The Wavy Cross

The Wavy Cross

Created: March 19, 08

(With the note on the back: circles forming into squares)

Figure 1 - The Wavy Cross

Picture Story and Descriptions

The wavy cross is the final picture I created for this project. When I first laid the pictures out, I had not yet created it, and its position was occupied by a blank piece of paper.

Figure 2 - The Wavy Cross in Layout

When I did the journey method, I knew that I was making the picture for that position and so had more information than I normally have. The picture had two squares surrounding it, and so I was surprised when I made it that I drew intersecting lines (a cross) instead of drawing any squares. However, I have learned that the cross is related to square, because “it opens the later to the external world” (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996, p.248).

The picture is composed of curling and wavy lines. The central figure, that I see as a wavy cross is emphasized by black lines. I believe that emphasis was intended by the black lines because black lines have occurred in other pictures that I have made, emphasizing or comprising the central figures of those pictures. A consultation with my spirit guides confirmed that the “curvy cross” is the main symbol in this picture, and that the correct orientation is for the horizontal bar to cross at an upper position (the orientation you see in this paper.) Other lines strike me as unfurling themselves from being circular, as if they were in the process of opening and becoming crosses as well.

Colors

The picture contains: blue, red, green, purple, brown and black. Ido not see any single color being used more frequently then another. The red stands out for me through its presence along the central vertical line of the picture, and having curves near the top and bottom of the picture. A thick purple and blue swirl (vertical) just right of the black lines of the cross makes me think the presence of “spirit” in the picture and perhaps the world.

As no color dominates the picture and the colors are so varied, my interpretation is that the picture shows diversity. No color stands out or dominates, therefore none dominate the interpretation. The black lines are used here to emphasize the symbol of the wavy cross.

Symbol Interpretation

The curvy cross felt so primal to me that I expected to see it featured prominently in symbol interpretation websites and books. To my surprise, I found it difficult to find any information that related specifically to a wavy or curvy cross. I found a few short references that related a curvy cross to water, and references to a movie called Dragonfly

Figure 3 - Dragonfly Movie Poster

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In the movie the curvy cross is a message from the main character’s wife from beyond the grave. In the movie it is interpreted as being a symbol representing a waterfall on a trail map.

Due to a lack of interpretive information about a wavy cross specifically, I focused on the interpretations of the individual symbols: that of the cross, the wavy line, the circle, and the square (because it was a shape placed on the picture and is closely related to the cross).

The cross is considered to be one of the four basic symbols include with the circle, the square and the point or center (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996;see also O’Connell & Airey, 2006). The cross is used as a symbol in many cultures throughout the world (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996), and appearances of the symbol have been dated to be over 30,000 years old (O’Connell & Airey, 2006). The equilateral cross was common in China, in the early Celtic Crosses and is also called the Greek cross (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996). During the middle ages the horizontal beam of the Christian cross shifted upward from the equilateral position to an upper position thus shifting the focus from the earth up “into the spiritual sphere” (Jaffé, 1964, p.273).

The cross’s symbolism is associated with the square and the number four. “The square (and often the rectangle) is a symbol of earthbound matter, of the body and reality.”(Jaffé, 1965, p.285)Like the square the cross symbolizes the earth, butwhere the square is associated with what is stable and non-moving the cross involves interplay and change (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996). The cross also divides up space, and is used to represent crossroads.

Chevalier and Gheerbrant (1982/1996) indicate the associations amongst various cultures with the vertical line of the cross include:

Going from heaven to earth

The central axis of the earth, or the world pole.

Temporality, as the world rotates around the central axis

The male principle

North/South

Hierarchy of being

Three symbolism (P. 915 Hindu interp.)

The associations of the horizontal line include:

Embracing or spanning the world

The rising and setting of the sun

Spatiality

The female principle

East/West

Expansion of being

Four symbolism

When the vertical and horizontal lines or axis come together there is a union of differing principles and a potential balance. Thus: “The cross is above all other symbols the one which creates a totality (CHAS p.365)” (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996, p.248).

Where the two lines cross, another of the four basic symbols is created: the center. The center is the place where the crossroads meet thus it is associated with communication and travel. It is the place where time stops. It is the threshold from which things can emerge from or return to the Otherworld. You can either view the two lines of the cross as creating the center, or the arms of the cross as emerging from the center.

As I explained in the last section, the central point is involved the symbolism of the circle as well. When the central point expands, it forms the circle which shares symbolism with the center and “is the development and manifestation of the central point” (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996, p. 196). In relationship to the center, the expanded circle can symbolize created world or “the results of creation”(p.195). The circle represents unity, as well as, something that is complete. It is also associated with cycles of time, and its eternal aspect of having no beginning and no end. The circle is frequently associated with the heavens and therefore the other/spirit world, but it is the heavens as it relates to creation.

The circle and the square are related to one another. The circle represents the totality of some thing that is without beginning and end, and the square the totality of something that is finite and bounded.

Circle and square symbolize two fundamental aspects of God – oneness and manifestation. The circle expresses the heavenly and the square the earthly, not by contrast with the heavenly, but simply as being created. There is both separation and conjunction in the relationship between the square and circle.(Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996, p.916)

Moving from the circle to the square is a movement from the heavens to the earth. When the square is within the circle the “Earth depends upon Heaven” (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996, p.916).The Kabbalist interpret the symbol of a circle within a square as “the spark of divine fire concealed in matter” (p.197). Rather than a movement from one thing to another, or one object acting upon the other, or concealed within another: the wavy cross could be interpreted as both the square (in aspect of the cross) and the circle in a united aspect.

