Celtic Symbols- Features and Meanings

The Celtic belief system that prevailed in Europe in pre-Christian Roman times had a special place for symbolism. Intricate Celtic symbols that were an expression of religious beliefs conjure up images of the rich Celtic cult of the days long gone by. These are often perceived to be shrouded in mystery and obscurity.

Symbols and geometric motifs did occupy a significant place in Celtic artwork with some such symbols dating back to even 3000 B.C. These can be witnessed even today on stone carvings. The key patterns of Celtic artwork or the important symbols like spirals, lozenges, chevrons etc. can be found in Newgrange, Ireland- an oldest burial mound in Europe.

The oldest of all Celtic symbols and also perhaps the one most commonly observed in records is the single spiral. This is usually considered to stand for growth, expansion and cosmic energy. However, variation in the interpretation of its meaning to a certain extent can be noticed in various cultures. Ancient inhabitants of Ireland looked upon the spiral to be representative of the sun. Again, a loosely wound anti-clockwise spiral stood for a large summer sun while a tightly wound, clockwise spiral represented the shrinking winter sun for the ancient people. The double spiral was used to symbolize the equinoxes when days and nights were equal.

Ancient stone carvings the world over (not merely restricted to the Celtic culture) seem to have adopted use of the dual centered spiral. This has been discovered from stone carvings at various places of the world. Serving as the Yin Yang symbol the dual centered spiral stands for the duality of nature and balance.

Triple centered spirals have been found too. These Celtic symbols have found usage even with the early Christian monks in their illuminated manuscripts as representative of the Christian holy Trinity.

The Celtic symbol chevrons that resembled arrowheads used by hunters and warriors stood for power. Chevrons are nearly heart shaped and occur as repeat band patterns in ornamentation. Flowing scroll patterns relating to Celtic symbols were used primarily for decorative purpose rather than for symbolizing any particular thing.

Other common Celtic symbols include the Celtic knot designs, crosses and pentacles. There are the single knot and double knot patterns as also the intricate interlaced patterns. Celtic crosses come with arms of equal length and are enclosed or backed by a circle. This acts as a representation of the four corners of the earth or the four elements- earth, air, water and fire. The circle present around the cross can stand for both infinity and for the path of the sun in the sky. Again, the pentacle composed of a five pointed star within a circle as it appears in Celtic jewelry represents five elements (earth, air, fire, water and spirit) or five stages of life. This Celtic symbol is also known to have a particular association with Wicca.