Celtic Jewelry: Triskelion Knot Meaning

Celtic Jewelry Symbolism

The word "Celtic" refers to the group of people known as the Celts. The Celtis at one time spanned all of Western Europe and what is know today as the United Kingdom. But as time and history passed the Celts found themselves primarily inhabiting the region known today as the UK. Their heritage lasted about 900 years from about 500 BC to 400 AD. The Celts were of the Iron Age and lived in small villages which were led by warrior chiefs.

Their heritage essential melded into a Christian culture with the culture of the Celts slowly dying out and evolving into the cultures know as the British, Irish, Scots, Welsh etc,

We are reviewing a Celtic symbol known as the Triskelion.

When observed the Celtic Triskelion symbol seems to represent motion with three branches that make up the symbol. The three branches from the symbol have come to represent legs, protrusions and angles and are positioned in such a way so as to make the symbol appear as if it is in constant forward motion.

The concept of forward motion implies certain meanings such as:

Action
Cycles
Progress
Revolution
Competition

Second Component: The three protrusions (legs, angles, branches, etc) are of significant symbolic importance.

The various representations of the three protrusions found in the triskelion symbol are said to include:
Spirit, Mind, Body
Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Mother, Father, Child
Past, Present, Future
Power, Intellect, Love
Creator, Destroyer, Sustainer
Creation, Preservation, Destruction

Like the Celic Trinity Knot used in Celtic Necklaces is the symbolism related to the number three.

This prominent Celtic symbol may also represent the three Celtic worlds: The Otherworld: Where spirits, gods and goddesses live. The Mortal World: Where you and I live along with plants and animals. The Celestial World: Where unseen energies live and move about. Like the forces of sun, moon, earth.

This is a worthy point because most lunar creatures are depicted as only having three legs in Alchemical and early European art. When we add lunar implications to the definition of the triskelion we are dealing with:

Mystery
Feminine
Intuition
Subtleness
Subconscious
Spirituality
Illumination
Hidden desire

As you can see, the Celtic symbol meaning of the triskelion is far reaching and complex. The pictures used in this article are used with permission and can be found at Celtic Knot Necklace