The Chi Rho was one of the earliest Christian symbols of Christ. It was used for decades in the early church before the cross became the official symbol of the faith. It was used by Constantine in the 4th century as his personal standard. It is however a rather controversial symbol as it is in fact a pre-Christian symbol and was used by Greek and Roman mystery schools in association with other Pagan Christ’s such as Dionysus/Orpheus, Sabazios Adonis and Pan.

The Hamsa hand is one of the most widely used protective symbols. The name Hamsa is from the Arabic word for “five” relating to the five fingers. It is a common symbol among both Jews and Christians as the five fingered hand of God, or alternately as the hand of; the Virgin. Both Jews and Christians adopted it from the Arab speaking Muslims of North Africa who in turn adopted it from the Berbers. The Phoenicians used the symbol in association with their moon Goddess Tanit. But the earliest versions are Babylonian; as a universal sign of protection. The image of the open right hand is seen in Mesopotamian artifacts in the amulets of the goddess Ishtar.

The most popular and enigmatic of Egyptian symbols, it holds a sacred place among Coptic Christians as a symbol of the eternal life to be found in Jesus Christ. Its earliest use is found among the Pyramid texts dating back to 2400bce. Since that time it was found in the hands or proximity of every depiction of every major Egyptian deity and pharaoh. Many theories have been postulated as to it’s meaning but the most plausible is given by Egyptologist Alan Gardiner who interpreted it as a phonetic symbol for the Egyptian word ?n? “live”, a triliteral root probably pronounced /?ánax/ in Old and Middle Egyptian. It is therefore a symbol which represents the breath of life, creation, resurrection, and eternity.