Four Square knots like the one in the illustration stand for protection.
Category: Celtic Knowledge (page 19 of 21)
Information about Celtic Culture including history, myths, heraldry, Saints, etc.
This three-fold design is druid in origin and represents the triple goddess (maiden, mother, crone). These days it is often associated with women’s power.
The symbol above is a Triquetra or Trinity. In pre-Christian times it referred to a variety of associations depending upon the context (mind, body, & spirit, from a religious perspective, or planting harvesting fallow from an agricultural one). After the advent of Christianity the symbol refers to the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) . Naturally, the design appears in many Celtic products.
The double spiral is a common pattern thought to represent balance or equilibrium. Celestially it refers to the equinoxes…when day and night are of equal length. I’ve seen the pattern on tapestries, throws, books, and the like.
The triple spiral is a traditional Celtic design and has a variety of meanings depending upon the context in which it is found. For instance, it may have to do with agriculture (the three elements referring to the necessary balance needed between planting, harvesting and fallowing respectively) and reflects spirals found in nature (whirlpools for instance). The knot can also used to help one contemplate ones connection to the universe (i.e. as a Mandela). The spiral is also thought to represent the sun’s movement around the earth, which makes considerable sense when the spiral is found on a site devoted to tracking the sun’s movements.
The clockwise spiral generally refers to the sun and the length of the days throughout the year’s course. The spiral also refers to growth/expansion and can serve as a mandala with the eye naturally flowing to the center. This design and others like it are often incorporated in Celtic jewelry/clothing.
Weaving two Celtic knots into a central knot has come to be known as the wedding knot. It symbolizes the joining of two families for eternity. This pattern seems to intensify when both the husband and wife wear matching rings emblazoned with Celtic knots.
Many Celtic knots feature an unbroken line indicating that everything is related to everything else. Beyond that various patterns of the Celtic Knot take on additional meanings. For example, the Celtic Knot displayed here is a love knot because it has two knots intertwined in the center. This particular design is very popular on rings for obvious reasons. If you look closely, you will see two intertwined hearts.
Many Celtic knots have one feature an unbroken line. No matter where you begin the knot never ends. The continuous line in the accompanying illustration signifies the interconnected eternal nature of all things. It is a simple, powerful, elegant design. As will be seen in subsequent entries, various patterns of the Celtic Knot take on additional meanings.
Some critics consider art/craftsmanship associated with the Celtic tradition to be inferior to more “advanced” civilizations. However the surviving Celtic artifacts belie the criticism. Celtic art/craftsmanship was equal to or superior to those of any comparable society.
All one needs to do to confirm this observation is to examine the surviving artifacts. The designs created by the early Celts are extremely intricate, detailed and interesting. Were they not of quality, these designs would not be used in numerous applications today (in jewelry, on tee shirts, in tapestries, on swords, and so forth).
In my view, it is absurd to find fault with Celtic craftsmanship/artistic talent when the evidence of their talent is obvious in the artifacts that survive from early Celtic times. I have only provided visuals of one such artifact of early Celtic art in the accompanying graphic but it seems sufficient to make the point. These images are of the Gundestrup Cauldron, which is indisputably of Celtic origin. It depicts various aspects of Celtic belief in extremely well crafted reliefs requiring considerable artistic talent. I urge you to look at other Celtic artifacts and judge for yourself whether the work is “of quality”.
