The Egyptian symbol of life, regeneration, the universe and immortality, the ankh, which means “life” and “hand mirror,” is a tau, or looped cross.
Witches and Pagans wear it as an amulet against negativity and as a talisman for good fortune and benevolent forces.
It also represents the union of the male principle (the staff) and the female principle (the closed-loop).
Egyptian art shows the ankh being carried as a scepter in the right hand of deities and being applied to the nostrils of the dead in order to bring them back to life.
Ankh amulets were made of faience, semiprecious and precious stones, wax, metal, and wood.
Tutankhamen had a hand mirror in the shape of an ankh.
Egyptians who converted to Christianity from the first century on used both the ankh and the Christian cross as their signs.
