Paul Landers Tattoo Meaning Theory: Snow Crystals, Geometry, and Water

Date: 12/02/2024

Mood: too cold

Listening to: I miss you - °C-ute

Have you ever just had something different to say? Well, I got something different to say that I have wanted to say for a while. I feel too nerdy to say it for years. I feel it in my bones sometimes how much I want to. I jokingly have said in private for a while that Paul's tattoos are like the Rorschach test of the Rammstein fandom lmao. The most common answer is "it reminds me of something like the sun." The next two most common answers are "maybe stylized stars" and "perhaps random geometry" (closer to the truth).

Guess which one I am? I am team snow crystals! Where my snow crystal besties at? ❄❄❄❄ Colloquially called snowflakes by many. I want to explain why I know this. So help me I am reaching into niche nerd territory by the minute as I type this thing.

Here's what we're talking about if you can't remember on demand as I can.

Paul Landers shoulder tattoo example showing circular six-sided geometry — The tattoos I am discussing here. Mostly the geometric designs that repeat a hexagonal pointed structure.

Paul Landers forearm tattoo example with layered geometric points — The tattoos I am discussing here. Mostly the geometric designs that repeat a hexagonal pointed structure.

(PS: I am aware of the fourth tattoo on his left forearm. It's clear that is a special tattoo meant for private personal reasons and I don't want to commentate.)

Why I do not read them as sun symbols

I guess I should "debunk" the solar answer because most people say this as the most common impression. Ancient solar designs and symbols from Proto-Indo-European origin that are influencing your answer are most commonly 4 or 8 point symbols. Sometimes even 12. A solar symbol at 6 points is very uncommon because 6 has very little to do with the sun from a science perspective. All of Paul's tattoos use the number 6 in hexagonal polygons. These sun symbols are known in Europe due to Indo-European ancestors that many say this answer most often due to vague awareness and exposure around them. Especially any Slavic familiar with the "kolovrat". (Which is an 8 point.) Due to the roundness in the designs, people continue to double down on the thought process of the solar wheel symbolism having European cultural background.

Additionally, I find the solar answer to be a fandom bias to Paul's identity. He's been called warm/sun in fandom for over a decade as a meme. It's a cognitive bias association to read it that way based on preconceived notions of his existence in fanon.

You know what you guys need? A non-European to intervene this bias to common solar symbol imagery. That's me! I'm here to help by finally pointing you to the other direction in the sky you're not looking.

Snow crystals and hexagonal water geometry

Do you know what is 6 hexagonal, uses this double layered imagery, and has outward geometric points?

The molecule composition of water when turning to ice turning to snow crystals.

When it snows, the cold air causes the water vapor molecules in the air dropping from the cloud to "rearrange" into random crystal shapes and designs. It's not that rain turns into snow. It's that the air is so cold, that the water vapor never turns into a rain drop and skips this step. It freezes into a snow crystal instead and skips the rain drop status. Rain turning into snow or vice versa is what we call sleet/mixed weather. By the time the water vapor reaches the ground, it's formed into a design of a snow crystal. Hence the creation of snowflakes.

These designs use the number 6 because that's the water vapor molecule itself being morphed in mid-air. If you look up 'water molecules of ice' or something like that, you get a bunch of hexagon stuff. Ice is hexagons! If you could somehow microscope your ice cube, it's thousands of hexagons.

If the air applies the same exact treatment to all six aspects of the molecule evenly, you get a symmetrical snowflake design. This causes a wide variety of flake types due to the temperature itself dictating what kind of designs happen. Yes, the temperature shift can cause many designs to exist. There are numerous unique types of snow crystal forms.

Snow crystals can also be improper formed, ugly, or even asymmetrical due to numerous variables in the air being applied as they fall. If only two of the sides get one type of air applied, then the other four pieces of the molecules get another air status applied; they turn out asymmetrical or weird looking. Many snowflake images are the most perfect because photographers are throwing away imperfect or ugly snowflake images, giving you the impression snowflakes are always amazing. They're not. Nor are they always intricate. Sometimes they look stupid, malformed due to air shifts, like dumb cylinders or sticks, or blocky things.

Here is a chart of the various known types we have logged studying them.

chart showing different snow crystal forms and hexagonal structures — Snow crystal types often form around six sided geometry, but not all look like delicate holiday decorations.

I am sure you're like, "I see things here very much like his tattoos omg what." Shhh hold on. When people stereotype the imagery of snow crystals they often think of delicate fernlike dendrites, branched dendrites, or radiating stick thin dendrites shown in this chart due to holiday decor using this image to be pretty.

decorative snowflake showing the common holiday style stereotype — This is the common decorative snowflake stereotype. Which is why snow crystal may not be the first thing people see in his tattoos.

Paul's tattoos are actually a hybrid design of stellar dendrites and arrowhead twins from water molecule formed snow crystals in hexagonal states.

Snow crystal examples resembling stellar dendrites and arrowhead twins — The tattoo shapes read to me like a hybrid of stellar dendrites, arrowhead twins, and abstracted six sided snow crystal G2 geometry.

