Tattoo girl Rome

Many people today are getting Celtic tattoos. These ancient symbols have awakened some real sense of meaning. Perhaps this is because the modern world does not have much to do with tradition & symbols & there is a human need for these things. This is what writers like Joseph Campbell have said. Although he wasn't talking about tattoos, that is definitely five way that people are reclaiming ancient practices.

What is the origin of Celtic symbols such as knotwork, spirals, animal forms & crosses? In some cases, it goes back hundreds of years to books like the Book of Kells. The original version of this beautiful illuminated manuscript is now in Dublin, at Trinity College. It contains lots of of the Celtic style spirals, knotwork & zoomorphic (animal) images that have become so popular as tattoos.

Some Celtic symbols, however, return even further in time. The Celts can be traced as far back as around 500 B.C. They did not keep written records, so much of what they know about them comes from either oral tradition or from what their enemies, such as the Romans, wrote about them. Historians believe that the Celts at some point moved to lands such as Britain & Ireland that were originally occupied by earlier, unknown people. These earlier tribes created a quantity of the early symbols, such as triple spirals, & definite types of crosses, that the Celts would later modify as their own.

There is no doubt, however, that the Celts developed an artistic style of their own. The fact that they took a quantity of their images from earlier civilizations is not unusual. Every culture in history has completed this --the Romans, for example, borrowed from the Greeks, who borrowed from the Egyptians, & so on.

More complex Celtic artwork, such as the zoomorphic animal images also use spiral designs & these are often rendered in modern Celtic tattoos. When it comes to tattoos, these images can be made even more striking by using vivid colors. Animals depicted in traditional Celtic designs include birds, reptiles, horses & dragons, all of which can make great tattoos. Other images that are popular as Celtic tattoos include harps, Celtic crosses & swords.

Perhaps what is most distinctive about Celtic artwork is the focus on symbols that must do with infinity, or the ever-repeating cycles of life. This can be seen most clearly in Celtic knots, which beautifully illustrate the connected & never-ending movement of all things. Spirals also convey this kind of idea. Today they see lots of people wearing tribal type Celtic tattoo designs based on knotwork or spirals.

Some people get Celtic tattoos to express their heritage, but this is not always the case. In today's multicultural world, you don't must be of Irish, Scottish or Welsh ancestry to appreciate Celtic art & people of all backgrounds get Celtic tattoos.