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.

In the center of each cross is a ring which is the symbol of infinite love in the Celtic tradition.

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)?

Spirals are actually one of the oldest forms of artistic vocabulary in human society and have been found on Stone Age monuments at Newgrange which means spirals have been used for at least 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.

As there is no written record of Celtic symbols, their meanings can really be left open to interpretation and the above meanings are taken from the best guesses of scholars.

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.

A feast was enjoyed that evening before clothes were left out for her to bless as she passed by. Cake or bread was left out on the windowsill to show Brighid that she was welcome.

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.

A feast of traditional foods was prepared with potatoes being the main staple. Bread and porridge from the freshly harvested crop would also be added to the kitchen table along with beef, chicken, fish, onions and cabbage. Offerings would then be made for loved ones who had died during the previous year.

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.

It is a festival associated with the dead and leaving food and drink out for the spirits of departed friends and family was customary. It was also a time where witches would fly around on their broomsticks and all manner of ghastly creatures such as the puca (a demonic dog or horse that destroyed any remaining crops that had not yet been harvested) would terrorise people.

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!

The Celts were a fascinating people and since this website is dedicated to improving your knowledge of Irish mythology and all things Celtic, we have decided to provide you with 10 interesting facts about this ancient civilisation.

1. Most people associate the Celts with Ireland and Scotland but the civilisation originated in Central Europe. The earliest Celtic settlement was discovered in Hallstatt, Austria in 1200 BC. The heartland of the Celts is actually in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

2. The Celts did not have a writing system so knowledge of their society comes from accounts by other cultures and Celtic artwork.

3. It was previously believed that the Celtic language was more or less phased out after the Roman conquest. In actual fact, Celtic languages were widely spoken afterwards according to the writings of St Jerome in the 4th and 5th Century AD. However, these languages did start to disappear during the Middle Ages and today, very few people speak Celtic languages and their usage is mainly confined to the west of Ireland, Brittany and Wales.

4. The Celts were extremely active traders and were constantly in touch with Mediterranean merchants. It was common for them to trade iron tools and weapons for wine and pottery.

5. The Celts created a road network across Europe before the Romans.

6. Contrary to the image of the Celts as a barbaric race, they were actually more advanced than the Romans in an array of economic and scientific aspects. For example, Celtic calendars used before the Roman calendar were more accurate. In fact, some scholars suggest that ancient Celtic calendars were more accurate than the modern Gregorian calendar!

7. The Celts were extremely wealthy and this is one of the reasons why Julius Caesar was so eager to conquer Gaul. In France alone, there were at least 400 gold mines. At that time, Rome was not particularly wealthy and needed finance to boost its army. The conquest of Gaul was a huge financial coup and helped the empire flourish.

8. Most people picture a typical Celtic nobleman to have long hair and a wild untamed beard. In actual fact, the fashion of the time dictated that their hair was short and neat while they were also clean shaven. Archaeologists have found tweezers on the site of Celtic settlements.

9. One of the reasons why the Celts were able to create a formidable European empire during their early years was because they developed iron weapons and armour earlier than their rivals. This power not only allowed them to make the conquests, it enabled them to keep their enemies subdued.

10. In terms of military might and training, the Celts were a match for the Romans. A key reason for their defeat was because of tribal arguments and an unwillingness to work together to beat a common enemy.

We hope that the interesting facts above help you gain a greater understanding of Celtic civilisation and perhaps dispel a few prevailing myths. We hope to bring you another round of facts in the near future.