Havenshire: The Travels: ΑΩ and ΧΡ

An early Christogram, usage of letters to form an abbreviation for Christ's name, is the combined Ancient Greek letters Χ (chi--pronounced like "key") and Ρ (rho--pronounced like "row"), the first to letters of his name: Χριστός (Christos). This symbol was and is often combined with the form of the cross as well. It is one of the shapes of the labarum, an early Christian symbol of Christ and Christianity. The other shape of the labarum, the military standard used by Constantine the Great, consisted of Jesus Christ's initials, ΙΧ (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός), combined. This too often has an additional horizontal line to form a cross, particularly when the symbol is set in a circle. Encircled, the symbol becomes a spoked wheel. The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols says of this symbol, "The wheel is both a cosmic and a solar symbol and this reminds us that in the liturgy Christ was called sol invictus, 'the unconquered Sun'" (580). With Chi-Rho, the dictionary mentions that the loop of the Ρ is the only different between the two shapes, and that the Ρ "might represent the Sun raised to the top of the World Axis, or again the 'eye of the needle' or the 'strait gate' or even the 'Gate of the Sun' through which may be made that 'release from the Cosmos' which is the fruit of Christ's redemptive power" (580).

Another symbol of Christ, though not a Christogram, is the Greek letters Α and Ω (alpha and omega--small case omega: ω), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Those familiar with the Bible know that in Revelations the Savior says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" four times (Rev. 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13). In modern scripture, He says it an additional four times (3 Ne. 9:18; D&C 19:1; 38:1; 45:7). The Bible Dictionary says under "Alpha", "First letter of the Greek alphabet, often used in conjunction with Omega, the last letter, and applied as descriptive names of the all-encompassing nature of Christ, being the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (606). This symbol is often combined with other Christian symbols, such as a cross or Chi-Rho.