A term meaning Christian. The “X” at the beginning is actually the appearance of the Greek letter “chi” which was traditionally pronounced “ch” and to early Christians was a representative of the name of Christ. It was amplified as being an image of the cross upon which Christ was supposedly crucified. Thus, the term means Christian. Some Christians, not knowing the history of the chi to early Christians believe it is a way to lessen the value of the Christian religion and have come to dislike the traditionally sacred term.
Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Sandra Kynes, author of several books, including The Herb Gardener's Essential Guide, Plant Magic, and the new Witches' Encyclopedia of Magical Plants, among many others.
Although a few old books...