Meanings of tattoos

Cross tattoo meaning

Values: immortality, life, honor, knowledge, memory

Today, the cross is one of the most ancient, interesting and universal symbols for a tattoo. The cross, the meaning of the tattoo of which is completely different, is present in the tattoo from ancient times to the present, it is used in the cultures and religions of many peoples around the world.

The image of the cross appeared in the world long before the written word. The most ancient crosses were created in Neolithic Europe, like rock paintings and petroglyphs. Similar images have also been found in Asia, Africa and America. Most often, the cross was depicted in a circle, and it was a symbol of the unification of opposites, a representation of the rising and setting of the sun, the changing of the seasons. Since the symbol of the cross has been used all over the world, it is not surprising that many different meanings and meanings have been assigned to it.

The cross (from the Latin “essence”) was called an instrument for torture, on which those condemned to death were crucified. But after the suffering death on the cross of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the founder of the Catholic Apostolic Church in the first century AD, the cross became the emblem and the main symbol of the religion of Christianity. He always reminds Christians of God, of his feat in atonement for human sins. He is a symbol of suffering, uniting heaven and earth, the tree of life that every person has to live. Another symbol of fate – a personal spiritual crossthat every person carries through life.

In addition to the emblem of the religion of Christianity, the cross is also ancient, universal symbol of the Cosmos… These two crossed lines can symbolize the four cardinal points, the four phases of the moon (as in ancient Babylon) or the elements of nature, or the four main elements of the universe (In Syria). The intersection of these lines can still be interpreted as a symbol of the intersection of the father and mother of all living things on earth. And the point of their intersection is the point of birth of life.

In Chinese culture, the cross was considered a staircase to heaven., and depicted in a square, he was a symbol of the earth. In Mexico, he was an attribute of the gods of wind and rain; Aztec images of crucifixes are also known.

The famous Celtic cross, woven from the knots and threads of life, has always been depicted in the solar circle and symbolized the cyclical nature, isolation and unity of the world, as well as the unification of all the elements and forces of nature in a single whole. He was also a symbol of constant spiritual development and improvement.

And already in the twentieth century in Germany he became a symbol of Nazism and later neo-Nazism around the world… In Africa, the symbolism of the cross is associated with patronage and protection, unity, destiny and supreme power. The Greek cross, equal in all four directions, was recognized as a symbol of the “red cross” three thousand years ago. The Egyptian cross with a noose is considered a symbol of immortality, sometimes understood as the key to divine knowledge.

The cross was very often used in medieval Europe, especially during the crusades, it was a symbol of honor and strength for the knights of the Teutonic order and the Templars.

Today there are many options for the image of the cross, and each of them has a deep history and its own value. Cross tattoo, that’s why they are so varied and interesting.

And the Christian funeral tradition has given us another meaning of the cross tattoo. A cross on an arm or shoulder, a grave cross with an inscription often serves as a reminder of a lost loved one.

As you can see, the cross is a universal polysemantic symbol, which in a tattoo can have huge rich meanings and purposes. It combines paganism, Christianity, Hinduism and many other cultural and religious traditions of the world.

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