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Friday 15 February 2008

Symbolism of The Celtic Cross


Symbolism of The Celtic Cross. Ancient pillar stones, market crosses, and ornamented Celtic crosses all share a common basic symbolism, that of the world-axis or link between heaven and earth. The main feature of the ornamented Celtic cross, the wheel-cross on top, is not derived from the crucifixion but from a more ancient symbol, the Chi-Rho monogram, a cross made by combining the first two letters of the name of Christ in Greek; Chi (X) and Rho (P). This second edition is illustrated by drawings of stones and crosses from Brittany, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Cumbria, Ireland and Cornwall. The drawings give the reader an advantage over photographs by presenting some idea of what the crosses looked like when they were new. Symbolism of the Celtic Cross.

1 comment:

G said...

Most of the surviving stone celt crosses in the Isle of Man, strangely, were left by the Christianised Vikings rather than the indigenous celts.