The Celts are a spiritual individuals and their modern tattoo designs reflect this. Their pagan past, when they worshipped nature, is shown in their use of animals and their later Christianity influenced their use of the Cross in their art and designs. Most of their designs have reference to a deeper meaning.
Stories of the other world fill their folklore. Their art and symbols are heavily influenced by their pre-Christian pagan religions in which they worshipped nature. The sun, moon, stars and the earth had been sacred to them, as had been animals and the seasons. The cross, in numerous forms,came to be included in their art after their introduction to Christianity. This mixture is seen in their work nowadays.
Celtic Cross Tattoos
This is the predominant symbol of Christianity but the Celts have given it their own special design with the ringed cross. The cross, of course, represents the Christian belief itself while the circle can represent eternity or God’s eternal love or the continuing act of salvation brought by Christ’s death and resurrection.The symbol of the cross predates Christianity and can be discovered in ancient civilizations. A number of cultures have the cross and circle in their artwork. They have been found on ancient rock carvings. The circle can represent the sun. Those not drawn to Christianity can locate other spiritual meaning in the symbols.
Celtic Knot Tattoos
Knot work has elements that evolved from earlier cultures and civilizations, but the Celts have made it their own. People see a symbol of life itself in the endless criss-crossing designs of their knot work. Life is a maze, complex, with every life interwoven with another’s. The lines of the drawings are by no means-ending, representing the continuity of the natural cycle of death and rebirth. It can also represent the crossing over of the physical and spiritual world. It can represent eternity and the boundlessness of God’s bounty and goodness.
Animal forms are usually intertwined, reflecting the people’s earlier connection to nature and the animal world. The images of horses, dogs, birds and other animals can be discovered skillfully woven into the lines of artwork so that they grow to be an integral component of the whole. Animal images had been used in many cultures, typically in the hope the wearer might take on some of that animal’s skills or characteristics or merely link them spiritually to the animal. All these elements can be found in illuminated documents, such as the Book of Kells, which have heavily influenced modern Celtic tattoo designs.
Celtic Spiral Tattoos
The spiral has fascinated humans from earliest times. It appears on early rock carvings and in most cultures. It is evident in nature in snail and seashells, in the horns of animals and in the galaxy. It has been studied by scientists and mathematicians and pondered on by philosophers.
The triple spiral or triskele is the spiral most associated with Celtic design. The design is found around the world simply because the Celts made inroads into so quite a few cultures. In pagan times it was a symbol for the sun but later came to be employed in Christianity to explain the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Some see it as representing our spiritual journey to God – an ever-unfolding mystery. Other people regard it as representing life’s journey. It is a tattoo symbol full of mystery and can remind us of our own spiritual and emotional journey.