Historically
The “Kreuz” or Cross as a Rune According to Friedrich Fischbach (1900)
Not mentioned as a Rune.
The “Kreuz” or Cross as a Rune According to Guido von List (1910)
In his book The Pictographic-Script of the Aryo-Germans (1910), List explains the Kreuz or Cross through the “Partitioning [Teilung ]” of the Is-Rune. He begins with his description of the Is-Rune itself:
The only one-stroke Rune is the Is-Rune
— Is , Ice, Iron, Is [Ist ], Self [Ich ], the One [Eins ], the Existing [Bestehende ] and Continuous [Beständige ] — God! the One! the Only-One! —
It is this One, the Only-One, but also the One in the Macrocosm, like the One in the Microcosm, the God in the Self [der Gott im Ich ] (God in the single Individual, the “Self [Ich ]”).
He goes on to give some attributes of the Is-Rune’s first permutation:
The vertical
as Tel symbolizes the mediumistic-passive-feminine Principle of the Divinity…
Because it is not a Letter-Rune, the
After this, in order to explain the Cross, List first says the Is-Rune radiates down to the Earth through the 
Ar-Rune as the ‘Sunlight-Rune [Sonnenlicht-Rune ]’. The Is-Rune then radiates back [strahlt zurück ] through the 
Kaun-Rune as ‘Capability/Expertise [Können ]’. At that point:
…the Unification [Vereinigung ] of the … Divine- or Nature-Principle [Gottheits- oder Natur-prinzip ] of the
Cross [Kreuz ] (Rod, Ruoth )…
Since the
The first Form is ‘Compulsion [Zwang ]’ in the downward pointing
Noth-Rune, and the second Form is in the upward pointing
Eh- or ‘Law-Rune [GesetzesRune ]’.
In high Symbolism these three Runes stand side by side as the “three Crosses [drei Kreuze ]”,
This highly-mystical Ur-Salvation-Glyph was (like so many other things) also christianized, and incorporated into the christian salvation-symbology in the Depiction of the “three Crosses on Calvary”.
Already the name “Calvary ” proves this, because it dissolves kala-istically into cal-va-ri : “cal ” (to change, to turn [wenden, drehen ]), “va ” (‘Fa ‘ – to do or make [machen ]), and “ri ” (‘Rita ‘ – Law [Gesetz ]), therefore it is: “to make-turn or apply the Law [wendenmachen das Gesetz ]”…
Summarizing, List seems to be saying that the Cross is a Salvation-Rune (not a Letter-Rune) and represents ‘the Unification of the active-masculine and passive-feminine Divine- or Nature-Principles’. For him, the Cross is synonymous with the term Rod which is one’s ‘invulnerable Right [unverletzbar Recht ]’ as mentioned in the Rita-Rune.
-Paraphrase from The Pictographic-Script of the Aryo-Germans: Aryo-Germanic Hieroglyphics
[Die Bilderschrift der Ario-Germanen : Ario-Germanische Hieroglyphik] (1910) by Guido Von List
The “Kreuz” or Cross as a Rune According to E.T. Kurtzahn (1924)
In his discussion of the Is-Rune, Kurtzahn says:
The Is-Rune furthermore forms the Cross-Trunk [Kreuzesstamm ] as the positive masculine Component of the Cross in contrast to the horizontal, negative and feminine Cross-Beam [Querbalken ].
-Paraphrase from The Runes as Salvation-Signs and for Unbinding-Fate
[Die Runen als Heilszeichen und Schicksalslose] (1924) by E. Tristan Kurtzahn
The “Kreuz” or Cross as a Rune According to R.J. Gorsleben (1930)
In discussing the Hagal Rune (Ha-Gall = Gall-Ha ), Gorsleben says:
“For the true wise one, and the person who is knowledgeable about God, Christ is neither human nor God, but a symbol of the God-Man in its earthbound entanglement. Only the poor intellects ask for time and place of his birth.
The Ur-Christ reaches back in time much farther than the beginnings of the “historical” Christ, and this should be the essential result of the research, no matter how well-founded the individual facts may be viewed.
Like Christ, Wodan hangs on the World-Tree and “consecrated myself to myself!”
This World-Tree Cross, this “wood” is nothing else but the Cross upon which the ‘son of God’ “dies”. The Christ hangs on this World-Cross in the universe, and people who believe the letter have never understood the language of parables, which is noticeable in the myth of Christ.
