Maybe you smirk or wave finger horns when you see an upside-down cross around the neck
of a death metal fan or inked on a baby goth who's sick and tired of the rules, dude
But what in the name of all the hounds of hell does the thing really mean
Hang on to your guyliner, Goss. This may be hard to hear. Because before the upside-down cross was cool in an anti-everything way, it was a holy symbol
for about 1,800 years. Yep, for most of post-Jesus history, an upside-down cross represented one thing — St. Peter's
As the story goes, around 64 AD, Emperor Nero, that twisted fiddler, decided to persecute early Christians sometime after the ruins of the Great Fire of Rome were cleaned up
But why? Well, somebody had to take the heat off Nero after the fire
And that's what happened, according to Tacitus. The catch is that we're not 100% sure exactly when Peter was martyred
It could have been 64 AD, it could have been 67 AD. But either way, when Peter was crucified, he supposedly demanded to be executed upside-down
because he wasn't worthy to die like Christ. Period. End of story. Except, it wasn't
The upside-down crucifixion is a great story, but the thing is, historians aren't 100% sure it actually happened. It's Christian lore
To die as our Lord died is more than I deserve. We can change that
But however Peter died the upside part became a universally accepted part of the story And for centuries the upside cross meant one thing Peter humble sacrifice in the name of God Since then the inverted cross is traditionally called the Cross of St Peter or the Petrine
Cross, and it's a symbol of humility. The Catholic Church considers Peter to be the first pope, as depicted in Matthew 16
That's why when Peter shows up in Christian artwork, he's often upside-down and usually
has a set of keys nearby. And while going all the way back to 991 A.D., Arnolf, Archbishop of Rams, had issues with
the Pope's unchecked power and likened him to the Antichrist. The upside-down cross was neither
here nor there when it came to Satan. Let's fast-forward nearly a thousand years and meet
obscure French occultist Eugène Ventran, who was a strange dude even by 19th-century occult standards
To set the scene, Queen Victoria was on the British throne, and the Industrial Revolution
was off and running. Things were getting more mechanical and regulated, not to mention polluted
all of which depressed people and sent them in search of something more spiritual or mystical
about existence. They weren't happy just being fogs in a machine. No pun intended. Well, kind of
This spiked interest in the occult, and Ventreux, who was a foreman in a cardboard box factory
saw an opening. He started pulling off miracles, according to him, claimed to be the reincarnation
of the prophet Elijah, and because there's someone for everyone, he soon found his people
In other words, he started the occult. It was all going great for him until in 1846
some of his haters put out a pamphlet titled The Saints of Tidi Sursoud
And this is a quote, homosexuality, conducting black masses in the nude and masturbating at the
altar The Pope who wasn a fan of black masses came down hard on Von Traum and in response von Traut started wearing an upside cross around his neck He said it was a symbol of passing from the reign of suffering to the reign of love but it was also a way more basic F
to the Vatican. Some years later, inspired by von Traut, Parisian novelist J.K. Wiesman wrote
La Bon, which featured an infamous black mass scene in which an upside-down cross is worn at
combination mass orgy. From then on, the meaning of an upside-down cross, when the cross itself
got inverted to mean Satan. Fast forward to today. Plenty of modern musicians and bands, including Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer
Behemoth, and Cradle of Filth — to name a few — incorporate upside-down crosses into their
imagery, costumes, stage sets, and so on. Speaking about upside-down crosses, in an
interview on Medium, Behemoth bassist Orion said, Breaking the rules, provoking, going against the current is exciting. It is what it is. Pick it or
leave it." Okay, sure, but sometimes the use of an upside-down cross is nothing more than a clever
marketing ploy designed to provoke in the name of getting attention. Take the band Black Sabbath
for example. Back in the day, people called them diabolical, but the band actually wasn't
comfortable using an upside-down cross. And given that they were once cursed by Satanists
it makes sense. In a 2010 interview with Banger TV, former Sabbath drummer Bill Ward gave it up
up, saying, "...I think there were some wise guys who deliberately put that together as a ploy
as an advertising promotional ploy, or who had seriously misgaged us as a band.
All that hysteria about the sacrilegious use of Upside Down Crosses is mostly long gone along with Tipper Gore crusade to protect innocent ears from the devil music These days upside crosses can be found everywhere in artwork in anime in tattoos jewelry belt buckles t shops you name it
To some it means defiance. To others, it just looks cool. But what does it mean to Satanists
We're glad you asked. Placed behind their altar in often glowing neon, it represents
according to the BBC, a metaphor for questioning authority and grounding your beliefs in science
Or, you know, Satan, since a group worships the devil. And we thank you for coming to our convening
Hail Satan. Not bad. Then there's the Church of Satan whose official FAQ reads
Literature has long depicted anyone who has embraced Satan and thus rejected Jesus as having
embraced the reverse cross as symbolic of that act. Hail Satan! Hail Satan
No! If, by literature, the church is referring to Ice Spices Fit at the 2024 Super Bowl or
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, sure. But here's the most important part. In the dubiously
immortal words of the website to the Church of Satan, Satanists are free to employ any
symbols which they feel have resonance. So if such an upside-down cross has personal
meaning, they could use it. In other words, an upside-down cross means whatever you want it to mean. Or nothing
It's just an upside-down object. The important takeaway is that the Upside Down Cross has been co-opted by Satanists
who probably never knew it was originally the ultimate tribute to Jesus
Oh, the irony