While you can be forgiven for believing Roman and Greek sources which suggest that the Celts were a savage and primitive tribe, the reality is very different. Numerous archaeological excavations have gathered enough evidence to suggest that the Celts were actually a neat and tidy people.

The Celts are even accredited with the invention of soap! They admired sleek bodies, found obesity repellent and were extremely found of jewelry and generally looking good. Not much has changed in 2,000 years!

Jewelry was seen as a way to showcase status and Celtic symbols had a very specific and significant meaning. We outline these meanings below so next time you find Celtic jewelry adorned with symbols; you’ll know what you’re buying.

Celtic Cross
This is one of the most famous Celtic symbols and is primarily associated with Irish Celts. The Celtic Cross is known to be the bridge between heaven and earth while many scholars believe that the four arms of the cross are representative of the four elements: Wind, fire, earth and water.

View our entire range of Celtic Crosses

Celtic Spirals
You will probably have noticed an increase in the number of Celtic spiral tattoos in contemporary society as well as on jewelry but how many people know the significance of what they are wearing (both in terms of precious metal and ink)?

Many of these symbols date back over 4.500 years.

Many experts in the field of Celtic symbolism believe that they are metaphors for cosmic symbolism as they resemble the shape of whirlpools and galaxies.

The direction of the spirals is also significant with clockwise spirals believed to represent good luck while anti-clockwise spirals are associated with magic spells.

You may also find spiral arrangements where an equal amount of spirals are going clockwise and anti-clockwise which is a representation of balance.

Torc
A golden torc is said to have been a popular jewelry choice for members of the Celtic nobility. Even Queen Boudicca is believed to have ridden into battle wearing a torc around her neck. It is believed that the Celtic torc was a symbol of nobility, status and strength.

Additionally, torcs can also be associated with emotion, creation and metamorphosis due to their crescent shape which is similar to that of the moon. It has also been suggested that the torc is associated with gods and goddesses. For example, the Celtic god Cernunnos is often depicted with a torc around his antlers and another around his neck.

The Celtic god Cernunnos holds and wears a torc.

However, given the fact that Celts held religion and nature in such high regard, we can assume that these symbols had a deep spiritual meaning.

During the age of the Ancient Celts, religious festivals took place throughout the year and the Four Quarter Days resulted in celebrations in Celtic households. The traditional Quarter Days are as follows:

• Imbolc – 1 February
• Beltaine – 1 May
• Lunasa– 1 August
• Samhain – 1 November

These were spread 3 months apart and signified the changing of the seasons. While these festivals are rarely celebrated today, you can change all that and release your inner Celt by embracing ancient customs, details of which are outlined below.

Imbolc
This was originally a pagan festival associated with the goddess Brighid and was transformed into a Christian celebration for Saint Brighid. On the eve of the festival, 31 January, it was necessary to clean the home in preparation for Brighid’s visit.

Saint Brigid carrying the famous Brigid’s Cross.

Beltaine
On 30 April, it was traditional to extinguish a flame and relight it as a symbolic gesture. Another old tradition was to decorate the home with a huge amount of flowers such as primrose and buttercups while also adding greenery such as juniper, ivy and gorse in order to create a May bush which was said to be a guarantee of prosperity.

The bush was then ceremonially burned on the night before Beltaine. On the morning of Beltaine, families would collect morning dew from the grass and store it somewhere warm until it was needed for healing. It was also common to collect water on the morning of 1 May and use it to bless the house.

Lunasa
This marked the end of the summer and beginning of autumn as people looked forward to the harvest being brought in. In past generations, it was common to pick blueberries and strawberries though this was only practised in warmer climes as the berries would not be ripe by 1 August in Ireland and Scotland.

Celtic Goddess, Mabon – Autumn

Group celebrations normally consisted of games, races, singing and dancing on a hilltop or near a lake.

Samhain
This is the most commonly celebrated of these ancient festivals and we refer to it as Halloween. Samhain is the most supernatural of festivals with ancient peoples believing that the Underworld was upset at the changing of the seasons and Faeries were said to arrive on the eve of this festival to abduct humans.

Samhain – We now know as Halloween.

It is important to remember that the dates above are not accurate because the modern Gregorian calendar only came into being in 1751. Even the Julian calendar that was used up to this point was altered in 1582 so there could be 11-12 days of a difference between the new and old calendars.

Nonetheless, it is fascinating to look at the above ancient Celtic religious festivals and note that we still celebrate St Brighid’s Day, May Day and Halloween.

Perhaps Celtic ways have not completely been eradicated after all!