Celtic shield knots may be identified as any of the Celtic knots with for distinct corner areas. They normally resemble a square but once in a while they are a square shaped emblem within a circle. As in all Celtic knots there is no beginning or end. The Celtic shield knot idea comes from civilizations more ancient than the Celts. Anciently, it was a universally known symbol for shelter from danger and warding off evil spirits. The symbol is always fourfold based, but within a more outstanding unity.
The Mesopotamians used a similar four cornered symbol in casting protective spells and for invoking the gods of the four corners of the Earth. The 4 cornered symbols stood for the four creator gods. The sky god An was the greatest of these gods. Anki was the Sumerian word for universe. An meant heaven. Enlil was the next biggest god and could give rise to raging storms in a fit or support man when calm. He was known as the shepherd to the people and likewise as the god of air. “lil” stood for wind in the Sumerian language. The world goddess was Nin-khursag (or Nintu). The fourth god was Enki, the god of water and patron of wisdom. Sumerians believed Heaven and Earth were merged as a single mountain. Nammu, goddess of the primeval sea, gave birth to An (Heaven) and Ki (Earth). An and Ki gave birth to their son Enlil (god of the Air). Enlil then carried away his mother, the Earth, from Heaven. In essence these four gods represented sky, fire, world and water. It is possible that Celtic shield knots represent these same substances.
The ancient Norse, who finally formed the Celts, had a similar shield symbol. Their four cornered symbol, which was also for protection, was related to the solar cross. The solar cross is one of the most ancient spiritual symbols in the world. It is merely a cross with equivalent size arms, inside of a circle and touching the sides of the circle, which forms four open spaces. To the Norse it was known as Odin’s cross, their chief god. The solar cross represents the movements of the sun as in the solstices (the four seasons). Asatruar humans (pagan Norse) use the solar cross as their religious emblem.
Occultists who us a Kabbalah (the mystic aspect of Judaism) based system of ceremonial magic invoke the four main archangels as brought up in Judaism (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel) as guardians. They are to guard the four quarters (as seen in a solar cross), or directions. They each have sameness colors affiliated with magical properties. As well they display spiritual action over each season: Spring is Raphael, summer is Uriel, fall is Michael and winter is Gabriel. For these occultists, the solar cross or shield knot symbol stands for this.
Christianity, in the Scandinavian area, at last took the pagan symbol of the solar cross or the shield knot and termed it St. Han’s cross (or St. John’s cross, after John the Baptist). It came to symbolize flowing water and the continuity of life, similar to the infinity symbol. Christianity is known for altering the meaning of some formerly pagan symbols, as it spread. In Northern Europe, even today, the shield knot symbol is employed to symbolize national inheritance sites. In heraldry the same knot symbol is known as a Bowen cross.
So we may tell that the introductory Celtic shield knot symbol is indicatory of the four seasons or world water, fire and sky (which help us, but have power over us). It may likewise mean the four gods, intertwined with the seasons, or archangels, who protect the persons of world as well as fetch us the elements or seasons.
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