Skeleton symbol on a crucifix...

[auderyja]

Hi everyone,

I went to confession recently and only just noticed that the crucifix in the confessional room has a skeleton symbol at the bottom. Is that normal? Why put a skeleton at the foot of the cross?

Thanks.

[ConstantineTG]

Originally Posted by auderyja

Hi everyone,

I went to confession recently and only just noticed that the crucifix in the confessional room has a skeleton symbol at the bottom. Is that normal? Why put a skeleton at the foot of the cross?

Thanks.

It symbolizes Christ's victory over death. We have a similar processional icon-crucifix with the Theotokos and St. John on either side of the cross, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit above, and death below.

If you go to Google Images and search "icon crucifix", you will see this is standard on many icon crucifixes.

[Monica4316]

do you mean a skull? that is used in Eastern iconography to mean that Christ overcame death by the Cross

God bless

[goforgoal]

I don't recall ever seeing a Skelton but I have seen a skull.

I've read somewhere that it is supposed to be Adam's skull at the foot of the Cross but then again I could be wrong about this.

Some photos of Crosses & Crucifixes:

http://www.crosscrucifix.com/glossaryhome.htm

or

http://widgets.bestmoodle.net/script...weeks_data.htm

Here is another thread with basically the same question.


http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=410651

God bless,
goforgoal

[Whitacre_Girl]

Originally Posted by goforgoal

I don't recall ever seeing a Skelton but I have seen a skull.

I've read somewhere that it is supposed to be Adam's skull at the foot of the Cross but then again I could be wrong about this.

Some photos of Crosses & Crucifixes:

http://www.crosscrucifix.com/glossaryhome.htm

or

http://widgets.bestmoodle.net/script...weeks_data.htm

Here is another thread with basically the same question.


http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=410651

God bless,
goforgoal

I ave heard that the skull or a skeleton can represent both victory over death and represents Adam.

[At Trent]

Memento mori "remember you must die"

[svid2]

There's an old tradition (non-biblical) that the site of the Crucifixion (source of eternal life) was also the site of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (source of sin, and death), and, yup, that's Adam's skull.

Like I said, it's just an old tradition.

[Zooey]

Originally Posted by svid2

There's an old tradition (non-biblical) that the site of the Crucifixion (source of eternal life) was also the site of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (source of sin, and death), and, yup, that's Adam's skull.

Like I said, it's just an old tradition.

I have also read that the site of the Crucifixion was the site to which Abraham took Isaac, to sacrifice him. And that the ram who appeared in the bushes to take Isaac's place, was a foreshadowing of Christ's death on the Cross as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.

[auderyja]

Originally Posted by Monica4316

do you mean a skull? that is used in Eastern iconography to mean that Christ overcame death by the Cross

God bless

Yes, I meant to say "skull". woops

Originally Posted by goforgoal

I don't recall ever seeing a Skelton but I have seen a skull.

I've read somewhere that it is supposed to be Adam's skull at the foot of the Cross but then again I could be wrong about this.

Some photos of Crosses & Crucifixes:

http://www.crosscrucifix.com/glossaryhome.htm

or

http://widgets.bestmoodle.net/script...weeks_data.htm

Here is another thread with basically the same question.


http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=410651

God bless,
goforgoal

Thanks for the link to the old thread.

Originally Posted by At Trent

Memento mori "remember you must die"

Thanks for posting the pics.

Originally Posted by svid2

There's an old tradition (non-biblical) that the site of the Crucifixion (source of eternal life) was also the site of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (source of sin, and death), and, yup, that's Adam's skull.

Like I said, it's just an old tradition.

Good info.

[Fink]

Originally Posted by goforgoal

I don't recall ever seeing a Skelton but I have seen a skull.

Hope it wasn`t a Red Skelton!

Originally Posted by Zooey

I have also read that the site of the Crucifixion was the site to which Abraham took Isaac, to sacrifice him. And that the ram who appeared in the bushes to take Isaac's place, was a foreshadowing of Christ's death on the Cross as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.

Scott Hahn talks about that in a series titled "Salvation History".

Also:
http://www.towards-success.com/dejna...s/golgotha.htm

http://www.templemount.org/moriah2.html

http://www.snunit.k12.il/njeru/eb22s.htm

Originally Posted by svid2

There's an old tradition (non-biblical) that the site of the Crucifixion (source of eternal life) was also the site of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (source of sin, and death), and, yup, that's Adam's skull.

Like I said, it's just an old tradition.

There`s a lot of truth in those old traditions, though.
Also, click the links above.

There`s a tradition about a vertical shaft......

It`d be great to know a lot more about the ancient Jewish traditions: they`d help us with our own Faith.

[Zooey]

Originally Posted by Fink

Hope it wasn`t a Red Skelton!


Scott Hahn talks about that in a series titled "Salvation History".

Also:
http://www.towards-success.com/dejna...s/golgotha.htm

http://www.templemount.org/moriah2.html

http://www.snunit.k12.il/njeru/eb22s.htm


There`s a lot of truth in those old traditions, though.
Also, click the links above.

There`s a tradition about a vertical shaft......

It`d be great to know a lot more about the ancient Jewish traditions: they`d help us with our own Faith.

Thank you!!
I agree that the Jewish traditions are very enlightening.

[centurionguard]

Originally Posted by go for goal

I don't recall ever seeing a Skelton but I have seen a skull.

I've read somewhere that it is supposed to be Adam's skull at the foot of the Cross but then again I could be wrong about this.

Some photos of Crosses & Crucifixes:

http://www.crosscrucifix.com/glossaryhome.htm

or

http://widgets.bestmoodle.net/script...weeks_data.htm

Here is another thread with basically the same question.


http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=410651

God bless,
go for goal

I must admit its been a very long time seen I've seen a Crucifix with the skull below the corpse.

Not to side-track the OP's thread but I had noticed the website link you gave www.crucifix.com In particular the Swastika:

Swastika
Like the cross, the swastika is one of the earliest signs made by man. Once a benign sign generally meaning "it is well," the association of the swastika with Hitler means just the opposite, evil and death. The sign is still used in a positive way by Buddhists and Jainism. Christianity also has used the swastika. It is found in the catacombs almost a thousand times according to Thomas Wilson. During the middle ages, the sign was considered the gammadion, a group of four Greek letter gamma (Γ) used to indicate the four evangelists with Christ in the middle. Nestorian crosses are found in northwest China, remnants of missionary activities around the 13th century, in which a swastika is at the center of a Greek cross.

I guess I didn't realize it was a Christian symbol seen in the Catacombs.
Can this actually be verified? Kinda sad that something used in the 20th century by Hitler and the German SS could become so reminiscent of evil.

[At Trent]

Originally Posted by Fink

Hope it wasn`t a Red Skelton!


.

one of the great ones !

[goforgoal]

auderyja- You're welcome.

At Trent - Thank you for posting the pictures as well. Can you explain who is in the first photo/artwork? and what about the second photo? Was that taken from a Monastery?

By the way, I noticed that some Saints are depicted with skulls? Is this Adam's skull? or Victory over death?

Thanks for the picture of umm Red Skeleton (laughs)

centurionguard- I've read about the Swastika being used by different cultures and religions long before Hitler used it.

[Holly3278]

My brother had asked this question a while back. He told me that his uncle told him the answer and that it represents Jesus' victory over death and sin.