i've always found something strangely comforting about old symbols, left for us to witness. as we look at these things now, that are separated from their original world by centuries, we try to understand what they might have meant. sometimes we have historical evidence to help us or we do not and it's just passed down through generations, lips to lips and all we can do is look and wonder. tho i don't think every ancient symbol needs to have one definite meaning to be worth appreciating, in fact, i sometimes prefer the uncertainty because it leaves room for curiosity and it reminds me that the people who made these things were not so different from us. in terms that they were also trying to understand the world around them and the world before them.
CELTIC ART
when people mention celtic art, the first thing that often comes to my mind is intricate knotwork (endless lines or fragments twisting around one another). what i personally love is the feeling of movement in these designs and there is rarely an obvious beginning or ending. as you follow the pattern for a while you lose your place, only to find yourself starting again.
as i have mentioned before the historical meaning of individual designs are not always known by 'a man' and it would be misleading to pretend that every knot had one universal explanation, but what we do know is that interlacing patterns became especially prominent in medieval insular art, which developed in Ireland and Britain, even tho first celtic art originated somewhere around Austria. they appeared in books, metalwork, stone carving and religious objects such as manuscripts. for example the "Book of Kells" (a 9th century illuminated latin manuscript containing the four gospels of the new testament, created by celtic monks) contains extraordinarily elaborate ornamentation, surrounding christian texts.
the spiral is one of my favourite motifs to look at, maybe because it seems so simple, yet it can create a sense of movement. spiral designs appear in prehistoric monuments in Ireland and other parts of Europe, long before the medieval manuscripts that many people associate with celtic art. the meaning of particular prehistoric spirals is difficult to establish with certainty, they may have had various symbolic meanings, but there is something natural about it, that we can recognize even today, in plants, shells, various forms of life. perhaps that is part of it's lasting appeal. today people often associate spirals with cycles, growth, transformation, for example birth and death, the passage of time or the movement of life. and i can totally understand why, as it moves, but it also returns. makes me think how life pulls you inwards and then spits you out outwards. probably people felt the same centuries ago, that is why the spiral motif is so prominent in celtic art.
animals appear frequently in medieval celtic and insular art aswell, they can be woven into decorative designs until their bodies become almost indistinguishable from the surrounding patterns. as much as i have seen different celtic art containing animals, you can notice that their limbs stretch into decorative curves and their bodies twist around one another. i think this quality makes animals feel less like ordinary illustrations and more like important parts of life. of course the symbolism of animals depends on the object, the period, and the context in which they appear. even so, animals have always been important in human storytelling. they can represent qualities that people admire or fear and they can help us describe experiences that are difficult to put into words. a serpent can represent fascination or ideas about renewal, while a bird suggests freedom and the boundary between earth and sky. those meanings change between cultures and periods, so that's why i find it more interesting, just to question what a particular symbol might have meant in its own setting or for different people than to assume that every animal has one timeless definition for everyone.
BALTIC FOLKLORE
now turning from celtic art to baltic folklore. i really wanted to talk about it, because i feel deep connection with it. the folklore of lithuanians and latvians includes songs, seasonal old traditional festivals, stories, wooden cross art and so on. i want to mention that i am a lithuanian, so growing up in lithuania meant that i was surrounded by a culture with a long history and a strong connection to nature. what interests me most is the thought that these traditions belong to a place i have personally known all my life. lithuanian folklore is not simply something distant or foreign that i am studying from the outside. it comes from the same country whose language i hear, from the roots of my family, friends and whose history forms part of the background of my own life and my home. one of the things i find fascinating about lithuanian culture is its tradition of wooden crosses, known as kryždirbystė (KREESH-DEER-BEES-TEH). lithuania is sometimes called the land of crosses and it is easy to understand why when looking at the traditional monuments scattered throughout all of the country. some are simple wooden crosses, while others are elaborate structures covered in carvings, built in little roofs and intricate ornaments. they are not all identical, so personally for me this part is what makes them so interesting. each one can reflect the creativity of the person who made it, aswell as the purpose for which it was erected.
