Where does 'Swastika' come from?
BEFORE HITLER'S REIGN:
"The swastika was long used as a symbol of well-being in ancient societies, including those in India, China, Africa, native America, and Europe."
"But Adolf Hitler was not the first to use this symbol. In fact, it was used as a positive and powerful symbol thousands of years before him, across many cultures and continents."
"The swastika was long used as a symbol of well-being in ancient societies, including those in India, China, Africa, native America, and Europe."
"But Adolf Hitler was not the first to use this symbol. In fact, it was used as a positive and powerful symbol thousands of years before him, across many cultures and continents."
"The earliest swastika ever found was uncovered in Mezine, Ukraine, carved on an ivory figurine which dates back an incredible 12,000 years. One of the earliest cultures that are known to have used the Swastika was a Neolithic culture in Southern Europe, in the area that is now Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, known as the Vinca Culture, which dates back around 8,000 years."
"Which showed thirteen forms with ‘swastikal’ symmetry in a band around the equator of a terracotta sphere (Plate 9). This was, Brentano claimed, evidence both of a form of writing and a knowledge on the part of the inhabitants of Hissarlik of‘ the globular form of the earth’, a realization that had only dawned, according to Brentano, around 360BC." (Black, 2019)
"Plate 11 shows a Haitian (pre-Hittite) ‘ritual standard’ made around 2300–2100BC, with swastikas arranged in a scheme of squares." (109)
"The Origins of the Swastika:
The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means “good fortune” or “well-being." The motif (a hooked cross) appears to have first been used in Eurasia, as early as 7000 years ago, perhaps representing the movement of the sun through the sky. To this day, it is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism. It is a common sight on temples or houses in India or Indonesia. Swastikas also have an ancient history in Europe, appearing on artifacts from pre-Christian European cultures. "(Quinn, 1994)
"Plate 12 shows the carved stone doorway of the Karatay Medrese (Islamic school) in Konya, about fifty miles distant from the graves of Alaca Hüyuk, and completed around 1252." (110)
"For the Hindus and Buddhists in India and other Asian countries, the swastika was an important symbol for many thousands of years and, to this day, the symbol can still be seen in abundance - on temples, buses, taxis, and on the cover of books. It was also used in Ancient Greece and Rome, and can be found in the remains of the ancient city of Troy, which existed 4,000 years ago. The ancient Druids and the Celts also used the symbol, reflected in many artifacts that have been discovered. It was used by Nordic tribes, and even early Christians used the Swastika as one of their symbols, including the Teutonic Knights, a German medieval military order, which became a purely religious Catholic Order." (Quinn, 1994)
But why is this symbol so important and why did Adolf Hitler decide to use it?
"As Brentano’s equation of writing with history suggests, the Rosetta stone, with its three equivalent texts of Greek, Demotic Greek and the Hieroglyphics that were now accessible to translation, stood at the outer edge of the discipline of history as it was constituted in the nineteenth century."
"Delegates to the conference included Thomas Wilson, HeinrichSchliemann, and the anti-Semite Emile Burnouf, who in a letter to Schliemann in1872 had noted that ‘The swastika should be regarded as a sign of the Aryan race. It should also be noted that the Jews have completely rejected it."" (5)
"Visitors in search of diversion and instruction at the Paris Exposition of 1889 might have been intrigued by an unusual display at the Palais des Artes Libéraux, where a Polish librarian named Michael Zmigrodski had arranged drawings of over 300 objects, each bearing a swastika or, as he put it ‘anornament which I believe to have a swastikal origin’."(1)
"Zmigrodski the librarian and swastika-hunter was also an anti- Semite, whose self-appointed task was to promote the swastika as the heraldic device of the Aryo-Germanic family. He compared the swastika to a fly trapped in amber, "its unchanging form representing the preservation of a racial essence over time, and his declared aim was to prove that" ‘in a very ancient epoch, our Indo-European ancestors professed social and religious ideas more noble and elevated than those of other races’." (3)
The symbol is made visible as a symbol by a process of selection and exclusion:
"Claiming that the difference between radial symmetry in the antique and rotational symmetry in the North was similar to that which exists between the balanced repetition of a motif and its mechanical or ‘simple’ repetition. For Worringer the ‘rotation without reflection’ of this form embodied the principle of simple repetition that governs all northern ornament in microcosm: ‘in the one case there is quiet, measured, organic movement, in the other, the uninterrupted, accelerating, mechanical movement.’" (114)
"The word ‘swastika’ is a Sanskrit word (‘svasktika’) meaning ‘It is,' ‘Well Being,' ‘good Existence, and ‘Good Luck’. However, it is also known by different names in different countries — like ‘Wan’ in China, ‘Manji’ in Japan, ‘Fylfot’ in England, ‘Hakenkreuz’ in Germany and ‘Tetraskelion’ or ‘Tetragammadion’ in Greece."
