Synopsis: An away team on a moon finds a symbol inscribed into the ground which has significance to Commander Chakotay.
While there are a lot of things that can be viewed from a depth psychological perspective in this episode, I am going to explore the idea that by healing one’s own psyche, by making it more whole, there is also a healing of the wounds of the ancestors. These wounds create complexes, of which I have written in the past are opportunities to learn more about ourselves, when the Logos-driven rational conscious ego is made aware of bits of material from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious.
In “Tattoo” an away team is on a moon when they come across a symbol that has been inscribed into its surface. This is the same symbol that Commander Chakotay remembers seeing in his childhood when he was on a journey to a place on Earth sacred to the Sky Spirits with his father, Kolopak. On this journey, Kolopak was seeking to communicate with his ancient ancestors, and he finds them. He receives a tattoo. Chakotay was fifteen and sulky at that time and told his father that he was leaving the tribe to join Starfleet. Voyager then follows a vessel from the moon to a planet where Chakotay meets those that visited Earth 45,000 years ago and came to be known as the Sky Spirits. The Sky Spirit has the same face tattoo as Chakotay does and Chakotay tells him that he has it to honor his father, who wore it to honor the ancestors. Chakotay learns much about his ancestors and then returns safely to Voyager.
This episode, when Chakotay unites the teachings of his ancestors with his Starfleet persona, illustrates that when we are able to integrate bits of unconscious material into the conscious ego we heal a complex and make the psyche more whole. It also suggests that by healing our complexes we also heal the wounds of the ancestors that came before us. This is almost too big an idea to take in, but this is part of the teachings and goal of depth psychology.
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