Scorpions, spider webs, stars and hearts. Buddhas, barbwire, naked nymphs and butterflies.

These are just some of the myriad markings offered at Tribal Ways, a tattoo and piercing parlor on Massachusetts Avenue. Colorful arms, butts and backs filled their tattoo ‘look books.’

Bare bodies filled the rooms at Tribal Ways, too. A half-naked man stood in the middle of the red-walled waiting room, contemplating which of the green, blue and purple glow-in-the-dark nipple rings should adorn his chest.

‘Oh yeah, you’re not a 12-gauge,’ co-owner Stephen Palaschak told the man with his shirt over his head. ‘It would be a slight change to go to 16, but not a killer.’

Originally from Pittsburg, Palaschak got his Ph.D in French literature from New York University with the intention of becoming a French professor. But when one of his friends lost two staff members at the tattoo parlor, Palaschak offered to help out three times a week. Twelve years later, he is still there.

Co-owner Micheal Desplaines got his start tattooing friends in his kitchen. A registered nurse, he knew about cleanliness and sterility. Word quickly got around and he soon came home to strangers on his doorstep, asking to be pierced or tattooed. The business took over and he opened a shop.

Palaschak said he and Desplaines recognize the ancient tradition of body art and hope to provide their customers with a sense of that primitive purpose.

‘Most cultures show evidence of piercing and tattooing,’ he said. ‘For Native Americans, Africans, Irish tribes and Polynesian peoples, these markings symbolized a rite of passage.’

People are surprised at how effective tattoos or piercings are as rites of passage, Palaschak said. Women who have recently left abusive husbands, people getting over severe illnesses and students after rough semesters all frequent his store.

Of course, tattoo artists must learn how to deal with terrified customers.

‘We have held hands on countless occasions,’ Palaschak said. ‘It’s our job to provide people with comfort and support – and sugar – if they need it.’

And they need it.

Stephanie Strang, a Northeastern University sophomore, fiddled around anxiously as her friend prepared to get stenciled.

‘Stop getting nervous,’ Strang exclaimed. ‘You can’t get nervous, or I’ll get real nervous.’

But her friend Catina Roman lay stomach-down on The Chair, calm and composed. Both girls had tattoos already.

‘The very first time it hurts,’ Roman admitted, ‘but now it doesn’t hurt anymore.’

John Kennedy, their tattoo artist, steadies himself while working by listening to the band Morphine and talk radio.

‘I’m a civics junkie,’ he said.

Kennedy started tattooing at house parties on Cape Cod and has been at it for 15 years since then.

Stacey Delre, a University of Massachusetts at Amherst junior, came to Tribal Ways for a nose piercing. Palaschak advised her and the rest of the people getting piercings to take vitamin C and zinc, because stress – combated by those supplements – can cause piercings to become infected.

But Delre, who already had a tattoo and a belly-button piercing, did not seem too worried.

‘You just gotta do it,’ she said before disappearing behind the door.