Cross

Cross The cross, as a basic design motif, appears in the pottery, weaving, carving, and painting of many cultures. It may be simply decorative, or it may have symbolic meaning. The tau cross, for example, was a symbol of life to the ancient Egyptians; when combined with the circle (as in the crux ansata), it stood for eternity (see Egyptian Art and Architecture). For most ancient peoples the Greek cross was a metaphor for the four indestructible elements of creation (air, earth, fire, and water), thus symbolizing permanence. The swastika, with the ends of its cross bars bent to the right, was common in both the Old World and the New World. It originally represented the revolving sun, fire, or life and later, by extension, good luck. To Buddhists, a swastika represented resignation; to the Jains, it symbolized their seventh saint. To Hindus, a swastika with arms bent to the left symbolized night, magic, and the destructive goddess Kali. In mid-20th-century Germany, the right-facing swastika was the Nazi party emblem (see Buddhism; Jainism; Hinduism; National Socialism). Latin Cross The traditional cross that we recognize and acknowledge for being a cross. The ones you see everywhere you go. The horizontal branch is usually cross, symbol, anchor, swastika, omega, greek, christian, christ, art, alpha, world, life, letters, hope, first, early, architecture, ancient, words, two, symbolized, roman, represented, meaning, later, last, god, found, form, fire, decorative, chi-rho, byzantine, branch, bent, became