A Simple Explanation of the Sign of the Cross

As I have explained before, I am a follower of Jesus. Raised in the Protestant tradition, as a child I learned the hymns and liturgy of the Methodist Church. One thing I did not learn was the sign of the cross.  American Protestants do not move their hand across their body to form the Sign of the Cross. This tradition is considered old-fashioned and apt to confuse people who are not Catholic or Orthodox. However, I have noticed that American children of all and no faiths seem to know how to form the cross when reciting the secular oath: "Cross my heart and hope to die," so it seems to me that the practice does remain in the culture, albeit divorced from meaning.

Christ Pantokrator mosaic, Ravenna, 6th century: Jesus' hand is shown lifted in blessing in the position used by Orthodox priests (evoking the abbreviation of his name in Greek, "IC XC").

There's an excellent discussion and description of how to trace the sign of the cross at wikihow.com:

Crossing oneself is a common practice for Christians in liturgical churches, especially but not limited to the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican (Episcopal) churches. It is used to begin and end prayers and ceremonies, as well as occasionally as a stand-alone practice of asking God to bless oneself. Many Christians also make the sign of the cross when they hear the name of the Blessed Trinity.

The sign of the cross is made by touching the hand sequentially to the forehead, lower chest or stomach, and both shoulders, accompanied by the Trinitarian formula: at the forehead In the name of the Father (or In nomine Patris in Latin); at the stomach or heart and of the Son (et Filii); across the shoulders and of the Holy Spirit/Ghost (et Spiritus Sancti); and finally: Amen.

I make the sign of the cross many times a day. I cross myself when I notice the clock reading 1:11, 11:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 5:55, 1:23, 12:34, and 4:56. I love those times of day and whenever I notice them I make the cross. I make the sign of the cross when I am standing in the wings of the theater waiting for my cue to go onstage. I make the sign of the cross after close calls with disaster, like stepping off a curb and not being hit by that speeding car I didn't see. And so forth...  Why? Are these merely superstitious gestures? Hex signs for luck? What do they have to do with universal consciousness, for heaven's sake?

Here is the Simple Explanation of the sign of cross. 

The seminal idea of the Simple Explanation is "Spirit down, mud up."

As the diagram above indicates, our bodies are made of countless particles, molecules, cells, etc., all combining to support the unit of consciousness that forms your "self." 

If our bodies are composed of matter, and our souls of  non-material consciousness, then how do they interface? How do they communicate? What is the mechanism for crossing over from spirit to matter? Researching this article this morning, I learned a new phrase: "hypostatic union." Hypostatic union is a religious meme that refers to Christ co-existing as both fully human and fully divine. The Simple Explanation would suggest that all entities in our universe live in a state of hypostatic union of consciousness and matter.

After decades of contemplation, I recognized the Simple Explanation that matter is consciousness repeated as a fractal pattern of information, aggregation, and cooperation from sub-atomic through galactic scales. (If you don't understand fractals, don't worry. It's not necessary for this discussion.)

The second most important idea of the Simple Explanation is the Golden Rule of reaching out to others, holding hands, and building together to form the next level up. This Golden Rule pattern applies equally throughout all scales in the universe, from sub-atomic particles reaching out to "hold hands" with other particles to form atoms, and atoms reaching out to form molecules, and molecules reaching out to form elements, up through cells, up through organs and organisms, up through planets and galaxies--every thing in our universe follows this pattern. 

With humans, the Golden Rule pattern repeats as individuals reach out to form families and working groups and societies. The individual must cooperate with those nearby to "hold hands" and work together to raise the children, get the projects done, and fulfill the many needs of community like providing shelter, entertainment, and food. When we don't cooperate, things go poorly, both for the individuals involved and the surrounding community. The natural state of proper functioning is cooperation. 

These two Simple principles are why the Bible instructs people to first "love God" (acknowledging your Spirit Down origin), and then to "love your neighbor as yourself" (stating the Golden Rule of reaching out from your "mud" to work in cooperation with others).

Simply put, the sign of the cross traces the entirety of the Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything onto your body as a remembrance of our place in this universe.

• Starting at the top, Spirit -- Universal Consciousness
• Moving the hand down -- spirit descends into matter, into "mud", into "flesh"
• Moving the hand from side to side, shoulder to shoulder -- reaching out to others to work together with love, information, and assistance to form the next level up. 
• Each movement passes through the center, which is the gateway to God / Universal Consciousness / Holy Spirit.

Notice that the icons of Christ that depict the sign of the cross refer to Him in his role as "Pantokrator," which means Creator of All. The Simple Explanation refers to this Pantokrator as the Universal Unit of Consciousness. I like how the Pantokrator icon below shows Jesus has both Spirit and Mud, depicted through the representation of His face. We are all both Spirit and Mud. Spirit down, mud up. Holy Spirit centers us and gives us access to Universal Consciousness through the middle. And now, having written this, I cross myself.

The oldest known icon of Christ Pantocrator, encaustic on panel (Saint Catherine's Monastery). The two different facial expressions on either side may emphasize Christ's two natures as fully God and fully human.