Celtic spirals

Celtic Spirals : When early man observed the beauty of nature's spirals its not surprising that it would become a potent symbol for creation and growth. It is the only provable decorative motive used in Christian Celtic art to have its roots in the preceding pagan period, the best examples are found on stone monuments such as Newgrange, in Ireland. In the Neolithic world, passing a spiral barrier (like the entrance stone to Newgrange in Ireland) the initiate is led into an inner sanctuary that was the necessary passport in the journey of the sacred dance, through the labyrinth to the sacred realms beyond the centre. At the centre, there is complete balance: the point where Heaven and Earth are joined.

Celtic Spiral Symbol :

The archetypal symbol for power, the three in one was the Triskele, which was later called by the alchemists the Secret Fire and was depicted all over theCeltic world. It has three arms springing from a common centre, the three-legged symbol the Legs-o- Man evolved from this pattern. A related four-legged version became the swastika.
The spiral was the earliest decorative ornament to be used in Celtic art and by the mid-tenth century was the first to disappear.

The Celts were firm believers of this ability and most of their myths and legends deal with this journeying. Our movement through the experiences of life, death and rebirth is symbolised in the ever-changing directional flow of the spiral.

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The Spiral Archetype

In the scientific portal we look at how spirals are created in the natural world. Spiral seashells have been on the planet for millions of years. Throughout primate evolution our ancestors have eaten shellfish, gathered spiral shaped plants, and waded through spiral eddies and whirlpools. Spirals have always been part of our experience.

Fifty thousand years ago, human ancestors began to see spirals in a new and powerful way. What happened?

The Tower of Babel: Spirals of Doom

The spiral can be symbol of creation, however it is also a potent symbol of dissolution into chaos. The spiral spins both ways. Downward spirals represent the forces of entropy that are constantly working to instigate chaotic collapse. 

Inevitably, these two spirals—the generative and the destructive—turn out to be one continuous cycle. Fiddlehead ferns dry up, fold in on themselves, and collapse back into the earth. The dandelion puff  explodes outward into disorder on the wind. Seashell, long abandoned by their original builders, are gradually ground down into sand. Spiral galaxies spin out into oblivion.

But in the spring, new ferns spring up from the ground. The sand made from old shells is used to build the new, and the gas and dust of expired stars and galaxies reconverge  and spin themselves into new galactic bodies.

Maltese megalithic art

The Spiral By far the most common design in Maltese megalithic art is that of the spiral and its derivatives. The spiral design is an extremely eye-catching creation which still attracts much interest and speculation as to its meaning. Its conspicuous presence in temple decoration, ceramic design and other art work suggests that the image had a significance that was common to the Maltese islands, very much like language. Yet Maltese spiral decorations are all different in style and character. Some creations follow perfect spiraling circles. Some are grouped into a well planned sequence. Others form compositions of opposed or single spirals. Some spirals are linked in a flowing arrangement. Other seemingly spiral designs are not spirals at all but derivatives in the form of ‘C’ designs and variations. These flowing designs inspired what seem to be naturalistic images of some form of plant or tree. The spiral motif is known from other parts of the world.