The Celts were the ancient inhabitants of much of Europe. A spiritual
people, their rich mythology and symbology later merged with the
Christian beliefs they embraced to create a distinctive art seen
especially in Ireland and Scotland. The Celtic Cross is known
throughout the world as the emblem of Celtic Christianity and it can
be considered the symbol of Celticness itself. Celtic Crosses began
to appear during the fifth century A.D., it's shape is derived from
a pagan sun symbol, the sunwheel, which later became a symbol of the
Christian Godhead. The sunwheel was originally a cross surrounded by
a circle with a center stone representing the sun and mock suns at
the four quarters. The stone at the center of the circle also
represents the navel of the world. The stone pillar of the cross also
embodies phallic and fertility characteristics. The cross represents
eternal life; it's horizontal axis being the earthly world and the
vertical axis the heavenly world coming together as the union of
Heaven and Earth. Celtic Crosses are imbued with continuous and
interwoven knot and spiral motifs symbolizing the continuity of life,
death and rebirth. The Picts (meaning the painted ones) were a
powerful tribal federation north of the river Clyde, Scotland. Known
for their sophisticated stone carvings, their style of crosses was
characterized by having animal images.

Product SKU: C-003S