"The double meaning of symbols is common in ancient traditions, like for example the symbol of the pentagram (five pointed star), which is viewed as negative when pointing downwards, and positive when pointing upwards."
"Which showed thirteen forms with ‘swastikal’ symmetry in a band around the equator of a terracotta sphere (Plate 9). This was, Brentano claimed, evidence both of a form of writing and a knowledge on the part of the inhabitants of Hissarlik of‘ the globular form of the earth’, a realization that had only dawned, according to Brentano, around 360BC." (Black, 2019)
"Plate 11 shows a Haitian (pre-Hittite) ‘ritual standard’ made around 2300–2100BC, with swastikas arranged in a scheme of squares." (109)
"The Origins of the Swastika:
The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means “good fortune” or “well-being." The motif (a hooked cross) appears to have first been used in Eurasia, as early as 7000 years ago, perhaps representing the movement of the sun through the sky. To this day, it is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism. It is a common sight on temples or houses in India or Indonesia. Swastikas also have an ancient history in Europe, appearing on artifacts from pre-Christian European cultures. "(Quinn, 1994)
"Plate 12 shows the carved stone doorway of the Karatay Medrese (Islamic school) in Konya, about fifty miles distant from the graves of Alaca Hüyuk, and completed around 1252." (110)
"For the Hindus and Buddhists in India and other Asian countries, the swastika was an important symbol for many thousands of years and, to this day, the symbol can still be seen in abundance - on temples, buses, taxis, and on the cover of books. It was also used in Ancient Greece and Rome, and can be found in the remains of the ancient city of Troy, which existed 4,000 years ago. The ancient Druids and the Celts also used the symbol, reflected in many artifacts that have been discovered. It was used by Nordic tribes, and even early Christians used the Swastika as one of their symbols, including the Teutonic Knights, a German medieval military order, which became a purely religious Catholic Order." (Quinn, 1994)
But why is this symbol so important and why did Adolf Hitler decide to use it?
"As Brentano’s equation of writing with history suggests, the Rosetta stone, with its three equivalent texts of Greek, Demotic Greek and the Hieroglyphics that were now accessible to translation, stood at the outer edge of the discipline of history as it was constituted in the nineteenth century."
"Delegates to the conference included Thomas Wilson, HeinrichSchliemann, and the anti-Semite Emile Burnouf, who in a letter to Schliemann in1872 had noted that ‘The swastika should be regarded as a sign of the Aryan race. It should also be noted that the Jews have completely rejected it."" (5)
"Visitors in search of diversion and instruction at the Paris Exposition of 1889 might have been intrigued by an unusual display at the Palais des Artes Libéraux, where a Polish librarian named Michael Zmigrodski had arranged drawings of over 300 objects, each bearing a swastika or, as he put it ‘anornament which I believe to have a swastikal origin’."(1)
"Zmigrodski the librarian and swastika-hunter was also an anti- Semite, whose self-appointed task was to promote the swastika as the heraldic device of the Aryo-Germanic family. He compared the swastika to a fly trapped in amber, "its unchanging form representing the preservation of a racial essence over time, and his declared aim was to prove that" ‘in a very ancient epoch, our Indo-European ancestors professed social and religious ideas more noble and elevated than those of other races’." (3)
The symbol is made visible as a symbol by a process of selection and exclusion:
"Claiming that the difference between radial symmetry in the antique and rotational symmetry in the North was similar to that which exists between the balanced repetition of a motif and its mechanical or ‘simple’ repetition. For Worringer the ‘rotation without reflection’ of this form embodied the principle of simple repetition that governs all northern ornament in microcosm: ‘in the one case there is quiet, measured, organic movement, in the other, the uninterrupted, accelerating, mechanical movement.’" (114)
"The word ‘swastika’ is a Sanskrit word (‘svasktika’) meaning ‘It is,' ‘Well Being,' ‘good Existence, and ‘Good Luck’. However, it is also known by different names in different countries — like ‘Wan’ in China, ‘Manji’ in Japan, ‘Fylfot’ in England, ‘Hakenkreuz’ in Germany and ‘Tetraskelion’ or ‘Tetragammadion’ in Greece."
