Celtic Tattoo History

Celtic tattoos are one of the most popular design choices. With their intricate weave, and such a wide variety of art to choose from, it is no wonder that such a different array of people have chosen it as their tattoo. The great majority of the designs used in Celtic tattoos come from illuminated manuscripts as well as ancient art from Ireland, Scotland and England.

Many believe that the best way to interpret Celtic artwork is as meditation or as a prayer. Celtic tattoos are usually not strictly representational and they do not attempt to duplicate the world and especially nature exactly as it is (nature being imperfect anyways). They are made of sinuous lines that form an intricate interweaving formed to complete a cycle (there is no end nor a beginning to a Celtic knot).

The Celtic Cross

An icon of Celtic Art is one of the earliest symbols to combine the pagan and Christian traditions in one object. Based on early Sun worship, the circle is the sun, and early respect for the Four Directions, the combination of the two makes for a powerful early Christian symbol for Christ's cross. The Druids of early Irish religion and art saw the circle as the eternal, unchanging way of unity, the universal way; and the crossroads as the path on earth that each individual man walks. The one, leads to the other and they intermix not only in pagan art and religion, but in Christianity as well. The cross also symbolized the times of the Celtic Year and its four great festivals, Beltaine, Lugnasadh, Samhain, Imbolc. The Celtic Cross is made up of unending knots, the Celtic Knots that are known worldwide, as symbols of infinity, eternity. These knots are seen most beautifully in the Book of Kells.

Celtic Number Mythology

Three was a sacred number in ancient Celtic mythology and religion. Riddles and triadic phraseology are frequent in Celtic mythology. The triskel, a figure composed of three spirals, signifies the three-layered nature of a human soul, and is itself a central figure in ancient Celtic symbolism. The earth, sea, and sky were thought to share a three-fold marriage in oaths and as witness to deeds, and represented sacred elements.

The number five signified the family unit and order in Irish tradition, because of the five provinces of Ireland, and also the five laws imposed on provincial Irish kings.

Seventeen was a number associated with the cycles of the visible moon, particularly the new moon. On this day of the moon's cycle, many influential and monumental events were thought to have taken place. The 17th generation was supposed to be the farthest reaches of ancestral memory, putting the longevity of memories within a clan at approximately 400 years.

Twenty-seven represented the sacred number nine tripled three times, which supposedly triples its potency. Twenty-seven also signified the number of warriors comprising a war-band, and the number of the members of a Celtic chieftain's royal court. The number nine may also have been associated with a nine-day lunar week.

Thirty-three represented the royal or judicary number, signifying great honor. The courts of great gods and heroes number thirty-two, with the king of the gods making the tally thirty-three. This also represented the number of islands that Maelduin had to visit before he could find his homeland.