Title: Xmas
Date: 2021-12-09
Tags: Christmas, Pompeii, Sator, Ichthys, Chi Rho, Anchored Cross, Symbolism
Category: Art
Where does the word **Xmas** come from?
Early Christians used many symbols such as the Chi Rho, the
Ichthys, the Anchored Cross, and the Sator Square.
### Chi Rho
The
[Chi Rho](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_Rho){target="_blank"},
☧
as explained in this
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUZdV7xL_Ds&t=594s){target="_blank"},
is a symbol composed by overlaying Chi and Rho, the first two Greek
Letters in the word *Christ*. And well, it kind of looks like an
**X** doesn't it? This is where the word *Xmas* comes from.
### Anchored Cross
Early Christians also drew the
[Anchored Cross](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchored_cross){target="_blank"},
⚓
as explained in this
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUZdV7xL_Ds&t=628s){target="_blank"},
because it contains a cross.
### Ichthys
The
[Ichthys ∝](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys){target="_blank"},
otherwise known as *The Christian Fish Symbol*, as explained in this
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUZdV7xL_Ds&t=544s){target="_blank"},
which early Christians used as a secret sign with which to identify
each other, because Christ told several of his Disciples that
he would make them *Fishers of Men*.
### Sator Square
The [Sator Square](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sator_Square){target="_blank"},
as explained in this
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube/watch?v=qUZdV7xL_Ds&t=203s){target="_blank"},
is a mysterious square of 5 Latin words which mirror each other forwards and backward,
both vertically and horizontally.
A translation, derived from the nominal translations of the individual words
in the context of the _rotatability_ of their arrangement, would
presumable be something like _AS YE SOW, SO SHALL YE IN TURN REAP_.
R O T A S
O P E R A
T E N E T
A R E P O
S A T O R
You can rearrange the letters into a cross contructed from the word
_PATERNOSTER_, which translates to _Our Father_, decorated with the
symbolic first and last letters of the Greek alphabet,
_Alpha_ and _Omega_, a title ascribed to God
in Revelations, meaning _The Beginning And The End_.
P
A
T
A E O
R
P A T E R N O S T E R
O
O S A
T
E
R
### Recommended
I recommend watching the entire video because it is fantastic.
In fact I recommend watching the entire playlist for the same reason.
(You'll have to sign into to watch the video about Paul Rubens).