"The double meaning of symbols is common in ancient traditions, like for example the symbol of the pentagram (five pointed star), which is viewed as negative when pointing downwards, and positive when pointing upwards."
http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/picturedisplay.asp?linkpath=pic%5CM%5CI%5CMizyn%20archeological%20site%20(bracelet).jpg&page=pages%5CM%5CI%5CMizyn.htm&id=8982&pid=7981&tyt=Mizyn&key=Mizyn%2C+%D0%9C%D1%96%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD%3B+%D0%9C%D1%96%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0+%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0%2C+Mizynska+stoianka
"In Buddhism, the Swastika is a symbol of good fortune, prosperity, abundance and eternity. It is directly related to Buddha and can be found carved on statues on the soles of his feet and on his heart. It is said that it contains Buddha’s mind."
"On the walls of the Christian catacombs in Rome, the symbol of the Swastika appears next to the words “ZOTIKO ZOTIKO” which means “Life of Life”. It can also be found on the window openings of the mysterious Lalibela Rock churches of Ethiopia, and in various other churches around the world."
"In Buddhism, the Swastika is a symbol of good fortune, prosperity, abundance and eternity. It is directly related to Buddha and can be found carved on statues on the soles of his feet and on his heart. It is said that it contains Buddha’s mind."
"On the walls of the Christian catacombs in Rome, the symbol of the Swastika appears next to the words “ZOTIKO ZOTIKO” which means “Life of Life”. It can also be found on the window openings of the mysterious Lalibela Rock churches of Ethiopia, and in various other churches around the world."
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skastika_symbol_in_the_window_of_Lalibela_Rock_hewn_churches.jpg
"In Nordic Myths, Odin is represented passing through space as a whirling disk or Swastika looking down through all worlds. In, North America, the Swastika was used by the Navajos. In Ancient Greece, Pythagoras used the Swastika under the name ‘Tetraktys’ and it was a symbol linking heaven and earth, with the right arm pointing to heaven and its left arm pointing to Earth.
It has been used by the Phoenicians as a symbol of the Sun and it was a sacred symbol used by the priestesses."
"The swastika is an ancient symbol that was in use in many different cultures for at least 5,000 years before Adolf Hitler made it the centre piece of the Nazi flag. Its present-day use by certain extremist groups promotes hate."
ADOLF'S CLAIM OF THE SYMBOL:
"Adolf Hitler designed the Nazi flag in 1920. He combined the swastika with the three colours of the German Imperial flag (red, black, and white)."
"Nazi symbols, including the Swastika flag, are banned in a number of countries today, including Germany."
"In Nordic Myths, Odin is represented passing through space as a whirling disk or Swastika looking down through all worlds. In, North America, the Swastika was used by the Navajos. In Ancient Greece, Pythagoras used the Swastika under the name ‘Tetraktys’ and it was a symbol linking heaven and earth, with the right arm pointing to heaven and its left arm pointing to Earth.
It has been used by the Phoenicians as a symbol of the Sun and it was a sacred symbol used by the priestesses."
"The swastika is an ancient symbol that was in use in many different cultures for at least 5,000 years before Adolf Hitler made it the centre piece of the Nazi flag. Its present-day use by certain extremist groups promotes hate."
ADOLF'S CLAIM OF THE SYMBOL:
"Adolf Hitler designed the Nazi flag in 1920. He combined the swastika with the three colours of the German Imperial flag (red, black, and white)."
"Nazi symbols, including the Swastika flag, are banned in a number of countries today, including Germany."
https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn3357
"However, the work of European linguists and other scholars was taken up by racist groups, for whom the Swastika was a symbol of “Aryan identity” and German nationalist pride. This conjecture of Aryan cultural descent of the German people is likely one of the main reasons why the Nazi Party formally adopted the Swastika or Hakenkreuz (Ger., hooked cross) as its symbol in 1920."
PRESENT DAY EFFECTS OF THE SYMBOL:
"After the boys went to bed on the sixth night of Hanukkah, someone dismantled their special menorah and turned it into a giant swastika. This is the real reality that we live in: People hate us for no reason or want us to feel scared for who we are. That's not something I wanted to have to tell them," Naomi Ellis said. " Zauzmer, Julie. Vandals Turned a Jewish Family's Menorah into a Swastika: An Arizona Mom Told Her Three Young Kids: "this is the Real Reality that we Live in: People Hate Us for no Reason Or Want Us to Feel Scared for Who we are." (The Washington Post, 2016)
"The Swastika is often seen in conjunction with the Star of David which is actually an ancient cosmological diagram/Yantra. This form of the Swastika is especially prevalent in India where it is known as the Pratik, and Tibet. A Yantra is an image for inducing meditation (just as repeating a mantra will induce meditation. The Swastika/Star of David Yantra symbolizes the cosmic union between Heaven and Earth and the transforming power that emerges from that kind of spiritual moment."
