Symbols In Religion

There's something I think everyone should know before they decide to get a tattoo and that would be to find out what the symbol you're about to permanently ink into your skin actually means. I see it all the time now. I'm okay with religions borrowing our originally Pagan symbols to use to represent their single God and His divinity. I mean, they've been using the cross for several thousand years now so I'm not about to ask them to change it.

For all of you who don't know about the Celtic cross, it was around much longer before Christianity and stood for eternal life. The four points stood for the four paths to spiritual enlightenment. This variation came from a symbol even older called the Ankh which was used by the Egyptians which is a cross with a little circle at the top which was referred to as "the key of life".

Of course I'm sure the Christians use the cross to symbolize Jesus's crucifixion and how he sacrificed himself for his beliefs and as Christians believe for the sins of all mankind. That's a legitimate reason for them to use the cross as their symbol.

However.

Nowadays, I'm seeing more and more churches and people using the triquetra as a symbol to represent Christianity. No, no, no, no, no. This is an originally Pagan symbol dating back to Germanic Paganism. It was unclear for what it stood for back then but most believe it was for life, death, and rebirth. In Neo-Paganism it represents the three aspects of the Goddess: maiden, mother, and crone; it even has been said to represent the three aspects of the God: the Horned God, the God King, and the Sacrificing God.

This is my symbol. This is my religion. This is who I am. Please don't take this symbol away from us. I don't care about how much you want it to mean the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I thought that was what you had the cross for! I mean, isn't that the symbol priests make when they say "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost" during Sunday Mass?

My triquetra has been turned into your trinity. So don't get mad at me when I correct you on the origin of the symbol. Don't get mad at me when I tell you it was originally a Pagan symbol because ya'll have chosen to incorporate it into your religion.

And please, don't get it tattooed on yourself and not expect someone to say something about it. Especially if it's someone like me who loves the Wiccan Way.