The Irish Cross with ring and spirals

                Symbols with compareable prehistoric roots ?

                           
               Irish cross * Castledermot*         Backside (invertetd  )        Gotland-Sweden
                              800                                                                                   1250 click

Irish cross * Castledermot *, with  a ring and  on  the  foundation  sequential
 spirals. On the cross Christian figures. : Reverse south side (inverted) of the
cross

Gotland:                  Ring cross with Rune insciption
                          “pray for Jakobs' soul, whom Niklas killed”.
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Hypothesis: The Irsh Cross supposed to be  a mixture of  religious symbols
of an old preceding European nature religion worshipping cow and  sun.and
a holy horizon .(A longer story)
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Cross
The Christian cross has its mythic origin in the Tree of  Live of the Old Testa-
ment. The ´needed´ fusion of cross  and  pagan  tree became a main motive
of Christian theology

In  the Germanic mythology the Tree of Live appears as  world ash Yggdrasil,
also in function as a world axle .The Irminsul  of the Saxonia, destroyed 772
by Karl the Great
In the Edda (1300): “That  is  with the  ash  Yggdrasil,  there is  the Gods hold
daily court.-------- ---This ash is the largest and best of all  trees,  its branches
 spread over the whole world  and are enough up over  the sky´ (Gylfaginnig 15)

Therefore the  cross Christian missionars  talking about would not be comple-
tedly  strange  for  a  freshly  missionized  Iriish  post-pagan. He  could  go on
seeing ´his´ sky  axle , even if  theology  began  to  connect  the Tree  of  Live
with  Jesus  “Christ, who supports the universe"
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Spirals
being  a  symbol  of  an European  sun  religion. The spirals are wide spread
thoughout Europe and in the Mediterranean (Mykene, Crete).

In the older Bronze Age ~1500 BC about  350 * full handle swords* are
proven in the area of the western  Baltic sea.  

Nearly all hilts of the *full handle*  swords were ´decorated´with spirals.There-
fore  "irish-celtic spirals" may  document mythologic correlations  with Bronze
Age Europe.

                    A ´worldwide´ singular accumulation of swords  

     
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Ring 

More  problematic  than  the cross  the  meaning of  the ring in  an irish cross.  Contrary to  the  cross no  biblical  reverence is  recognizable. Thus  could be
an age-old pagan symboll.

 Hypothesis . It will  hold the opinion  that the ring in its  origin  symbolized  the
horizon   beyond the Atlantic
A religious horizon is well justifiedi n the pyramid text. (2500 BC ---- ) 

Agree may sound  - a little bit - strange to explain parts of the Irish Cross with pyramid tects :-)

But the religious background is simple.In Egypt (and in the North ?) the deceased 
had  to  cross the *  winding   water way*  the Urozean*, in order to meet  on the horizon  the gods,  to enter  the sun boat  - rowed  by  the sunfolk -  and thereby
attain  immortality.An  understandable believe because the horizon was a  holy
district in that even gods were born

 Pyr. 1705 "  The   reed   floats  OF  the  sky  acres  set  down for RH that he may
cross theron to the horizon, to the place where the gods were fount."

Problem  :  An  Egyptian  religion   still  alife  in  the North  despite  4000 years  
between ? An old Irish legend might support this view.

The *Navigatio Sancti Brendani* was an account  written  by  an  Irish monk
in the ninth  or  tenth  century  and  describes  the seven year  voyage  of Saint
Brendan .  More   than  100  medieval   Latin  manuscripts  of  the  Voyage  of
Brendan still exist today.
The monk  St Brendan set  forth on a  voyage  to  find  the  Blessed  Islands, a
myth  even  in this  time.  The monks were  looking  for  the  Promised Land, a
fabled place of plenty beyond the western horizon.
( It is believed that these ancient legends came from the earlier sea voyaging "Celtic" peoples
(Google)
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This in  mind: Cheops and  the  knight of  Sutton  Hoo  may  probably had the
same conceptions of a life after death. Both needed a boat to cross the ozean.

Pyr.T. 599  " Re,  commend to me-xyz—the  ferryman of  the Winding  Water-
 way,so that he may  bring  me  his ferry-boat  which  belongs  to the  Winding
Waterway, to  the eastern  side of  the sky, so  that  he may  ferry  me  over to
yonder side of the Winding Waterway, to the eastern side  of the sky"

Problem: A religion  of   megalithic seafarer?   The  boat  burials  a decissive
religious  reference between  early  Old Egypt and  the  Neolithic North ?

Cheops (-2575-2465)-          ---------------------- Sutton Hoo (620 .)--------------------------

                                            Oseberg ( 800, Norway) with spiral                Gotland, Sweden
                   In historical map off shore the Spanish coast an* Eylysium* is placed
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The given  hypothesis is  based  primarily on  pyramid  texts.  An  amateurish
strolling  along  the  border of a  leisurely  flowing  mainstream ? May  be, but

Biology may give a further reference .The  granddaughter of Cheops
is   depicted  in  its   mastaba  with   reddish- yellow   hair.  (Tamahu) 
Could be that the ´departed´  Anglo-Saxon  knight of Sutton Hoo had
 a fair haired daughter too.(Must not, but could be.)

Pyr.Text:1168 "My father ascends the sky among the gods who are in the sky;
 he stands at the Great Polar  Region and  learns the speech  of the  sun-folk"
(meaning of *sun folk* unknown )

Did  the  Pharao  tried  to  learn  the  language of  his  ancestors,   meanwhile
forgotten?  The language of the  founding fathers, who built numerous dolmen
in Palestine ? (GILGAL )                                      -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Facit:
In its mythical origin  RING and  Spirals  on an  Irish Cross are not related to 
Christianity .Likely to be symbols of a ´megalithic´ natural religion , a religion
of pagan neolithic seafarer, worshipping the sun.
         Christian missionars had  to cope with for a while. ( s.Chaple of Sixtus)

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P.S.
.                 
                       Christian crosses coverd with pagan spirals.

          klick
        Tullyleasel-Cross  Ireland              Cross of king Lothar(/817) Son of Karl the Great.(Aachen)

Ireland  8th century < double spirals ? Four columns supporing the sky ?
Considered  the  finest  Early  Christian  cross  slab  in  Ireland. This 8th
century   artifact   is   found  in  the  ruins  of  the  monastery  founded  by 
St. Berichter in County  Cork.  The cross  consists of a  labyrinth   of key 
patterns  and  several bosses and has been compared to metal proces-
sional crosses as the possible inspiration for this kind of design in stone
(Google)

Lothar Cross  Made of gold and semi-precious  gems  for  the  Ottonian
Emperor  Included are bits  of Roman "spolia" (re-used bits from earlier
times)

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" This piece is based on a 10thcentury  stone carving  which  can still
 be seen in the quiet garden of Gallen Priory. The myth and symbol
caught in this design is timeless and extraordinarily powerful. The
studio have had letters  from all over the world enthusing over the
cryptic symbolism, which they themselves interpret  as Humankind 
standing on  reason  (the linear pattern at  the base) wrestling  with
unconscious  energy .At the centre of piece there is a sun spiral
representing the life force.  Uncoiling serpents symbolise the
unconscious. The four heads represent Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel.
Finally, the spiral circle joining   the four heads  symbolises  unity,
harmony and love."htp: