Celtic Cross

As one of the most common Celtic symbols, the Celtic cross is of significant cultural and religious importance. There are many theories regarding the origin of the symbol although none of them could be (and possibly never will be) confirmed.

The most common theory suggests that Saint Patrick (or Saint Declan) created the symbol to convert pagans/the Druids.

Realizing the importance of the sun and its life-giving power to pagans, Saint Patrick decided to combine the Christian cross with the Celtic circle representing eternity. That said, it is widely believed that the Celtic cross actually predates Christianity. Many pre-Christian gravestones made of Celtic crosses were found in different parts of Britain.

Another theory suggests that the Celtic cross is derived from what was known as the Sun Cross to ancient Celts.

As one of the numerous gods that the Gaelic people believed in, Taranis, the god of thunder was often depicted as he holds a wheel in one hand and a thunderbolt in the other.

This wheel was used on Celtic coins and as a piece of jewelry during the Bronze Age. That is why the Celtic cross is assumed to be based on the wheel of Taranis by some experts.

As it may be seen with the stone circle at Calanais on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, the earlier examples of the Celtic cross had even arms with a circle surrounding them. This is assumed to be the symbol of sun which was of significant importance to the ancient Celts.

Some experts suggested that this even-armed Celtic cross represented the four stages of the day: morning, noon, evening and midnight while some considered it as a representation of earth, air, water and fire. This sun cross/sun wheel is also known as Odin’s Cross in Norse mythology.

Becoming a widely used religious symbol with time, the even-armed Celtic cross transformed into what is now known as “the high cross”, in other words, the cross with a longer bottom arm.

Just like the tree of life, the Celtic cross was commonly used on many Celtic designs in the ancient times.

Today, the Celtic cross is used to represent faith or as a symbol of Irish (or sometimes Scottish or Welsh) origins.