Usually when we see a cross with a circle around it, we think of the Celtic Cross. The sacred religious Solar Cross, or circle cross, is a symbol of the Sun and fire and was adopted by many ancient cultures in various forms. The cross itself symbolizes the cardinal directions and the sacred fire, while the circle part of it symbolizes the Sun.

In North America the origin of the Cross in a Circle Symbol derives from the ancient culture of Mound Builders in Mississippi. Some of the Native Indian tribes still retain elements of the Mississippian culture and the symbolism of the Cross in the circle - the simple shape is easy to depict on any raw materials such as rock, stone, wood, shell and animal hides.

Although we live in a 3D world, most of the time we are seeing things in 2D. Looking at the two diagrams above helps to expand our perception. First, on the left,  we see the Solar Cross in the usual 2D way, then as the sphere starts to rotate, in the image above right, we see that there is more to the lines that we originally perceived as a 2D cross.

The circles drawn around the sphere on the right are special kinds of curves called 'great circles', which divide the sphere into equal sections. Also known as an orthodrome, a great circle is the intersection of the sphere and a plane that passes through the centre point of the sphere.

So next time you see an image of a cross somewhere, imagine that you might be seeing just the 2D face of a greater dimensional reality behind it. By expanding your imagination even further you might get a glimpse of a 4D reality.

Images of ancient Egyptians may seem as if they have just a 2D disc above their head and the representation of the Aten is often called a Sun-disc. In reality it is a sphere, or an orb. Do you have an orb above your head? Could it be connected to higher dimensions?