Knots and Crosses... and Crossings

first dropped into Treadwells about fifteen years ago. According to my records, I was actually looking for a pack of Tarot cards for my friend Madge. I think I would also have been interested in finding a copy of this book. I went there thinking a lot about symbols - of the faith, of grace, and in the non-Christian or "secular" sphere.

One symbol I saw a lot of at Treadwells was the Tree of Life. Another was of course the pentagram, which is actually more interesting than you'd think. Tolkien and Gordon have notes on it in their commentary on Gawain, where it features on the hero's shield and is referred to as the seal of Solomon (cf. Solomon's knot, which isn't really a knot; the Buddhist Endless Knot; and of course the star of David). In Gawain obviously it also symbolises virtue, and the Five Wounds of Our Lord. I have read that there is a tradition that Solomon wore this seal on his ring, like a signet-ring, and it gave him power over demons. (A Ring of Power, anyone?)

The inverted cross was of course originally the symbol of St Peter, who was crucified upside down, and hence of the Popes. My suspicion is that it is nowadays associated with the Antichrist partly because of ludicrous claims by protestants that the Pope is the Antichrist (even though, of course, there have been lots of Popes, whereas there is only ever going to be one Antichrist).

There are other old folk-tale characters who have "haunted" me over the years, so to speak. One is of course the Wild Huntsman, whom modern pagans refer to as the Horned God. (He's very popular with pagan gays.) Another, of course, is Wade, who was either a sort of secular St Christopher or indeed his "pre-Christian predecessor" - someone, perhaps, to be invoked at river-crossings just as St Christopher would have been. The chap's name means exactly what it sounds like, and he's portrayed in Denmark as doing just that, except that the little boy he carries on his shoulder is not the Christ Child but his son Wayland the Smith. We know so much and yet so little about him (from Chaucer et al.) that it's like living in five hundred years' time and only knowing about Luke Skywalker from in-jokes in The Simpsons.

Another thing! Do these people actually have anything to do with the Grail? Presumably they do - although, given that even in the Middle Ages, when the Church and the Grail romances were at the height of their influence in real terms, the romances were still not officially acknowledged by the clergy, it seems the quintessence of bad taste. (And what's with their translation of the Psalter?)

The capital at the beginning is from the Front Free Endpaper blog. It's a Pall Mall capital (i.e. from the magazine - not, as I initially supposed, the front of the O&C). It would be fun to have a use for a cute Aquarian 'I', but of course I don't.

DC Comics Releases Comic Where Jesus Christ Is the Central Point of History.✝️

After 37 years locked in the vault, DC finally released the “banned” Swamp Thing #88, making the crucifixion of Jesus an official part of DC continuity. pic.twitter.com/3j32TnUhpf

— sacredchad (@sacredchad_ig) May 1, 2026

DC Comics Releases Comic Where Jesus Christ Is the Central Point of History.

After 37 years locked in the vault, DC Comics finally released the “banned” Swamp Thing #88, making the crucifixion of Jesus an official part of DC continuity.

The issue was written by Rick Veitch in 1989 and titled “Morning of the Magician.” It was scheduled to be the conclusion of a time-travel arc that sent Swamp Thing backwards through history. The final stop was first century Jerusalem, where he witnesses the Garden of Gethsemane and the events of the Gospel. 

DC executives removed the issue before it hit shelves. They objected to depicting Jesus Christ in a mainstream comic. Veitch resigned in protest and refused to work for DC again.

The story sat unpublished for 37 years. Now it has officially been released, placing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the center of DC continuity.

[SacredChad, Catholic Geeks | Facebook]

May Morning

‘May Morning on Magdalen Tower’ 1890, by Holman Hunt

Hunt attended the May Morning ceremony and made initial observations about it in 1888. The Walker Art Gallery has a watercolour study of the details of the tower, which Hunt studied for several weeks. For the figures in the painting he chose boys from Magdalen College but also used the choir of Westminster Abbey. Not only did Hunt have problems with the choice of models but he also realised that the ceremony was not popular with people outside the Magdalen College, as he confessed in a letter to his wife after his second stay in Oxford in December 1888. The vivid and individual expressions of all the figures suggest that they were all modelled from the choir as well as members of the College. The youth of the boys reflects the fertility and blossoming of nature during May. The young boy looking directly out at us is holding a lily, the symbol for St Mary the Virgin and St Mary Magdalen to whom the College was dedicated.

[National Museums Liverpool]

Te Deum Patrem colimus,

Te Laudibus prosequimus,

qui corpus cibo reficis,

coelesti mentem gratia.

Te adoramus, O Jesu,

Te, Fili unigenite,

Te, qui non dedignatus es

subire claustra Virginis.

          

Actus in crucem, factus est

irato Deo victima

per te, Salvator unice

vitae spes nobis rediit.

                    

Tibi, aeterne Spiritus

cuius afflatu peperit

infantem Deum Maria,

aeternum benedicimus.

                              

Triune Deus, hominum

salutis auctor optime,

immensum hoc mysterium

orante lingua canimus.

[Dr Nathaniel Ingelo and Benjamin Rogers, Hymnus Eucharisticus]

Back in 2013, Auntie did the honours here.

St Mark

The above is from the front of the Doge's Palace in Venice.

Today is of course also the Robigalia - one of those old crop fertility festivals dedicated to extra-cruel chthonic deities, to whom the Romans would sacrifice animals of the non-edible variety (normally puppies).

And I just couldn't resist this.

