The triquetra is a set of three interwoven arcs with their tips or corners touching. It’s sometimes called a trinity knot, and is often crafted with a circle intertwining the arcs. This symbol has roots among the Celtics and Druids. But like many pagan concepts, Christians adapted it in the early conversion days. So let’s explore today’s triquetra spiritual meaning.
Triquetra Spiritual Meanings
1. Eternity, Infinity, Interconnection
The design of the triquetra or trinity knot has no beginning or end. Its three points are equal so any can be at the top. And if you turn the symbol, none of the three corners are dominant. Their beauty and power are equitable. This is why the triquetra is a symbol of eternity and the never-ending capacity of infinity. It’s an especially potent signal regarding parallel planes.
For those who believe in reincarnation and multiple dimensions, the trinity knot embodies the endless intertwined nature of all existence. Beings traverse and transition between these moments in time, and the triquetra can be a portal for communication and travel. This could be why it’s a popular totem for Wiccans. One popular example is on the TV show, Charmed.
2. Beginning, Middle, End
We’ve just defined trinity knots as having no start or finish. But this symbol could be the best definition of every possible process. Whether it’s a storyline, a movie plot, an experiment, a song, or a task, everything has an entry point, a mid-section, and completion, with lots of hills and valleys in between. These climaxes could be seen as the connectors in the three arcs.
In this way, the triquetra resembles every pattern and cycle in existence. It also symbolizes the eternal nature of hope. You can join the triquetra at any point and work your way around it forever since it never ends. And you may go over the same curves and repeat the scenarios, going through the corners, shifting your perspective, and getting stronger through each pass.
3. Past, Present, Future
Science fiction has a keen interest in time travel, and lots of the theories revolve around Einstein’s relativity and the space-time paradigm. At the other extreme, you’ll find the philosophy that is now clichéd quote. ‘Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present.’ Or ‘every day is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.’
Either way, the endless pattern of the triquetra can define our view of the world as the past, the present, and the future. In some spaces, this trinity knot can be a mindfulness tool. After all, anxiety is sometimes defined as fear of failing in the future while depression can be fear of repeating past mistakes. The triquetra can be a grounding tool to stay within the moment.
4. Birth, Life, Death
You may have heard the riddle of a creature that has four legs at sunrise, two legs at noon, and three legs at sunset. The answer is a baby that crawls on its hands and knees, an adult that walks upright, and a senior that walks with a cane. It’s a similar concept to the triquetra symbolizing birth, life, and death, which is the cycle of our mortal existence on this plane.
It’s the one truth we can’t deny, it’s eternal, and it’s the ultimate equalizer. No matter who you are, how much wealth or power you attain, or what you achieve in this dimension, we are all born, we live our lives, and if we’re lucky, we die after 80 to 100 years. The symbol shows the circle of time and can be used to give people perspective when they feel self-important.
5. Love, Honour, Protect
The triquetra is a popular symbol for wedding rings, especially the Claddagh. Sometimes called an Irish wedding ring due to its Celtic origins, it shows two hands holding a heart that’s wearing a crown. The band typically has trinity knots carved on it. The rings are a sign of friendship, love, and loyalty represented by the hands, the heart, and the crown respectively.
When it’s used as a wedding ring, it reinforces the wedding vows, where the couple promises to love, honor, and protect each other. Sometimes, the vows are altered slightly in Christian weddings, where the groom is asked to love, honor, and protect while the bride is ordered to love, honor, and obey, reflecting the patriarchal perspective of many Christian churches.
6. Maiden, Mother, Crone
While many modern religions are patriarchal, indigenous ones could often be matriarchal. This is because women were – and are – considered to be stereotypically softer and more emotional, which makes it easier for them to believe in (and connect with) ethereal forces and nature spirits. Also, the ability of women to bring forth new life is a powerful totem.
In such religions, the triquetra represents the Triple Goddess, identified as the maiden, the mother, and the crone. The maiden is the young virgin, the mother has borne children, and the crone is old, wise, and sometimes malicious. These simultaneous states of goddesshood are shown in the never-ending, never-breaking pattern of the triquetra. It’s an eternal cycle.
7. Father, Son, Holy Spirit
As we mentioned earlier, one of the key tenets of Christianity is conversion. A large part of its identity involves ministry i.e. bringing the gospel to those who don’t know God. A common tool is to visit communities that are unfamiliar with the faith and offer them service in the form of education, medical care, and compassion before teaching them about Jesus and God.
Right from the start, Christians would study local religions and draw parallels with their own faith, sometimes transmuting local deities and rituals into Christian ones. Hence, Osiris from Ancient Egypt is often compared to Jesus, and the Spring Festival of Ancient Germany is tied to Easter. Similarly, the triquetra spiritual meaning was co-opted to mark the Holy Trinity.
8. Land, Sea, Sky
While we’re on the subject of indigenous religion, a lot of it was drawn from nature. Cultures observed the world around them and built a belief system that aligned with their lifestyles. It makes sense religion is often a social and political structure as well as a spiritual one. In this context, the triquetra stands in for the most dominant elements around – land, sea, and sky.
Fire is often considered a fourth element, but in a way, fire is man-made while the others are pre-existing. Also, fire can be extinguished while the other three elements are eternal so it’s typically left out of this trinity. The three elements are also described as air, water, and earth. Many of those traditional religions believed the earth was flat, so these three went on forever.
9. Mind, Body, Spirit
There’s an interesting conundrum between science and faith. As Arthur C. Clarke once said, magic is just science that we don’t understand yet. And many scientists dismiss religion for this reason. But in practical terms, science can often explain the how, but not the why. It can show us how stars and planets are formed, but can’t tell us who triggered that first Big Bang.
Similarly, while science can identify the body and the brain, it can’t tell us what a spirit or soul is, and where it lives in human beings. It categorizes emotions, thoughts, and physical activities but can’t quite wrap itself around the spiritual aspect of human nature. A trinity knot can’t really express it either, but it’s often a symbol for the fused mind, body, and soul.
10. The Power of Three
Earlier, we mentioned the TV show Charmed, where the triquetra is a family emblem for the Power of Three. It’s a totem for the Halliwell sisters in the original 1998 to 2003 and the Vera-Vaughns in the 2018 to 2022 reboot. The sisters were destined as the most powerful good witches of all time. But the triquetra can generally signify the universal power of triples.
We’ve already looked at several examples so far, but let’s list a few more to reinforce how this pattern occurs. Solid, liquid, gas. Heaven, earth, hell. Father, mother, child. Preserve, create, destroy. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Positive, negative, neutral. Plant, animal, mineral. Based on all these examples, you can deduce that three is powerful for manifestation and mnemonics.
11. Balance and Unity
Some say this triquetra spiritual meaning is a stretch because it seems derivative. But it still has significance so it’s important to point it out. In the art world, white is considered a mix of all colors because white light can be refracted through a prism to form a rainbow. This is often reduced to the three primary colors, red, white, and blue, with white in the middle.
Similarly, the intuitive figure of a meditating Buddha is sometimes framed inside a triquetra with the head at the top and the knees on either side. This Buddha is in the lotus position and his hands are in various mudras. Both the white lights and the lotus pose are seen as symbols of balance, so the triquetra here embodies unity and Brahma, where everything comes together.
