So when/how did an inverted cross become a symbol of Satanism?

[racer]

I ask this question out of genuine curiosity. Please don't jump to conclusions.

On the thread about the picture of the Pope's chair having an inverted cross, someone clarified (as I had always suspected was the truth about the chair) that the chair did indeed have an inverted cross. This cross being representative of Peter being crucified upside down.

So, do you guys think that the association between an inverted cross began as an attempt to link the Catholic Church with Satanism? Or is there a completely different reason for the inversion when representing satanism?

Lisa

 

[PeterPaul]

Perhaps because Nero, the Emperor who crucified Peter was an anti-christ? Not sure really. We probably would have to check a Anton Lavey website. No thanks! LOL

 

[Michelina]

Cabaalists in the Middle Ages used the inverted cross this way. Eventually, Satanist borrowed it from them, adding their own emphasis by depicting it with the arms of the cross broken downward, thus producing what looked like the 60's Peace symbol, an inverted Y.

 

[nyj]

Satanists, afaik, use an inverted crucifix to show their disdain for Catholicism.

 

[boughtwithaprice]

I ask this question out of genuine curiosity. Please don't jump to conclusions.

On the thread about the picture of the Pope's chair having an inverted cross, someone clarified (as I had always suspected was the truth about the chair) that the chair did indeed have an inverted cross. This cross being representative of Peter being crucified upside down.

So, do you guys think that the association between an inverted cross began as an attempt to link the Catholic Church with Satanism? Or is there a completely different reason for the inversion when representing satanism?

Lisa

IIRC I believe that the first church of satan was started in San Francisco by Anton LeVey in the 1960s. They "celebrated" a "black mass" that was a mockery of the Catholic Mass. It tried to make everything opposite. Catholic churches normally have a crucifix which is upright; the satanists used an inverted on for that reason.
Given the way urban legends flourish in the US, people came to believe that the inverted cross "always" represents satanism. People forgot about the chair of St. Peter.


Any oner else have a different recollection?

 

[Matrona]

There is a boy in one of my classes who wears a necklace with an inverted cross. I keep meaning to ask him whether he means it to represent St. Peter or if he means something... less pious... by it. But I am kind of afraid to, and I haven't managed to sit directly next to him yet.

At any rate, I keep a small diptych on my desk and I am a little nervous about what he might do to it if it turned out he was a satanist.

(But then why would a satanist take a bible lit. class? )

 

[Michelina]

But then why would a satanist take a bible lit. class? )

Know your enemy?

Here's a link that might interest all:

http://www.exposingsatanism.org/signsymbols.htm

 

[racer]

Satanists, afaik, use an inverted crucifix to show their disdain for Catholicism.

So, then they are actually unaware that, technically, their disdain/insult is lost on Catholics and all other Christians since an inverted cross has a completely different meaning for Catholics?

Jokes on them, then, huh?

 

[Michelina]

Take a look at the link I posted. You'll see that there a many different symbols.

 

[racer]

Michelina,

That's an interesting link. Thanks, even though it could be a tad scarey to some. Myself, I find those topics interesting. How can we arm ourselves against satan if we don't know what to watch for?

 

[racer]

Thanks everyone for your answers. I've wondered about that for a long time, but for some reason never asked.

 

[Michelina]

Michelina,

That's an interesting link. Thanks, even though it could be a tad scarey to some. Myself, I find those topics interesting. How can we arm ourselves against satan if we don't know what to watch for?

Exactly, racer. And there's no reason a mature, informed Christian should be afraid of anything.

 

[nyj]

So, then they are actually unaware that, technically, their disdain/insult is lost on Catholics and all other Christians since an inverted cross has a completely different meaning for Catholics?

Jokes on them, then, huh?

Pretty much. Of course, if they're going to directly thumb their nose at God when they can read for themselves that He wins in the end, intelligence probably isn't high up on their list of qualities.

 

[Ann M]

Here's an interesting passage from a book I'm currently reading, Saints & Sinners, a history of the Popes, written by Eamon Duffy, 1997; Protest & Division p180.

"The increased authority of the Counter-Reformation papacy triggered a corresponding surge of Protestant hostility. For many of the reformers, the popes were not merely the leaders of a corrupt Church, but the willing instruments of Satan himself. A revived interest in the prophecies of the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation led to the identification of the Pope as Antichrist, and the Catholic Church as the 'Synagogue of Satan', which was to murder the saints and witnesses of Christ, and to make war against the true Church in the last days."

 

[JasonS]

Ann is on the right track. The upside down crucifix became indentified with the anti-Christ after the reformation. Since Martin Luther referred to the Pope as the Anti-Christ, all symbols of St. Peter's chair were also associated with it among protestants, including the upsided down crucifix. Later satanists in the 60's, who came from the protestant tradition of the upside down crucifix, simply didn't know where it really originated and started using the symbol of Christ's Apostle as their own! How ironic.

 

[thereselittleflower]

Ann is on the right track. The upside down crucifix became indentified with the anti-Christ after the reformation. Since Martin Luther referred to the Pope as the Anti-Christ, all symbols of St. Peter's chair were also associated with it among protestants, including the upsided down crucifix. Later satanists in the 60's, who came from the protestant tradition of the upside down crucifix, simply didn't know where it really originated and started using the symbol of Christ's Apostle as their own! How ironic.

Yes it is . . even Satanist, trying to ,make a mockery of Christ, end up using the symbol of the first Pope . .


There is a building that is used by a Protestant Church in a town not too far from here . . it is used for the youth outrech of a non-denominational church in the area . .it is like a stucko wall, and a raised border goes around the upper outside of the building, and in large relief, are inverted crosses all along it!!

I have always wondered what they think about this or if they realize what it really symbolizes!

Peace in Him!

 

[LongingForLight]

Since Martin Luther referred to the Pope as the Anti-Christ, all symbols of St. Peter's chair were also associated with it among protestants, including the upsided down crucifix. Later satanists in the 60's, who came from the protestant tradition of the upside down crucifix, simply didn't know where it really originated and started using the symbol of Christ's Apostle as their own! How ironic.

Maybe it's God's way of letting us know that there is hope for even these misled people. After all, St. Peter denied Jesus three times, yet became the head of God's church. Maybe even the vociferous denial of these satanists will not prevent God from touching them with His almighty mercy, and guiding those who accept His love to spread the Word. After all, which testimony is more influential: that of a Catholic who has never strayed, or the voice of a sinner who has been called home?

Or maybe I just like to see signs of hope everywhere.

 

[raptor13]

LOL... michelina, the site you linked has Catholicism under False Religions.

 

[thereselittleflower]

Exactly, racer. And there's no reason a mature, informed Christian should be afraid of anything.

I haven't look at the site you linked to . . obviously it is anti-catholic, but you are absolutely right!

As I was progressing into the Catholic faith, I would get hit with something that seemed to effectively knock Catholicism down, but everytime, I found the real answer, and it got to the point that such things no longer phased me because I knew the answer was out there for the finding . . Your confidence can be so stregnthened by exposure to such things when you see how simple the answers are . .

The pictures of the inverted cross on the Pope's chair, the Pope kissing the Koran, the so-called "Shiva priestess" marking the forehead of the Pope . . how simple the answers were to how some were trying to portray Catholicism through such photographs. . . .


Peace in Him!

 

[Michelina]

LOL... michelina, the site you linked has Catholicism under False Religions.

Hehehe

Yes, Raptor, I know. I've been there and checked it out. But there home page was what I was interested in sharing, i.e. the many different Satanist symbols.

The inverted - broken cross is very old, dating back to Cabaalism in the Midlle Ages.