Celtic Knot Butterfly Tattoo
From LoveToKnow Tattoos
A Celtic knot butterfly tattoo is certainly a sight to behold. Learn more about these popular tat designs, and how they're created.
The Butterfly in Celtic Symbolism
Is it any wonder the Celts had such a passion for butterflies? These beautiful, fluttery creatures held a lot of meaning in this culture. The Celtic people view butterflies as living examples of rebirth and renewal.
Just think about it for a moment. The lowly caterpillar weaves its chrysalis around itself and is seen or heard from no more. Then suddenly one day, a brilliant butterfly emerges from this dreary brown husk to lead a new life unfettered by the bonds of earth.
Even now, it's hard not to feel a little envious, and it's easy to understand why Celtic butterfly tattoos are so popular. On that note, let's examine these tats a little closer.
The Celtic Knot Butterfly Tattoo
The Celts were fascinated by butterflies, and there is no butterfly tat that is closer to an Irishman's heart than one created by using a Celtic knot design.
About Celtic Knots
For anyone not yet familiar with Celtic knot work, it's an intricate series of knots chained together in a way that reveals no beginning or ending point. You can picture them as elaborate doodles if it helps. This ancient art was developed by early monks who put the knots to a number of uses.
Sometimes these knots were used to help a monk focus more closely on his prayers as he followed the threads around the chain. Other times the knots were used to create symbols of the Christian faith. The Triquetra in particular is a three-pointed knot that is often used as a symbol of the Christian Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Before long, knot work became more diverse as even common people learned the art. Soon they were creating their own knot designs as wood carvings, and many times the knots were worked into a pattern that would create an animal, person or even a butterfly. This brings us back to the subject of knot work butterfly tats.
Creating Knotted Butterflies
There are several ways to create a Celtic knot butterfly tattoo.
- You can create the design by filling in a butterfly outline with a series of small connected knots, taking care to conceal your beginning and ending points.
- You can also take the more challenging route and create the design the time honored way using grid paper to map out the knot pattern in the shape you want.
- You can use a Celtic knot font program to easily create knot work using your computer keyboard.
- You can also leave the design totally up to an experienced tattoo artist.
Celtic Lady Flash
If you'd like to have a Celtic knot butterfly tattoo, but you're not interested in creating your own design, you can likely find a design that suits you by viewing some flash art.
Celtic Lady Flash specializes in knot work tattoo designs, and they have a nice selection of butterfly flash for you to look at. If you find a tat you really like, you can purchase it and download it to your computer in PDF format. Then you can take the design to your chosen tattoo artist who will use it to create your final tattoo.
Celtic Lady's butterfly designs include:
Although it's not an actual Celtic butterfly knot tattoo, the Meditation Maze flash is also reminiscent of a butterfly, and a talented artist could probably alter the four points of this design to resemble a butterfly's wings.
Conclusion
If you love Celtic knot butterfly body art, you're certainly not alone. As this style grows in popularity, more and more artists are learning to create fabulous tats using this ancient art.
Learn More
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