Interpretation:

The cross opens up the square, keeping its earthly aspect without its immobility. The cross does not express the same contained aspect that the square does, with its clearly defined boundaries. Although I have not seen this in any book, I would suggest the wavy line does the same moderation of the circle. The waves of the line suggest the circle, but rather than being contained, it is opened into a line. With this in mind the wavy cross becomes something that is broken open, and therefore accessible. Because the cross is a symbol that unifies differing principles, it fits with the interpretation that the wavy cross unifies the circle and square.

The cross symbol has an aspect of interplay, and passage from one into another. Because it is strongly associated with the earth, it is a symbol that is about being here in the world as opposed to being in the other world. Its center allows for the passage from one (otherworld) into another (this world). With the horizontal bar in an upper position that the wavy cross symbol has an added spiritual aspect that does not remove it from this world.

My interpretation of this wavy cross is that it is the presence of the heavenly as it constantly becomes into being or creates itself into the world. Not creation that is already made, but creation that is happening. In other words the wavy cross is symbol of the Source’s energy manifesting into the world of matter or the symbol of the gateway for that manifestation.

Support for Interpretation

Upon reviewing my notes I also discovered a conversation with my spirit guides that I feel further reinforces my interpretations. On March 26, 2008, in a conversation with my guides shortly after creating the picture, they told me:

That the symbol represents “all ways”

“Its always connecting you to the nothing that is – given to the world”

That it “allows things to come into form”

I had forgotten about this conversation, so the fact that it supported my conclusions from combining the cross/circle/square symbols was a personal confirmation of my interpretations.

If I review the cards that are placed on the picture there is further support for my interpretation. Two of the cards are shared with other pictures, the earth card is shared with the Web of Life, and the lightning card with the Nothing That Is. There is a moon card with indicates a connection to the other pictures with moon cards. There is also a transformation card which indicates that the picture is one of transformation.

If we examine the Transformation card in more detail, we see that it is one of the cards from the Goddess Tarot deck. In particular it is the card of the goddess Ukemochi. In the pamphlet that accompanies the Tarot Deck the following description is given for this goddess: “After her death, the Japanese food goddess Ukemochi’s body transformed to supply food to humanity. Her head turned into cows; grain sprouted from her forehead; rice plants sprouted from the goddess’s belly-and so life was transformed from death” (Waldherr, 1999).

While the Ukemochi myth explains how a few earth elements came into being, it is part of the more expansive archetype where the goddess’s body forms the substance of the manifested world. An example of such an archetype is found in Enuma elish (one of the oldest creation myths) where the goddess Tiamat’s body is divided to form all the parts of the manifested world (Leeming, 1990). With this archetype you have the ordering of the universe from chaos and the goddess’s body as that which forms creation.

This archetype supports my interpretation of the symbol and expands it. The Nothing That Is which is above passes through the wavy cross (circles forming into squares) and forms the Web of Life below. The undifferentiated prima materia (the goddess) is divided and partitioned (the cross) in order to form the elements of the world. In its placement the Earth card is shared by The Wavy Cross and the Web of Life almost showing a pathway from former into the later. Above The Wavy Cross shares a lightning card with The Nothing That Is.

Lightning is associated with the insemination of divine force into the humanrealm (Chevalier & Gheerbrant, 1982/1996). Lightning comes from the heavens, Zues being one example of a god (the divine) sending his bolts of lightning into the world of humans (the created world.) As I explained in the earlier section the Nothing That Is represents a creation archetype that is before the world, something transcendent. If the Wavy Cross is a type of entry symbol for The Nothing That Is to enter the created world, the lightning symbol closely supports this.

Another aspect of the cross which I did not discuss earlier is that of ordering and dividing things. The four quadrants formed by the cross is often associated with an ordered world, for many cultures from the Native American to the orient: “A fundamental Oriental idea was that all the world was created around a primordial cross.2 (Walker, 1998, p.51)” Also, the four quadrants are associated with the cardinal direction which for many spiritual systems is about giving structure to the world.

In the picture, the circular lines appear to be bending at corners and opening themselves up into straight lines. There are no complete circles shown in the picture. This confirms idea of opening the circle to the external world. It also shows the process of circles turning into squares (written on the back of the picture.) If circular lines of the picture are opening up in order to form wavy crosses then we are seeing the process of the ordering of the world in action. In this way we have the wavy cross as the symbol of this creation archetype and also a depiction of the process of creating order out of the chaos of The Nothing That Is.

Conclusion

Thispicture represents a creation archetype of the ordering of the world from undifferentiated divine energy. It is a picture that depicts the transition itself, the process of ordering and forming the world. The picture also contains a symbol of the creation archetype: The Wavy Cross. The cross’s traditional associations of uniting differing aspects, creating order, interplay, and journey (or transition) are all part of the meaning of this symbol. This cross is a symbol that unites the aspects of the circle (heavenly) and square (square) while opening both to the world. In other words, instead of being contained and complete, the circle and square are opened and changing.