G2 root systems and geometric structure

For many years, people who study water and weather have been fascinated about why this causes hexagonal geometry. So if you said "this is a geometry design", you're still 100% correct to say it. Snowflakes are geometrical math already in numerous ways. This is quite well known by artists and mathematicians.

G2 root system hexagonal geometry diagram — G2 root system geometry is one way to describe the layered, differing sized, hexagonal structure visible in the two tattoo designs.

If you're a very advanced math head, you likely would say his tattoos are all "G2 root lie systems" of hexagons and you're right. That is a big influence on the design's structure. Many snowflakes that are symmetrical and have dendrites turn out into G2 root systems too naturally in nature. This is normal of snow crystals to look like G2 roots. 2/3 of his tattoos use the G2 root systems to format itself.

The elephant in the room here is that many tattoo artists are well versed in snowflake geometry compositions. Some tattoo artists specialize alone in geometry, math, and snow water designs to create work for clients. Many such artists end up studying geometry and math to some degree when doing abstract, shape, or complex design work like this. They often end up being influenced by snowflake photographers and imagery. This isn't some secret.

Well it's that most casual people are the ones who just don't know what they're looking at when they stare at Paul's tattoos. I mean, that makes sense. It's a niche subject!! For me, I am a weather enthusiast. I spent my age from 7 to 16 trying to be a meteorologist. That was my favorite thing. I would unironically watch The Weather Channel for fun as if it were like watching Nickelodeon. I have been obsessed with the sky since forever. I love astronomy, weather, and that's why I studied a sky based religion like PIE systems. My favorite season is winter to be honest and I love rain.

Paul Landers and Richard Kruspe standing outside in the rain under umbrellas in the Haifisch making of — Paul spoke kindly of rain in the Haifisch making of.

My final interpretation

I know you're like, "but can snowflakes really end up looking anything like his tattoos? they have such strong hexagons that seem so human made. are you sure?"

Photographed snow crystal with strong geometric points — Photographed snow crystals can look much more angular, mathematical, and tattoo like than the soft decorative snowflakes people imagine.

Photographed snow crystal with hexagonal geometric form — Photographed snow crystals can look much more angular, mathematical, and tattoo like than the soft decorative snowflakes people imagine.

Yes. Does this not seem familiar to you? These are genuinely photographed snow crystals. Not art renders. This is truly what influenced this type of tattoo.

It's very apparent to me any artist(s) doing his tattoos knows what stellar dendrites and arrowhead twins are. The arrowhead imagery combined with the G2 root systems of two of his big arm tattoos are basically a dead giveaway of the snow crystal and math influences. And the fact two have strong 6 hexagon center pieces found in those snowflakes right there. Because the artist uses his natural skin color as the pale/clear part of the snow crystal. Thereby using the ink as the frosty white aspects of the crystals.

His skin is the clear part, the ink is the white frost patterns. If you ever were reminded of arrows, you weren't really wrong to believe that as this is the word used for snow crystal designations. The one on his neck is the most snow crystal looking one of all without needing to re-conceptualize it artistically and very stellar dendrite at first glance. It was in 2017 at his neck when I said, "omg my theory about the snow origination grows stronger!! this is crazy evidence" because of how obvious this one is to be stellar dendrite influenced without reinterpretations.

Everything is artistically reinterpreted to hybridize the hexagon's (center piece) dendrites (pointy pieces going outward) with stellar traits (spiky angles coming off the sides) that use the additional arrowhead twins in the extra design of the G2 root system pattern. Where they added stellar attributes to the arrowheads too. This is the work of artist(s) whom are familiar with geometry and snow influences. They very likely specialize in it as a preferred art to have this depth of awareness that goes beyond guessing.

If I have ever deceived you on my website with my snowflake file to zoom in and study it... yep, that's a snowflake actually!

decorative render of a snowflake for website design — The snowflake render I decorate with on my website as a confusing tiny simulacrum of his tattoos. On purpose.

Raise your hand if you have ever been personally victimized by Bree's snowflake.svg file and zoomed in on it to see if it is traced off his tattoos.

The better question is if Paul knows any of this about water/snow or just the artist(s) who knows. For all purposes, he could have simply said "geometry designs" and the artist(s) themselves is more responsible for using knowledge to create something as desired of the client.

It's been amusing in fandom because everyone keeps saying Paul is warm/sun words from some kind of collectivism bias. For numerous years I've had the utter opposite reaction to everything about him because I say water. He's water association to me for years and years now. Because of his tattoos and me having this knowledge. Very water nature in numerous ways of his personality and behaviors. He said he likes being in the rain in the Haifisch making of. There's like a decent amount of photos of him near random types of water than you'd assume to exist, he is known to enjoy swimming, and many in fandom are aware of his surfing hobby. Also, this man was born in December. Guess what happens in December in the sky? Yeah I don't see him and say 'sun' like everyone else. I am just built different I guess.