Celtic Cross Jewelry

The Celtic Cross has become one of the most famous pieces of Celtic Jewelry. It has deep spiritual meaning and is a breath taking treasure.

This cross itself is a regular Christian cross with a circle surrounding the point where the lines of the cross meet in the center. It is so called, because it derives from the British Isles and was first used in the seventh through the ninth centuries in Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Many artisans have fashioned beautiful necklaces, pendants and even brooches from the Celtic Cross design. This is truly a wonderful way for anyone of Celtic ancestry and the Christian faith to show their love of both

The vast majority of Celtic crosses today are made for individual use.  The contemporary Celtic cross is popular in jewelry, T-shirts, tattoos, coffee cups and other items.

This representation is often related to the numerous regional representation of crosses combined with a circle before Christianity. Often called "sun cross", they can be found in Bronze Age Europe(Nordic Bronze Age, Urnfield culture).

But there is a constant difference: only the Christian cross shows arms outside the circle, while the sun cross is totally surrounded by its circle. Moreover, the sun crosses are sometimes made with more than four arms. The archaic English word for cross as an instrument of torture is rood (literally "pole", cognate with rod). The word cross in English derives only indirectly from Latin crux via Old Irish and possibly Old Norse, introduced in the 10th century.

Celtic crosses may have had origins in the early Coptic church. The similarity between the ankh, symbol of "life" and variations of the cross, or ankh with a circle on Coptic stella and textiles from as early as the 5th century, clearly show that the combination of circle and cross were used in early Christian Egypt. 

Some experts say that the crosses were originally carved horizontally on stone. Their geometrical ring construction and the fact that the lights in east-facing high crosses can be seen to refract early morning sunlight is indicative of vertical construction.

For truly artistic Celtic Cross jewelry we highly recommend checking out:

Back To The Top Of The Celtic Cross Jewelry Page