Daily Meditation: Friday, April 6, 2012

Cross, the - symbolic dimension

04/06/2012

Christians are accustomed to seeing the cross only as the instrument of Jesus’ torture. But the truth is that the cross has much greater significance. Of course, it reminds us of the death of Jesus, but that is only one aspect. Jesus’ crucifixion was one moment in history, but the cross itself is the symbol for a cosmic reality and must, therefore, be understood more broadly. The vertical line represents the masculine principle, the horizontal line the feminine principle, and the two lines are not separate; they actually cross and, by crossing, become one. So the cross symbolizes the work that the two principles, the masculine and feminine, achieve together in the universe. From the cross is derived another symbol: the hexagram or Solomon’s seal, which consists of two interwoven triangles. In changing from a straight line to a triangle, the cross has gained new meaning, but the idea is the same, the law is the same; it is always about the work of the two principles.