16. CHRISTIAN CROSS AND CRESCENT MOON WITH A STAR. In the epoch of the XII-XVI cc. the following two well-known symbols effectively signified the same thing. It is a crescent moon with a star and a Christian cross adjacent to a crescent moon,
fig.13 [КР], ch.5. Today a crescent moon with a star is considered to be exclusively a symbol of Islam, of the Muslim faith, and a cross, at the base of which there is a crescent is regarded purely as a Christian symbol. However, Christianity of the XII-XVI cc. was one entity, and it was only at the end of the XVI century that a split began to appear, which led in the XVII century to the division of Christianity into several denominations – Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, etc. A formerly united Christian symbol – a crescent moon and a star=cross – possibly first symbolised the Star of Bethlehem, which lit up at Christ's birth in year 1152, and also the solar eclipse, associated with the crucifixion of Christ in year 1185. You may recall that during the solar eclipse the sun initially turns into a half crescent. The crescent may also symbolise the Moon, which blocks the Sun. The star (cross) inscribed inside the crescent was depicted in various ways four-pointed, five-pointed, s ix-pointed and eight-pointed.
After the division of the churches in the XVII century the symbol of the star-cross has 'multiplied' and gradually turned into its modern versions, including that of a crescent and a star (today, as a rule, five-pointed) and also into a cross, adjacent to a crescent, etc.,
fig.13. A six-pointed star (= 6-pointed cross), which has 'separated' from the crescent began to be called the 'star of David', which, by the way, is not surprising, as a significant part of the legends of Biblical David refer to Andronicus-Christ [ЦРС] Christ was always associated with the Star of Bethlehem. So the 'star of David', which today is considered exclusively to be a Judaic symbol, most likely symbolizes The Star of Bethlehem of the XII century.
The fact, that on the domes of many Russian churches and cathedrals there is towering a Christian cross and a crescent, attracts our attention. Historians and members of clergy are often asked a question: what does it mean? As today a crescent is considered to be a symbol of Islam, distant from Christianity. So why then a crescent can be seen together with a cross? Usually the answer is as follows: purportedly, in the epoch of the religious wars Christianity in Europe defeated Islam. So they put an Ottoman crescent at the base of the Christian a cross as a symbol of victory, so that the people always remembered of the' triumph of the cross over the crescent'.
But such 'explanations' are invented post factum and do not represent the facts. The true meaning we have made clear above.
In some places in Russia there have survived old depictions of a Christian cross and a crescent, where the crescent is not situated below, BUT IN THE VERY CENTRE OF THE CROSS,
fig. 14 AND EVEN ON TOP OF THE CROSS, ABOVE IT,
fig.15 [КР] ch.5. So it is completely impossible to say, that here is depicted 'victory of the cross over the crescent'. If we follow the 'logic' of the historians, then we'll have the opposite: the crescent, placed ABOVE the cross should have been symbolizing the victory of Islam over Christianity. But how could a symbol like that appear in the Christian Orthodox cathedrals?!
HOW IT WAS IN REALITY
