Posts by timlazaro:
Popular Celtic Tattoos Explained – Guest Blog
March 2nd, 2010 Pic: Tattoo Design Shop |
Tattoos are as popular today as they were in ancient times, but for different reasons. We wear them as decoration the ancients wore tattoos as permanent war paint. Their tattoos were designed with one thing in mind and that was to instil as much fear in their enemies as they possibly could. Wars were fought hand to hand and in battle warriors bared their chests in order to make sure that their tattoos were highly visible to the enemy. Tattoos indicated toughness and fearlessness when faced with danger. Tattoos were also designed as a method of identification, much like soldiers today wear ‘dog tags’. |
Popular tattoo choices
Celts once covered a large area of Europe and had their own languages and culture, not to mention religion. The symbols they used in those days are incorporated into the highly popular Celtic tattoos used today.
The Celts worshipped gods and goddesses, animals and the land, and as they were exposed more and more to Christianity, their symbols and shapes started to change into crosses and stars. One of the reasons for this adaptation was to avoid conflict with Christian beliefs. But, these adapted elements are what remains and what is most seen in traditional tattoos.
Celtic Knot Patterns
Although many traditional Celtic designs are copied in tattoos, perhaps one of the most recognizable and coveted tattoo is the knot. Knots resemble interwoven vines and are arranged to form a particular shape, for example a heart, but their shape can be almost anything a person can think of, from circles to the more complex star shape.
A Celtic knot also carries with it the symbolism recognizable by anyone who has even a slight knowledge of Celtic art which is that it represents continuous life as well as the season’s cycles and the complexity of nature.
Animals were very important to the Celts, animals such as butterflies, dogs and geese. Butterflies were especially held in very high esteem by the Celts because of their beauty. Dogs symbolize loyalty and good luck while eagles are linked with death, so are ravens and other birds. Horses were sacred to the Celts and a tattoo depicting a horse is linked to mystery and magic. Power can be symbolized by a Celtic art tattoo of a bear while the dragon is associated with both power and magic. Sometimes an animal will be the main focus in a tattoo while others may form on a part of the background.
The number three, 3, has always featured highly in Celtic designs and is typically found somewhere in the design, at times even hidden deeply within it. It can be small or large.
Cross
The Celtic cross is without doubt perhaps the most recognisable of all Celtic designs and is a very popular tattoo subject. They are highly religious in their nature and quite often Celts will wear the design as a proclamation of their ethnic roots.
The Celtic tree of life is quite self-explanatory, it follows the same style as the knot and the cross but it is composed of interweaving lines which form branches around a tree trunk. It represents the beginning and end of life and also the eternal nature of the world we live in.
Claddagh
A Claddagh, though maybe not as well known is popular and is perhaps more recognizable to those of Celtic and Irish heritage. Consisting of two hands clasping a heart covered by a crown. When represented graphically in the form of a tattoo, it stands for everlasting love and loyalty.
The beauty of body art
Celtic designs are beautiful when incorporated into a tattoo and there are a host of different choices suited to both male and female. Almost every tattoo studio will offer a wide variety of Celtic tattoo designs.
Celtic art in the form of tattoos is very often seen as bands around the arms or on the wrist. More recently Celtic designs are being tattooed on the lower back. Celtic art is usually always done with black ink and the lines can be a combination of thick and very thick. Celtic tattoo designs have their origin dating back several thousand years and their aesthetic value has grown ever more popular since then as they are beautiful abstract works of art.
About the Author:
Tim Lazaro is a Celtic Symbol enthusiast. Visit All About Celtic Symbols for more expert advice on Celtic tattoo designs, understanding Celtic symbols, tree astrology, and other topics you can use right now if you wish to gain a better appreciation of symbols in Celtic society.
Author: Tim Lazaro
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Creditcard Currency Conversion Fee
Celtic Dagger – A Symbol of War
October 13th, 2009 Pic: rayhaneh |
Almost every society in history had their warriors, the Celts were no exception. The Celts drew their warriors from middle and upper classes and they were the ones who did the fighting while they made use of the free poor classes to drive their chariots. Celtic warriors lived for war. Boasting about their victories in gory detail was part of a warriors’ rituals. It was also not unusual for warriors to fight amongst themselves, and in fact regarded this as an important part of their lives. |
Celts at war
The Celts were renowned for bringing home trophies, in particular the heads of their enemies which earned them the title of head-hunters. After battle these heads were displayed at the entrance their places of worship, many also dedicated their enemy’s weapons to the Gods by throwing them into a river or lake after battle. Today thousands of weapons have been dredged from the Lake of Neuchatel at La Tene.
Celtic chiefs together with the wealthiest Celts of the day wore armour and would ride out before battle in full view of their army, clashing their weapons on their shields while loudly proclaiming their great deeds. This practice was also designed to challenge their enemies at a single bout of combat. They must have been a frightening sight dressed in skins and decorated in blue tattoos. It was also not uncommon for warriors to go to battle wearing nothing but blue dye, covered with Celtic art work, naked as the day they were born.
Evolution of Celtic Weapons
Celtic warriors are known to be great swords-men and wielded them above their heads in battle, swirling and slashing from side to side, then downwards onto their enemies as easy as if they were chopping a piece of wood. Using their daggers and swords in this way absolutely terrified their enemies and gained them the reputation of being formidable opponents in war.
Dagger
To understand the dagger it should first be explained how the Bronze Age influenced the weapons of that age. Celtic swords were primarily the weapon of choice during this era which indicated that perhaps warfare was fought on a small scale between elite groups of warriors. The Iron Age influenced the classic Celtic long swords with their characteristic leaf blade design.
The longsword fell out of favor with the Celts with changing patterns of warfare and short thrusting daggers made their appearance, evident by the great number of them found in the graves of those warriors were buried in high status burials.
The long swords became shorter, had only a single edge and lacked the sharp pointed thrusting point so common in swords. These daggers were designed primarily to cut, although some were used to slash. Swords in Britain and Ireland became shorter and thinner and with increasing Celtic populations, changing warfare and larger armies, the spearman began gaining importance resulting in a decline in dagger and sword functionality.
Roman Writings
The Greeks and Romans were the first civilizations to encounter major threats from Celtic invaders. It was these civilizations, whose pens formed the history we know today and whose writings have helped create an image of the savage ferocity of the Celtic warrior that persists today, yet it was the Roman Empire that eventually conquered this great nation of warriors.
There is no mention that the Celts fought en masse with daggers, their weapons of choice included javelins and arrows and their defense strategies entailed fighting in close order so that they formed a defense against advancing Roman cavalries, in fact Caesar wrote about this and they used their daggers in close contact combat, something they were very accomplished at.
Swords and daggers were being used by Celtic warriors as far back as 280BCE when Brennus led his Celtic tribes against Greece. It is interesting to note that Brennus originated from a region of Senones that later became famous for their production of high quality steel which they used to form their weapons.
During this invasion of Greece, a large part of this Celtic army turned East where they eventually founded Galatia and went on to produce a source of mercenaries throughout this Mediterranean area, depicts by illustrations which show troops armed with daggers and oval shields. This image is one that is still used today to commonly depict Galatians.
About the Author:
Tim Lazaro is a Celtic Symbols enthusiast. Visit All About Celtic Symbols for more expert advice on Celtic Symbols meanings, Celtic Tattoos, Celtic Myth, FAQs about Celtic Symbols, and more info you can use right now to unravel the mysteries of the Celts.
Author: Tim Lazaro
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: US Dollar credit card
