What is the symbolism
of the Celtic Cross? is a question I am often asked. As a craftsman and jewelry
designer in the Celtic tradition I bring some very ancient symbols to a
contemporary audience. The answer is not as straight foreword as one might
hope. The history of this powerful symbol is ambiguous. There are many
variations of interpretations and legends about the original meaning that are
commonly repeated even today. The Presbyterian and Catholic are often startled
to learn that the other considers this symbol their own. In our modern
multicultural world the ringed cross is as much a symbol of ethnic heritage as
it is of faith and it is often used as an emblem of ones Irish, Scottish or
Welsh identity.
If you spend much time
rooting around in the history of the Celtic lands you are sure to have many
explanations and historical anecdotes offered to you in forms ranging from
casual explanations from individuals to historical markers, tour guide banter,
grandmother’s family lore and souvenir shop hang tags. This variety of sources
of information is available on many topics of history, customs, superstition
and when the subject is Celtic Art I have found that the popular and casual
sources of information are very generous. Conversely the academic and scholarly
sources of information are very cautious to the point of being truly a
disappointment if your seek confirmation of the meaning of mysterious ancient
symbols.
The Irish Catholic
priest will have no hesitation telling you that the circle of the Celtic Cross
is a symbol of eternity that emphasizes the endlessness of God’s love as shown
through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. That is unless he says the circle is a
halo. He may go on to explain that the crucifixion is important not just as an
event at a certain point in time but, as the circle symbolizes, as the unending
mystery of how through the crucifixion and resurrection Christ continues to
offer the hope of salvation to the faithful throughout all time.
At the pub when the
subject comes up you might just as likely hear the explanation that the great
stone Celtic Crosses were carved from the standing stones of the Druids and
were originally phallic symbols, just carved into crosses to disguise their
original purpose. No proof of this theory is offered and the in-your-face
delivery of this information will probably intimidate you from asking for any.
The barroom iconographer will swear on the graves of all his ancestors that it
is true. With the rise of interest in the occult and pagan ideas in recent
years you are likely to read New Age interpretations about how the cross in the
circle is a symbol of the Sun that was worshipped by the Druids and that this
symbol was appropriated by the Christians. Look for these sorts of explanations
on the cards that accompany jewelry and head shop bric-a-brac. Born Again
Pagans are enthusiastic about Celtic designs and are successfully appropriating
Christian symbols back to their supposed primal meaning. Just how much of this
is fantasy and how much is based in historical fact is difficult to sort out
since the academic keepers of the facts are so reluctant to discuss symbolic
meaning.
There is a legend of
how St. Patrick when preaching to some soon-to-be converted heathens was shown
a sacred standing stone that was marked with a circle that was symbolic of the
moon goddess. Patrick made the mark of a Latin cross through the circle and
blessed the stone making the first Celtic Cross. This legend implies that the
Saint was willing to make ideas and practices that were formerly Druid into
Christian ideas and practices. This is consistent with the belief that he
converted and ordained many Druids to lives as Christian priests.
These and many other
stories and beliefs are the sort of folk lore history that cannot be
substantiated by the academic convention of looking back into the written
record for early citations or for iconographic precedence that contains enough
supporting evidence of what the artist is really trying to say. What we have
from the modern scholars and archeologists about Celtic art from early times
are careful descriptions and comparisons. The questions the scholars attempt to
answer are about dates and the migration of ideas. Which came first? Who was
exposed to which prototypes? Figurative panels are often easier to interpret
such as the scene of a Samson striking a Philistine with the jaw of an ass as
depicted on the back of the Inchbraoch Stone. The knotwork, spirals and key
patterns on the carved cross side of this 7th or 8th century Pictish monument
are usually treated by scholars as a subject that can be described and
classified but is rarely interpreted. When the meaning of the decorative
elements are attempted the academic scholar tends to be very cautious and will
often cite obscure references in ways that make their text difficult to
understand.