Now the “Christians”, for nearly two thousand years (since the supposed physical death of an executed person), have not grasped the deeper meaning of this symbol. These “Christians” and this “Christianity” truly have to perish so that it will be possible for humans to again achieve the state of being the ‘son of God’ and a higher state of wisdom by means of the daily self sacrifice.
Whosoever cannot and does not want to sacrifice themselves will never come “to the father”; this is what the image of Christ on the cross wants to impart into us.
We have to understand and have the insight that we are led collectively towards a new process of “Christianization”, of crystallization, of becoming Krist (in an supra-denominational meaning) which is related to Ur -Law. This is the high teaching of providence and the genuine goal of life for a humanity who is striving in an upward direction.
This path of Cosmic “Christianization” did not begin a few centuries ago, but existed long ago. It reached heights of success in earlier times, from which heights we sank down just in this era of the Christ during the Piscean age.
The death on the Cross is the mystical death which precedes the spiritual rebirth or new birth. “Unless you become like the children, you cannot gain the kingdom of heaven”.
The sacred symbol of death on the Cross is an eternal task that all of us have to fulfill, every person for him or herself. One can only do it for all, when all do it for the one.
The All-One “Christ” is One in all of us: what a beautiful and elevated meaning!”
-Paraphrase from The Peak-Time of Humanity [Die Hoch-Zeit der Menschheit] (1930)
by Rudolf John Gorsleben
The “Kreuz” or Cross as a Rune According to S.A. Kummer (1932)
The high-holy Cross, Kreuz , the Initiate’s Rune. The Symbol of the Cosmic Ur-Fire. – No numerical value given.
“Climb high to the Mountains, Peace in the Heart,
Closer to the Ur-Force [Urkraft ]; now look down to the Valley!
Take up the Cross, forget all the Pain;
Envelop yourself, like Christ, a holy Multiplication.”Rune, ‘runa ‘ means “secret Whispering, secret Counseling”. In old northern Germanic it is ‘runar ‘ “Rune-Realization, Wisdom, magical Word-Order”. It is related to the Anglo-Saxon ‘runian ‘, the English ‘roun ‘, Old High German ‘runen ‘, and Middle High German ‘runene ‘ meaning: “to murmur”, as in a “Mystery/Secret” or “to say secretly”.
Related to this, the Templars gave us the following in the Zohar :
“When Alfator (All-Father) the Hidden-One [Verborgene ] wanted to reveal himself, he began to make a luminous Point. Before that bright Point had Broken-Through and Emerged, the Infinite-One [Unendliche ] was quite hidden and did not spread Light.”
Our Ancestors, who told us about it, symbolically depicted this Becoming [Werden ] as the following drawing shows:
Through this Symbol, All-Father’s Will in Space [Weltall ] – as well as the Revelation of his Will in the Depths of Eternity is implied. – Then All-Father sent his Spirit-Ray [Geistesstrahl ] up and down from the Point. Thus commenced the Beginning of Time, of all Things in the Eternal.
The horizontal Ray indicates What-Is-To-Come and What-Has-Been, while the vertical Ray in a Circle means the Spirit of the all-pervading, the 1, the Beginning of all Things.
As the divine Spirit-Ray blazed through the cosmic Nebulae, upwards and downwards, forward and backward, it also blazed out sideways, to the right and to the left. Three Dimensions in Space – Length (or Depth), Width and Height – were now inherent in the cosmic Bodies. The intersecting Spirit-Ray of All-Father had brought it into Existence.
The Spirit of the Blazing-Cross made the World tremble, setting the Ether in Motion and creating Oscillation/Vibration [Schwingung ] in the Universe.
The divine Fire [göttliche Feuer ] in the Cosmos had burned through the four Arms of the Spiritual-Cross of All-Father, of which the Edda says “without something that burned, it burns without end”.
It is the high-holy Cross, the Character of which was abused in former Times and even today. Through corruption and degeneration, the holy Cross-Rune [heiligen Kreuzrune ] became the Character-for-the-Multiplication of Materialism [Malzeichen des Materialismus ], the Character of black Magic and Selfishness/Egoism [Egoismus ].
Nonetheless, the Holy Cross is the Rune of the Initiate [Rune der Eingeweihten ], of the Grail Knight [der Gralsritter ], and the Character of wise Magic [Zeichen der weisen Magie ].
Kummer says that he “cannot explain the whole Mystery/Secret of this high Rune because many Vibrations [Schwingungen ] and inner Sensations are such that they cannot be expressed in words. We must look at the Rune-Position of the holy Cross as a Receiving-Station [Empfangsstation ] in which high All-Waves and Sensations flow in and out.”
