... some of the origins of Christian and Catholic symbols... I recommend reading The Da Vinci Code. It's an amazing book and gives you the answers you asked for above in a very good story.
A fun read certainly, but.... Brown throws in a lot of alleged "fact", a good deal of which is highly speculative at best; his historical research is less than inspiring; and much of his source material is drawn directly from some very popular not-quite-mainstream books. He mentions several of the books in his text (I think they were in Teabing's library...).
None of this stuff is new (except perhaps to the best seller lists), and since he's writing a work of fiction, he mixes and matches to suit the book, not to support any one theory.
For information, I wouldn't rely too heavily on this one; for an entertaining story, it fits the bill just fine.
BTW, today is Epiphany in the Western rite, which ends the "twelve days of Christmas". It is also Christmas for some Eastern rite churches, so: [color:"orange"]Warmest good wishes to Egin and to all others who celebrate the Orthodox Christmas. [/color]
