“To the Rosicrucians, Alchemists, and Illuminati, the cross was the symbol of light, because each of the three letters L V X is derived from some part of the cross.” – Manly P. Hall
The cross was used by many cultures and tribes long before the time of Christ. Prior to when the first Christians had adopted the ancient Tau cross into their religion over two thousand years ago, and then later in the 4th century when it was changed to the modern Christian cross of warfare under Constantine; the symbol of the cross could be witnessed all over the world in places such as ancient Egypt, India, Phoenicia (Crete), Greece, England, Scotland, Ireland and even in the Americas.
In the Encyclopedia Britannica, Thomas Macall sheds some light on the real nature of the true cross; “The use of the cross as a religious symbol in pre-Christian times, and among non-Christian peoples, may probably be regarded as almost universal, and in very many cases it was connected with some form of nature worship.”
It was known as the most sacred Cross of Egypt, the Ankh that was carried in the hands of the gods, and the Pharaohs. The sign of life, the living, an oath, and a covenant which denotes the birthplace in the northern quarter of the heavens from which the sun is reborn. A T-square is an Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for “Tau” which means “sacred gate” or “sacred opening”.
The Israelites marked their doors with the Tau cross so that the destroying angel passed over in the night, when Israel went out of Egypt. To the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians (or Cretans), it was the sign of life that they had used to tattoo on prisoners who were found innocent or not guilty of their alleged crimes, and a sign of deliverance from death from their executioners. A tattoo of the letter of the Greek Theta which is the same as the Christian cross today that means death. Hence, Jesus died on the cross at Golgotha (place of the skull).
The ancient Druids who were descendants of the Phoenicians had also venerated the Greek Tau as the sign of life. Multiple Taus form a temple: for example “Stonehenge”. It is well-known that the Phoenicians had traded with the Western world and Brittain 1100 years or more before Christ. So it makes sense, that they would import not only good into the West, but also their secret teachings and symbols such as the Tau cross which the Druids would be the Western descendants of the Phoenician Kohen priesthood. A priesthood that was blessed to have immortal luminaries such as Pythagoras as a member. We can safely say today that Pythagoras had a huge influence on the Druids, and he was quite possibly himself a Druid. The ancient Pythagoreans used the symbol of an X, or cross which represented the most sacred of all numbers, 10.
The true spiritual and philosopher Freemasons who are in the extreme minority today highly venerate his teachings, and honor them in their craft. That is why you will find the Tau cross secretly represented in Masonry under the symbol of the T-square. In the Templar degrees of Masonry, the Triple Tau is the symbol that represents the Templum Hierosolyma, or the Temple of Jerusalem, and is found under the Royal Arch degrees. It also said to mean Calvis as Thesaurum- “ A key to the Treasure” –and Theca ubi respretiosa- “A place where the precious thing is concealed.” It can also be found in the 26th degree of the Scottish Rite Freemasonry, where a TAU is placed on the candidate’s forehead after they have been purified with water to distinguish himself before proceeding.
Albert Mackey had written; “A symbol used in the Degrees of Knights Templar and Knight of the Brazen Serpent. The cross is a tau cross T, and the serpent is twined around. Its origin is found in Numbers xxi, 9, where it is said, “Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole.” The Hebrew word Nes, here translated a pole, literally means a standard, or something elevated on high as a signal, and may be represented by a cross as well as by a pole. Indeed, Justin Martvr calls it a cross.”
Manly P. Hall wrote about these ancient connections to Freemasonry in The Secret Teachings of all Ages; “There are three distinct forms of the cross. The first is called the TAU (more correctly the TAV). It closely resembles the modern letter T, consisting of a horizontal bar resting on a vertical column, the two arms being of equal length. An oak tree cut off some feet above the ground and its upper part laid across the lower in this form was the symbol of the Druid god Hu. It is suspected that this symbol originated among the Egyptians from the spread of the horns of a bull or ram (Taurus or Aries) and the vertical line of its face. This is sometimes designated as the hammer cross, because if held by its vertical base it is not unlike a mallet or gavel. In one of the Qabbalistic Masonic legends, CHiram Abiff is given a hammer in the form of a TAU by his ancestor, Tubal-cain. The TAU cross is preserved to modern Masonry under the symbol of the T-square. This appears to be the oldest form of the cross extant.”
The ancient Norse cultures had adopted the Tau under the name of Thor, and his symbol Thor’s hammer which is the TAU Cross. The Phoenician word Thor is the name for bull, and this is why in astrology, the Astrological sign of Taurus which is the bull gets its name from the Tau and Ru.
Many Saints are associated with the cross such as the “Cross of Saint Anthony”, since the saint was said to be martyred on the
TAU cross. St. Jerome had said that the letter Tau was ordered to be placed on the foreheads of those mourners, and that the Hebrew letter Tau, was formerly written like a cross in which the people were to be signed with the sign of the cross. The Seraphic Saint Francis had chosen not to use the traditional Christian cross we see today, but instead wore the true Tau cross as his cross of salvation. He even painted in on the walls and doors of the places where he stayed just like the ancient Israelites had done. Today is still used as a symbol of the Franciscan Order.
TAU cross. St. Jerome had said that the letter Tau was ordered to be placed on the foreheads of those mourners, and that the Hebrew letter Tau, was formerly written like a cross in which the people were to be signed with the sign of the cross. The Seraphic Saint Francis had chosen not to use the traditional Christian cross we see today, but instead wore the true Tau cross as his cross of salvation. He even painted in on the walls and doors of the places where he stayed just like the ancient Israelites had done. Today is still used as a symbol of the Franciscan Order.
