Peaceful Relict

Religious symbols are significant for adherents to the religion but are also often divisive as they are representational of it. I have explored this phenomenon through the cross which was in use in ancient civilisations long before being appropriated by Christianity. In ancient Egypt a cross sign, or Ankh, was the sign of life or the living; the Greek goddess Diana is often depicted with a cross above her head; and, there is evidence of crosses being used in a symbolic manner as far back as the Bronze age. We can also see the cross used across many geographies such as in South America before the Spanish conquest, Europe and Asia. It is also ubiquitous in other religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Greek and Roman polytheism and even in the Islamic Maliki sect of the Tuareg. Across many of these contexts the cross was and is a sign of hope, life and fertility. Indeed, we see this in the modern era where biologists use either the arrow cross or the latin cross upon a circle to indicate the male or female gender. However, over time it became weaponised, a symbol of a specific truth. I explore whether it is possible to create a universal cross, a cross that is a sign of hope across different cultures, people and places, to make it something universally beautiful.