To consciously receive and use these high Waves through Rune-Postures is the true way of the wise Magician, of the Initiate [Eingeweihten ], who in one’s Spiritual-Core [Geisteskern ], the Spark-of-God [Gottesfunken ], is fathoming the high All-Waves. These Waves are used for one’s Higher-Development and to strengthen one’s Willpower. Then, with one’s Body fully mastered, one thereby reaches true Liberty and becomes a Divine-Human [Gottmenschen ].
So also Wotan, as he descended from the World-Ash-Tree and found the Runes, became Master [Herr ] of himself and shined in conscious Spirituality [bewusster Geistigkeit ]. Christ died on the Salvation-Rune [Heilsrune ] of our Ancestors, the Cross, in order to always remind us of high Spirituality and to remain as a Guidepost to God, All-Father.
Dear Brother, dear Sister, the Rune-Positions make/set [machen ] you free. Therefore say daily:
“My Inner Being [Ich ] is full of Willpower and Force.
My Inner Being [Ich ] is full of noble Spirituality.
My Inner Being [Ich ] rules my Soul, my Body.
My Inner Being [Ich ] is indestructible and eternal!”
Kummer’s Full Body Rune Exercise(s):
The Student should visualize themselves on a Hill, a Mountain, or at the center of open Land (a Field, Heath, Meadow, etc). Take up the Ich-Rune Position facing North and do the aforementioned Breathing-Exercise. Then extend both Arms sideways so that they depict the above human Cross as shown (palms down).
No Sound-Formula is given (which implies silence), although the Student may want to use one of Kummer’s Poems for this Rune (given above).
Now one tries to feel the immense Heights and Vastness above and around oneself. The Waves which pulsate from East and West through his Arms and Body, meet with the Universal-Waves [Allwellen ] that flow from above through the Back-of-the-Head, in the upper Chest, in the Thymus-Gland (which is also called the ‘Heart of Jesus’). The Student will perceive one of its Sounds.
The Waves now flow through one’s Spinal-Cord and speak strongly in the Sympathetic-Nervous-System and in the Solar-Plexus (which is located in the Pit-of-the-Stomach). The so-called ‘second Brain’ comes into Activity; one’s unchangeable innermost Self [umwandelbares innerstes Selbst ], one’s eternal Essence [ewige Wesenheit ] will make itself felt.
Remember: We must look at the Rune-Position of the holy Cross as a Receiving-Station in which high All-Waves and Sensations flow in and out.
Kummer’s Hand Rune Exercise (‘Mudras’ or “Rune-Grips”):
Kummer does not give a Hand Rune practice for the Cross.
-Paraphrase from Holy Runic-Power [Heilige Runenmacht] (1932)
Additional Note: Kummer’s Comments for the Practitioner
In this same chapter on the Kreuz or Cross-Rune, Kummer also gives the following practice and comments:
In the evening, when the Student lets all the experiences of the day pass before their mind’s eye [that is to say: they do the Retrospective exercise], they use their memory and recognize the mistakes made. One must be serious about doing better in the future.
Also, the Student always keeps in mind that they want to become an Initiate. Therefore avoid all sensual, sexual thoughts [that is to say: lust]; these thoughts have an effect. One’s thoughts must always be directed towards ethical development, then success in all exercises are greater.
The Student is always eager to be kind and friendly to others. To train one’s willpower, the student will communicate and speak with unsympathetic people and be friendly and cheerful, but never excited, because the calm one is always the stronger one.
The Student must also awaken in him- or herself an insatiable Longing for the Ur-Phenomenon of all Phenomena, for the Focal-Point of all Being, for the Mystery of all Mysteries, for the Sublime-Holy Divine. This Longing, which is becoming ever stronger in them, will drive them to come closer to the high Ideals and thus to develop the highest Virtues in themselves. Their ardent Yearning must focus primarily on All-Knowledge, Harmony, Brotherhood/Sisterhood and Philanthropy.
The Student takes the example of a high Divine-Human as a Role-Model, for a Symbol is a Kind of hypnotic Cue which suggestively evokes infinitely high Mental-Images and thus considerably strengthens the Longing in the Practitioner. Such a Symbol possesses a magical Force that can never quite be described in its final Depths.
Runes depict the conscious Spiritual-Human [bewussten Geist-Menschen ] who’s highest Perfection is in the Divine-Human [Gottmenschen ]. We are a Spark of the great Fire, a Flash/Glow [Schein ] of the immeasurable Light, a very small Part of the indescribable, immeasurably great Universe [Alls ], above which, however, is the great Mystery/Secret… This is the All-Father, God.
