Editing Crescent (section)

==Symbolism==
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| caption2          = ''[[Hierosgamos]]'' of Sun and Moon in a 16th-century [[alchemical]] manuscript
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[[File:Cross over Crescent, Plevna Chapel.jpg|thumb|279x279px|Cross over crescent on [[Plevna Chapel]] in [[Moscow]]]]
The crescent symbol is primarily used to represent the Moon, not necessarily in a particular lunar phase.
When used to represent a [[Lunar phase#Waxing and waning|waxing or waning]] lunar phase, "crescent" or "increscent" refers to the waxing first quarter, while the symbol representing the waning final quarter is called "decrescent".

The crescent symbol was long used as a symbol of the Moon in [[astrology]], and by extension of [[Silver]] (as the [[Astrology and alchemy|corresponding metal]]) in [[alchemy]].<ref>Alchemy and Symbols, By M. E. Glidewell, Epsilon.</ref> The astrological use of the symbol is attested in early Greek [[papyri]] containing [[horoscope]]s.<ref>Neugebauer, Otto; Van Hoesen, H. B. (1987). Greek Horoscopes. pp. 1, 159, 163.</ref>

In the 2nd-century ''Bianchini's [[planisphere]]'', the personification of the Moon is shown with a crescent attached to her headdress.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/galileopalazzostrozzi/object/BianchinisPlanisphere.html 
 |title=Bianchini's planisphere 
 |publisher=Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza (Institute and Museum of the History of Science) 
 |location=Florence, Italy 
 |access-date=2010-03-19 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030005806/http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/galileopalazzostrozzi/object/BianchinisPlanisphere.html 
 |archive-date=2009-10-30 
}}
{{cite journal
| last = Maunder
| first = A. S. D.
| date = 1934
| title = The origin of the symbols of the planets
| journal = The Observatory
| volume = 57
| pages = 238–247
| bibcode = 1934Obs....57..238M
}}</ref> Its ancient association with [[Ishtar|Ishtar/Astarte]] and [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] is preserved in the Moon (as symbolised by a crescent) representing the [[femininity|female principle]] (as juxtaposed with the [[Sun]] representing the [[masculinity|male principle]]), and (Artemis-Diana being a virgin goddess) especially [[virginity]] and female [[chastity]].

In [[Christian symbolism]], the crescent entered [[Marian iconography]], by the association of Mary with the [[Woman of the Apocalypse]] (described with "the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" in [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]])
The most well known representation of Mary as the Woman of the Apocalypse is the [[Virgin of Guadalupe]].

On the domes of certain [[Eastern Orthodox]] churches, particularly [[Russian Orthodox]] ones, there appears a [[Christian cross|cross]] over a crescent. This symbolises [[Jesus Christ]] as two of the [[threefold office]], the [[Christ the King|King]] and [[Christ the High Priest|High Priest]]. It is sometimes mistakenly taken as a symbol of the victory of Christianity over Islam, but it has nothing to do with it nor Islam at all, as domes featuring the cross-over-crescent design were constructed in [[medieval Russia]] in the 12th century, prior to the arrival of [[Islam in Russia|Islam in Kievan Rus']].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2018-05-02 |title=The Origins of Orthodox Crosses with a Crescent {{!}} Church Blog |url=https://catalog.obitel-minsk.com/blog/2018/05/the-origins-of-orthodox-crosses-wi |access-date=2025-03-21 |language=en-US}}</ref>
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