Celtic Cross Gifts
Among the many Irish gifts a person can buy, the Celtic cross gift stands as one of the more popular. For anyone familiar with Irish gifts, or having been in a gift shop of that nature, the Celtic cross remains one of the emblems you probably remember most. It is your standard Latin Christian cross with a circle connecting all four arms. There are also other crosses without the circle but with ornate Celtic knot artwork carved into them.
Celtic cross gifts range from stand alone carvings to necklaces to wall hangings either made of stone or marble. For a collector of crosses it is a dream to get all of the different styles that you can. I have seen some very nice stone wall hangings where the artist duplicated, on a miniature scale, real tombstone markers from Ireland cemeteries.
Celtic art is known for its knot work designs and tombstone carvers were and are proud to design unique grave markers with abstract and geometric knots, from a single line. Of course the Celtic knot composed of a single line that has no beginning or end is supposed to stand for the interconnectivity of life and eternity. If you are familiar with Irish gifts you know about Celtic knots.
The actually cross symbol itself is now a representation of the cross that Christ hung on, but it was not always that way. The cross was not widely used as a Christian symbol until the 4th century. There were similar cross symbols used by pagans, before Christianity, to represent various things. Most feel they used it to stand for the 4 elements of air, water, earth and fire. But others say it stood for the four directions or the four elements of man, being heart, soul, mind and body. It is unclear how the circle got onto the Celtic cross. There are tales that it was a mixing of the sun worshiped by pagans and the cross worshipped by Christians, at that time in history when Christians were converting pagans. It is unknown if this is true. It may have simply been a design element that fit in well. An old Irish legend says St. Patrick incorporated the circle when trying to convert pagans. What ever the reason, the cross with a circle has been encountered since the 9th century.
Welsh crosses of the early Celtic Christian period were just a circle with a cross in them. That may have become the Celtic cross eventually. Some say the Chi-Rho symbol, the monogram of Christ, was the beginning of the Celtic cross. The Chi-Rho was used in 4th Century roman lands to stand for Christ. With a little imagination, you can see how it could be transformed. Man has always seemed to have a fascination with circles and the circle of life, so it is a common element in much ancient art.
St. Brigid’s cross is one form of a Celtic cross gift that you may have encountered. It is the cross that resembles four sticks woven together in the middle, all arms of the cross being equal length and not directly across from each other. Traditionally people place these over doors for good luck. St. Brigid was a female saint born in Ireland about 453.
For any friend or family member a Celtic cross gift makes a very unique gift. I have several of them hanging over doorways in my own house. You don’t have to be Celtic, or even Christian to have one, as the artwork itself on the cross is usually amazing in itself. You can get these in stone, marble or wood, and from 2 inches to a foot long.
Many ladies also enjoy Celtic cross earrings in either gold or silver as a gift. Of course there is the ever present cross you can get for a necklace, some of which are very inspiring. A Celtic cross necklace can be worn by a man or woman depending on the look.
Woven tapestries, for your wall, are also popular. They can be small or large and usually have the cross as the highlight with Celtic knot work of endless varieties and colors surrounding it.
Celtic Cross Gifts
Would you like to browse more high quality unique Irish gifts? There are a lot more to be found in our Unique and Huge Irish store.
What ever you end up buying, Celtic cross gifts are sure to be a hit with most people, especially those into collecting all different kids of crosses or those who enjoy everything Celtic.
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