The ancient world consisted of civilizations known to all: Egypt, Rome, Greece and China, about which much has been written. A separate branch of archeology deals with the study of antiquity. But little is known about the tribes that inhabited the vastness of Europe, such as the Celts. They are considered barbarians, but look at the Celtic patterns - these knots and curls, as the involuntary question arises: how could the barbarians create something like this?
Who are the Celts?
Celts are the people who inhabited the territory of Northern Europe in 500-250 years. BC, namely, the territories of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and part of northern France. Unfortunately, today there are very few monuments of Celtic culture, and those that exist are scattered around their former habitats. These include the famous crosses of the original form and various jewelry made of gold and silver, each of the finds is decorated with a unique ornament, variations of which are known to us as Celtic patterns. These intricate intricacies of lines, folding into a single picture, were a reflection of a person's life path, all the trials and events that fate would present him. The Celts didn't believe in finitudelife, they believed that a person endlessly goes through a series of deaths and births. These beliefs were also reflected in the ornamental culture, because any Celtic patterns have neither beginning nor end.
Pattern Meanings
A huge variety of types of ornament is amazing, and each of them is unique and has its own semantic meaning, saturated only with its inherent magical power. One of the favorite symbols is a labyrinth, all the threads of which are directed towards the center. It means the spiritual aspiration of a person to a higher beginning. The aforementioned Celtic cross has a circle in its center, which denotes the unity and interconnection of Heaven and Earth, and the expanding ends symbolize the desire of man and his consciousness for perfection. Three spirals forming a triangle in the center is a triskel, a sign of the unity of the three main elements: Air, Water and Fire. It also symbolizes joy and prosperity. Very often in the intricacies of threads that form Celtic patterns, you can find images of birds and animals, each of which has its own meaning. For example, a heron personifies vigilance, a partridge - cunning, but a dove - love and spiritual development. Snakes occupy a special place in Celtic culture, they had the meaning of wisdom and healing powers, and were also the keepers of secret knowledge given to them by the gods. Sacred among the Celts was the hare, which at the same time was a symbol of a good life, immortality and deceit, in the footsteps of this animal, the Celts predicted their fate. Almost every animal hastheir reflection in the patterns of this glorious people, even the fish were not left without attention: they became a symbol of divination.
Choosing a Celtic Pattern Tattoo
Despite their relative antiquity, Celtic patterns look modern due to their abstract and graphic nature. This feature makes them popular all over the world, but, naturally, people from these tribes are especially reverent about their heritage. Now these symbols are used to decorate jewelry, for edging pages. However, most people prefer to get tattoos based on Celtic patterns. Sketches of such tattoos can be found in any salon and you can choose the right one, but you should pay attention that each of the ornaments carries a powerful semantic load.
