Expert: Brenda Martin - 12/27/2004

Question
Hello,
While I am very familiar with pagan/ christian ties, I was wondering why it is that the "sign of the cross," is done over the third eye and or Chakra and the reasoning of the church in regard to the placement of this gesture.

I know that many other religions regard this as the spiritual personal power spot, but why and for what cause did the catholic's choose this sight? was it for the same reasons?

Thank you for your time!

Answer
"WHY IT IS THAT THE "SIGN OF THE CROSS," IS DONE OVER THE THIRD EYE AND OR CHAKRA?"

CHAKRA—"According to yoga teaching, Kundalini, the serpent power, lies at the base of the spine. Once aroused, it is made to ascend the spine through six stations, or chakras, to the residence of the deity Vishnu in the brain. When this “serpent power” reaches each chakra, the yogi is said to experience new kinds of psychic powers"

The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics says: “With the 4th cent[ury] magical belief began to take a firmer hold within the Church.” As with a magic charm, simply making the sign of the cross was thought to be “the surest defence against demons, and the remedy for all diseases.” Superstitious use of the cross continues to this day.

“The sign of the cross has been a symbol of great antiquity, present in nearly every known culture. Its meaning has eluded anthropologists, though its use in funerary art could well point to a defense against evil. On the other hand, the famous crux ansata of Egypt, depicted coming from the mouth, must refer to life or breath. The universal use of the sign of the cross makes more poignant the striking lack of crosses in early Christian remains, especially any specific reference to the event on Golgotha. Most scholars now agree that the cross, as an artistic reference to the passion event, cannot be found prior to the time of Constantine.”—Ante Pacem—Archaeological Evidence of Church Life Before Constantine (1985), by Professor Graydon F. Snyder, page 27.

WHAT CAUSED THE CATHOLIC'S TO CHOOSE IT?

The Two Babylons by Hislop states: “Rome has copied the Pagan exorcism in connection with baptism. All the other peculiarities attending the Romish baptism, such as the use of salt, spittle, chrism, or anointing with oil, and marking the forehead with the sign of the cross, are equally Pagan.”

Today in the various church baptismal ceremonies of Christendom the following devices are included: godparents, breathing on the face of the candidate to exorcise evil spirits, making the sign of the cross, imposition of hands, putting “blessed” salt in the mouth of the candidate, touching the ears and nostrils with spittle of the priest, anointing with oil, the threefold ablution, white veil, lighted candles and other appendages of worship not provided by the Bible. These are identified by The Catholic Encyclopedia and other religious authorities as being appendages of demon practice or devil worship and therefore unchristian.

In its edition of 1908, The Catholic Encyclopedia states in volume 4, page 517: “The sign of the cross, represented in its simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles, greatly antedates, in both the East and the West, the introduction of Christianity. It goes back to a very remote period of human civilization.”

The book The Ancient Church by clergyman W. D. Killen concurs by saying, on page 316: “From the most remote antiquity the cross was venerated in Egypt and Syria; it was held in equal honour by the Buddhists of the East; and, what is still more extraordinary, when the Spaniards first visited America, the well-known sign was found among the objects of worship in the idol temples of Anahuac. It is also remarkable that, about the commencement of our era, the pagans were wont to make the sign of a cross upon the forehead in the celebration of some of their sacred mysteries.”

It is not surprising then that we see similarities between the churches of Christendom and the religions of the middle east, as they have all came from the same source, that of Pagan nations.

All the best
Brenda