(describing "Satanic" symbols)

'PEACE' SYMBOL OR BROKEN CROSS: Welcome to the seventies, flower child. Originally the Cross of Nero (who falsely blamed the new first-century sect called Christians for burning down Rome), this emblem was used profusely by the hippies and freeks(1), or more respectfully, the student movement of the seventies and by the anti-Vietnam war activists. Now it is back by "popular demand." Little did the student movement and anti-Vietnam war activists know they were promoting the main doctrine of the church of Satan -- "Do what thou wilt' is the whole of the law." Or maybe they DID know what they were promoting? At least some of them likely did. In the hippie cult/student movement of the seventies, the focus of our culture was (and mostly still is) self-this and self-that, with total reliance on the self, never on Jesus except in probably rationalized (blasphemous) ways as in the Jesus-freeks who tainted the Authority of Jesus with flippant and insincere hearts. Some questioned His Wisdom and Will by claiming that His Law applied in some but not all cases. Some also claimed some of His Glory for the self (there's the 'self' again). See how something seemingly innocent can lead to quiet and invisible embracing of the father of lies and his familiars?

Envision the Cross of Jesus: a vertically oriented lower case "t" without the serif (curve) at the bottom -- an upright beam (the stipes) with a cross-arm (or patibulum). Then invert the Cross then break the patibulum down on both sides. Now, the Cross is head down, the patibulum broken with both halves pointing downward, all away from God and toward Hell. Now you have the heart of the peace symbol, or a close variation of the Greek letter, lambda. How our culture associated the Greek letter lambda as a symbol of peace, I have no idea. The peace sign has even become known as the "devil's claw." In 1970, the Earth Day movement used the peace sign with a U.S. flag.

Inductees into satanism may be given a trinket cross for inverting and breaking the patibulum as an initiation ritual symbolic of rejecting Jesus or as having the power to break Him. The purpose of the circle around the broken cross is not well known. It may be symbolic of Satan's lie that he is an eternal god who will reign forever. While the circle may be only adornment or cosmetic, I suspect it is symbolic of further rejection of Jesus by symbolizing that His power can be confined. The peace sign may also be symbolic of Satan casting Jesus into the eternal pit, broken and helpless; an inversion of the True future for Satan. Jesus has already been there (for your sake and mine -- for three days) and has emerged as Champion.

More contemporarily, the Cross of Nero is claimed to be a combination of the semaphore characters "N" and "D" for "Nuclear Disarmament." While this may indeed be an adaptation of the Cross of Nero, I more believe the nuclear disarmament people adapted the symbol to suit their needs.

(1) "Freeks" is the familiar spelling of "freaks." A colloquial term used by and among the hippie culture.