Swastikas in religions

[AdityaMookerjee]

Swastika's are Hindu religious symbols, and Hitler thought they were Aryan, because they are Hindu. I could be seriously incorrect. The symbol has nothing to do with war, but signifies auspicious and favour, broadly.

 

[Valjean]

If the swastika has been a symbol of Jainism for a thousand years, should its usage as a Nazi symbol taint its usage in Jainism?

 

[Father Heathen]

If the swastika has been a symbol of Jainism for a thousand years, should its usage as a Nazi symbol taint its usage in Jainism?

Exactly. There are some U.S. street gangs that use a 6 pointed star as their symbol. Should Jews surrender their use of the Star of David because of this? Of course not.

 

[Î Î¿Î»Ï Ï€Î­ÏÏ‡Ï‰Î½ Γʹ]

The Swastika is indeed an ancient symbol. In Ancient Greece, it was called the gammadion because of the resemblance to the capital "Gamma", although it served more of a decorative than religious purpose in temples. A lot of Greek temples had a border of interlocking swastikas at the top of columns, around the edges of the roof, etc.

I'm also told that the Swastika, because it is rotationally symmetric, it can represent the Big Dipper (by extension all the heavens) moving around the North Star. To the Chinese this idea represents the Chinese notion of "wu wei" (non-doing, non action), so it is also an important symbol for the Taoists and linked esoterically to the symbols of the I-Ching.

 

[Ketoujin12]

If the swastika has been a symbol of Jainism for a thousand years, should its usage as a Nazi symbol taint its usage in Jainism?

An excellent point. Seeing as usage of the swastika in a Dharmic religious context long-predated the NSDAP's mid twentieth-century use of it I would say that anyone suggesting that one group's expropriation of the symbol based on a particular reading of Pan-Aryan theory necessarily taints the symbol in Jainism - where it stands within a cosmological and moral framework eons away from that held by those who later purloined it within the Volkisch movement - is very wrong.

I've always liked the swastika and believe it to be symbolic of the best aspects of Sanatana Dharma as well as just a great all-around symbol. It recurs in the global collective unconscious for a good reason - it is a great design in and of itself, no matter the less than enviable meaning certain other historical groups may have assigned it.

Despite this, there's still - IMHO - far too much automatic association of the swastika with a certain group of Central European extreme right-wingers - at least in the Anglo-Saxon world. I know that this widespread ignorant reaction of many Westerners to the symbol, whatever the context, has caused the federation of Jains in North America to replace the swastika in the logo of their organization to that of an open hand in order to avoid any potential controversy. Sad, but wrong-headed cultural conditioning strikes again.

Best,

Gunnar

 

[Riverwolf]

The Swastika is a beautiful symbol. I await the day it can be lifted from its recent stain.

 

[AdityaMookerjee]

If the swastika has been a symbol of Jainism for a thousand years, should its usage as a Nazi symbol taint its usage in Jainism?

People might be offended, if the reason of any old man, child, or woman being killed is symbolized by the Cross, and then people ask if the Cross is not holy at all. Also, is any holy Jewish symbol responsible, when Christian and Muslim women and children are killed for any reason, in the act of any Jewish soldier, belonging to any army?

 

[LuisDantas]

There is a lot of misdirected repudiation around these days.

Aversion to swastikas is the flip side of flag protection, IMO. Both are only symbols and there is a danger of forgetting what it is exactly that they represent. People have very much forgotten why WW 2 was such a shame already. We might as well let go of swastika hatred as well.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Swastikas have been around for millenia and were--among other things--a symbol of the Zoroastrian Faith.

Indeed, the North American Baha'i temple in Wilmette, IL incudes swastikas in its designs--along with many other religious symbols--for this very reason!

Peace,

Bruce

 

[MatthiasGould]

It's certainly found in classical sites. The Romans used it extensively as well.

In Pompeii I saw an entire villa with swastika mosaic flooring.

 

[MatthiasGould]

It's also quite common in the far east. A repeating pattern called the "sayagata" which consists of tessellating swastika shapes was used on the imperial robes of Chinese and Japanese emperors for thousands of years, after having been transmitted there by via Indian Buddhism.

Doesn't surprise me given that India, China and Japan are relatively close to one another.

 

[Valjean]

From RF's own library of avatar choices:

Jainism

 

[MatthiasGould]

I can always remember getting a Diwali card from a Hindu friend which had a swastika on it, and no-one seemed to object in this circumstance.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think people focus too much on symbols and not enough on what they mean.

 

[apophenia]

I think people focus too much on symbols and not enough on what they mean.

• "They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway-share; They charmed it with smiles and soap."

