The Endless Knot

The first aspect of Celtic spirituality that I want to mention is one of the more visible ones, and it's pretty essential to the whole mindset: the Celtic knot. Visible in most forms of art that appear in Celtic cultures, the Celtic knot features twisting, interlocked lines and shapes. It often includes figures representing animals and spirits, and it regularly appears in some type of circular pattern.

Besides being visually interesting (following all those lines is reminiscent of looking at an M.C. Escher piece!),  there's an important concept being illustrated. To the Celts (among others), there's a connected-ness to everything. Not only are all the members of a family or community connected, but the communities themselves are as well. Everyone is connected. And the rest of the natural world is connected to us humans. The animals, the trees, the streams, the rocks. And even more importantly, the spiritual world is connected to the physical. In the Greco-Roman way of thinking that largely shaped Western Christianity, the spiritual and physical realms are poles apart.

There has long been a schism between so many aspects of reality—between self and others, us and them, the good and the bad—that we who were raised into it can't even see it for what it is. And I'm not shaking my finger at people who were brought up in this way of thinking. What else did we know? But it is such a liberty, such a relief, to begin to see that it's really all connected.

It's rather sad that so much of Western thought is built on the premise of separation. It's the sort of zero-sum game wherein in order for me to win, someone else has to lose. When did the whole concept of winning come from, anyway? Why do we have to have winners and losers? This whole business of living is not a contest.

It's all about life. Some things give life and some things sap it. And in our Endless Knot, what gives life to one part gives life to all.