An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present - Doreen Valiente 2018

X—the Sign of the Cross

The sign of the cross, although generally regarded as the emblem of Christianity, is in reality much older. Its significance as a religious symbol goes back far into prehistoric times.

Being so ancient, the cross has acquired a variety of forms. There is the Latin Cross, the form usually seen on the altars of Christian churches; the Greek Cross or equal-armed cross; the St. Andrew’s Cross or X-shaped cross; the Swastika or Fylfot Cross; the Tau or T-shaped cross; the Crux Ansata or looped cross; and the Celtic or wheel-shaped cross. There are also local variations of these, such as the Cross of Lorraine or three-barred cross; the Russian Cross, which is the same as the Latin but with a third slanting bar on the lower part; and the Maltese Cross, which is equal-armed but with bifurcated ends to the arms.

Of these many varieties of crosses, the simplest forms are most probably the oldest. Certainly the equal-armed cross, the Tau Cross, the wheel cross, the Fylfot Cross, and the looped cross, can all be traced back to times of great antiquity. They have always been regarded as sacred and fortunate symbols. Even the Latin Cross has been found plainly represented on the pre-Columbian monuments of Central America, notably at Palenque.

There is therefore evidence that the idea of the sign of the cross serving to keep away evil is common to both Christian and pagan. Hence the idea so beloved of sensational thriller writers, that witches abhor and fear the sign of the cross, is without foundation.

In fact, in Minoan Crete the worshippers of the Great Mother adorned the goddess’s altars with an equal-armed cross. When Sir Arthur Evans uncovered the buried splendours of the Cretan city of Knossos, he found many examples of the cross. He used one of them, a beautiful equal-armed cross of marble, as the centrepiece in a reconstruction he made of an altar to the Minoan Mother Goddess. On either side of the cross, in a photograph of this reconstruction, are two figurines of the goddess, bare-breasted but otherwise in the elaborate dress of Minoan ladies. There are also cups for libations of wine; hollowed blocks of stone to receive offerings, or perhaps to burn incense; and an ornamentaion of a great many sea shells and some phallic-shaped objects, representing the powers of male and female.

This is the essential significance of the equal-armed cross. It represents the union of the two great complementary forces which by their interplay bring forth the manifested universe. The upright bar of the cross represents the male, and it interpenetrates the horizontal bar which represents the female.

In Chinese philosophy, these principles are called the Yang (masculine) and the Yin (feminine). The Yang is a single bar, the Yin a divided bar; so that if one were placed across the other, the figure of the equal-armed cross would appear.

In Ancient Egypt, the looped Cross, or Crux Ansata, was the Key of Life, and the symbol of immortality. The Egyptian name for it was the ’Ankh’. It repeats the idea of the union of masculine and feminine in another form; because the Ankh consists of a T-shape, with a loop or O-shape above it. The T-shape represents the masculine principle, and the loop the feminine.

The Fylfot Cross or Swastika has in recent years been besmirched by its association with Hitler and his Nazis. This is a pity, because its origins are so ancient as to make it one of the most widespread and venerable religious signs. Forms of it are found in Ancient Mexico, among the American Indians, in China, in Tibet, in Ancient Crete, in the prehistoric civilisations of the Mediterranean area and among our Scandinavian ancestors. It was the latter who called it the Fylfot, or Hammer of Thor. ’Swastika’ is actually the Sanskrit name for it; and it has been the sign of light and beneficence in the East for thousands of years. Some occultists believe that Hitler brought destruction upon himself by appropriating and desecrating an emblem so potent and venerated.

The Rev. S. Baring-Gould, M.A., who should be a reliable authority upon ecclesiastical matters, tells us in his Curious Myths of the Middle Ages (London, 1869), that the Fylfot, or Hammer of Thor, found its way into a good many English churches, as a mark upon the church bells. The reason is that church bells used to be thought to dispel storms when they were rung. Hence they were marked with the sign of Thor, the god of thunder, who had authority over the powers of the air. This is yet another instance of the way in which Christian and pagan beliefs and customs continued side by side long after this country was officially Christian.

The Fylfot Cross is found in those parts of England where the Norse immigrants settled; particularly in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Baring-Gould states that this sign was found upon church bells in Appleby, Scotherne, Waddingham, Bishop’s Norton, West Barkwith, Hathersage, Mexborough “and many more”.

The wheel cross, or Celtic Cross, of which a number of very old and beautiful examples are to be found in Cornwall, is definitely pre-Christian. The coins of ancient Gaul had an equal-armed cross on them; in fact, actual little wheel-crosses have been found in Gallic territory, and presumed to be a very early type of coinage. Celtic jewellery, too, sometimes shows this basic design, of the equal-armed cross in the circle.

The wheel cross, like the Swastika, has also been found upon pre-historic remains in Mexico. The world-wide distribution of such emblems, across sea and continents, has led students of ancient traditions to suspect that their real place of origin is the lost civilisation of Atlantis, or the even more remote and shadowy realm of Lemuria, or Mu.

The equal-armed cross has another hidden meaning. It not only represents the union of masculine and feminine forces; it also symbolises the Four Cardinal Points, the Four Winds, and the Four Elements. The point of union at the centre is the hidden Fifth Element, the Quintessence, or Spirit.

The equal-armed cross, when it is surrounded with a circle to make it the wheel cross, or Celtic Cross, thus shows the representation of the manifested universe surrounded by the circle of infinity and eternity. The wheel cross is also called the rose cross, and may be the real emblem of that mysterious occult brotherhood, the Rosicrucians. It was the badge of the Grand Master of the Knights Templars.

The cross is therefore a sign common to both pagan and Christian, and its meaning is much older and grander than merely that of a Roman instrument of execution.