Crescent

Comprehensive Theosophical Dictionary

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Crescent

Sin was the Assyrian name for the moon, and Sin‐ai the Mount, the birth‐place of Osiris, of Dionysos, Bacchus and several other gods. According to Rawlinson, the moon was held in higher esteem than the sun at Babylon, because darkness preceded light. The crescent was, therefore, a sacred symbol with almost every nation, before it became the ‘standard of the Turks. Says the author of Egyptian Belief, “ The crescent is not essentially a Mahometan ensign. On the contrary, it was a Christian one, derived through Asia from the Babylonian Astarte, Queen of Heaven, or from the Egyptian Isis . . . . whose emblem was the crescent. The Greek Christian Empire of Constantinople held it as their palladium. Upon the conquest of the Turks, the Mahometan Sultan adopted it for the symbol of his power. Since that time the crescent has been made to oppose the idea of the cross.” (TG).

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Shortly: Sin was the Assyrian name for the moon, and Sin‐ai the Mount, the birth‐place of Osiris, of ...