-Paraphrase from Holy Runic-Power [Heilige Runenmacht] (1932)
by Siegfried Adolf Kummer
Rosicrucian and Gnostic
The Cross According to Huiracocha
“Exoterically, the Cross is matter, and esoterically it is the Light…”
-Paraphrase from COURSE OF KABALAH [CURSO DE CÁBALA] (1936)
by Arnoldo Krumm-Heller (Huiracocha)
available in Gnostic Rosicrucian Kabalah
“…Let us take our imagination to the Cross. Here we also have the vertical beam traversed by the horizontal beam.
The Cross teaches us that we are a mixture of God and Demon…”
“…The current that we have learned in the zodiacal course (which comes from above and stops in the heart) is the one that waits for the current from the earth from below to rise in order to form a single, unique current.
From above, the celestial forces arrive.
From below, the sexual forces.
When both are united, transmutation enters and becomes pure divine essence. Such is the Cross.
A beam comes from above, another ascends from the earth, while the transverse beam joins both and makes the vertical, horizontal current…”
“…Now the symbolic importance of the Christian Cross is comprehended, since this Cross is only a symbol of death for the exoteric Christian, whereas for the esoteric Christian or Initiate, the Cross… as Generation, is the ultimate symbol of Life.
Almost all practices related to the Runes have been lost over the centuries. Only one has been kept alive, which is the practice of the Cross.
We see in all the occult practices, in the Legends and even in History, that when Evil (the Devil) persecuted humans, they made the sign of the Cross, and Satan fled.
This is not a preconception, it is real, since the Cross or the sign of the Cross, certainly has a real value.
We have been led to believe that the Devil was a coward and that he persecuted his victims, until the Knight took his Sword by the blade showing the cross.
Both in sleep as when awakened, we make the sign of the Cross and it is a beautiful custom that has prevailed in all Christian Churches, but those who call themselves “believers” take this into practice mechanically like a routine, as a S.O.S. for the being in danger and suppose that it only has a religious value.
It is not thus.
The Cross is a symbol of High Magic, it evokes Life, and God within ourselves and if we make it consciously, it has an even greater meaning and becomes most powerful.
We do not need to give special instructions because everyone knows how to make the sign of the cross and it speaks to the student of Magic, who wants powers, who yearns for help from the Invisible, since to make THE SIGN OF THE CROSS is always a call to the superior forces. Amen…”
-Paraphrase from Runic Course [Curso Rúnico] (1931-1935)
by Arnoldo Krumm-Heller (Huiracocha)
available in Gnostic-Rosicrucian Runology
The Cross According to Samael Aun Weor
Intimate Self-Realization, the Second Birth, becomes something impossible without Sexual Alchemy, without the sacred mysteries of the Cross.
Gnostics know very well that the Ens Seminis is contained within the sexual endocrine glands and is the “Water of Life”, the “Fountain of Immortality”, “Elixir of Long Life”, the “Nectar of Spirituality”, etc. Intimate Self-Realization is exclusively rooted in the medulla and the semen. If someone tells you that it is possible to achieve Self-Realization without the Holy Cross, that is to say, without the sexual crossing of two people, then they lie.
…People have already forgotten the runic practices, but fortunately the CROSS Rune has not yet been forgotten…
“IF ANY MAN WILL COME AFTER ME, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS, AND FOLLOW ME.” (Matthew 16: 24)
-Paraphrase from The Magic of the Runes [Magia de las Runas] (1969)
by Samael Aun Weor
The Power is in the Cross – part 1
For the Gnostics, the Cross is not, by any measure, a conventional symbol, but the representation of an invariable Law, which covers (without any single exception) the entire gamut, the entire range of the actions of Nature.
Whoever studies the fundamentals of chemistry knows that the reaction of the elements happens only when they are crossed with others; for instance, H2O, the chemical formula of water, is simply the crossing of two molecules of hydrogen and one of Oxygen. So water, this precious fluid indispensable to organic life, is the outcome of the Cross.
The power in order to produce water, this is a Cross (or a Crossing) of hydrogen with oxygen.
The harmonious march of a system of worlds depends on the cross – the magnetic point where the two forces (centrifugal and centripetal) are found equilibrated.
Therefore, the power which supports the worlds is in that magnetic Cross of space.
A masculine cell (named zoosperm) is crossed with a feminine cell (named ovum) in order for the human entity, the outcome of this cross, to emerge.
