What if the tatoo could be understood by decomposing its parts? Like, you know, someone mentioned that Dies Irae is the text around the whole array and it is traditionally played for funerals. What if that could and the rest of the elements on her tatoo could be interpreted to understand the big picture of the array? I'm a terrible essayist so what follows is a lot of copy and paste (with links to the source when available online) and paraphrasing. I hope it doesn't turn out completely confusing.
Decomposing Riza's array:
In the background, the intertwined snakes look suspiciously like the snakes in this

This pair of serpents are interesting because they cannot just 'reach the ultimate' on their own, and require meditation and the passage through different elemental stages in order to achieve/perform its goal/task. Through meditation, the dormant serpents are said to awaken from their position at the base of the spinal cord and elevate several levels of conciousness until the male and female reach the Ultimate. In Riza's case, there seem to be only one or two lookps, both hidden under Roy's array, that may symbolize the levels of conciousness necessary. The crowns on the snakes' heads seem to re-inforce the idea of reaching the Ultimate at the end of the spiritual journey.
On top of these snakes, lies a cross, for which I cannot find a consistent meaning. The one symbol that could possibly make sense in the given context doesn't quite resemble our cross, is the this cross
There are some of the meanings of
There is also the Truth Cross

Roy's array has given me a headache, more than once. It's too complex to decompose, although I'm pretty sure someone successfully did so, either on

Fire is traditionally seen as an extremely important element in for religious purposes because it transfers earthly things to smoke that moves towards heaven. See Wikipedia's article on alchemical Calcination for more information on the process.
On an interesting note, at this stage we potentially have all the elements present with the cross (possibly the earth) and in Roy's array (which contain the elements for air
Now you probably see what I'm trying to say here, but let's go even further, shall we?
The black sun at the bottom of the cross and marks the beginning of the final crossing between the snakes. I haven't seen anything regarding the Black sun specifically, but a fairly common interpretation of the sun in alchemic works is the element 'gold', the ultimate goal of the alchemist, who sought to transform base metals like lead into gold. I think it'the metaphorical meaning of Gold has been discussed many times, so I will refrain from beating your head over the thead with it, but yeah., this sort of transmutation can only be reached using the philosopher's stone.
The meaning of Dies Ireas is obscure to me, even though I feel that it should be obvious. I just don't get it. It litterally means Days of Wrath, and is a description of the Judgment and a prayer to Jesus for mercy. Not very cheery indeed. Then I thought of Envy's true form and how some of the souls inside of him cried for mercy (and seriously, all of them need mercy in order to finaly 'die' and reach wherever it is they should go). The gloomy nature of Dies Irae is not the only disturbin thing about the array. Everything about it seems used in the
So, is Riza the philosopher's stone? I doubt it. Is she like anime!David and does she (or will she) host the stone? I don't think so. Where did she get it, who damaged it and how did what it means in terms of Father's plans, Roy-tachi and what will happen next? I do not have a single clue. I admit that some of the sources mentionned seem a bit parital, but it was fun trying to understand the meaning of this tatoo, and I may be COMPLETELY OFF MY ROCKER and overthinking this whole matter. I guess we'll have to all wait and see, ne?
Ok, Can't find a *single* excerpt that I think would be good. But here's the link to a very interesting work on the Philosopher's stone, for those who
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*I can explain the spiritual meaning of the spinal cord if someone asks, but y'all already prolly know what I mean. ;)
After writing all that, all I can think of is 'Oh boy, won't I look smart when Arakawa finally explains that the array has some sort of skin moisturizing properties? Darn
Thoughts, sugestions? Stones... anyone? I am sure typos abound, but I couldn't catch them all. Sorry about that. ._.
PS:
Dies iræ! dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla!
Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulcra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.
Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus?
Rex tremendæ majestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis,
salva me, fons pietatis.
Recordare, Jesu pie,
quod sum causa tuæ viæ:
ne me perdas illa die.
Quærens me, sedisti lassus:
redemisti Crucem passus:
tantus labor non sit cassus.
Juste judex ultionis,
donum fac remissionis
ante diem rationis.
Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
culpa rubet vultus meus:
supplicanti parce, Deus.
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
et latronem exaudisti,
mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Preces meæ non sunt dignæ:
sed tu bonus fac benigne,
ne perenni cremer igne.
Inter oves locum præsta,
et ab hædis me sequestra,
statuens in parte dextra.
Confutatis maledictis,
flammis acribus addictis:
voca me cum benedictis.
Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis:
gere curam mei finis.source