Celtic Lady - Celtic Symbols & their meaning

(TM)
The Celtic Lady's Look
at Symbols
& their Meaning

The requests for Celtic Symbols has been so overwhelming !!!
Over the next several months new designs with more detailed meanings
will be developed for the
Celtic Lady's Tattoo Art.

BOOKMARK now --> don't miss the symbol you have been searching for.

Tell the Celtic Lady what you are looking for - email .
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The meaninng of a Celtic symbol can vary greatly. It can change depending on the tribe, the time period, and the favorite gods and goddesses of the region. In this modern era of Celtic appreciation many designs have been assigned various meanings. A symbol is born when a group of people agree that an artistic motif will carry a certain meaning. This can also vary from region and culture, from one time period to another. One symbol design and carrying more than one meaning. The best example is the Swastika. Before being used by the Nazi party in the Germany of the 30's and 40's, the Swastika was reverred as a cross motif in the Celtic world, a sacred symbol for the Hindus meaning 'let good-prevail' and an American Indian sign representing the sun, the winds or the four directions.

Since the ancient Celts did not leave us a written record of the meanings they ascribed to different designs, most study is based on prehistoric artifacts suah as the symbol stones of Scotland during the Pictish period, the petrographs (rock paintings) found in the La Tene caves, burial sites such as Sutton Hoo, just to name a few.

The following interpretations are based on such research:

The Celts tried to create their designs using a connected line (or several lines that are unbroken). This represented CONTINUITY of the universe. Then they tried to cross (interlace or knotwork) the line many times in the belief that this would increase PROTECTION against evil.

Basic Designs
Spiral
Cross
Triquetra

Triquetra - Triskele
The Charmed Triquetra

Reference List
of
Tattoo Designs

The Celtic Lady is working on researching many more symbols - some ideas that have been developed can be viewed at
Celtic Lady's Tattoo Art

~~~ A Word of Caution on Choosing a Symbol ~~~ Many sites offer "meanings" for a variety of Celtic knots - unfortunately the people of the ancient world did not write down those meanings and it is possible that most knots do not have a meaning or symbol associated with them. During our modern period some of the Celtic knots have been associated with certain symbolic meanings. When enough people recognize a design as standing for something - a symbol is born.

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH When choosing a Celtic knot for personal use - ask yourself what it means to you.
A variety of retail items claim to be "the symbol for ..... " - proceed with caution here - do your own research - this could just be selling tool.

The Celtic Lady offers this advice after learning of a friend of her daughter who had a Chinese symbol tattooed on her thigh. She was told the symbol was for "Nurse" or "Healing". Well, she lives in San Francisco - a wonderful city full of many Chinese transplants.
At her hospital she ran into a doctor from China who said that tattoo meant something totally different from what she was told. She now has a very permanent reminder of her mistake in rushing into a decision without doing her research.

Webmistress: Susan - URL address: www.celticlady.com Last updated: Sunday, June 05, 2005
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