Inverted cross

{{Short description|Religious symbol}}

{{for|the gymnastics move|Rings (gymnastics)}}

File:Peter's Cross.svg

The inverted cross, also known as the upside-down cross, is a symbol that has been used in both Christian and anti-Christian contexts. Historically, it is most commonly associated with Saint Peter, who, according to tradition, was crucified upside down and for whom the symbol represents humility and martyrdom. In modern times, the inverted Latin cross has also been adopted in anti-Christian and Satanic symbolism to signify opposition to Christianity.

Christian symbolism

{{main|Cross of Saint Peter}}

The inverted cross is traditionally known as the Cross of Saint Peter, Crux Inversa, or Petrine Cross.{{sfnmp|1a1=Sauerländer|1a2=Rubens|1y=2014|1p=224|2a1=Vile|2y=2024|2pp=174–5}} According to Christian tradition, Saint Peter was crucified upside down,{{sfnp|Rest|1954|p=29}} as he did not consider himself worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. As a result, the symbol has been used in Christian iconography, particularly within the Catholic Church, as a symbol of humility.{{sfnp|Pick|1909}}

Anti-Christian use

In the 19th and 20th centuries, some anti-Christian groups, occult traditions, and Satanic movements repurposed the inverted cross as a symbol of defiance against Christianity. Unlike its use in Christian tradition, here it is meant to invert or subvert Christian teachings.{{sfnp|Van Luijk|2016}} The inverted cross is a recurring motif in metal music, particularly black metal, in congruity with its anti-Christian themes.{{sfnp|Fletcher|Umurhan|2019}}

=In literature=

Joris-Karl Huysmans' novel Là-bas (1891) describes a Black Mass where participants wear vestments with inverted crosses.{{sfnp|Ziegler|2012|p=56}} The character 'Docteur Johannès' was based on the 19th-century French mystic Eugène Vintras (1807–1875),{{sfnp|Chisholm|1979|p=173}} who incorporated the Petrine Cross into his vestments, particularly on his stole, as part of his movement's esoteric Christian symbolism.{{sfnp|Van Luijk|2016|p=178}}

The Inverted Cross (La Cruz Invertida) by Argentine writer Marcos Aguinis (1970) is a political and social novel set in an unnamed Latin American country, exploring themes of upheaval, identity, and dictatorship. It critically examines human contradictions and the continent's struggles for unity.{{sfnp|Williams|2007|pp=84–85}}

References

{{reflist|30em}}

=Works cited=

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite book |last=Chisholm |first=A. R. |year=1979 |title=Towards Hérodiade: A Literary Genealogy |publisher=AMS Press |isbn=978-0404163105}}
  • {{cite book |editor1-first=K. F. B. |editor1-last=Fletcher |editor2-first=Osman |editor2-last=Umurhan |title=Classical Antiquity in Heavy Metal Music |year=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1350075375}}
  • {{cite book|last=Pick|first=Bernhard|authorlink=Bernhard Pick|title=The Apocryphal Acts of Paul, Peter, John, Andrew and Thomas|chapter=Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Peter|pages=106–122|publisher=The Open Court Publishing Co.|location=Chicago|year=1909|isbn=9780837019123|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yRRhTxUMFIsC&q=%22left+as+the+right%22}}
  • {{cite book |title=Our Christian Symbols |first=Friedrich |last=Rest |publisher=Christian Education Press |year=1954 |isbn=0-8298-0099-9}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Sauerländer |first1=W. |last2=Rubens |first2=P. P. |year=2014 |title=The Catholic Rubens: Saints and Martyrs |publisher=Getty Research Institute |isbn=978-1606062685}}
  • {{cite book |last=Van Luijk |first=R. |year=2016 |title=Children of Lucifer: The Origins of Modern Religious Satanism |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0190275112}}
  • {{cite book |last=Vile |first=J. R. |year=2024 |title=The Christian Cross in American Public Life: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1527572188}}
  • {{cite book |last=Wiggins |first=S. A. |year=2018 |title=Holy Horror: The Bible and Fear in Movies |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-7466-7}}
  • {{cite book |last=Williams |first=R. L. |year=2007 |title=The Columbia Guide to the Latin American Novel Since 1945 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0231501699}}
  • {{cite book |last=Ziegler |first=R. |year=2012 |title=Satanism, Magic and Mysticism in Fin-de-siècle France |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1137006615}}

{{refend}}

Further reading

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite book |last=Magee |first=R. M. |year=2016 |title=The Haunted Muse: Gothic and Sentiment in American Literature |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1443892803}}
  • {{cite book |last=Reagan |first=P. E. |year=2016 |title=Deconstructing Paradise: Inverted Religious Symbolism in Twentieth-Century Latin American Literature |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1498524728}}

{{refend}}

Category:Anti-Christian sentiment

Category:Satanism in popular culture