A Bit about the Celts

The Celts were a warrior nation who had conquered most of Europe around the sixth century BC. Ruled by a diverse group of kings and princes they never achieved a truly centralized power or empire in the political sense and the periodof conquests lasted less than a century. Even in such a short historical period of time the Celts left a lasting impression on the different peoples they encountered.

The Celtic era was finally usurped by the burgeoning might of the Roman Empire at Alesia, a town in present day east-central France, in 52 BC. The fleeing Celts crossed the water to lay down the remnants of their ancient culture in Britain and Ireland. England, Cornwall, and a great percentage of Wales and Scotland were soon brought under Roman rule. Ireland, Northern Scotland and a small portion of the Welsh mountains were untouched and remained profoundly Celtic.

The main legacy of the Celts is the rich and highly embellished art and craftwork found in innumerable burial mounds throughout Britain and the rest of Europe. The works incorporate both the myths and legends of their own Druid religion and the symbols of early Christian art. Thus it is possible to have a dragon-like deity juxtaposed with a cross or other Christian device or a rendition of a Saint or Martyr surrounded by interlacing monsters which "shape-change" into floral or other decoration.

A Bit about the Art of the Celts

Celtic art displays a richness of colour, intricacy and symbolism to equal that of the world's finest styles of religious art. It was born of the Duidic religion and the oral traditions of the Celtic people, especially those who inhabited Britain and Ireland from the sixth century BC. Later, early Christian influences and themes helped shape Celtic art into what was a melding of the two influences, and is what we know as Celtic art today. The Celtic artist worked with stone, wood, metal and paint in a style characterised by its abstract nature, balance of form, delicacy, brightness of colour and most of all by it spirals, zoomorphic ornaments and interlacings.

KNOTWORK DESIGN
The human soul, it is believed is a fragment of the divine and will ultimately return to its divine source. The interlaced knot work patterns, so prevalent in Celtic Art, symbolise the process of humankind's eternal spiritual growth. The concentration utilised in the demanding, repetitive task of unraveling the knots is used in a similar way to a rosary beads or mantra to reach the heart of our nature.
SPIRALS
The spiral is the natural form of growth. In every culture past and present it has become a symbol of eternal life. The whorls painted by the Celtic monks represented the continuous creation and dissolution of the world; the passage between spirals symbolised the divisions between life, death and rebirth. At the centre of the spiral, there is complete balance: the point where Heaven and Earth are joined.

ZOOMORPHIC ORNAMENTS
The animals and birds were sacred to the Celts and zoomorphic and anthropomorphic ornaments show us that nothing is as it first appears; plants turn into tails, and, interlacing weaving, develop a head, legs or feet. These intricate patterns first appeared in the Bronze Age of Britain and Ireland. The craftsmen fashioned them into a complicated contortion of bodies, but they kept the motif still logical and conforming with nature.