- from "The Hunting of the Snark" by Lewis Carroll

 

[goodhunter819]

Yes this is totally true, more specifically you can find both right and left facing and quartered angled swastika in first nation warrior religion and culture, the Pueblo Anasazi, The Navajo, Hopi, Kiowa, Apache, Comanche who had the highest mortality rate of killing pilgrims, settlers and colonialists out of all fist nation tribes of indigenous Indian American in I have posted two pre colonial American Indian rugs, the whole point that the swastika pre-dates all political ideologies of power is a little known fact Google search (52: Navajo Rug Twirling Logs Swastika) (google pueblo swastika pottery)

For addition idle knowledge consumption
Also are some uses of the colours red & black which is a popular use proceeded by first nations hoka hay just thought I would add this exert for good measure : religion and culture of religion that drives me, I know that there are certain gangs/gangstas that wear red & black, however I about the warrior theology as practiced by first nations Indians , so you can differ and get what I mean, here are some simple short extracted paragraphs noted by anthropologists who studied the people Firt Nations who were here on this earth from the beginning of time: by showing just two of these many paragraphs I am simply making my point that the whole red & black thing has a origin pre dating, colonialism, pilgrims, pre Latino, and pre Hispanic and yet still Indian from whence came my whole influence for design, it is true to say though that my pervious terminology of pagan is wrong, after some communications and text I was rightly informed that the name pagan dose not truly apply to pre white indigenous Americas (south) and obviously Mesoamerica, the extracts paragraphs where red & black are solely used to represent the plains/Indian warrior religion in symbolizations.

 

[psychoslice]

Just imagine if Hitler had a cross as his symbol, would that mean we should get rid of the cross?.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

The Nazis used a bunch of symbols: the Swastika, Schwarze Sonne, Sig Runes, Life Rune, Death Rune, Death's Head, Iron Cross, etc. We shouldn't let 13 years of dark history ruin millenia of positive meaning. If you let Nazism ruin the ancient meanings of those symbols, then you're giving it power that it doesn't deserve.

Even the ADL says that you should examine each symbol in context before making a judgement on it.

 

[goodhunter819]

Yes I totally concur with what you say about the swastika having it's origin of religion and is pre-politics , the swastika is also found in First Nation indigenous American Indian warrior religions and cultures and even First Nation non warrior culture, First Nations red Indians the people from the beginning of time, the Mohicans, Navajo, Pueblo, Hopi, Kiowa and many tribes unnamed as well as in Mesoamericans religious cultures you will find the use of the left and right handed swastika too, used as a symbol of the indigenous Indian religions , unlike the Nazis who modernized it taken from symbolism reversed and quarter angled as a sign of anti Semiticism and political dominance, also Madame Blavatsky and Guido Von List from the eighteenth and ninetieth century adapted the same indogenous American indian swatika both as a non semtitic religions not necessarily as the Jewish cleansing symbol since that era had not yet occurred but still as a non Jewish non monotheist religious sign,it is strange to think of many non whites who try to modernise Nazism in association whilst once being targeted for extermination after it parties accusations of racial genocide, want of and ethnic cleansing of nomadic warrior cultures not just Jewish gypsies but the general dislike of all nomadic cultures (ect) you’d think the documented tapes and papers of the Nuremberg trials tried for being war criminals for crimes committed without reason of soldiery as well as violation of the Geneva convention all documented would be enough to dissuaded anyone still ignorant is a great tool of use, for me the swastika is Indigenous American Indian First Nation warrior religion , I have no love of politics I leave politics to the politicians.

 

[Poeticus]

for me the swastika is Indigenous American Indian First Nation warrior religion , I have no love of politics I leave politics to the politicians.

The indigenous American Indian First Nation peoples have a symbol very similar to the Dharmic Swastika, in fact: extremely similar - it can easily be argued that they are almost the same.

However, the term, "swastika", is of Sanskrit origin. It should be important to note the concern of appropriation that has occurred in the past century regarding this very term and symbol. Therefore, it is best to stick with originality. Thus, what is the native, indigenous term used for this symbol by the indigenous American Indian First Nation peoples? Do you kindly know, by any chance?

If I remember correctly, the Greeks and the Romans had their own native names for this symbol. So did the Chinese and the Japanese, as well as the Persian Zoroastrians. And, we obviously know that the Indians (of Ancient India) referred to it as "su astika" (translated as: that which is good; and, with the grammatical application of the Sanskrit Sandhi, it becomes: svastika/swastika).

It all went downhill when xenophobic, ethnocentric, genocidal lunatics, and Eurocentric eugenics supremacists hijacked the originality of the symbol for their horrid perversions. Hopefully, in the near future, the high stigma associated with the symbol can be washed away, and if not...dramatically decreased, at the very least.