Celtic Symbolism

Acorn:Abundance, harvest

Adder: Transformation, healing

Alder (Fern): Ogham Tree: protection in battle, sometimes unlucky

Apple (Queirt): Ogham Tree: Love, happiness

Ash (Nion): Ogham Tree: action needed, battle, protection

Aspen (Edhadh): Ogham Tree: Achievement, courage, endurance

Awen: Source of light in the cosmos and is representative of the land, sky and sea realms. From the right the first ray symbolises the male forces in the material world. The left symbolises female forces while the centre ray is the one that balances both aspects

Bag: Treasure, misfortune

Bay Leaves: Protection, strength, purification

Bear: Sovereignty, strength

Bee: prosperity, community, organisation

Beech: potency, divination

Berry: Health, protection

Birch (Beith): Ogham Tree: New beginning, good fortune, cleansing

Blackbird: Enchantment, The Gateway, The Inner Call

Blackthorn (Straiph): Sudden change, death

Blindness: Skills in music and poetry, prophecy

Boar: Courage, wealth, warrior spirit, leadership, direction

Broom (Getal): Ogham Tree: Healing, clearing of mental clutter

Bull: War, wealth

Cat: Guardianship. (Black cats were considered lucky, however not the same went for the white cat)

Cauldron: Rebirth, knowledge, abundance, healing and poetic insight

Cave: Otherworld

Cliff: Magical border. Especially if it is a sea cliff as it binds the three realms

Clockwise: Opening

Colours:

blue: protection

brown: strength

green: beauty, prosperity, fertility

red: war, political authority

purple: royalty, power, wealth

white: barrenness, emptiness, purification

Counterclockwise: binding, returning to source

Cow: Female beauty, motherhood, abundance, fertility

Crane: Danger

Crow: Death

Dog/Hound/Wolf: Valor, protection, loyalty

East: stability, centre

Elder (Ruis): Ogham Tree: Self examination, shape-shifting, hosting of the sidhe (faeries), protection from magic

Elm: Attraction of the faeries, protection, love

Flowers: Beauty, youth

Fir (Ailm): Ogham Tree: Relationships

Fire: membership in tribe, brighid

Five: mundane fullness

Fog: magic, the otherworld

Foxgrove: Beauty

Gorse and Furze (Onn): Ogham Tree: Difficulty, protection

Hare: Sexual potency, rebirth, intution, good fortune

Harp: Ireland, magical music, authority

Hawk: Freedom

Hawthorn (Huath): Ogham Tree: Quest, trial, attraction during the festival of beltaine, hosting of the fearies

Hazel (Coll): Ogham Tree: Positive change, poetry, magic, wildwood

Heather (Ur): Ogham Tree: Transition

Hill: Authority, isolated magic

Holly (Tinne): Ogham Tree: Induces good dreams, trickery

Horse: Strength, sovereignty

Hurley Stick: Youthful Warrior

Ivy (Gort): Ogham Tree: Self

The Knot: Longevity

Ligntning: Switfness, punishment

Mistletoe: Healing, longevity, fertility

Mugwort: Protection

Ninth Wave: the number 9 represents magical fullness. The boundaries of the middle earth are marked by the ninth wave, beyond the ninth wave is the Otherworld. In the underworld, it is believed that there are 9 maidens who tend the cauldron of rebirth

North: Magical origin

Nut: Wisdom

Oak (Duir): Ogham Tree: Higher powers at work, wisdom, law, hospitality, tradition

One-eyed/One-handedness: Magical ability

Otter: Otherworld, helpfulness

Owl: Detachment, wisdom, change

Ox: Labour

Passage Grave: The Otherworld

Plain: Civilisation

Ram: Sacrifice, achievement

Reed (Ngetal): Ogham Tree: Knowledge, preservation

Right hand: Opening

Ring: On the middle finger it stands for Druid, on the thumb it stands for King

Rowan (Luis): Ogham Tree: Protection, magic, rejuvenation

Salmon: Poetic wisdom, life-force, inspiration, clairvoyance

Serpent/Dragon: Sovereignty, protection, wisdom

Seven: Hierarchy

Shield: Protection in battle

Silver: Authority

South: Origin of mortals

Sow: Greed

Spiral: Believed to represent the passage from inner life to the outer soul or higher spirit forms

Stag: Kingship, enchantment, the underworld

Standing Stone: Memorial of glourious deaths

Sun: Light, fertility

Sunburst: Fianna warriors

Swan: Beauty, The Tuatha De Danann, spiritual evolution

Sword: Truth, warrior

Symmetry: Stagnation, impotence

Three: The number 3 represented the realms of the land, the triad of deities. It symbolises binding

Torc: Authority, freedom and noble status

Triskele: Stands for the triad in celtic cosmology. It is also said to represent three stages of life

Thunder: Power, strength

Twilight: The Otherworld

Valerian: Health, sleep, love, purification

Vine (Muin): Ogham Tree: Strength

Wand: Magic

Water: Borders to the otherworld

Weasel: The Otherworld

Well: Health, inspiration, mystical power

Willow (Sail): Ogham Tree: Insight, health, fertility, magic

Wren: Divination, hidden.

Yarrow: Courage, health, love

Yew (Idhadh): Ogham Tree: Primordial: life and death, royalty