The Celtic cross is known throughout the world as the abiding emblem of Celtic Christianity, and in many ways it might be considered the symbol of celticness itself. From Donegal to the coast of Kent, from the islands and highlands of Scotland south to Cornwall, including Wales, the Isle of Man and extending as far as Northern France many magnificent examples of free-standing Celtic Crosses can be found some of which have been around for about 1500 years.
Contemporary carved crosses almost invariably denote a burial place, yet the early individual examples were not necessarily erected for this purpose at all. The majority were positioned to indicate a meeting place, often within a monastic settlement, and appear to have been carved for the sheer enjoyment of the task, or ‘to the glory of God’. As well as biblical scenes many have intricate carvings of pagan origin, creating a symbol which carries the power of the old religion (Druidic) and the new Christian faith.
Knotwork patterns, spirals, trickles of all shapes and sizes and mythical beasts all exist side by side with renderings of the Christian saints and parables. On some, raised carved bosses are thought to represent the sun, an object of worship for the early Celts.
The cross has been around for a long time and has come to have many different meanings ascribed to it. Some say it is a representation of the male and female aspects of life. The symbol we know as the Celtic cross was known to the Hindus as Kiakra a sign of sexual union: the cross within the circle. Another idea states that the horizontal arms represent the physical world, while the vertical arms depict the spiritual. When they meet in the centre a balance is achieved creating a sense of wholeness.
The circle surrounding the centre is also a symbol for singularity and of being ‘complete’. Yet another idea declares that the arms of the cross represent the four directions and the circle signifies the astral plane. Some say there is a much simpler explanation which comes from early man looking skyward at solar and lunar haloes, whose sharply delineated shafts of light appear as a cross radiating from the centre of the circle.
Possibly the most persuasive and attractive of the varied interpretations is that the ring is a symbol of cyclical time or unity and the four places where the cross meets with the circle represent significant points in time on a repeating time cycle such as :- sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight or the seasonal equinoxes and solstices, the four traditional
Celtic seasonal festivals of Beltaine (May 1st.), Lugndasadh (Aug. 1st.), Samhain(Nov. 1st.) and Imbolc (Feb. 1st.). This interpretation, although as we have seen it is only one among many, appeals to students of Celtic lore because of the prominence of time cycles and solar imagery in the mythology. Furthermore, the Celtic cross and its associated parts seem to relate, however loosely to the sun or to solar symbology.
Whatever the origins of the Celtic cross nothing can change the fact that a ringed cross silhouetted against a darkening sky possesses a power and a dignity that has come to characterize Ireland and the Celts.