The cross is often credited with Christian origin, but this is not at all the case. In fact, the cross is the oldest sacred symbol that is present in absolutely all pagan beliefs and religions. India, China, Egypt, Greece - crosses and cruciform elements can be found everywhere. There can be a huge number of types and forms: this is a gamma cross, and Greek, and Latin, and botany, and Celtic, and crosslet and many others.
Among the ancient Russians, the cross often acted as a symbol of the Sun and meant, first of all, light, strength and life in all its manifestations. An additional confirmation of this is the analysis of the word "cross", where a connection with the Old Slavic verb "to crack" is clearly traced - to strike sparks, fire. Since our ancestors actively worshiped the sun and hence fire, there is nothing surprising in the name of one of the main cult symbols. The word "baptism" also comes from the verb "to bow down" - it is probably worth giving meaning to this action as consecration by fire … In Russia, before the adoption of Christianity, almost every person wore an amulet with a cross. Only he had a slightly different look than the modern Christian symbol. In most cases, the cross was enclosed in a circle that personified the surrounding space, and the four lines of the cross meant the four cardinal directions: north, south,east and west. In addition, the four positions of the cross lines meant the position of the sun in the sky and symbolized the four seasons: autumn, winter, spring and summer.
The Perunov cross was also widespread, which consisted of two lines crossing each other, which bifurcate into two pointed ends. Women wore an oblique cross, outlines similar to the letter X. Such a cross personified the earthly feminine principle (and the straight cross - the masculine heavenly principle) and protected from infertility. The four-pointed Kolovrat or Perunov wheel is also a kind of cross. The only difference is in the curved ends, which mean the continuous movement of the sun, the solstice.
The cross, as a symbol, can be interpreted in another way. If we assume that the vertical line means the axis of life and all that exists, then the horizontal strip will act as a designation of our world pierced by this axis. The interpretation of the cross on the basis of time is also very interesting: the right horizontal line means the past, the left - the future, and the crossing vertical line personifies space. This interpretation contains an ancient deep meaning - when Time and Space come into contact, Being itself, the present, is born.