Celtic tattoos

Celtic tattoos have become very popular nowadays. But most people who get these Celtic tattoos are oblivious to their history and origin. The Celts used symbols to communicate, perceive the things around them, to worship and thank their gods. There is however not much of written documentation about the Celts, their beliefs and symbols, they are mostly orally handed down as the ancient Celts had no written language. The Celtic symbols have always been used to communicate symbolic meaning and emotions. They have not lost their relevance even today.

But it wasn’t until their conversion to Christianity that the aesthetic value of their symbols was realized. They were used by the Christian monks to illustrate books and scriptures. It is although quite unclear whether the ancient Celts used to adorn their bodies with such symbols.

It is suggested that the tattoo artist have some prior knowledge of these symbols and their history so as to provide the suitable designs for the customer.

Butterflies

The Celts took animal symbolism quite seriously and used these symbolic images in a plethora of creative ways either in carvings, jewelry etc. They also had several beautiful knot works which symbolizes the cycles of life and death, love, friendship, family or spirituality.

The most popular is the butterfly whose meaning implies transformation, rebirth and inspiration. The concept of rebirth was very central to the Celts and it had diverse meaning from the recycling of life to spiritually and physically.

Butterflies were thought of as a symbol for transition especially by the woman who thought transition was common in nature and so used butterfly symbol in occasions like child birth where new members were welcomed into the tribe. The Celts had great admiration for the energy of the transition the butterfly had to endure from ‘conception’ to ‘birth’. The Celts revered the butterfly because of the impressive process of metamorphosis it goes through from egg to larvae to pupa or cocoon to finally emerge the butterfly, majestic and amazingly beautiful.

Butterflies also signify resurrection, celebration, lightness, time and soul, it asks us to accept and embrace the change around us for a beautiful tomorrow. It tells us to accept metamorphosis as a symbol of faith because we need to keep our faith when we undergo transitions, it prohibits to show anger against the turning tides of nature. The Butterfly was thought to be associated with the soul, as we are all on a long journey of the soul, along the path we encounter several turns and unpleasant conditions that cause us to ‘morph’ into ever better beings and so at end of the journey, we always change from the time we started out on the path.

The Celtic butterfly in the 21st century

Times may have changed but even today life poses its distinct trials and tests that require that we accept, change and transform and may look back at our journey of the soul with pride. So people get tattoos of the butterfly to celebrate life and its ever changing nature.

Celtic butterfly tattoos are very colorful and attractive and have a very intricate design that conveys its message in a succinct way. But it can be incorporated in a larger tattoo which tells a longer story about the wearer.