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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