The inverted cross is very popular in mass culture. He is considered a rebellious, often even satanic symbol, a kind of new trend among the "licentious" youth. In fact, this is not the case. The inverted cross has a very rich history.
The appearance of the symbol
According to biblical sources and Christian traditions, after the Apostle Peter founded the Christian church, actually leading it, the Roman authorities began a real hunt for him, believing that the new sect and the person leading it threatened the existence of Rome.
Tradition says that when Peter was caught and wanted to be crucified, he asked the executioners to nail him upside down to the cross, since he considered himself unworthy to die, like Jesus Christ, whom he had denied three times. The Romans complied with the apostle's request, and he died on the cross, nailed upside down. Since Saint Peter was the first head of the Christian church, the inverted cross became a symbol of the papacy.
Inverted cross and Satanism
The cross of St. Peter would not have such popularity in mass culture if it were not for Satanism. Various satanic sects invented symbols for themselves, not thinking about using the papal sign - the cross of St. Peter. The situation changed in the 19th century when various esoteric teachings came into vogue. Some congregations of Satanists began to use the inverted Latin cross as a symbol of their rejection of the teachings of Jesus Christ (Peter denied Jesus three times when the Romans asked if they knew each other).
Originating from ancient pagan cults and Christian mythology, Satanism was a reaction to the Christian fundamentalism of the Middle Ages.
Use of the symbol in the 20th and 21st centuries
In the 20th century, Satanism from a group of religious sects turned into a subculture, far from religion, but replete with external attributes. Along with inverted pentagrams, signs of Baphomet and goat heads, informals depicting Satanists also borrowed the cross of St. Peter. It gained popularity and was sold all over the world in the form of pendants, earrings, images on T-shirts and sweatshirts, which can be bought almost everywhere.
Satanists, on the other hand, began to use an inverted crucifix instead of an inverted cross, that is, a cross with the figure of the crucified Jesus Christ. While the cross of St. Peter was a fairly neutral symbol, an inverted crucifix for many means something anti-Christian, provocative.
In Catholicism, the cross of St. Peter is still used as one of the symbols of the Pope. In particular, the papal throne is decorated with such a cross.
In addition, various combinations of inverted crosses or crucifixes with inverted pentagrams, goat heads and other signs traditional for satanic cults are used. Such combinations do not carry a special semantic load and are used rather as provocative external attributes.
