THE SWASTICKA: PART ONE
This is a precis of information found on the use and meaning of the swasticka in various cultures and ideologies.
The Swasticka has been called by many names:
- Swasticka: Sanscrit "su" meaning "good" and "asti" meaning "to be"
- Cross Cramponned: English heraldic term relating to angle-irons (crampons)
- Cross Gammadion: Greek, pertaining to the Greek letter "G" or "Gamma" (it looks like an inverted Roman alphabet "L".)
- Cross of St. Bridget: Ireland
- Crux Dissimulata: Latin "Cross Dissimulated," used as a Christian symbol by the early Christians to avoid persecution. (see below)
- Hakenkreuz: German "hooked cross"
- Jaina Cross: a swasticka-like symbol of the Jains of India.
- Pramantha: Brahmin (supposedly as some sort of fire-making tool, though never having seen one used as such I can't figure out how.)
In order to discuss this symbol, we must first do a little backtracking, with -some- speculation.
It has been postulated that the first method of measuring time was by the moon's phases. These are obvious, easy ways of measuring the year, and we find it, for example, in Woodland AmerIndian culture, along with naming the years by what happened of note that year. The female menstrual cycle seems to follow it, and that would tend to make the moon-calendar (and Goddess concepts) almost universal in hunter-gatherer cultures, and so it is, in the remaining such cultures on our planet.
But this moon-calendar, while quite sufficient for hunter-gatherer cultures, is NOT sufficient for the next "level" of civilization: farmers.
It is not sufficient because it shows a year that, due to the variant lengths of the moon-months, tends to mess up the calculations for harvest time and planting time. Look at the (Lunar-based) Islamic calendar: The months do not fall in the same seasons with regularity, making Ramadan (the fasting month) a real burden when it falls in the heat of summer. Any Muslim can vouch for this. You must add an intercalary month (or days) from time to time to make it come out right.
But a -solar- calendar is more accurate. Indeed, you can make a
solar calendar at home. Just wait till Midsummer, and mark where the Sun rises on the horizon, from a fixed viewpoint. Then mark Midwinter, and whatever other calendar points strike your fancy. With both of those, plus the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, you will get a layout on the ground that looks a bit like this (tho this one is more regular than most of the real ones).
The Sun moves in an apparent circle, so connecting the dots in a
ring is a logical next design step. This would be facilitated by taking astronomical observations, adding the directions of the compass, and such other doo-dads to the four seasonal points. When we add the central observation point, we get the Sun Cross / Sun-Wheel.
From there, it is a short step to the swasticka, and even the Celtic Cross.
Stonehenge (which was -not- built by those naughty Druids) and many, many other such circles all over the world all seem to do the same thing: point to the seasonal position of the Sun and stars.
If you have an accurate calendar, you know to a pinpoint when you need to plant. This is a simple -survival- thing. If you plant at the wrong time, you, your family and friends all starve to death. This tends to make such things IMPORTANT, and they would be a commonly repeated religous / artistic motif in such cultures, with associations of Mystery. What with the Milky Way and it's apparent "belting" of the Earth, the Zodiac, and the apparent circular motion of the Sun, we get a -repeating- theme of circularity that perhaps might lead to the dichotomies of light/dark, alive/dead, and so forth in an endlessly recurring cycle. This makes the circle seem to have some religious significance, and may have led to the -spiral- design (another very common artistic theme in primitive cultures) having a related meaning, but a bit more esoteric.
It is an easy design-step from this to the swasticka. There is no occult origin here; just a very clever Sun calendar illustration that is found all over the world......and most probably for the same reason: it told the time.
Since the Sun is the most regular time-indicator a non-technological society would have, it is not surprising that the swasticka tends to be associated with the Sun in much (but not all) of the world.
And after it's real origins were lost in folklore, the symbol would continue to be used as a "magic" talisman by the descendants of the developers of the (original) Sun calendar.
It is such an ancient symbol that its true origins are lost in pre-History, but I feel that the above -speculation- is probably hitting pretty close to the mark.
Now, let's get a little more specific:
The symbol is pretty much universal throughout the world. It is found in such diverse cultures as:
- China
- India
- Japan
- Tibet
- Greece
- Gnostic
- Hittite
- Jains
- Egypt
- Ancient Crete
- Ancient Troy (level of excavation unknown)
- Scotland (Picts)
- Ancient Ireland
- Kickapoo Indians
- Tennessee and Ohio Indian burial mounds (Hopewell Mound)
- Pottawatomie Indians
- Hopi Indians
- Zuni Indians
- Old Norse
- Brigantes of Ancient Britain, who used it as a symbol of the goddess Bride.
- Plains Indians (who were originally -farmers- until they were pushed into the Plains by neighboring tribes, and then became nomadic)
- Central American Maya and Aztec (two -very- different cultures!)
- Buddhist (found on the soles of the Buddha's feet, in statuary)
- Found in the Catacombs of Rome (see Crux Dissimulata)
- Pre-Hejira Arabs
- Seen by the author on a quilt pattern (age and pattern name unknown)
- A variant with only three arms is used on the Isle of Man, and is known as a "triskeleon." It is usually represented as three -legs- and thus suggests the act of running. This may be a hold-over from its associations with the goddess Bridget (Bride). the symbol of St. Bridget's Cross becomes -much- more interesting at this point, and might be considered a swasticka-variant.
- Depicted within a triangle symbolizing the goddess Astarte in some parts of the Ancient Middle East.
