IV Kiss
V Gibbet
VI St. Andrew’s Cross
X is a KISS. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Florence Montgomery’s novel Seaforth (1878) is the first book in which x stands for a kiss. The etymology of the symbol is unclear, but the custom was soon widespread in letters and messages. xxxx
It was a widespread custom to bury criminals and due to influence from Christianity also bodies of those who committed suicides at crossroads. This was because of the mythical significance of the crossroads. A crossroads was seen as a boundary, at which the deceased was expelled. The thought was that the souls of the buried were confused by the many roads and didn’t start to restlessly wander or return to haunt their homes. For example in Britain this practice ended only in 1823. A crossroads could also be a place of execution. The bodies of highwaymen were often hanged at crossroads as warnings.
The X is the SAINT ANDREW’S CROSS (saltiere, crux decussata). It appears for instance in the flags of Scotland, Jamaica and Burgundy, the Russian Navy ensign and the coat of arms of the municipality of Antrea (now Kamennogorsk). According to lore, St. Andrew came to Valaam (in Finnish Valamo) in Lake Ladoga in Karelia during his missionary journey.
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