Calvary Cross

The term "Calvary" derives from the Latin "Calvaria," meaning "skull," referring to the site of Christ's crucifixion outside Jerusalem. The cross itself, particularly the form with four smaller crosses, is often linked to the Jerusalem Cross, a historical symbol of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.

This form of cross does not date from Christianity. It was known and used for mystical purposes, thousands of years before our era. It formed part and parcel of the various Rituals, in Egypt and Greece, in Babylon and India, as well as in China, Mexico, and Peru. It is a cosmic, as well as a physiological (or phallic) symbol. That it existed among all the "heathen'' nations is testified to by Tertullian. "How doth the Athenian Minerva differ from the body of a cro.ss?" he queries. "The origin of your gods is derived from figures moulded on a cross. All those rows of images on your standards are the appendages of crosses; those hangings on your banners are the robes of crosses." And the fiery champion was right. The tau or T is the most ancient of all forms, and the cross or the tat (q.v.) as ancient. The crux ansata, the cross with a handle, is in the hands of almost every god, including Baal and the Pluenician Asfarte. The croix eramponuiv is the Indian

Blavatsky's assertion that the Calvary Cross, or its conceptual precursors, existed millennia before Christ's birth is a bold claim, yet one that resonates with the findings of comparative mythology and religious studies. Mircea Eliade, in his exploration of the sacred and the profane, often highlighted how certain symbols possess a primal power, appearing independently across disparate cultures because they tap into fundamental human experiences of order, duality, and the intersection of the divine and the earthly. The cross, in its most basic form, is a powerful representation of intersection, of the vertical axis connecting heaven and earth, and the horizontal axis representing the breadth of human experience.

The "tau" or T-shaped cross, as Blavatsky notes, is indeed one of the most ancient symbolic forms, appearing in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Mesopotamian iconography. The crux ansata, the Ankh, is a clear example, signifying life itself, a potent symbol of divine breath and immortality. Its presence in the hands of deities across the ancient Near East suggests its role as a key to understanding cosmic powers and divine authority. When we consider the Calvary Cross, with its four smaller crosses, we see an elaboration of this fundamental form. It can be interpreted as the spread of the Christian message to the four corners of the earth, or as the wounds of Christ, a visceral representation of his suffering. However, viewed through a broader lens, it also speaks to a symbolic geometry of cosmic division and integration, a pattern that can be found in mandalas and other cosmological diagrams across various traditions. Carl Jung’s concept of the archetype of wholeness, often symbolized by the circle and the cross, speaks to this innate human drive to find order and meaning in the universe through symbolic representation. The Calvary Cross, in its layered symbolism, invites us to see beyond its Christian signification and recognize its resonance with ancient patterns of cosmic understanding.