The sun cross, a cross inside a circle, is one of the oldest and most widespread of symbols. The Neolithic symbol combining cross and circle is the simplest conceivable representation of the union of opposed polarities in the Western world. Crossed circles scratched on stones have been recovered from Paleolithic cave sites in the Pyrenees. At the most famous megalithic site in Scotland, Callanish, crossing avenues of standing stones extend from a circle. Scratched into stone or painted on pottery, as on that of the Samara culture, the crossed-circle symbol appears in such diverse areas as the Pyrenees in Old Europe, the Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Iranian plateau, and the cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa in the Indus River valley. It may be compared to the yin-yang symbol of the Eastern world.

In the prehistoric religion of Bronze Age Europe, crosses in circles appear frequently on artifacts identified as cult items, for example the "miniature standard" with an amber inlay that shows a cross shape when held against the light, dating to the Nordic Bronze Age, kept in the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen. The Bronze Age symbol has also been connected with the spoked chariot wheel, which at the time was four-spoked (compare the Linear B ideogram 243 "wheel" 𐃏), a technological innovation that reached Europe in the mid 2nd millennium BC, and which in the context of the Sun chariot may also have had a "solar" connotation.

Modern symbolism

Contemporary tribal cultures

The sun cross is used by a number of contemporary Amerindian and other indigenous peoples.

Astronomical

In astronomy, a similar astronomical symbol is used to represent the Earth while the symbol for the Sun is a circle with a central dot.

Wicca

In Wicca sun cross proper most commonly represents the sun, and the four quadrants the wheel of the year, i.e. the four seasonal cycles of the year.

Germanic and Slavic Neo-Paganism

Along with other ancestral symbols, the sun cross is also used as a symbol by Pagans as an attempt at reconstruction of ancient Germanic and Slavic pre-Christian religion and culture.

Ethnic symbolism

The sun cross is used by various extreme white nationalist and Neo-Nazi groups to represent the Aryan race.

See also

• Solar symbol
• Christian cross or Crucifix
• Labarum or Chi-Rho
• Brigid's cross, also Celtic cross
• Solar deity, also Sol Invictus
• Taranis
• Swastika
• Ankh
• Lauburu
• Medicine wheel
• Wheel of the Year
• Zierscheibe
• Black Sun (occult symbol)

References

External links

• Celtic Sun Cross Meanings and History.
• Symbolism of sun cross (symbols.com)

The sun cross, a cross inside a circle, is one of the oldest and most widespread of symbols. The Neolithic symbol combining cross and circle is the simplest conceivable representation of the union of opposed polarities in the Western world. Crossed circles scratched on stones have been recovered from Paleolithic cave sites in the Pyrenees. At the most famous megalithic site in Scotland, Callanish, crossing avenues of standing stones extend from a circle. Scratched into stone or painted on pottery, as on that of the Samara culture, the crossed-circle symbol appears in such diverse areas as the Pyrenees in Old Europe, the Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Iranian plateau, and the cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa in the Indus River valley. It may be compared to the yin-yang symbol of the Eastern world.

In the prehistoric religion of Bronze Age Europe, crosses in circles appear frequently on artifacts identified as cult items, for example the "miniature standard" with an amber inlay that shows a cross shape when held against the light, dating to the Nordic Bronze Age, kept in the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen. The Bronze Age symbol has also been connected with the spoked chariot wheel, which at the time was four-spoked (compare the Linear B ideogram 243 "wheel" 𐃏), a technological innovation that reached Europe in the mid 2nd millennium BC, and which in the context of the Sun chariot may also have had a "solar" connotation.

Modern symbolism

Contemporary tribal cultures

The sun cross is used by a number of contemporary Amerindian and other indigenous peoples.

Astronomical

In astronomy, a similar astronomical symbol is used to represent the Earth while the symbol for the Sun is a circle with a central dot.

Wicca

In Wicca sun cross proper most commonly represents the sun, and the four quadrants the wheel of the year, i.e. the four seasonal cycles of the year.

Germanic and Slavic Neo-Paganism

Along with other ancestral symbols, the sun cross is also used as a symbol by Pagans as an attempt at reconstruction of ancient Germanic and Slavic pre-Christian religion and culture.

Ethnic symbolism

The sun cross is used by various extreme white nationalist and Neo-Nazi groups to represent the Aryan race.

See also

• Solar symbol
• Christian cross or Crucifix
• Labarum or Chi-Rho
• Brigid's cross, also Celtic cross
• Solar deity, also Sol Invictus
• Taranis
• Swastika
• Ankh
• Lauburu
• Medicine wheel
• Wheel of the Year
• Zierscheibe
• Black Sun (occult symbol)

References

External links

• Celtic Sun Cross Meanings and History.
• Symbolism of sun cross (symbols.com)