George Bain, in 1951 in
the preface his excellent book Celtic Art; the Methods of Construction wrote
the following about meaning:
"After
consultation with an eminent prehistorical Archaeologist, his advice to publish
the meanings that the evidences suggest was accepted, with the qualification
that if others could bring evidences to prove other meanings, agreement to such
would benefit truth. In such a way, the art which was communicative and
ornamental might regain its original communicative purpose."
That statement sounds
sensible enough but it is neither followed nor preceded by more than the
vaguest of hints of what the original communicative purpose might have been.
Frustratingly this is just about all Bain has to say that even suggests that
his subject even has any meaning. Bain’s book is a text book on how to
construct Celtic Art. By following his instructions the student of Celtic Art
learns a lot. By learning the creative process of construction one comes to
feel a sense on knowing on a intuitive level what this is all about. In this
way Bain succeeds brilliantly in communicating his message. What he writes is
rather typical of the scholar who is concerned about being right in a way that
can be defended with the proof of facts. If the reader expects a code book to
interpret ancient symbols, Bain does not offer any convenient, quotable
explanations.
It seems that most
people who know about Celtic Art as part of their personal heritage have the
sort of knowledge that the academic cannot cite as fact since the source is
mainly oral tradition. This does not prevent common knowledge from being
strongly, even passionately believed nor does it mean that it is not true.
Where the scholar fears to venture writers who are more interested in
satisfying fantasy views of history and mysticism have fewer qualms. The
popularity of Celtic images and symbols has produced plenty of blurb cards that
give the buyer of gift ware designs the sort of meaning they want to hear. The
scholarship and authenticity of these statements ranges from very responsible
to outright quackery. Right or wrong all this information adds to the modern
folk lore of what Celtic Art means.
The Cross did not
become a common symbol of Christianity until the 4th century. Images of the
cross were in fact quite rare before the Golden Legend became popular and the
"discovery" of the "True Cross" promoted fragments of the
"True Cross" as powerful relics.
There are in Britain
stone monuments that may be the ancestor of the Celtic Cross. The Chi-Rho
symbol, the monogram of Christ was a commonly used symbol of Christianity in
the 4th century Roman Empire. The Emperor Constantine who made Christianity the
official religion of the Roman Empire used as his emblem the Chi-Rho in a
laurel wreath. Thus combined were a pagan Imperial symbol of Rome with a symbol
of the new faith. The diagonal cross members of the Chi were eventually
conventionalized to a single horizontal cross member that made its cross with
the vertical stem of the Rho and the wreath was conventionalized into a simple
circle. There are examples of this where the loop of the Rho is also
conventionalized into a shepherd’s crook. One can easily see how the curved
crook of the staff could disappear to leave just a cross in a circle as is
common in many Welsh crosses of the early Celtic Christian period which
followed the Roman withdrawal from Britain.
19th century Celtic
Revival Cross
Glasnevin Cemetery,
Dublin
More about Celtic
Revival Crosses
Text and Images
Copyright S. Walker
1996-2002
Constantine used the
Chi-Rho as a military insignia and victory symbol as well. The cross symbolizes
Christ's victory. Military use of the cross as a favorite element of heraldry
descends from the shields and standards of the Roman Empire.
The early circled cross
stone monument as it survives in Ireland and Scotland exists in two forms, the
incised slab and the free standing cross. The slab form has a cross carved in
relief where the free standing cross has the stone cut away so that the shape
of the ringed cross is carved in the round. In both types there are examples
that range from crude and primitive to the very ornately decorated. In many
cases the most highly decorated have carving on all the surfaces, even the
edges of the ring and ends of the arms.
The carvings fall into
several categories, with several or all of these present on any example. Human
figures representing Biblical stories or the crucifixion offer the most obvious
meaning. Endless knotwork, spirals, meanders and "key patterns" and
zoomorphic animal patterns make up the majority of early cross carving
subjects. These are the same elements that are used in much the same way in
metalwork and in Gospel illumination. The term insular is used to describe this
style. There are many regional variations. The Iona group crosses are
distinctive in their shape. Many of the Irish High crosses of the 10th century
are capped with a pitched roof or "house cap" that are similar to
reliquaries made to resemble a Celtic oratory.
