>Article 5: On The Triquetra Symbol...
*NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR TO THE READER* The following article is an onsite exclusive and outlines my thinking around the creation and promotion of gfunicorn's version of the triquetra symbol on the TriGod shirt. As such, it lives somewhere between the usual article marketing mold and something bloggier (perhaps suggesting the next development of this site?) Because of the narrower focus, I'm only OK with reprints if you ask me for permission first (I want to hear about how it will be used):
The Triquetra Then & Now:...Did The Father, Son & Holy Ghost Catch That Last Train For The Coast?
~B. Capcara
Design and the Power of Symbol
Truthfully, I'm not very big on the whole 'Christian T Shirt' craze. Unfortunately, there's a lot of schlock out there that seems to be operating on the formula that if you just glitz it up & slap on a Bible text...voila!..instant market. Sadly, too often it's true.
No, it's not at all that I'm ashamed of the Name or approve of being a closet Christian. In fact, I fully endorse the thrust of the reformation that faith is also a public, & not just a private matter. It's just that it
also seems to me that while faith truly shapes who we are, this generally doesn't require special clothing. I could be wrong.
At the same time, I knew that if I ever tried my hand at a Christian faith-
message design, I also hoped I'd do it proper, in a way that was curious to seekers, rather than just preaching to the choir, and most of all true to the poetic subtlety good design should employ. God asks that piles of stones commemorate sacred place where he's intervened on Israel's behalf...Elijah finds God in the still, small voice... Jesus tells us parables...again and again God deals with us in powerfully symbolic, even playful, ways that awaken the imagination. Artfulness breathes of that same air.
I thought I'd found a similarly powerful symbol in a celtic threefold knot called the triquetra (Latin for 'three-cornered'), well known in liturgical Christian traditions as a symbol for the Holy Trinity. It appealed to me in particular, because so precious to Christians is the Trinity. (Some theologians go so far as to say all God's dealings with us in history unfold in a trinitarian fashion. Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck said the essence of Christianity is "that God the Father redeems his created but fallen world through the death of his Son and renews it to a kingdom of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.") Little did I know, when I first released the design, that the triquetra was a hotbed of controversy, between Christians and Pagans, and, still more depressingly, between Christians and other Christians. There would also appear to be some dispute over who"owns" the symbol since pagan and Christian scenarios are both evident. But first some context, by way of history...
The Triquetra THEN: Saint Patrick and the Celts
The origin of the triquetra's use in Christian symbolism quite likely stems from St. Patrick's evangelization of Ireland. Long before his missionary excursion, Patrick knew well the Isle because as a boy of 16 he'd been captured & enslaved to work as a herdsman for the then druidic & pagan Celts. This lasted until his early twenties when he had a dream telling him he could leave by way of the coast. When he followed the dream, walking some 200 miles to the coast,
he met up with some sailors who aided in his escape back to England (you didn't misread...St. Paddy, icon of all things Irish, was actually... a Brit !)
Sometime later, back in the comfort of England, the now adult Patrick has another dream. In it, an Irishman Patrick had known in his captivity comes to him with an armful of letters & Patrick can read the heading on the topmost:"The Voice of the Irish". As he reads just this title he also hears a multitude of voices crying out in unison, "Holy boy, we beg you, come & walk among us once more." For some reason not immediately apparent even to himself, Patrick understands this as a call from God to return & bring the gospel to the Isle. (Now you believing Irish, join the worldwide faithful clan, giving thanks for a man who followed his godly dreams...)
When he does return, after studying for the priesthood, it's as the Island's new bishop. Making Ireland his home, Patrick's growing affection for the Celts was matched only by his certainty that he was there to win the land for Christ. As a missionary, Patrick's style could at times be judged as accommodating-- allowing the pagan bonfires into the celebration of Easter; yet he always seemed to find a way to 're-spin' the indigenous customs and symbols christianly.
The circle he reportedly incorporated in the celtic cross references their sun-worship, though he was quick to point out the superiority of Jesus' illumination: your sun doesn't always shine and also, it will one day perish. This reminds me of Christ's own words that he is the 'light of the world.' Although some confusion may have abounded in the interval, St. Patrick's confidence appears to have been that the newly introduced Christian meanings would overtake the old pagan ones. For the most part, this indeed seems to be what happened.
I wish I could say with certainty that is also exactly what happened with the triquetra. The actual data is scant and history & legend intertwine. The general
pattern of the Celtic Church's appropriating and reinterpreting the pagan symbols makes it seem quite likely to me that the triquetra took this course as well. Prior pagan fondness for triplicities is often credited for the ease with which the growing church took hold of the notion of the Trinity. In it's earliest use, this triple celtic knot may only have been decorative but later pre-Christian pagan meanings attach to the triplicities of mind, body & spirit; earth, sky & sea; and the triple-aspected goddess: maiden, mother & crone, celebrating the three stages of a woman's life. Today these entirely pagan references, presumed to have faded long ago with the rise of the Celtic Church, are reemerging, a most unusual & intriguing part of the triquetra's ongoing story...
