Saturday, July 30, 2005

Harmony: Latin Cross

With the Cross, I come to the end (or perhaps the beginning or perhaps even the middle) of my cycle, where it stands between the Ankh (or crux ansata) and the Star of David.

The link from the cross to the star was perhaps best articulated by Pope John Paul II when he described the Jews as, "our cousins, our elder brothers, the roots of our faith".

The most well known cross is the Latin cross, which to Christians, represents the cross of Christ's crucifixion. When shown with the image of Christ, it is called a crucifix.

Interestingly, the cross of Christianity was a later symbol of the faith, replacing the lamb, fish, alpha/omega, and phoenix as emblems.

The original Christian cross, today called the Greek cross, is shaped like an X. It was an abbreviation of the name 'Christ,' not a representation of the cross of the crucifixion.

I have read that the Latin cross came into favor later, when the wife of Constantine, Empress Helena, claimed to have discovered the 'true cross' of the crucifixion.

No comments: