What is the cross of St. Peter?

Christian culture has spawned a huge number of characters. Some of them are actively used and familiar to almost every person. Others, on the contrary, once appeared in the church, eventually lost their popularity and are not so relevant in the context of modern culture, existing only on the margins of the historical and cultural memory of the Christian community. One such symbol is an inverted cross, that is, a cross whose crossbeam is lower than the middle of the vertical line. This is the so-called cross of St. Peter. The photo is located below. Many are familiar with it, but not everyone associates it with the New Testament religion.

The Legend of the Crucifixion of the Apostle Peter

By his appearance in the bosom of the church, an inverted cross is due to the legend of the first-ever apostle Peter. To be more precise, this concerns his death, which, according to the same tradition, took place in Rome at the age of 65 or 67. If we believe in Catholic doctrine, Peter was the head of the apostles and played the role of vicar of Christ on earth after the ascension of the latter to heaven. So he went with a message of good news to Rome, to testify there of the Son of God before the emperor and the people of the eternal city. Having converted there a considerable number of pagans and Jews into Christianity, Peter thereby made enemies of himself among those who did not respond to his sermon. Among other things, he turned out to be the then leader of the Roman Empire - Emperor Nero. There is a version that the latter disliked the apostle for turning the two wives to Christ, who from that moment began to shun Nero. True or not, Peter went to court and was sentenced to death by crucifixion. The prince of the apostles had the opportunity to escape punishment. He even tried to take advantage of it, having retired from Rome. Church legends tell us that on the way he met Jesus Christ, heading to Rome, and asked him where he was on his way. Christ answered that he was going to Rome, because Peter was running out of it. After this, the unfortunate apostle went back to meet his fate.

When Peter was already prepared for execution, he asked the executioners to be crucified upside down, explaining that he was not worthy to be executed as his divine teacher. The Roman executioners fulfilled his request, turning the cross over, to which the apostle was nailed. Therefore, he is known as the cross of St. Peter.

The ecclesiastical meaning of the symbol

In Christian iconography and sculpture, you can rarely find an inverted cross. Nevertheless, sometimes it still occurs, both in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Of course, in Catholicism its meaning is somewhat higher, since it is in this branch of Christianity that the special, exclusive role of the Apostle Peter and his successors in the person of the Pope is postulated . Orthodoxy, however, dethrones the primordial dignity of the apostle Peter to the level of the primacy of honor, while Catholics literally understand the words of Jesus Christ that Peter is the stone on which the Christian church will be built. Hence the special attention of the adherents of the Roman throne to everything connected with this apostle. The story of the crucifixion upside down also was no exception. Thus, the inverted cross, that is, the cross of St. Peter - is a symbol not only of the apostle, but of his authority, and thus of the authority of the Roman bishop and the institution of the papacy in general.

But in this sense it is used quite rarely. It even happens that Catholics themselves sometimes wonder when they meet the cross of St. Peter among the church attributes or as symbols in the liturgical utensils.

Mystical interpretation of an inverted cross in esotericism

Western occult tradition, based on the synthesis of Christianity, Kabbalah and a number of religious elements of other traditions also did not pass over the cross of St. Peter. What does it mean, however, distinctly said there has been no one by this time. Most often, practitioners are associated with it, designed to cleanse the soul of certain sinful conditions. But the success of searching for the hidden meaning of this symbol was not given, unlike, say, the Hebrew hexagram or the pagan pagan.

The Trends of the Satanic Interpretation

Remaining outside the interests of Catholics and occultists, the cross of St. Peter, however, became extremely popular among devil devotees. Every Satanist must carry an inverted cross, or called an overturned cross, in himself or at home . The meaning of this is quite obvious: since Satanism is not an independent religion, but a cult based on opposing the Christian God, both its symbols and practice originate in Christianity. So, the main "virtues" of Satanism are the sins of Christian ethics, the liturgy or the so-called black mass of devil worshipers, this is a distorted Christian worship. In accordance with this same principle, the cross, being the main Christian symbol, has become inverted, along with an inverted pentagram, the main symbol of Satanism. In this capacity, followers of the prince of darkness in some associations use the cross of St. Peter as an altar, placing a naked girl, not with him, with whom then ritual intercourse occurs.

The cross of the apostle Peter and the inverted crucifixion

In Christianity in general, Satan's interpretation of an inverted cross is not taken seriously. At least, this applies to people who know its true origin. Indeed, it is insulting for Christians to have an inverted crucifixion. That is, not just an overturned cross, but a cross with the image of a crucified Christ. In this case, this is indeed considered a violation of the religious symbol and blasphemy. In practice, especially among adherents of devil-worshiping cults, the difference between the cross and the crucifix is obscured, which often leads to misinterpretations and prejudiced conclusions.

Conspiracy theories

For example, this concerns various theories that suspect the Vatican and the Catholic Church in general in aiding Satanism, serving the Antichrist and selling their Christian identity to the devil. The cross of St. Peter, whose significance in the Catholic Church is unambiguously and consecrated by tradition, suddenly begins to be used as evidence of the involvement of the papal environment in a secret conspiracy to establish the authority of Antichrist and other such inventions. Unfortunately, there has never been a shortage of this kind of unscrupulous theories and it is unlikely.