The Triquetra NOW: Discerning Shadow & Substance
Just before Christmas, my wife and I & some of us at my church were twisting gold tinsel wires into triquetra shapes to symbolize the Trinity & hang on the nave Christmas tree. I've been a Christian the better part of my life, and most of my aquaintance with this symbol has been in these kinds of church contexts. After my first release of the website, links back to the TriGod product page began to show up in my site stats from people doing image and word searches for 'triquetra'. I suddenly found images of my design keeping company with unfamiliar neighbors like witchcraft shops and sites of New Agey, (sometimes called neopagan) intrigue. A vast amount of these images had associations with a TV series I'd never seen that concluded in 2006 after eight seasons, a show about three 'good' witch sisters called Charmed. It's popularity continues for rerun cult viewer audiences.
'The power of three' with which the show engages viewers seems to be the sisterhood's own ancient magic; I dropped in on one rerun and it appeared to me the triumvirate of witches were clearly the world's new saviors, strengthening goodness and diverting demons eveywhere; they are the 'charmed ones'. As one of the three, the middle in age, is a single mom, I also think the series serves up a not-so-subtle revival of the triquetra's pre-Christian allusion to the triple goddess: maiden, mother and crone.
The show's version of the cover to the Wiccan Book of Shadows also pictures the triquetra symbol. That an exact form of an old pagan reference Christianity long ago replaced should now be rising again in popularity strikes me as more than a bit odd-- I think it's kind of creepy! Yet, in one sense the Pagan revival of this symbol is perfectly legitimate-- both histories exist; the way each respective community, Pagan and Christian, interprets its meaning is where the difference lies. A 'Book of Shadows' association with the triquetra suggests to me this struggle over different meanings really is one of substance and shadows.
As the game of Tag-It over the triquetra goes on, antiquity will naturally mean more to modern-day pagans-- their understanding is that a sort of raw, common-denominator nature religion is at the back of all religions. For them, ambiguity & shadows are preferred to substance; when religious forms become more concrete they move away from the truth. It's quite the reverse for Christians, for whom the historical unfolding of truth, as recorded in scripture, is understood to have been delivered to us by God, rather concretely, so as to lift us out of previous, shadowier notions.
God himself has come in the flesh. Christ is Yahweh's last Word to us; the Reality has appeared, scattering the shadows. Sun worship dissolves in the presence of the true Light of Life. Vague dreams about some raw power of three awaken to the majesty of the real Three In One. One invitation we can make to today's neopagans: come out from the shadows~~it's really quite warm over here!
In our response to what is happening over our symbols with the rise of neopaganism, I think we could all also use a good dose of St. Patrick's confidence. Not condescension or snootiness; I mean quiet confidence. Not a few Christian websites recommend a total divorce from this symbol because of its pagan associations. Reading like tabloid journalism, they are so wildly speculative (the triquetra is a form of '666'--really??) as to be unhelpful to the dialog. Instead of the hysteria, these folks could deal better in the historical data to help other Christians become more confidently conversant with pagans. Getting it right is square one.
For example, use of the triquetra does not involve making a graven image. Highly stylized designs do not rise to the level of literal representation, & at no time have Christians ever reccomended the worship of our symbols. The succinct and accurate liner note given by Christian new metallers P.O.D. for their band's adoption of the triquetra stands up to these unwarranted criticisms. I believe one thing 'flip-out journalism' based in fear does is that it actually gives credence to the other side, making evil seem larger than it is. Don't get me wrong, the devil will always be a menace this side of eternity and whoever dabbles in the occult is foolish. But we've been given the Threefold Name along with our marching orders (Matt. 28: 16-20). Retreat and run is not an option~ Christians too have a longstanding history with the triquetra, so let's claim it right back! ("The Prince of Darkness Grim~ we tremble not for him~ his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him." ~ from Martin Luther's hymn, 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God')
Final Word on The Wordplay
Obviously, I intend a double entendre in the simple 'TriGod' text under the design. On the one hand God's essential triunity is meant; one in essence three in person, as the Trinity is classically described. On the other hand it's an invitation to try him out. It's really aimed at those who sincerely want to know if he's real, not to believers that already know that he is. The warning about not testing God (Deut. 6:16) is directed at the faithful, toward a pouting attitude of the heart that demands more signs, when we've really been given plenty & should know better, namely that God will never abandon us.
But to someone unconvinced, still hesitant to call him Lord, Christ offered his wounds, a visible test of his resurrection. I think he still does...today this can take other various forms~ read the New Testament... talk to a Christian friend... go to church... pray & ask if he'd make himself known to you then see what happens, for starters...TriGod!...
"The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, be with you now, and remain with you always." ( a trinitarian benediction)
About the Author: Bill Capcara, together with his wife Robin, were the protestant college campus ministers at Penn State McKeesport from 1981-83. He & Robin now reside in Pittsburgh, Bill's hometown, with son, Ian, 18 & daughter, Zoe, 14. Bill felt a closeness with St. Patrick's story while doing research for this article, especially the bit about his dreams, as dreams & visions that came to him in the aftermath of his
mom's death in 2001 were his primary impetus for launching this website (..a whole other wild story...). But he'll tell you he's also sure that's where all saintly resemblances begin & end. When not busy with the website, Bill also does home improvements for hire, working as an independent general contractor. Bill's birthday falls in the same week as St. Patrick's Day--this March he'll be turning 50. In the photo he's wearing the TriGod thermal; you can also click on the thumbnail for this shirt on the site homepage at the
Grailforge Unicorn .
~TAG IT AS: trinity, holy, t shirt, trigod, triquetra, charmed, symbol, design, saint patrick, ireland, celts, celtic, jesus, christ, christian, pagan, neopagan
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