Celtic Magical Creatures Symbols Information Jewelry Books

The various mythical creatures that populate the folk tradition of the Celts, like a number of Celtic animal symbols, can be found in different ancient mythologies and tend to carry the same or similar meanings.

DRAGON

The most powerful of all Celtic
animal symbols, the Dragon represented
the whole of creation. As part serpent and
part bird, it symbolises the union of the beneficial
elements of water and air, of matter and spirit. The fiery breath of the Green Dragon was believed to purify and give new life. To the Celts the dragon was a creature of a parallel world an played an important role in Celtic religion. It is gatekeeper to other worlds, and also a guardian of wealth.
Dragons are also frequently found in churches, both outside, to ward off evil, and inside, often in the company of the Green Man symbol.

GRYPHON

The Gryphon, or Griffin, was a mythical creature with the head, wings and talons of an eagle and the body and tail of a lion. The Gryphon was a guardian, and symbolised the seasons, as well as (like the dragon) the relationship between the sun, sky and earth, between cosmic forces and psychic energy.

UNICORN

One of the most ancient mythological beasts, the Unicorn is a symbol of innocence, purity, healing, joy and life. Having the form of a horse and endowed with a horn, it is also a symbol of power and virility. Thus the Unicorn is the symbol of the union between masculine vitality and virility and feminine passion and nurturing spirit.

MERMAID

The mermaid, half-woman, half-fish, is a powerful archetypal figure common to the mythologies and folk legends of many parts of the world. While the various sacred inland springs and wells were believed to be ruled and inhabited by water deities, water sprites and nymphs, the Celtic sea-faring and fishing populations associated the mermaid with the sea.

The mermaid may be said to symbolise the ethereal feminine element, whose habitat is the unknown and dangerously powerful realm of the unconscious.

The more uninhibited double-tailed mermaid, which decorates innumerable churches and cathedrals throughout Western Europe, is an extremely ancient variation of the mermaid that is often associated with Sheela-Na-Gig, one of the most powerful Celtic symbols of the feminine or Goddess.