The traditional cross that we recognize and acknowledge for being a cross. The ones you see everywhere you go. The horizontal branch is usually placed about two thirds up on the vertical branch. When looking at it, it resembles a man standing with his arms outstretched.
             Many early Christians saw the anchor as a disguised form of the cross. It came from words of St. Paul to the Hebrews, "We have this as a sure and stead fast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine." Those words caused the symbol of hope to take on the deeper meaning of a heavenly hope anchored to the Cross of Christ. The symbol of the Trident was found later than the anchor, but was not widely used as the anchor.
             Lines from the Book of Revelation are where this image comes from. "I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last the beginning and the end." Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet and have been used as Christian signs of the omnipotence of God and are images found with Christ. Also, they are associated with the Chi-Rho and the cross. In most mosaics the symbols are placed on each side of the upright or between the arms of the cross.
             The horizontal branch cuts the vertical branch in two. This makes all the arms of equal length. At first glance it almost looks to be an upside down cross or the St. Peter's cross. Which of course is regarded as diabolic or just the opposite of what the cross stands for. That kind of made me laugh and wonder at the same time.
             The name for this cross is derived from the Latin numeral X. According to tradition the apostle Andrew was martyred on a cross in the form of the letter X, because he felt he was unwort
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