Celtic Cross Tattoo Designs
Celtic Cross tattoo designs are often chosen because of their deep religious and historical symbolism. Celebrities like Justin Timberlake and Robbie Williams have a small Celtic cross tattoo inked on their bodies, but not all of who have this tattoo design chose it to represent their faith. Irish, Scottish, or Welsh bearers of this tattoo design would have a Celtic Cross to symbolize their ethnic heritage and perhaps nothing else. The same thing is true for Celts and natives of Brittany, Cornwall, Galicia and the Isle of Mann. Scandinavians may also be attracted to the Celtic Cross because Norse art has bearings of heavy Celtic influence through trade and territory conquests.The intricacy of the Celtic cross tattoo design is believed to mirror and imitate the complexity of nature. It is also uses Celtic knots in spirals and mazes, which have no beginning and no end and reflective of the seasons and of life.The cross as a Christian symbol began in the 4th century, and was also just about the time when the missionaries were preaching the Gospel to Celts, a sun and moon worshipping people in what is now known as the Britain Isles. The legend of St. Patrick insinuates how the two - the cross and Celtic art - merged in his attempt to bring the Druids to Christianity. Illustrated as a sacred stone marked with a circle, Patrick blessed the object by making the mark of a Latin cross through the circle. It is believed to be the first known Celtic Cross.
The Celtic Cross is well accounted for in the Book of Kells and other manuscript illustrations - many of them religious texts - and etched as stone crosses with the trademark intertwined lines and zoomorphic figures of Celtic art, many of which can still be found in good condition all over Britain, particularly in Scotland.As symbolic expressions on their own, the circle and the cross are quite different from each other. The circle is mystical while the cross is nearly geographical. The circle stands for eternity and the endlessness of God's love, while the cross relates to the four directions or four corners of the Earth (or even the four elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Water). With the vertical and horizontal lines intersecting in the middle, the cross implies the merging of worlds, such as Heaven and Earth. The cross, enclosed within the circle, suggests a dimension where time & space does not matter and does not exist, a prerequisite for communication between this world and beyond.Despite its long history, the cross has been well integrated into Christianity, so much so that it is the primary symbol for all Christian religions. But just because it has now become deeply embedded as a religious symbol does not necessarily mean that its earlier meanings have altogether vanished. When the swastika was used by the Nazis, its previous meanings have been cast aside and became known as a symbol of hate. But the original symbolism just lurks underneath it all. The same is true with the cross. As a tattoo design it may have different meanings depending on the background and beliefs of the person, but its roots as a design will always call to mind the spiritual character of the universe. By Romeo Rodriguez
The Celtic Cross is well accounted for in the Book of Kells and other manuscript illustrations - many of them religious texts - and etched as stone crosses with the trademark intertwined lines and zoomorphic figures of Celtic art, many of which can still be found in good condition all over Britain, particularly in Scotland.As symbolic expressions on their own, the circle and the cross are quite different from each other. The circle is mystical while the cross is nearly geographical. The circle stands for eternity and the endlessness of God's love, while the cross relates to the four directions or four corners of the Earth (or even the four elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Water). With the vertical and horizontal lines intersecting in the middle, the cross implies the merging of worlds, such as Heaven and Earth. The cross, enclosed within the circle, suggests a dimension where time & space does not matter and does not exist, a prerequisite for communication between this world and beyond.Despite its long history, the cross has been well integrated into Christianity, so much so that it is the primary symbol for all Christian religions. But just because it has now become deeply embedded as a religious symbol does not necessarily mean that its earlier meanings have altogether vanished. When the swastika was used by the Nazis, its previous meanings have been cast aside and became known as a symbol of hate. But the original symbolism just lurks underneath it all. The same is true with the cross. As a tattoo design it may have different meanings depending on the background and beliefs of the person, but its roots as a design will always call to mind the spiritual character of the universe. By Romeo Rodriguez
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