Celtic Crosses - An Ancient and Powerful Symbol

Ancient and enigmatic, Celtic Crosses have been revered for thousands of years by the Celts. Find out more about these symbols.

The Celtic cross and Celtic Christianity is a thing of beauty and also a bearer of very many meanings. It resembles a traditional Christian cross, with a circle drawn around the joints of the two arms of the cross. It is also often referred to as the Irish Cross or the Cross of Iona (both an island and a Gaelic name).

One meaning that is possible is the cross is the unity of two types of belief systems. The cross symbolizes Christian faith, while the circle symbolizes a pagan moon Goddess. This coincides with the Irish legend of St. Patrick introducing this symbol when he converted the pagan people of the Emerald Isle. Some also say that the circle actually represents the Sun, another strong image in the pagan belief system.

Many times the cross and circle design is only just part of the picture. Complex designs and carvings are prominent on Celtic crosses. One such common motif is of an interweaving thread, actually interviewing figures of eight, which symbolize chaos, death, order and rebirth. As you can see, four again which is such an important number with the Celts.

The symbol, in some form or another, really dates back long-long before Christianity. The reason is, that a cross has arms facing in four directions. This could mean the four elements, four navigational directions, and so on. The circle is yet another ancient symbol, associated with perfection, even the ancient Egyptians have used it.

Regretfully, in these modern times, the ancient symbol has been abused and used by some extremely radical political parties. Usually they simplify the cross and circle design by just drawing a circle with a plus sign inside, extending outward (regularly referred to as the sun cross). The link between the symbol and radical factions have become so firm that in Italy they have even banned it from being publicly shown in stadiums.