"According to R. Solomon Jarchi, the Talmud, and Maimonides, when the priest sprinkled the blood of the victim on the consecrated cakes and hallowed utensils, he was always careful to do it in the form of a cross. The same symbol was used when the kings and high priests were anointed."—Faber's Horæ Mosaicæ, vol. ii. p. 188.
See farther hereon, Deane on Serpent Worship.
In Persia.—The trefoil on which the sacrifices were placed was probably held sacred from its cruciform character. The cross (
In Britain.—The cross was formed by baring a tree to a stump, and inserting another crosswise on the top; on the three arms thus formed were inscribed the names of the three principal, or triad of gods, Hesus, Belenus, and Taranis. The stone avenues of the temple at Classerniss are arranged in the form of a cross. (Borlase's Antiquities of Cornwall.)
In Scandinavia.—The hammer of Thor was in the form of the cross; see in Herbert's Select Icelandic Poetry, p. 11., and Laing's Kings of Norway, vol. i. pp. 224. 330., a curious anecdote of King Hacon, who, having been converted to Christianity, made the sign of the cross when he drank, but persuaded his irritated Pagan followers that it was the sign of Thor's hammer.
The figure of Thor's hammer was held in the utmost reverence by his followers, who were called the children of Thor, who in the last day would save themselves by his mighty hammer. The fiery cross, so well known by Scott's vivid description, was originally the hammer of Thor, which in early Pagan, as in later Christian times, was used as a summons to convene the people either to council or to war. (Herbert's Select Icelandic Poetry, p. 11.)
Eden Warwick.
Birmingham.