Egyptian cross: from Osiris to the ready

Human life passes in the world of symbols. They accompany us from embroidered wreaths to the cross and a candle on the grave. Emblems and signs are present in our holidays and traditions, in art and religion. The first symbols were known to ancient civilizations, but today their significance can not be overestimated.

The religion of the ancient Egyptians was a complex branched system of deities that could be embodied in different forms. The Egyptian symbols are also not so simple, as it seems to sellers of souvenirs. In the article we will dwell in more detail on one of the most important signs of ancient civilization.

Egyptian Cross

The basis of religious views of the inhabitants of ancient Egypt was the belief in victory over death, resurrection and rebirth for eternal life. To indicate the divine truths, the priests used special images. The symbol of eternal life, immortality became the hieroglyph Ankh - the Egyptian cross.

It should be noted that Egyptologists can interpret the meaning of the ancient sign in different ways. The main interpretations are as follows:

1. The symbol is a combination of two ancient signs - the circle (the personification of eternity) and the cross (the personification of life).
2. Ankh symbolizes Egypt (the oval is the Nile delta, the cross is the river itself, giving life to the inhabitants of the country).
3. The cross with a loop signifies the unity of opposites, the union of heaven and earth, water and air, life and death, the union of the male (the cross of Osiris) and the female (the oval of Isis) began leading to the birth of a new life.
4. The Egyptian cross is a symbol of the rising sun, the birth of a new day.
5. Ankh is the key that opens secret knowledge, the gates of death and eternal life (in Christianity it was used as a symbol of the keys from the gate of Paradise, which are in the hands of the apostle Peter).

In a broad sense, the sign symbolizes life in all its manifestations: the existence of a separate individual, of all mankind, of the gods; birth of a child; Resurrection and life after death; immortality. Hence - the widespread use of Ankh in art, magic, rituals, everyday life. To promote health and longevity, protect from natural disasters, the Egyptian cross was painted on amulets and temples, and irrigation canals were erected on the walls.

On various images, the gods held the "key of the Nile" in his right hand or in his mouth, often stretching it to people, as if "blowing" a particle of the divine spark, eternal life. According to the myth, Isis used the Ankh to make the "glued" of the pieces and the animated Osiris immortal. The form of crux ansata ("cross with a loop") was given to jugs for liquids, offerings for the souls of the deceased (bread, bouquets of lotus and papyrus). They clasped the amulet and into the sarcophagi, so that the gods would grant the dead the afterlife.

Witches and mages have always used Ankh in their rituals for fortune telling, fortune telling and healing. And it is believed that his magic can only be directed to good deeds: the shape of a cross with a loop directs energy not to the surrounding people, but upwards, to God, and then down to the Earth. Thus, the acting power of the spell is the will of the Almighty, and not the thoughts of man.

Interestingly, crux ansata is also found in the culture of other peoples: a symbol of water among the North American Indians, the embodiment of immortality in the Scandinavians, a sign of youth and freedom from physical suffering among the Maya people. Incredibly, the "keys of life" are found even on the famous statues from the distant Easter Island. In the religion of the Copts (Egyptian Christians) Ankh began to be used as a traditional Christian cross. For the hippy, it symbolized peace and truth.

At the end of the twentieth century, the ancient Egyptian signs suddenly became popular again. After the release of the 1983 film "Hunger", in which vampires hunted their victims, using scissors, hidden in pendants in the form of ankhs, ancient crosses with a loop suddenly became the main attributes of the subculture ready. Thus, the life of the old characters continues and even plays new faces.