A SYNTHETIC EMBLEMATIC CROSS

The cross is the most universal of all religious symbols. Examples of crosses are to be found in the sculpture of nearly all ancient peoples. A cross was hung about the necks of the initiates of the Eleusinian Mysteries of Greece. It was painted upon the foreheads of candidates passing through the pyramid Mysteries of Central America, and is a symbol for God among the North American Indians. It is a curious fact that the cross, or X, has been so often associated with the power of the decimal system, being the Roman numerical symbol for 10. A similarly shaped hieroglyph is used by both the Japanese and Chinese for the number 10. Crosses have been discovered in the temples of the Brahmins. One of the most remarkable is an emblem of cruciform pattern found in the Brahmin temples carved out of the rock on the Island of Elephanta in the harbor of Bombay.When the Spaniards arrived in Central America, they discovered the Maya Indians worshipping crosses. At least one of these Maya crosses found its way into a Christian cathedral and now stands unchanged above the high altar.

The Egyptian cross of life—the crux ansata—was often referred to as the key to the Mysteries. Many of the gods and goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon are shown carrying the crux ansata in their hands, and it was not uncommon to bury these emblems with the dead. Several Egyptian