The TAU cross was also a symbol used by many of the North, and South American Indians such as the Maya and Aztecs. According to the native Toltec historian Ixtlilxochitl, the deity, Quetzalcoatl, who was said to have introduced the cult of the cross, was adored under the sign of the cross which was called the Tree of Sustenance and the Tree of Life.
What is a Tau Cross?
The name TAU is actually the term in Greek for the letter T. In Hebrew, it is called “Taw” and is the twenty-second and last letter in the Hebrew (Phoenician) alphabet. The meaning of Tau is “The sign of the Cross”, and it is assigned to planet Jupiter who is known as the King of the Universe, and the Father of the Gods. Jupiter is also known as the morning star spoken about in the bible, in which the Tau represents the sun, the morning star Jupiter and the four directions. This is where we get the name for the constellation known as Tau-rus. It is also the Hermetic Cross.
As I mentioned above, the Freemasons utilize the T-Square to represent the TAU, and this was inherited from the Ancient Egyptian mysteries in which the meaning of the TAU is the “sacred gate” or “sacred opening”. The five- pointed star also denotes the word “sacred”. The Triple Tau is the symbol for the Temple of Jerusalem. =
Jupiter has always been known as King of the planets and God to many cultures. It is known as the creator and true light of 
the heavens on the As Above that rules over man via the chemical energies in his brain, sexual organs and desire. Through Jupiter we find the Alpha and Omega of all life and nature through its chemical energies that it emits on the So Below known in science as the Greek Phosphorus, and in Latin Lucifer. The essential ingredient in the creation of all life and the immortal energy in which it does not die like Jesus who was crucified on the cross, but later had risen from the dead.
the heavens on the As Above that rules over man via the chemical energies in his brain, sexual organs and desire. Through Jupiter we find the Alpha and Omega of all life and nature through its chemical energies that it emits on the So Below known in science as the Greek Phosphorus, and in Latin Lucifer. The essential ingredient in the creation of all life and the immortal energy in which it does not die like Jesus who was crucified on the cross, but later had risen from the dead.
This immortal fact is reflected in the earliest book of the Hebrews (Phoenicians) through their sacred esoteric teachings found in their earliest known book called the Book of Creation, and in Hebrew Sepher Yetsirah where it says this about the Tau and 22nd Hebrew letter; “The Twenty-second Path is the Faithful Intelligence and is so-called because by it spiritual virtues are increased, and all dwellers on earth are nearly under its shadow.”(30) It also states, “He produced Tau, and referred to it Beauty; He crowned it, combined and formed with it Jupiter in the Universe, the Seventh Day of the week, and the mouth of man.”(22)
In astronomy, the 22nd letter represents the second Sun, or the Jupiter Initiation associated with the cross. Jupiter has always been known as the Alpha and Omega, the Anima Mundi and soul of the universal heavens in which earth and humans are part of. Tau is called the Fourth Path that leads to the Fourth Truth. “Hast thou not entered Tau, the ‘Path’ that leads to knowledge.”
The Tau signifies the final path to enlightenment or illumination, in which the true cross is our final redemption to the Christ-man. Hence “I-T is finished.”
The Father of English History and Doctor of the Church, Saint Bede had said the Tau was the sign of salvation and of the cross. The Greek alphabet is derived from the Phoenicians who had represented it with the Phoenician letter taw, meaning of the Cross. The Tau Cross is the sign which the Lord told the people of Jerusalem to mark on their foreheads, and also placed as a symbol of liberation upon those charged with crimes but acquitted. This Tau is considered a symbol of salvation due to the identification of the tau with the sign which in Ezekiel 9:4 was marked on the forehead of the saved ones “set a mark (tav; after the Phoenician cross-shape on the forehead of the men”), or due to the tau-shaped outstretched hands of Moses in Exodus 17:11.
This mark of the Tau on their foreheads was actually a real tattoo that was permanent. This is because the TauTToo of salvation is a mark of the saved ones through redempTion with JUpiTer.
Albert Pike had written about the Tau in Morals and Dogma:
This Tau was in the form of the cross of this degree, and it was the emblem of life and salvation. The Samaritan Tau and the Ethiopic Tavvi are the evident prototype of the Greek r; and we learn from Tertullian, Origen, and St. Jerome, that the Hebrew Tau was anciently written in the form of a Cross.In ancient times, the mark Tau was set on those who had been acquitted by their judges, as a symbol of innocence. The military commanders placed it on soldiers who escaped unhurt from the field of battle, as a sign of their safety under the Divine Protection.It was a sacred symbol among the Druids. Divesting a tree of part of its branches, they left it in the shape of a Tau Cross, preserved it carefully, and consecrated it with solemn ceremonies. On the tree they cut deeply the word Thau, by which they meant God. On the right arm of the Cross, they inscribed the word Hesuls, on the left Belen or Belenus, and on the middle of the trunk Tharamis. This represented the sacred Triad.
Manly P Hall had said this about the Tau Cross and Tattoos:
The TAU cross was inscribed on the forehead of every person admitted into the Mysteries of Mithras. When a king was initiated into the Egyptian Mysteries, the TAU was placed against his lips. It was tattooed upon the bodies of the candidates in some of the American Indian Mysteries. To the Qabbalist, the TAU stood for heaven and the Pythagorean tetractys. The Caduceus of Hermes was an outgrowth of the TAU cross. (See Albert Pike.)
Source:
http://gnosticwarrior.com/the-true-cross.html
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