Celtic symbols and their ancestral meaning

Let’s talk a little history first. Celts used their symbols for protective purposes, either to be victorious in battles, or to protect their homes and families. The Celts, unlike other peoples and cultures, made their engravings in stone and bronze, which has allowed their symbols to reach our time intact. In fact, the influence of Celtic culture was such that it very quickly settled into our lives almost naturally.

Although nowadays when we talk about Celtic culture we think directly of countries like Ireland, Scotland or EnglandThe truth is that at the time the Celts were made up of different Indo-European peoples, who with the passage of time were forging relationships with each other. However, the origins of the Celts are believed to date back to the Iron Age.

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Within Celtic symbology, there are a number of symbols that are much better known than others, and are often used in tattoos and other drawings:

• The trisquel
• The Tree of Life or Crann Bethadh
• The Claddagh Ring
• The perennial knot
• The celtic cross
• The solar cross
• The awen
• The triquetra
• Wuivre
• The sigil

Next we will explain what each one of them consists of.

Trees and nature itself had great importance in Celtic culture, because the daily life of men was linked to the forest: they provided protection, shelter, firewood, animals to hunt and fruits to eat. This is why the tree is one of the most sacred symbols and revered by the Celts.

In this way, the tree of life or Crann Bethadh represented, precisely, life itself. This Celtic tree unites heaven, earth and the world of the dead. The sky is represented by the branches, the earth by the trunk, and the underworld by the roots of the tree. In this way, the fruits of the tree represented the continuity of the life of man and animals, or what is the same, immortality. Since the three worlds are united, life becomes infinite.

As a curious fact, it was said that when a druid died, it was reincarnated in a tree and, thus, continued to take care of the village and the villagers.

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The Claddagh ring is the celtic symbol of love by excellence. It was composed of two hands that symbolize friendship, a heart that represents love and a crown that symbolizes loyalty. Due to its romantic meaning, today it is a very easy piece of jewelry to find, since it is frequently used as an engagement or wedding ring. The Claddagh ring ultimately symbolizes true love or eternal friendship.

Claddagh ring positions

In Celtic culture, in addition, they played with the position of the ring to represent different things:

• Ring finger of the right handPlacing it in the right hand, instead of the left, indicated to the Celts that you were ready to marry, but that you had not yet found the right person to marry.
• Ring finger of the left handThis meant either that the person was engaged, or that they were already married, depending on whether the heart was pointing inward or outward.
• With the heart out in the right hand: in this way, it was indicated that one was single and open to finding love.
• With the heart inward in the right hand: On the other hand, placing the ring in this way meant that you were in a relationship.
• With the heart out in the left hand: This is how it was used before marriage, representing that one was engaged, although not yet married.
• With the heart inward in the left hand: In this way, it was announced that one was married. During the ceremony, the Claddagh ring was turned inside out.

The perennial knot is a Celtic symbol of love, since it is a knot that never falls apart, so it represents the eternal union of lovers, which survives time and space.

Since it has neither beginning nor end, it also represents eternity and reincarnation. Moreover, due to these meanings, it was customary in Celtic culture to inherit this symbol generation after generation so that the family line would perpetuate infinitely. Also, this design it was exchanged at Celtic weddings between lovers, as a symbol of eternal and unbreakable love.

For the Celts, the perennial knot protected the couple from all kinds of setbacks and the wear and tear of love due to time. It was, then, a symbol of complement, support and fusion of the couple.

Some think that this symbol has Christian origins, but it is not, since the first Celtic cross found dates from 10,000 BC. C. For the Celts, this cross represented various things.

• The four cardinal points: the north, the south, the east and the west.
• The four gods: those who dwelt in each of these directions.
• the four Seasons of the year: since the Celts were closely linked to nature.
• The crossroads of two roads: that is to say, that of the living and that of the dead.

On the other hand, it is believed that it also symbolized the four elements (earth, air, water and fire), which were united by the center of the Celtic cross.

The solar cross is the oldest known religious symbol. It is said that it was used by humans from different civilizations for thousands of years, probably from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. However, neopaganism recovered this symbol to rebuild pagan faith and culture; This is how the solar cross came to Celtic culture.

This Celtic symbol is related to the sun, hence its name. It consists of a cross with equal arms within a circle. It represents the solar calendar, the solstices, equinoxes, as well as the four seasons. On the other hand, it was widely used by the Celts for symbolize the wheel of life, that is, changes, progress and evolution itself.

Over time, the Celtic cross also mixed with the shamanic culture, since they carved crosses on the felled trees so that the spirit of the tree would be able to live even though it had been felled. This is also because the cross, for different cultures, had the power to create.

This is one of the Celtic symbols of Neo-Druidism. It is made up of three small circles, from which three lines fall, representing rays of light. All surrounded by a circle. Awen was widely used in Celtic culture because represented spiritual and divine enlightenmentas well as the blessing of the gods to men. On the other hand, it also symbolizes the harmony between opposites. This is because the left ray represents the man, the one on the right the woman, and the center ray represents the balance between the two.

Also, it should be noted that Awen, in Celtic language, means inspiration or essence, and because of its meaning it is usually associated with the spirit, the soul or the Manna.

The triquetra, despite …