- The Manichaeans
- Ancient Rome, where it was a symbol of Jupiter Tonans and Pluvius
- A coin of Ethelred of Northumbria (9th cent. CE)
- Embroidered on Christian vestments (8th and 9th cent. CE)
- English heraldry: CHAMBERLAYNE (Argent, a chevron between three fylfots gules) circa 1394 CE
- German heraldry: VON TALE (Ecartele en equerre de gueules et d'argent) (date unknown) (English blazon: Quarterly per fylfot gules and argent.) "Equerre" refers to the carpenter's square, and may be a clue as to the usage of it by the early Christians, due to Joseph's occupation as a carpenter.
- German heraldry: NSDAP (Nazi Party) (Gules, on a roundel argent a fylfot reversed in bend sable) circa 1920-1945 CE. (note: many other combinations of designs were used by the NSDAP, usually combining gules, sable and argent with the swasticka.)
- German medieval brasses (usage unknown)
- MS Landsdowne, no. 874, circa 1480 CE, uses the name "fylfot" to describe a monogram of the initials "F.F."
- Austria (an anti-Semetic emblem used post WW-I)
- Estonia (circa WW-I and post-War)
- Finland (circa WW-I and WW-II)
- Pre-WW II United States Army 45th Division patch
(Gough & Parker)
It is -not- found in Central Africa, nor in Sumeria/ Lower Mesopotamia before 5000 BCE, nor in Zoroastrianism.
The swasticka has thus appeared in different forms, in different places and for different reasons, in human culture since pre-historic times. The meaning has been a "Wheel of Life," a "Sun-Wheel," the four points of the compass, the four winds, Man himself, a symbol of the Hopi emergence into the current world (showing the directions taken by the various tribes in their wanderings) ... many, many interpetations have been given to this most ancient symbol.
It can be found with both right-angled arms, and with curved arms rather like two letters "S" superimposed at right-angles to each other.
It's wide distribution in so many varying cultures shows quite conclusively that it is neither an "Aryan" nor a non-"Aryan" symbol, the pretensions of the NSDAP (German Nazi Party) and their descendants notwithstanding.
The Oriental interpetation has been that of a "Sun-Wheel," with the right-handed version being for "life" or the Sun, and the left-handed version being for "death" or the Moon.
"right handed"
------> Sunwise (deasil) rotation
(heraldic default position)
"left handed"
<------ Widdershins rotation
(heraldic reversed position)
It is interesting to note that the original designer of the insignia of the NSDAP, Dr. Freidrich Krohn (see below), initially drew it right-handed, but Hitler insisted on its being changed to the left-handed version.
The Brahmins use it to make fire within an "arani," a disc-like wooden object where fire is made by friction with the pramantha (see above) symbolizing the male generator. The symbol is regarded as the "womb of the world" in a ceremonial/mystical sense.
The Old Norse -may- have used it as a symbol for Thor, i.e. for the thunder and lightning, and this (if true) could very well be the source of its use in England (from the Norse invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries CE) and its use in the other Germanic countries. The Old Norse -may- have gotten it thru their trade contacts with Byzantium and China. (The Norse tended to trade more than raid, popular modern legends notwithstanding.)
The common Norse shield-decoration, called by heralds a "gyronny - arondee" may have evolved from the crossed "S" form. The "Hammer" (an inverted "T") was the most common symbol for Thor, however.
Heraldic usage regards it as just another Cross, though its usage in new heraldry is actively discouraged, and in some heraldic jurisdictions outright forbidden, due to the connotations of shame and evil that it has gathered from its Nazi associations.
Nazi Germany's use of it has an interesting history. The initial association that the symbol seems to have had was that of extreme nationalism, but not necessarily associated with the Nazi Party. It was first used in this context about 1870 CE by the Austrian Pan-German followers of Schoenerer.
Wilhelm Schwaner displayed a swasticka on the title page of his "völkisch" periodical "Der Volkserzeiher" in 1897 CE as a symbol of the paper's "völkisch" sentiments, and this may be the first printed usage of it in this context.
The German word "völkisch" is essentially untranslatable to English, as defined by the Nazis. It means a "German-ness," a patriotism that transends national boundaries and time, to include everything that is truly "Germanic," a "cult of the race," if you will.
In reality, 'völkisch' would simply mean 'of the people', as it is derived from 'Volk' which means 'People' as in 'the American people'. It was only after a careful redefining proces from Joseph Goebbels and his propaganda-department that it began to mean 'of the GERMAN people'. And as (during the war) 'German' was to be understood as a 'quality' of race and blood, and no longer as a geographical or social thing, 'völkisch' got it's propaganda meaning.
The idea that the word 'völkisch' automatically means "being German" is the result of intricate propaganda-methods. Up to this day this propaganda-derived component is somehow attached to the word, but that's not because of the actual literal meaning of the word.
(thanks to Nico Assinck for further information!)
By 1912, the swasticka was seen in use by many "völkisch" groups, and the "völkisch" thought began to take on an anti-Semitic cast. It was popular enough that the firm of Ecklöh began manufacturing badges, tie pins, buckles, and other such artifacts incorporating the device.
The Thule Society, an occultist, ceremonial magic style group, used it too.
It was also used as a national emblem by Estonia and Finland in this period, being most familiar in photos of the Finnish Air Force during the Winter War with the Soviet Union.
The "Wandervögel" youth movement became very familiar with the symbol, being very "völkisch" in nature, and thus, the soldiers of Imperial Germany in WW I knew of the swasticka and associated it with "völkisch" sentiments.
These "völkisch" sentiments included a reverence for the operatic works of Wagner, an interest in the Grail Cycle of legends, the belief that the "Aryan" race is the "Herrenvolk" or "Master Race" of humanity, and a belief in an international Jewish conspiracy to control the world, as outlined in the so-called "Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion."
One can only imagine the consternation that may have resulted when these soldiers of Germany saw the device being used as part of the insignia of the famous "Lafayette Escadrille," the American pilots that fought for the Allies before America's entry into WW I (the "Great War.")
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