Great and Angelic schema symbolizes the second baptism of the schemamonks and schemanuns.
The base upon which the Great schema Cross stands represents "the place, which is called Calvary" (Luke 23:33), or "Golgotha, that is to say, the Place of the Skull" (Matthew 27:33), "where they crucified Him" (John 19:18) Who "wrought salvation in the midst of the earth" (Psalm 73:13).
The skull and crossbones represent "the first man Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45), who according to tradition "return unto the ground" (Genesis 3:19) at the very spot of Jesus' crucifixion, the reason that this place of execution, "full of dead men’s bones" (St. Matthew 23:27) became the place where "the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45).
On either side of the Cross there are the spear and the sponge on the reed, the Arma Christi ("weapons of Christ"), or the Instruments of the Passion of the Lord.
Abbreviations surrounding the Cross:
ΙΣ ΧΣ ΝΙΚΑ (Ιησούς Χριστός Νικά) — Jesus Christ Conquers, a common phrase written in iconographic images, reinforcing that Christ overcame death
ΙΝΒΙ (Ιησούς Ναζωραίος Βασιλεύς Ιουδαίων) — Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews