Celtic Cross Jewelry

Originating in India as a sign of sexual union, this earth center symbol for the pre-Christian Celts came to symbolize the universe quartered by the cross and the Sun King crucified. This symbol was so common in pre-Christian Ireland that it is alleged St. Patrick saw it as a sign that the Celts were ready for Christianity.

Custom Celtic Cross Pendants

On the left is a cross made from a tattoo design. Mark will do similarly intricate work if you'll pay the opthamologist's bill. :) On the right this fabulous cross is composed of six layers of silve: three layers of two, flush soldered to one another, then soldered into this arrangement. These two crosses are examples of the larger and more complex custom work that Mark can do. Work like this runs $500 and up.

Celtic Knot Jewelry

Of all of the endless (or unicursal) knots that we do, the Celtic knot, one of the first, is the one with no meaning! There is no evidence to indicate that this knot had any specific philosophical or religious significance beyond perhaps the most obvious: that being the capability of humans to produce intricate work, which is itself reflective of the intricacy of natural forms. Celtic knots have been found in Irish pre-Christian archeological sites of 450 ACE and maybe earlier.

Celtic Knot Heart Jewelry

The Celtic knot heart symbolizes endless love in the endless cycle of the seasons and the endless seamlessness of life. Its similarity in shape to the triquetra makes it sacred to the goddess also.

Celtic Pentagram Jewelry

The Celtic pentagram is a typical Celtic design of the simpler sort and reflects the early Celts life view: everything from birth to death, from wonderful to horrifying is interwoven into one seamless journey of birth/life/death/rebirth. Though we can't do an extra small in this design, we can do an extra large.

Triquetra Jewelry

This Celtic knot design signifies the three aspects of the goddess.The three yoni shapes are interwoven with the circle of the divine - the universe. The whole piece is an endless knot referring to the goddess (which means any woman, as we're all goddesses) as young woman; mother and wise woman. This ancient symbol - Norse or Celtic - didn't stop the Christians from claiming it. They was used the triquetra as a symbol of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). This appropriation was particularly easy because the triquetra happens to incorporate a Christian shape - the Piscean fish. The triquetra has been found on runestones in northern Europe, and upon early Scandinavian coins. It presumably had pagan religious meaning and may have, like the valknut, been a symbol of Odin.

This is also one of the Led Zeppelin symbols. The other three are triple ring, zoso and feather. The triquetra is John Paul Jones' (and you know who he is, right?) symbol. He took it from a book of runes in which it symbolized a person with confidence and competence. Jones also claimed that it represented an exorcism - he said that to irritate the occultist Jimmy Page.

Triquetra Pendant with Stones

The triquetra on the right has three goddess stones: at the top a moonstone, signifying purity or maidenhood; a garnet at the right symbolizing motherhood, the menstrual cycle and sexual energy; and at the left an onyx (or hematite) signifying the crone and the wise woman. A common Greek triple goddess is the combination of Persephone as the Maiden, purity and new beginnings; Demeter as the Mother, wellspring of life, giving and compassionate and Hecate as the Crone, wise, knowing, a culmination of a lifetime of experience. The crone usually associated with Persephone and Demeter in the Eleusinian Mysteries however is Baubo, a goddess of coarse and obscene jest rather than wisdom - or maybe that is her wisdom! These goddesses, when grouped together, also represent the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth.

Now this is cool - 3's of 3's of 3's: the celebration of the life/thresholds (birth, marriage and death) was from early times in the hands of women. That men do it now is a fairly recent repression ('recent' meaning last thousand years or so).The Three Fates, the Three Graces and the Three Furies were said to be sisters. The women who presided over the blessing of the child at birth had also acted as the midwives and were serving the Fates. When they performed the traditional dances and songs for the blessing at weddings, and also acted as bridesmaids, they served the Graces. Finally, when they fulfilled the role of professional mourners and preparers of the dead they served the Furies.

We can only make this piece in a medium and a large. But you can have your choice of stones - email us.

Triskelion Jewelry

The triskelion (it has many spellings) is a symbol consisting of three interlocked spirals, or any similar symbol with three protrusions and a threefold rotational symmetry. The triskelion is the symbol of Sicily, where it is called Trisceli, and of The Isle of Man and it is a symbol of Brittany. The Sicilian and Manx triskelions feature three running legs, bent at the knee, conjoined at the crotch. The relation of the legged triskele to other variants is unclear but spiral forms of the triskele are often classed as solar symbols, while the legged version, sometimes including a gorgon mask or Medusa's head at the central axle point in the Sicilian version, suggests a chthonic significance. Got that?

The Celtic symbol of three conjoined spirals may well have had triple significance similar to the imagery that lies behind the triskelion. The spiral motif is a Neolithic symbol in Western Europe: it is carved into the rock of a stone lozenge near the main entrance of the prehistoric Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland. Because of its Celtic associations, it is also used as a symbol of Brittany. That rock carving looks exactly like our triskelion.

Triskelion in Circle Pendant

The triple spiral was possibly the precursor to later triskele design. What the symbol meant to the pagans who built Newgrange and other monuments is unknown but in more recent history, Celtic Christians have used it to represent the Christian Trinity. Neopagan religions such as Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism and Wicca use the symbol to represent a variety of triplicities from their belief systems. A triple spiral may represent the nine month period of human pregnancy, since the sun takes a fourth of a year to go from the celestial equator (an equinox) to extreme north or south declination (a solstice), and vice versa. During each three-month period, the sun's path across the sky appears to form a closely-wound quasi-helical shape, which can be likened to a spiral, so that three spirals could represent nine months, providing an explanation for a link between fertility and the triple-spiral symbol. Now isn't that cool!

Interestingly triskelions (triskeles) are also a bdsm emblem. As about it!

Triskelion in Circle Pendant with Stone

Also known as the triskele, this is a pagan symbol found frequently in Celtic and pre-Celtic art that refers to the threefold nature of the goddess as virgin, mother and crone. This dynamic triple armed design can be found in variations both in the East and the West. In the East it is known as the Mitsu Tomoe. In fact, three armed designs are everywhere, spanning time and cultures. This one has a stone in the middle and OF COURSE you can have any stone you want!

The prices for the 14kt gold triskelion in circle with stone are for a piece with a synthetic stone much, much less expensive than the AAA faceted blue sapphire that is pictured. Sapphires, like rubies, diamonds and emeralds, are one of the most expensive stones in the world. For example, a AA facted sapphire for the large 14kt triskelion in circle costs $1000 by itself! Crazy. It is, of course possible to put any stone, cabachon or faceted, in the center of the triskelion in circle. Email us for other stones.

Triskelion in Circle Rings

Celtic style bands and bands with Celtic knot work and other symbols are some of our most popular wedding and committment rings. There is another page dedicated to Celtic knot work that shows the various knots we use. Check it out!

The following rings, which are karat gold or karat gold and argentium sterling silver vary in price depending on ring size. If you'd like a quote for a ring or a set of rings, send us your ring size(s) in North American Standard or whatever standard is used where you live (we convert!) and we can give you an estimate. Most rings require design time and hence a design fee for an exact quote. If you'd like to see an example of a ring design, look here.