Resources:
1. 1 APRIL, 2019 - 02:02 JOHNBLACK Black, J. (2019, April 01). The Powerful Symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000 Year History. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/symbol-swastika-and-its-12000-year-old-history-001312
2.http://swastikaphobia.weebly.com/star-of-david-swastikas.htm
3.https://www.google.com/search?q=images+of+non-traditional+swastika+symbol&rlz=1C5CHFA_enCA744CA744&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9-uvih8ztAhVQXc0KHUUmCGwQ_AUoAXoECAYQAw&biw=1440&bih=741#imgrc=IN3UfybqfKGv6M&imgdii=sFENE8Bp4GKcSM
4.http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/picturedisplay.asp?linkpath=pic%5CM%5CI%5CMizyn%20archeological%20site%20(bracelet).jpg&page=pages%5CM%5CI%5CMizyn.htm&id=8982&pid=7981&tyt=Mizyn&key=Mizyn%2C+%D0%9C%D1%96%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD%3B+%D0%9C%D1%96%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0+%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0%2C+Mizynska+stoianka
5.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skastika_symbol_in_the_window_of_Lalibela_Rock_hewn_churches.jpg
6.https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn3357
7.https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/history-of-the-swastika
8.Washington: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post, 2016. ProQuest. Web. 13 Dec. 2020. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/10/28/499475248/diwali-dilemma-my-complicated-relationship-with-the-swastika
Diwali Dilemma: My Complicated Relationship With The Swastika
Code Switch
October 28, 201612:00 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
"However, the work of European linguists and other scholars was taken up by racist groups, for whom the Swastika was a symbol of “Aryan identity” and German nationalist pride. This conjecture of Aryan cultural descent of the German people is likely one of the main reasons why the Nazi Party formally adopted the Swastika or Hakenkreuz (Ger., hooked cross) as its symbol in 1920."
PRESENT DAY EFFECTS OF THE SYMBOL:
"After the boys went to bed on the sixth night of Hanukkah, someone dismantled their special menorah and turned it into a giant swastika. This is the real reality that we live in: People hate us for no reason or want us to feel scared for who we are. That's not something I wanted to have to tell them," Naomi Ellis said. " Zauzmer, Julie. Vandals Turned a Jewish Family's Menorah into a Swastika: An Arizona Mom Told Her Three Young Kids: "this is the Real Reality that we Live in: People Hate Us for no Reason Or Want Us to Feel Scared for Who we are." (The Washington Post, 2016)
"The Swastika is often seen in conjunction with the Star of David which is actually an ancient cosmological diagram/Yantra. This form of the Swastika is especially prevalent in India where it is known as the Pratik, and Tibet. A Yantra is an image for inducing meditation (just as repeating a mantra will induce meditation. The Swastika/Star of David Yantra symbolizes the cosmic union between Heaven and Earth and the transforming power that emerges from that kind of spiritual moment."
Resources:
1. 1 APRIL, 2019 - 02:02 JOHNBLACK Black, J. (2019, April 01). The Powerful Symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000 Year History. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/symbol-swastika-and-its-12000-year-old-history-001312
2.http://swastikaphobia.weebly.com/star-of-david-swastikas.htm
3.https://www.google.com/search?q=images+of+non-traditional+swastika+symbol&rlz=1C5CHFA_enCA744CA744&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9-uvih8ztAhVQXc0KHUUmCGwQ_AUoAXoECAYQAw&biw=1440&bih=741#imgrc=IN3UfybqfKGv6M&imgdii=sFENE8Bp4GKcSM
4.http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/picturedisplay.asp?linkpath=pic%5CM%5CI%5CMizyn%20archeological%20site%20(bracelet).jpg&page=pages%5CM%5CI%5CMizyn.htm&id=8982&pid=7981&tyt=Mizyn&key=Mizyn%2C+%D0%9C%D1%96%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD%3B+%D0%9C%D1%96%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0+%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0%2C+Mizynska+stoianka
5.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skastika_symbol_in_the_window_of_Lalibela_Rock_hewn_churches.jpg
6.https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn3357
7.https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/history-of-the-swastika
8.Washington: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post, 2016. ProQuest. Web. 13 Dec. 2020. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/10/28/499475248/diwali-dilemma-my-complicated-relationship-with-the-swastika
Diwali Dilemma: My Complicated Relationship With The Swastika
Code Switch
October 28, 201612:00 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered