At night one can see this cross from far off, and it deserves to
have a cache close by. I've done some research on the history of
the symbol and the meaning of the cross.
What is the origin of the cross?
The cross was not widely used in mainstream Christianity until the
time of the Roman emperor Constantine—about 300 years after Christ
established His Church.
According to the book Babylon Mystery Religion, the cross
originated among the ancient Babylonians of Chaldea. From there, it
spread to ancient China, India, Mexico, parts of Africa and other
places, centuries before Christianity was born.
Notice: “Ages ago in Italy, before the people knew anything of
the arts of civilization, they believed in the cross as a religious
symbol. It was regarded as a protector and was placed upon tombs.
In 46 B.C., Roman coins show Jupiter holding a long scepter
terminating in a cross. The Vestal Virgins of pagan Rome wore the
cross suspended from their necklaces, as the nuns of the Roman
Catholic church do now” (p. 51).
According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New
Testament Words, the shape of the cross “had its origin in ancient
Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the
shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country
and in adjacent lands, including Egypt.
“By the middle of the third century A.D. the churches had either
departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the
Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate
ecclesiastical system, pagans were received into the churches…and
were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols.
Hence, the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the
cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ”
(p. 256).
Also notice what the Davis Dictionary of the Bible states about
the origin of the cross: “The pre-Christian cross of one form or
another was in use as a sacred symbol among the Chaldeans, the
Phoenicians, the Eqyptians, and many other…nations. The Spaniards
in the 16th century found it also among the Indians of Mexico and
Peru. But its symbolic teaching was quite different from that which
we now associate the cross” (p. 159).
Numerous other sects of India, also used the sign of the cross
as a mark on their followers' heads. "The cross thus widely
worshipped, or regarded as a 'sacred emblem', was the unequivocal
symbol of Bacchus, the Babylonian Messiah, for he was represented
with a head-band covered with crosses. "It was also the symbol of
Jupiter Foederis in Rome.103 Furthermore, we read of the cross on
top of the temple of Serapis,104 the Sun-deity of Alexandria.
The pagan cross symbol was “Christianized” into mainstream
Christianity.
This is Tammuz, whom the Greeks called Bacchus, with the crosses
on his head-band. After Constantine had the "vision of the cross",
he and his army promoted another variety of the cross, the Chi-Rho
or Labarum or sometimes . This has subsequently been explained as
representing the first letters of the name Christos, the being the
Greek for "Ch" and the being the Greek for "r". but again, this
emblem had a pagan origin. The identical symbols were found as
inscriptions on a rock, dating from the year ca. 2 500 B.C., being
interpreted as "a combination of two Sun-symbols", as the Ax or
Hammer-symbol of the Sun- or Sky-deity, and the or as the ancient
symbol of the Sun, both of these signs having a sensual or
fertility meaning as well.
THE EGYPTIAN CROSS OR ANKH
The ‘ankh’ is an ancient egyptian hieroglyph representing life and
regeneration. Called also ‘crux ansata’ which means cross with a
handle. It was adopted by the gnostics and the copts as the
symbolic representation of both physical and eternal life. The top
loop symbolises the sun on the horizon. Amulets and mirrors were
often made in the shape of an ankh. A modified version of the ankh
symbol is used in astrology to represent the planet venus, in
alchemy to represent the element copper,and in biology to identify
the female sex.
THE COPTIC CROSS
The coptic alphabet is variant of the greek alphabet containing a
number of extra letters which come from the egyptian script. The
coptic alphabet came into being during the 1-3rd century BC after
the greek conquest of egypt and the subsequent spread of the
indigenous form of christianity (coptic orthodox christianity).
According to tradition, the apostle Mark established in egypt in
the middle of the first century CE (approximately 60 AD). Coptic
crosses reflect a number of historic influences including greek,
latin, egyptian, and celtic design elements.
CHI-RHO CROSS it is composed of the greek
letters ‘chi’ (which looks like an english ‘X’ and sounds like a
‘ch’) and rho (which looks like an english capital ‘P’ and sounds
like an ‘r’). These two greek letters are the first two letters in
the greek word ‘christos’. as a pre-christian symbol, the chi-ro
signified good fortune. It became an important christian symbol
when adopted by the roman emperor Constantine, in the fourth
century. This style of cross is nearly identical to the pagan
symbol for the sun and constantine was a sunworshipper before and
after he was converted to christianity. He made the cross the
standard of his armies. When christianity later became the state
religion of the roman empire, the cross became the symbol of the
church.
THE PAPAL CROSS this cross is the official
emblem of the papal office. It may be used by none other than the
pope himself. The three bars represent the pope's three realms of
authority: the church, the world and heaven.
From the parking spot proceed N on the little street that looks
like a driveway, at the end there is a path that goes left and than
up. If you know of any other access to this location please let me
know. One might be able to approach the cache from the northern
side as well. (From the Kolonade).
Glider Slider supplied the cache box and its
contents.
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FTF honours |
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