanic- or as being charged with symbolic meaning and magical potential for the wearer- but am willing to do everything from keep that belief to myself to ceremonialize the process with spoken intentions, readings, incense, and specially selected music, based on the wishes of the client. I paint and sell reproductions of these spirit icons which include Santa Muerte, Saint Expedite, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, which are designed for people to use in their own spiritual practices. I draw from popular religious iconography as seen in vintage chromolithographs, cigar box art, and botanica products for inspiration in both my icons and product labeling.
Rachel: I am a tattooer, painter, rubber stamp and printmaking enthusiast and I also sew and cook. As far as the work I’m known for I’d say it was my color tattoo work. I am very interested in vintage illustration, children’s books and graphic design. I think my tattoo work shows those influences.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Rachel: I’ve seen the tattoo industry change dramatically in the last 25 years; more equity as far as gender representation, and just the fundamental s like quality of ink and aftercare have greatly improved. The most dramatic change has been the influence of the internet and iPhones. Where it used to take years for a trend to take hold and then fade away, it’s now over the span of a few months or even weeks. I’m not sure what the future holds for the industry. Right now we are in such a state of flux. Many tattoo shops are closing all across the country, more people are opting to do “hand-poked” or otherwise homemade tattoos. I don’t think tattooing will ever go away. People have been tattooing themselves for all of human history. I think it’s important right now to shift to other things, diversify! Keep making good art and there will be an audience for it. Fingers crossed!
Nixie: Speaking of the spiritual part of whatever “industry” we find ourselves in- occult goods shop? bookstore? botanica? – I think over the next few year we’re going to see people’s engagement with spirituality shift from personal to collective. Right now there is a multiplicity of ideas, practices, ways people identify spiritually, divisions based on class, ethnicity, gender. People delight in defining and labeling themselves, and that’s important sometimes, but I think over the next few years as life becomes more tumultuous and difficult for most people- as has been the trend for quite a few years now- we’re going to see people come together spiritually not for entertainment or individuation, but as a matter of survival. I also think that two separate streams of spirituality- an ascension-based practice that emphasizes moving toward the “highest” or “best”, and a more circular or spiral practice that embraces natural cycles of death and rebirth- are going to be less seen as at odds and more as forces to be balanced.
Pricing:
- 3 card tarot reading: $7.77
- hour tarot reading: $57.77
- occult goods from $1 up
- used occult books: $5-$25
- Inquire for tattoo pricing
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theserpentatx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theserpentatx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theserpentatx/
