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Does the Celtic Cross pre-date Christianity? (History)
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Boreades


In: finity and beyond
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Some people say that the Celtic Cross was adopted by early Christians.

e.g. here
http://www.celticbydesign.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=feature.display&feature_ID=29

and here
http://www.meaningofmandalas.com/celtic-crosses.html

It's 100% clear that early Christians did adopt and re-badge all kinds of things, like saints and special calendar days.

But has anyone noticed any evidence that the Celtic Cross goes further back in time? Or have any older ones been found?
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Jorn



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The answer is yes.

The sun cross, also known as the wheel cross, Odin's cross, or Woden's cross,[1] a cross inside a circle, is a common symbol in artifacts of the Americas, Prehistoric Europe, and also Prehistoric Asia, particularly during the Neolithic to Bronze Age periods.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_cross

I think sun cross is the best name, as it represents the long longest and the shortest day, and the start and stop of winter. It is also called a sun wheel. (hjul=wheel, Jul=Yule, both pronounced Yule)

Before Yule, later also called Krist-messe, it was this cross that was to be painted with tar or cut with a knife, on every house over the doors in Scandinavia.
This is perhaps the longest running tradition we have in Scandinavia, and it is still kept on many farms.

A medieval cross, outside a Stave Church.

That a Stave church has an English name, is a hint that they once stood in England as well.

It is also very common in rock carvings.


One thing I did not know is that it is also called Krets-tegnet (crest-sign) in Danish, and a crest in English also meant a circular path.

The cross is also found on the Oseberg ship, on the so called "Oseberg Buddha"


When used as daymarks in shipping, + was used to mark a safe place to anchor, while x meant danger.
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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+= A meeting point, a crossing, ambush/slaughter place, anchorage.

0= Full Moon....Later Sun.
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Pulp History


In: Wales
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The symbol shown above has a swastika in the quarter panels.... this was chosen by Hitler for its pagan roots and I believe represents the 'rotating / turning sun'.
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Ishmael


In: Toronto
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Rotating sun?
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Pulp History


In: Wales
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Does the sun not rotate?? I am sure it rotates, faster at its equator than its poles as it is gaseous.....
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Ishmael


In: Toronto
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Pulp History wrote:
Does the sun not rotate?? I am sure it rotates, faster at its equator than its poles as it is gaseous.....


A swastika "rotates" around an axis directed toward the viewer. The Sun rotates around an axis perpendicular to the viewer's line of sight. Moreover, the Sun's rotation was certainly unknown until modern times.
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Pulp History


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Not saying where I got this from - I just remember reading somewhere that the swastika represented the rotating sun.... but, yes, you are correct on the axis of the sun :)
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Chad


In: Ramsbottom
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I distinctly remember staring at the sun through squinty eyes and getting the illusion of a rotating disk... Don't think I was on anything at the time.
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Free-Radical



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As I recall, the swastika is supposed to represent the action of the pole. Look at the northern sky, especially the constellations around the pole. The dipper is currently whirling around the pole in a reasonable approximation of one arm of a swastika. In other eras some of the other constellations like Draco may have provided similar imagery.

Image supplied by Wikipedia:


Edit: Sorry for not being clear. This image shows the path of the pole over thousands of years due to precession. The center of the image is not the pole, but the center of the circle traced by the pole. The actual pole is currently very close to the star now called Polaris at the end of the little dipper (the numbers on the image stand for the date).
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Hatty
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In: Berkshire
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Lovely image but the arm doesn't appear to be anywhere near the pole star :)
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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The swastika is the early version of the cross.
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Boreades


In: finity and beyond
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Here's a curiosity, 'Greek' crosses in West Cornwall.

http://ancient-cornwall.wikidot.com/greek-crosses-west

Does anyone know Chris Bond?

What are all these little people on the stones?

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