The sun and moon (often personified as Sol and Luna) appear frequently in Crucifixion scenes across Christian art, primarily to visualize the biblical darkness that fell during Jesus’ death and to emphasize the event’s cosmic, universal significance.

Biblical Foundation

The Gospels describe “darkness over the whole land” from the sixth to the ninth hour (noon to 3 p.m.) while Jesus hung on the cross (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44–45). Luke specifically notes that “the sun was darkened” (or “the sun’s light failed” / “τοῦ ἡλίου ἐκλιπόντος”). This supernatural daytime darkness—sometimes linked to apocalyptic imagery like Revelation 6:12 (sun turning black, moon blood-red)—gave artists a powerful visual hook. The presence of both sun and moon together (unnatural in reality) underscores the miracle and the universe’s response to Christ’s death.

Earliest Depictions (6th Century)

Crucifixion imagery itself was rare before the 5th–6th centuries (early Christians often avoided graphic suffering scenes). One of the oldest surviving examples with the celestial bodies is the Rabbula Gospels (Syriac manuscript, completed 586 CE, now in Florence). Here, a partly eclipsed sun and a personified moon (with a face) hover above the cross against a light sky, with shading hinting at darkness. This sets the pattern: the sun and moon signal both the literal darkness and the cosmic scale of the event.

Medieval Standardization and Personification (8th–13th Centuries)

By the Carolingian period (8th–9th centuries) and onward through Romanesque and Gothic art, sun and moon became standard features in both Eastern (Byzantine/Orthodox) and Western traditions. They are typically shown as:

• Personified busts or figures: Labeled SOL (sun, often male with rays or in a chariot) on one side and LUNA (moon, veiled or crescent-shaped female) on the other. They frequently turn away, weep into their hands, or look sorrowful—symbolizing the universe mourning or God’s cosmic anger at the death of His Son.
• Position: Flanking the top of the cross, sometimes perched on the cross-arms themselves.

This draws from classical Roman iconography (Sol and Luna as powerful deities in imperial art and chariot motifs) but repurposes it for Christian meaning. In Byzantine icons and frescoes, they remain stylized disks with faces or rays (sun often darkened, moon sometimes red). In Western manuscripts, ivories, and enamels, they appear in elaborate scenes alongside angels, Mary, John, and sometimes Ecclesia/Synagoga (Church and Synagogue) or Earth/Sea personifications.

Examples include:

• Ottonian Sacramentary of Henry II (early 11th century): Weeping Sol (rayed) and veiled Luna turn away in grief.
• 12th-century Limoges enamel plaques and Romanesque crucifixes: Sun and moon as medallions or figures emphasizing Christ’s “cosmic sovereignty.”

Symbolism and Interpretations

• Cosmic/universal witness: The entire creation reacts—Christ’s death is not just a local event but affects heaven and earth (echoing patristic ideas and prophecies like Amos 8:9).
• Mourning and divine anger: Personifications often show sorrow or aversion.
• Typology: In some readings (influenced by St. Augustine), they represent Old and New Testaments or Church vs. Synagogue.
• Sovereignty and triumph: They affirm Christ’s eternal reign over creation, adapting pagan solar imagery (e.g., Sol Invictus) into a Christian framework.

Later Evolution (14th Century Onward)

The motif peaks in the High Middle Ages but evolves with artistic styles. By the late Gothic and early Renaissance, artists sometimes shift to realistic dark or stormy skies, solar eclipses, or starry nights (e.g., Jan van Eyck’s Crucifixion, c. 1420s, with a waning moon). Personified Sol/Luna become rarer in naturalistic Western painting but persist strongly in traditional Byzantine/Orthodox icons to this day (sun on the left with rays, moon on the right). By the 16th–17th centuries, they largely fade in the West except in conservative or symbolic works (e.g., Raphael’s Mond Crucifixion, c. 1502–1503, with gold/silver orbs).

Note: In some 14th-century frescoes (e.g., Visoki Dečani Monastery, Serbia), the stylized sun and moon have occasionally been misidentified online as “UFOs,” but art historians universally recognize them as traditional symbolic personifications of the celestial bodies witnessing the Crucifixion.

In short, what began as a literal illustration of Gospel darkness grew into one of the richest symbols of Christ’s universal redemptive power—visible from 6th-century manuscripts to modern icons. The sun and moon remind viewers that the Crucifixion was a cosmic turning point witnessed by all creation.

Celtic Magic

As for what actually remains of the old traditions, [in Celtic Magic, St Andrews University philologist Brigid] Ehrmantraut has, through textual scholarship and archaeology, attempted to piece together “the activities that regular people might have practised on a daily basis”. Celtic cultures passed their knowledge down orally. Written accounts of them tend to come from Roman enemies and Christian successors. But there was occasional contact with the Greek alphabet in Gaul, and the invention of later rudimentary scripts in Ireland. These are the records that allow Ehrmantraut to weave original curses or incantations into her lively account of the transmission of this knowledge.

There is no first-hand evidence, she writes, of people being burned in a wicker man — a large figure made of woven branches. Julius Caesar, whose writings provide the earliest surviving report of this, may even be drawing from a much earlier Greek philosopher whose own writings have since been lost.

The practices we do have evidence for tend to be cultural hybrids — especially in early Christian Ireland, where, Ehrmantraut shows, people might have combined a protection spell with a prayer to St Patrick for good measure. As for the remedy for worms: “The medical practitioner is to sing the following charm nine times in the afflicted person’s ear, followed by the Paternoster: ‘gonomil orgomil marbumil’. These words are slightly garbled Old Irish for ‘I wound the beast.’”

[In search of Albion — the folklore, myths and magic that built British culture]