My daughter was watching a Disney movie involving ghost teenagers from 25 years ago… which was 1995. (I could have sworn it was just a couple years ago… but yeah, 25 years ago… was 1995)
Anyway, the lead when she finds out about the ghost teenagers grabs a cross and brandishes it to ward them away. Disney isn’t particularly Christian, but it’s got this fun cultural idea that the symbol of the cross is apotropaic
apotropaic adj. 1. intended to ward off evil.
Obviously this is a Christian origin… other cultures do have other symbols that serve the same function… but as we know from pop culture by holding forth the sign of the cross, evil things scurry away from you.
We use it in the design of churches, we use it as jewelry, and tattoos, it’s done in prayer, national flags have crosses… if you think about it, even the burning cross is an invocation of apotropaic magic and a declaration of how righteous the burners are
So my question is: Where does this come from? Why do we think the Cross (a crucifix is even better!) works as a symbol to ward off evil?
Jesus tells his followers in the great commission (Matthew 10):
“7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.”
So obviously, the Christian myth is that followers Christ can cast out demons. And then if you skip… 30 verses (!)…
“38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. “
But I don’t think that’s literally Christ saying “use the power of the cross to accomplish the deeds mentioned earlier” or reasonably interpreted that way.
Early Christians did not use the cross to identify themselves. They used the eight-spoked wheel, and the fish. And, as a Jehovah’s Witness once explained to me… and some length… it’s not particularly clear that the crucifixion took place on what we would recognize as a cross from our popular crucifix imagery. It could have been a T-shape or a pole, and still would have been considered a “crucifixion” by the Greeks.
The only other source I can think of is Constantine and his vision “In Hoc Signo Vinci” before the battle of the Milvian bridge. But, the sign that Constantine saw was a Chi-Rho (six spoked instead of four) and a sign to conquer is… significantly different than a sign to ward off evil.
So, once again, my question:
Why do we think the symbol of the cross has apotropaic value?