The stone monuments can
be attributed to specific places since they rarely were moved more than short
distances. Metalwork and books were portable and their places of creation are
therefore more difficult to know. The surviving manuscripts were carefully
cared for over the centuries. Stones from this period are usually very
weathered and the best preserved examples were often buried or sheltered for
many of the years since their creation and thus were spared some of the damage
an wear of the centuries. The metalwork that survives from those time was
likewise buried and discovered in modern times. What may have been carved in
wood, ivory or embroidered has been lost to us. Surviving work from earlier
than the 10th century in those materials are extremely rare. St. Adomnán
writing in the 7th century reports that there were several hundred wooden
crosses on Iona, but none survive today. Materials and available craft skills
influence design. Often design innovations that take advantage of one
material’s nature are then transferred to another material. The hemispherical
bosses carved on the more elaborate stone crosses were stylistically imitating
the metalwork of the time. The semicircular arm pits that narrow at the center
of many crosses are a graceful design innovation that may have evolved from
notches carved in simpler wooden crosses that were lashed together at the
center. These notches would be an impractical weak point in a free standing
stone were it not for the structural support of the ring.
The term insular is
used to take into account the possibility that an object found in Scotland may
well have been made in Ireland. There was no political, religious or ethnic
unity in the several centuries known as the Dark Ages, after the Romans
withdrew from Britain. The artistic styles that emerged were the combined
heritages and innovations of several cultures. The Angles and Saxons
contributed the animal motifs to this mix and adopted many of the Celtic
elements most notably in Northumbria where the Lindisfarne Gospels were most
likely produced in the 9th century. Thus the style is also often called
Hiberno-Saxon. The period from the 7th to the 9th century when this style
reached its greatest development was a time when the Celtic Church was at its
greatest influence. These styles were exported with missionaries to Northern
Europe. The term insular is also a diplomatic term as it avoids the ethnic
associations that are likely to offend national pride. The heritage of these
motifs is part of the self image of the modern Scots, Irish and Welsh. Labeling
a style as Celtic, Pictish, Irish or Hiberno-Saxon places credit for these
styles and motifs where another group may feel their claim slighted. An English
scholar arguing that Northumbrian prototypes influenced the Pictish or Iona
schools of design risks claims that he is yet another Sassunsach that is
unwilling to give the Celtic people full credit for their accomplishments. On
the other hand the Celtic nationalists are going to want to see their people as
the true geniuses. In it's day the insular style was an international style.
History and Symbolism
of Celtic Knotwork
Is the Celtic Cross
Pagan?
Reading List
Recommended
Links and Books
Celtic Liturgical Arts
Descriptions of
specific
Historic Celtic Crosses
Celtic Cross pendant
Cross Pendants
19th century Celtic
Revival Cross
Glasnevin Cemetery,
Dublin
The monumental stone
crosses by the nature of their size and material still stand in many cases
where they were placed 12 centuries ago. These often served as prototypes for
newer monuments down through the ages into modern times. Styles and decorative
motifs changed with time. During the middle ages foliage designs, often
referred to now as Tree of Life designs became increasingly common. In old
Irish or Scottish church yards most of the stone crosses are relatively modern.
Some of the stone crosses even back to some of the earliest ones have
inscriptions that dedicate them to the memory of certain individuals. While
many of these were not specifically grave markers, some quite likely were and
in this way the purpose of the monumental stone Celtic Cross has remained
constant since the beginning.
What these crosses mean
to us today and what they meant when Christianity was new to Celtic Britain and
Ireland are in some ways the same and in some ways different. The cross either
vertical or diagonal with equal length arms is a universal mark. It is so
primal that it exists in all cultures as does the circle. There are no human
cultures that have no art or symbols and there are no systems of symbols that
do not include circles and crosses. These marks are opposites. The circle
contains and is unending while the cross both reaches out and marks a specific,
finite point at the center. Contemplation of this yields many possibilities and
in this way temps the designer or the viewer to find personal meanings besides the
traditional ones. A plain circle is often a symbol for the moon and a circle
with a cross within or the arms of a cross without are universal symbols for
the sun. The swastika is a related sun symbol. The Druids did indeed worship
the sun and moon. These were important symbols to them. The cross by itself
relates to other ideas. The four directions or the four corners of the Earth,
the vertical and the horizontal coming together imply the joining of forces
such as Heaven and Earth. Just as since the swastika became associated with the
Nazis and became a symbol for anti-Semitism and hate the strength of that
association supersedes its older meaning. The cross likewise when it became the
predominate symbol of Christianity is no longer thought of by most people as a
symbol for anything else. The older meanings do not entirely vanish. They are
waiting to be rediscovered.
It is my opinion that
the story of St. Patrick making the cross over the circular pagan symbol is in
itself symbolic of the way things really happened. Celtic Christianity used
symbols and ideas that were familiar to the Druids to bring them to Christ. The
Celtic monks of the early Church practiced a simple life, close to nature that
found joy in the love of God’s creation. This was what the Druids already
sought in their worship of nature so the missionaries were able to build on
what they already had in common with the Druids to convert them to
Christianity.
That the cross within a
circle also evolved from the Chi-Rho coincides with the emergence of the cross
as a symbol throughout Christendom at a time when the Gospel was being
delivered to a sun worshipping culture presents just the kind of multiple
choice mystery that is characteristic of Celtic history. Which of these three
possibilities are true? They all are.
The Celtic Cross is
visually a very appealing shape. Unlike the crucifixes of Southern Europe that
display Christ’s suffering the Celtic Cross, be it plain or highly ornamental
is made to be visually beautiful. When human figures appear on the cross they
are usually quite simple in contrast to highly complex and sophisticated
ornamental patterns that complete the design. When the body of Christ is
depicted in crucifixion it is usually robed in colobium along the Byzantine
model and the overall effect is less about pain than it is about beauty. The
Roman model of the corpus semi-naked in only a loin cloth occurs also but less
frequently on early crosses and even then it is usually part of a larger
ornamental program. On several crosses, notably the Cross of Muiredach at
Monasterboice and the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmanois, both in Ireland
Christ is enthroned in Glory at the center of the cross.
If the Celtic Cross
borrowed a pagan sun symbol, just as the Chi-Rho borrowed the pagan imperial
laurel wreath, applying these to a Christian symbol were expressions of honor
and reverence that should be seen in the context of the cultures that brought
them forth. There are Christians who unfortunately see these vestiges of
paganism as unholy. They ought to be regarded as the reverent tributes they
were as these great cultures accepted the Gospels. The Celtic Crosses made at
Iona and elsewhere from the 6th century onwards were made by Christians for the
Glory of God. Like much of what they did and believed, their pagan heritage
influenced their art. The early Christians certainly were erecting neither
phallic symbols nor pagan monuments in their own minds when they carved these
splendid creations.
The circle on the
ringed crosses have been explained as a symbol of eternity as long as anyone
can remember. It has meant that as long as the ringed cross has had meaning as
a Celtic Christian symbol. But this is only the most common of several
meanings.
(c) copyright Stephen
Walker April 17, 1996 All rights reserved.
Note: I am very
flattered that this article has become such a popular reference on the net.
Lately it has been the most popular page on my website, which is mainly an
on-line catalog of my Celtic jewelry. Since I wrote this piece 10 years ago, it
has been quoted extensively on other sites, in some cases even copied entirely
and not always with my permission. My understanding of the subject is a work in
progress. I have learned a lot in the
several years since this article was first published. Check out the links below for some updates.
SAW April 18, 2006
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