The Jerusalem cross, placed within a Celtic circle of knot work behind it, to give the appearance of a shield. Also known as the Crusader Cross, this five-fold cross design dates to the time of the First Crusade in the 10th century.
photo of Jerusalem Cross tattoo
An example of the way the sacred spirals of the Celts were once painted onto the skin with woad before battle, a perfect way to add large area coverage in color. While we cannot know exactly what tattoos the woad warriors would have worn, we can surmise that they would have copied the spirals found on contemporary stone carvings, all that we now have left to document the mysterious race of the Picts.
Pictish Spirals tattoo
Languid and dismissive, cats lie about all day in a tangle because they can! The Celts loved their cats, and like them they reckoned their calendar by nights, not days.
The sea turtle travels the world's seas, just as the spirit of the Irish has spread to all the continents. Here a Celtic cross knot work forms a shield of faith on the shell of the reptile.
