Satanic Cross

The Satanic Cross is a variation of the alchemical symbol for sulfur, that represents fire and brimstone. The sulfur symbol was placed above the Nine Satanic Statements (p. 25) in The Satanic Bible in LaVeyan Satanism, and is commonly used in rituals performed by Theistic Satanists. It can also be interpreted as a combination of the Lorraine cross and the mathematical symbol for infinity, or a phallic re-imagining of the cross, with the infinity symbol representing a scrotum. It is often interpreted as a symbol of Satanism, because LaVey adopted it from the Cross of Lorraine or even the Patriarchal cross, which is also a symbol of Christianity and Hermeticism. Hermetic alchemists of the Renaissance used the emblem as a symbol of earth and spirit by combining the square earth cross with the cross of Christ. When drawn symmetrically, it symbolised the hermetic maxim, "As above, so below".

Black metal musicians whose music contains Satanic themes often use the symbol. It is present in the logo of the King Diamond's band. The rock band Rush used it in the art for their Time Machine tour and on their album Clockwork Angels.

In the Catholic Church, the equal-armed Lorraine Cross denotes the office of Cardinal.

Famous quotes containing the words satanic and/or cross:

    of the satanic thistle that raises its horned symmetry
    flowering above sister grass-daisies’ pink tiny
    bloomlets angelic as lightbulbs—
    Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)

    Life is a bridge. Cross over it, but build no house on it.
    Indian proverb, quoted in Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines, ch. 30, “From the Notebooks” (1987)