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While
Ank is a sacred symbol to the Egyptians with the meaning of
life, the Celtic Cross took the same value for the people of
the Celts. A cross inscribed in a circle: this is the very simple
form of this symbol, but the meaning is very complex. The cross
represents the material horizontal plane joined the spiritual
vertical plane, the circle instead cyclical, becoming the world
and the universe. The seasons, day and night, the moon phases,
death and reincarnation, until periodic renewal of all creation.
The Celtic religion believed in these things and portrayed simply:
with the advent of Christianity the symbol remained in Ireland
and Scotland, merged with the crucifix (which is a symbol of
death and sacrifice). In more recent times the Celtic Cross
has been used by movements neofascists to replace banned Nazi
swastika, eliminating all traces of its original positive meaning
to become a synonymous of racism and arianism. |
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The Celtic Cross is commonly used in Ireland on churches and
chapels, and to adorn tombs and cemeteries. The pagan meaning
is always present: cyclicality of life, eternal becoming linked
to the changing of the seasons, with the death of the God of
heaven and its rebirth from the Mother Earth. One example is
the intertwining of the branches of the Tree of Life that wrap
this magnificent Celtic Cross (right), an example of the deep
spirituality of the peoples of the Indo-european stock, as the
Celts and the Irish. |
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