Celtic Symbols and Meanings

Many people all over the world find the symbols and meanings of Celtic jewelry designs interesting and love to have a collection of gold or silver Celtic knot jewelry

There are many lovely pieces of jewelry depicting Celtic knots and other Celtic designs and it can be fascinating collecting silver Celtic knot jewelry jewelry with either a particular type of shape, for example the triquetra, or a collection including all designs and styles. It can give more meaning to your collection if you know something about the history and tradition of the Celtic nation who used these designs in their everyday life on their jewelry and everyday items. While meanings of Celtic knot designs are, in general, vanished to us, nevertheless a great deal is acknowledged on the subject of the history of the Celtic people.

The era of the history of the Celts that dates from approximately 600 AD. in Great Britain after the Roman Era, recognized as the Insular Art period, saw an explosion of jewelry design. Craftsmen used precious metals to assemble many elaborately designed pieces adorned with the well recognised Celtic knots but also spirals and animal symbols. Besides jewelry, illustrated manuscripts were created, the most illustrious of which is the Book of Kells. Crosses made of stone were engraved with Celtic symbols and are seen throughout the British Isles, in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Creators of Celtic Knot jewelry nowadays are motivated by the things that were created in this time, taking their ideas from the illustrated manuscripts, stone crosses and relics still seen around the country today. Irish craftsmen are skillful in producing top quality jewelry in gold and silver, bearing the complicated designs so loved by the Celts at one time. They beautify their jewelry with the elaborate knots seen in these early relics.

The original meanings of a lot of of the designs are unknown and several meanings have been fabricated by contemporary people, so discovering the original meaning of a lot of the designs is challenging and in several cases not possible. Nonetheless historians can concur on a few things regarding the Celtic knot designs. The complicated knots symbolize how all things are inter-connected and also signifies God’s endless love. The Book of Kells is splendidly illustrated in bright colours with Celtic knots. The Celtic knot is perhaps, the best known and most generally prized Celtic emblem and is a feature of a lot of pieces of top quality Celtic knot jewelry including earrings, silver Celtic crosses, pendants and wedding bands.

Trinity knots, or triquetra, are commonly seen in jewelry from the Insular Art period above all in illuminated texts, for example the Book of Kells, and in metal work. It was customarily used in combination with supplementary knots and was frequently used as a space filler instead of a stand alone design. In modern times the triquetra has developed into a symbol of the Christian church representing the Holy Trinity or as a representation of particular threefold things such as mother, daughter and granddaughter.