Consequently, the human being is the outcome of the Cross (or a Crossing) of a masculine zoosperm with the feminine ovum.
Nothing can come into existence without the power of the Cross.
The sincere and ideal shaking of hands crosses and harmonizes the mutual affection of two people.
Therefore the Cross of the handshake originates the living affection between two souls.
Walking on the street, a handsome youngster finds an attractive damsel; they glance at each other, and from that prodigious, subtle and impalpable Cross (yet palpable in its magical power) affection, love, is born, which later organizes a home. Their Cross will produce astonishing effects, such as the multiplication of their species, the grandiosity of a country, and perhaps the birth of a new genius who will increase the progress of science or philosophy for the sake of the world.
The magnetic crossing of two views shows and demonstrates that the power is in the Cross.
A seed is introduced within the earth and it crosses its power with the chemical elements which constitute the structure of the planet; thus, trees, flowers, fruits and new seeds are produced, which will eventually increase their species and multiply them ad infinitum . Therefore, the power is in their Cross.
Nothing new can exist, nor can the old be transformed without the Cross. For such causes, we the Gnostics, know precisely the power of the Cross and this is why we offer reverence to the Cross. This reverence to the Cross is not based on a belief, but on an absolute and immediate knowledge.
We, Gnostics, are mystics of the Truth and are always willing to know all things, leaving aside (as a worthless thing) any type of belief, since belief makes a person foolish, stupified, and unconscious. Audacious people always take advantage of stupidity and unconsciousness, in order to govern and command the naive crowds, who as sheep follow their chiefs, who are as stupid and unconscious as the crowds.
-Paraphrase from THE POWER IS IN THE CROSS [EL PODER ESTA EN LA CRUZ] (1971)
by Samael Aun Weor
The Power is in the Cross – part 2
The cause of all the events of nature is in the Cross, and exceptions do not exist in this.
When someone reveals some philosophical, social or scientific idea, it is crossed with the ideas of those who listen, and this is how new reactions are produced, either for finding the truth of what the speaker presents, or rather (if his knowledge lacks a good foundation) to reject his pretensions of being a sage.
Therefore, intelligence is tested and truths are discovered through eliminating what is incorrect, by means of the crossing of ideas.
When our sight is crossed with a being or object, an experience about beings and things is acquired.
The protean substances of the food that we ingest, when they are crossed with our physiological, cellular life, produce crossed reactions that renew the life of the worn cells and create others new.
If the substance is not good for our organism, then the biochemical crossing of the substance with the secretions of our specific internal organs produce reactions in order for that substance to be properly eliminated from our organism.
The Cross encloses the mystery of all imaginable powers, whether these are physical, intellectual or moral.
A person who can find some philosophical, scientific, or rational fact, which does not depend on the power of the cross, does not exist. Thus, once again we can emphatically affirm that the power is in the Cross and that the natural and scientific Cross of the Gnostics has nothing to do with beliefs nor with any such instruments of torture.
The Cross of the Gnostics is the power of the Universe constructing atoms, molecules, cells, organs, organism, worlds and any system of worlds.
The intellectual aspect of Gnosis is the outcome of the crossing of luminous ideas, which produce new states of consciousness.
In the moral or emotive aspect, the power is in the Cross that produces all the marvelous sensations that ennoble and dignify the soul.
Likewise, when musical melodies cross with the psychosomatic hearing capacities of the one who listens, a beautiful manifestation is produced within the sensibility of the soul, producing a harmonious, internal sensation as the outcome of this precious Cross of sounds.
When a person crosses his sight with the natural beauty of a flower, or a man crosses his sight with the natural beauty of a woman, feelings of divine inspiration appear within the soul; these feelings reveal unto the consciousness the utmost sources of perfection which are found in the harmony of forms.
When thought is crossed with feeling, then the human being is not only in perfect harmony with himself, but moreover, he has more capacity to confront with success the labor which he is willingly doing.
It is necessary to think as a philosopher and to feel as an artist, because the magical, enchanting amalgam of the soul of the true Superman emerges from the precious cross that unites the elevated thought of the philosopher with the divine sensibility of the artist.
This Cross of thought and feeling, in a perfect harmony and concordance, is what allows the development of the mystical and spiritual sides of existence.
Blessed and divine Cross, in thy precious structure is found hidden all the mysteries of Nature and of Life.
-Paraphrase from THE POWER IS IN THE CROSS [EL PODER ESTA EN LA CRUZ] (1971)
by Samael Aun Weor
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