For the average Pagan and perhaps even some Christians, it would be a surprise to find out that in many places in the world the Celtic Cross is not seen as an ancient, powerful symbol, but instead as a negative, ‘evil’ symbol that represents the worst of the white supremacist. The Celtic Cross is an equal-armed cross with its intersection being surrounded by a circle. This symbol once spanned many cultures and religions, being used by Christians and Pagans alike. However, despite its ancient and long history, the Celtic Cross has become twisted and corrupted in the majority of the world, and is now actually banned in more than one country. The Celtic Cross originally came from Ireland, though it did not take long before it expanded to the rest of the Celtic world. In ancient, pagan times, the Celtic Cross represented the sun, with each of its four arms dividing up the seasons. However, as St. Patrick began converting the Irish Pagans, he adopted the Celtic Cross and elongated one of the arms to make …show more content…
it appear more like the Christian Cross. In this way, he used the symbol to attract more Pagans to the church. In the eighth century, the tradition of ‘high crosses’, that is stone crosses, began to spread across Ireland and eventually Britain. This high crosses were almost always Celtic Crosses, and were used for monuments, grave stones, and simple decoration. Sometimes, these high crosses are engraved with Ogham or Old English and used to tell stories. The most famous of these ‘high crosses’ is easily the Ruthwell cross. Which takes the form of a Celtic Cross, and is engraved throughout its frame with Old English. Once translated, the engravings on the Ruthwell cross tell the story of Christ and the cross on which he was crucified. Many scholars speculate that this particular cross was used as a teaching tool by Christians Priest to help educate the Pagans on the Bible. Despite its heavy use in the past, today the Celtic Cross sees less use, mostly because of its adoption by white supremacist. In the early 1990s, a white supremacist website opened called “Stormfront”, which used the Celtic Cross as its logo. This almost instantly caused the Celtic Cross to be adopted by many white supremacist groups and create much resentment within the general population. Only to make things worse, the Celtic Cross was also adopted by a prohibited political party in Germany. This then led to the symbol being banned in Germany, unless of course, it is being used in a religious manner. This symbol is also the trademark of an infamous American serial killer – the Zodiac Killer. He/she used it to sign letters that they sent to various newspapers, which caused the media to adopt the symbol as his/her general emblem. Still, the symbol continues to be used by various Pagan and Christian groups today, and can be a perfect symbol for many modern pagans to use in their practice.
Though the original meaning of the Celtic Cross is largely debated, it is used most widely within the modern Pagan community as a symbol of the sun, as many believe the circle around it represents. It can also be used as a symbol of the Wheel of the Year, with each of its arms representing the divide of the season. Alternatively, it could be given the completely opposite meaning and be used as a symbol of the Moon, though this is not widespread within the Pagan community. Some pagans argue the cross portion of the symbol is meant to be phallic in nature, and the circle a womb. With this interpretation, the symbol would clearly be a symbol of fertility. Whether you chose to use the symbol as a one of the above interpretations, all of them, or one of your own, the Celtic Cross continues to be a powerful
symbol. Despite all the misunderstanding by the modern population, the Celtic Cross remains a powerful symbol in many Pagan traditions. It is important, at this point, to begin to spread the truth about the Celtic Cross once more, in the hopes that one day its correct, well-meaning symbolism will outweigh the negativity it has been mistakenly associated with. As Pagans, it is our duty to spread the truth about this symbol and to encourage its widespread use once again. It is not a symbol of negativity and racism. Instead, it is a symbol of life. It is important for us to spread this knowledge so that the Celtic Cross is not lost in history.
The increase of wealth during the twelfth century allowed artists to showcase their talents in churches. The apse titled Christ in Majesty with Symbols of the Four Evangelists in the church of Santa Maria de Mur displays the representation of divinity through its subject matter, technique, and style. In the apse, the main subjects revolve around scenes from the Old and New Testament with Christ as the focal point. For technique, the artist employed fresco painting instead of mosaics to show the images. The style of the apse avoids a sense of realism by hiding the bodies of the figures in the drapery and using the hierarchy of scale.
The growing practice of Neo-Paganism in America has caused many to turn their heads. The misunderstanding of the religion has caused many to equate the practitioners with the popular conception of typical "witches," that perform black magic rituals, satanic sacrifices, and engage in devil-inspired orgies. After many years, the Neo-Pagan community has cleared up many misconceptions through the showing that many of them do not engage in activities, and are rather participating in a religion, just as those would that participate in a Christian community. It's unacceptance continues, perhaps due to its non-conformity to the ideal of worshipping a Christian God. Through the use of ethnography, anthropologists and sociologists are able to present the public with a much different view than what we are bombarded with in popular media.
The Raising of the Cross is one in a series of paintings based on the crucifixion of Christ by Peter Paul Rubens. This piece was painted between 1609 and 1610 with oil on canvas in life size with the centerpiece of the triptych measuring 15’2” by 11’2”. It is now displayed in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium (Dunton, 164). Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist that painted in Baroque style, his paintings were mostly of religious and mythical origin and his skill in such has been highly regarded in his lifetime and since. (www.peterpaulrubens.com) Born June 28, 1577, Rubens development as a painter, apparently, started early. After his father’s death and his family moving to Antwerp he decided he wished to be a painter and “In 1598, at the age of 21, he was accorded the rank of master painter of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke” (CSU Eastbay article).
Patrick was a Christian priest whose job it was to convert the population of Ireland to Christianity. The Druids, however, stood in his way. The Druids were very important people in Ireland at that time, and their symbol was the Snake of Wisdom. Druids could be priests of the old religion of Ireland, but there were also much more.
...ion by his own works. We can take this symbol to show the story of Jesus and how He is the only way to removing our imperfections. Imperfect humans should not rely on themselves to eliminate flaws in their life. Christ is the one to go to for help in life. Sin’s presence keeps us from God and we cannot free ourselves from its penalty alone. Although multiple meanings can come from the birthmark symbol, sin is the most influential meaning because of the application it has to life. Symbols provide great meaning to a story and this symbol of sin is what Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to convey through his literary work.
Another symbol is the Pallas. . It seemed that the bird had a purpose for
...ny Christian who “let his hair grow in barbarian fashion.” The connection between barbarism and the deviation from true Christianity shown by this evidence clearly illustrates that as the medieval period went on, communities began to conceive themselves by asserting their religious superiority over the paganism that they saw from the barbarian ‘other’. Although it would be foolish to wholeheartedly accept the reliability of these medieval sources, as they only reflect the view of the Church, who by nature would have branded pagans and heretics as a barbarian ‘other’, given the importance of religion to the people of the medieval period, it is most probable that the views of the Church would have become engrained in the minds of the population. Because of this, European populations came to define themselves as superior against the religious deviance of the ‘other’
symbol of a group of serious people who were all guilty of the same idolatry and could be dismissed with the same
An Evening with the Pagans~ A brief history of paganism~ Over 25,000 years ago, our ancestors across the continent practiced an ancient form of religion known as paganism. During the Neolithic and Paleolithic time era, our ancestors were in awe of the great manifestations of nature. Due to lack of scientific thought, they were riddled with ignorance and superstition. Everything had a supernatural explanation.
Avery had once thought that taking up the cross was a vehicle that religious fanatics drove to church. But now that she had a synergistic blending of the meanings of symbols and the flow of life, she found herself with a hint of enlightenment. Once she understood that the cross is a simple symbol that represents the way, she finally had a glimpse of this light. Her evolution so far had been painful and rushed, only thirty years, and now she was back where she had started, a childlike place of love and forgiveness. She realized that the tiny seed she had always been would continue to thrive through trials and flourish eternally as the love of the universe. She was sure that she would forget her part again and again, but occasionally hope would remind her of her purpose and she would find the way.
The list of irish symbols that i will tell you about include: The Harp, The Claddagh Ring, The Celtic Tree Of Life, The Shamrock and The
...ymbols that represent luck are HOLD FAST, this reminds you to hold on to the lines fast when the ship encounters bad weather, a pig and a rooster, this is tattooed on the feet or behind the ankles and represent survival of a shipwreck due to both animals usually being kept on board in wooden crates, the crates would float and wash up on shore after the ship has sunk, twin propellers, these would be tattooed on the sailors butt cheeks and are said to propel you ashore if you are drowning, a swallow, this represents always being able to find your way home and finally a nautical star, this serves as a guide back hope and represents the North Star. These symbols are now not only sported by sailors, many people choose to get these symbols tattooed on them even though they have no link to the sea, tattoo culture is more about the design nowadays and less about symbolism.
The wolf is the symbol of the Rome. Therefore, his edicts were proclamations from the deities worshiped by the Romans. In addition, there is the Owl, the symbol of Athena, used as a way of showing the Grecians’ acceptance of Hadrian. The two eagles (Jupiter, the main god of the Romans) represent two wing victories that mean he always wins and he is a hero. The snake above the wolf represents Hygieia, showing that Hadrian was a person who was conscious of his health.
..., a symbol of the gods or as a being able to travel between the spiritual world and the mortal world. In addition, cultures used the eagle as a symbol of their power as an empire and to represent their conquests over their enemies. Finally, many cultures used the eagle as an omen of forthcoming victory or as an omen of a good King. For many years following the medieval period, the symbol of the eagle continued to be a symbol for these ideas and countries still use the eagle today to portray them.
One of the things that often draw new people to Wicca and other Pagan religions is Love spells. There's a lot of discussion within the Pagan community about the ethics of casting a love spell on someone. I mean, if you're performing magick on someone without their knowledge, aren't you messing with their free will?