Mark of the Guardian

This design first appeard in Soul of a Highlander, emblazoned on Ramos Navarro's arm.

Since that first book, it has continued to grow in importance in the series, showing up on the well-muscled arms of the heroes in A Highlander's Destiny and A Highlander's Homecoming.

Arms aren't the only place you'll find this mark showing up in the books. In it's simpler form, you'll also find it
emblazoned on the Portals to the Faerie Realm, Wyddecol. It's even engraved on jewelry!

The beautiful tattoo was designed for me based on a specific set of criteria and an initial poorly rendered set of scribblings I had done. Who's the talented artist? Nicholas Mayhue, my oldest son. Thank goodness he didn't inherit his mother's inability to draw a straight line!

The idea for the design came from an ancient Pictish symbol. Since those are so old and so little is known for sure about their meanings, it seemed a perfect choice. Besides, the snaked wrapped around the pole reminded me of a Do Not Enter sign... exactly the idea I was going for!!!

If you'd like to see more of the original symbol, what's called the snake and z-bar carving, check this SITE showing stone with ancient Pict engravings on stone, with particular emphasis on stones at Brandsbutt, Logerait and Myreton.