As well many of us westerners know, the cross is a sacred symbol among Christians and inherent to young individuals trying to find a tattoo design with meaning. A cross tends to be the default for many individuals just starting their collections, however there has been a gap in communication to the mass populous on religious tattoos.
The upside down Latin cross: (see image A)
Image A
This cross has been taken by pop culture (and the masses) as the satanic cross for simple reasons. People have commonly thought that since this cross is inverted, it represents the inversion or opposite of Christ. That is however not the case. Though reasonable as this thought may be it is incorrect and actually quite the contrary. The inverted cross is still and actually a popular Christian symbol as it represents the death of St. Peter. St. Peter also known as Simon Peter was the first "pope" of the Catholic Church. St Peter was martyred in 65-66 AD. When he was crucified, he pleaded that he be crucified upside down as he did believe himself worthy to be killed like that of Jesus, his Lord. (See image B). There are many speculations as to how he had finished dying as suffocation for crucifixion was typically the fatal consequence however as St. Peter was inverted, suffocation took longer. Some speculate that he was burned on the second day but did not die and then finally beheaded on his cross on the third day.
Even so, the inverted cross represents a dark martyrdom but is not related to the true satanic symbol. The real satanic cross is represented below: (see image C)
The Satanic Cross is a variationof the alchemical symbol for sulfur that represents fire and brimstone. The sulfur symbol was placed above the Nine Satanic Statements in the Satanic Bible in LaVeyan Satanism, and is commonly used in rituals performed by Theistic Satanists. It can also be interpreted as a combination of the Lorraine cross and the mathematical symbol for infinity, or a phallic re-imagining of the cross, with the infinity symbol representing a scrotum. It is often interpreted as a symbol of Satanism, because LaVey adopted it from the Cross o Lorraine or even the Patriarchal cross, which is also a symbol of Christianity and Hermeticism. Hermetic alchemists of the Renaissance used the emblem as a symbol of earth and spirit by combining the square earth cross with the cross of Christ. When drawn symmetrically, it symbolized the hermetic maxim, "As above, so below".
Ergo a simple inverted cross has no significance as a satanic symbol and in fact is used by the papacy as a symbol for the Pope, referencing St. Peter.
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