Swastika - where the name comes from. Swastika. Who invented the fascist cross? Geographical objects in the form of a swastika

The word “swastika” in Sanskrit means the following: “svasti” (स्वस्ति) - greeting, wish for good luck, “su” (सु) translated means “good, good”, and “asti” (अस्ति) which means “is, to be” "

Few people now remember that on Soviet money in the period from 1917 to 1923 the Swastika was depicted as a legalized state symbol; that on the sleeve patches of soldiers and officers of the Red Army during the same period there was also a Swastika in laurel wreath, and inside the Swastika were the letters R.S.F.S.R. There is even an opinion that the Golden Swastika-Kolovrat, as a party symbol, was given to Adolf Hitler by Comrade I.V. Stalin in 1920. So many legends and speculations have accumulated around this ancient symbol that we decided to tell in more detail about this oldest solar cult symbol on Earth.

The swastika symbol is a rotating cross with curved ends directed clockwise or counterclockwise. As a rule, now all over the world all Swastika symbols are called in one word - SWASTIKA, which is fundamentally wrong, because In ancient times, each Swastika symbol had its own name, purpose, Protective Power and Figurative meaning.

Swastika symbolism, being the oldest, is most often found in archaeological excavations. More often than other symbols, it was found in ancient mounds, on the ruins of ancient cities and settlements. In addition, they were depicted on various details of architecture, weapons, and household utensils of many peoples of the world. Swastika symbolism is found everywhere in ornamentation as a sign of Light, Sun, Love, Life. In the West, there was even an interpretation that the Swastika symbol must be understood as an abbreviation of four words starting with the Latin letter “L”: Light - Light, Sun; Love - Love; Life - Life; Luck - Fate, Luck, Happiness (see card below).

English speaking greeting card beginning of the 20th century

The oldest archaeological artifacts depicting swastika symbols now date back to approximately 4-15 millennium BC. (below is a vessel from the Scythian Kingdom of 3-4 thousand BC). According to archaeological excavations, the richest areas for the use of the swastika, both a religious and cultural symbol, are Russia and Siberia.

Neither Europe, nor India, nor Asia can compare with Russia or Siberia in the abundance of swastika symbols covering Russian weapons, banners, national costumes, household utensils, everyday and agricultural items, as well as houses and temples. Excavations of ancient mounds, cities and settlements speak for themselves - many ancient Slavic cities had a clear form of Swastika, oriented to the four cardinal directions. This can be seen in the example of Vendogard and others (below is the reconstruction plan of Arkaim).

Reconstruction plan of Arkaim L.L. Gurevich

The swastika and swastika-solar symbols were the main and, one might even say, almost the only elements of the most ancient Proto-Slavic ornaments. But this does not mean at all that the Slavs and Aryans were bad artists.

Firstly, there were a great many varieties of images of Swastika symbols. Secondly, in ancient times, not a single pattern was applied to any object just like that, because each element of the pattern corresponded to a certain cult or protective (amulet) meaning, because each symbol in the pattern had its own mystical power.

By combining various mystical forces, white people created a favorable atmosphere around themselves and their loved ones, in which it was easiest to live and create. These were carved patterns, stucco molding, painting, beautiful carpets woven by hardworking hands (see photo below).

Traditional Celtic carpet with swastika pattern

But not only the Aryans and Slavs believed in the mystical power of swastika patterns. The same symbols were discovered on clay vessels from Samarra (the territory of modern Iraq), which date back to the 5th millennium BC.

Swastika symbols in levorotatory and dextrorotatory forms are found in the pre-Aryan culture of Mohenjo-Daro (Indus River basin) and ancient China around 2000 BC

In Northeast Africa, archaeologists have found a funerary stele from the kingdom of Meroz, which existed in the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. The fresco on the stele depicts a woman entering into afterworld, on the clothes of the deceased there is a Swastika.

The rotating cross adorns golden weights for scales that belonged to the inhabitants of Ashanta (Ghana), and clay utensils of the ancient Indians, beautiful carpets woven by the Persians and Celts.

Man-made belts created by the Komi, Russians, Sami, Latvians, Lithuanians and other peoples are also filled with swastika symbols, and at present it is difficult even for an ethnographer to figure out which people these ornaments belong to. Judge for yourself.

Since ancient times, swastika symbolism has been the main and dominant symbol among almost all peoples on the territory of Eurasia: Slavs, Germans, Mari, Pomors, Skalvi, Curonians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Mordovians, Udmurts, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Indians, Icelanders, Scots and many others.

In many ancient Beliefs and religions, the Swastika is the most important and brightest cult symbol. So, in ancient Indian philosophy and Buddhism (below the Foot of the Buddha). The swastika is a symbol of the eternal cycle of the universe, a symbol of the Buddha's Law, to which everything that exists is subject. (Dictionary “Buddhism”, M., “Republic”, 1992); in Tibetan Lamaism - a protective symbol, a symbol of happiness and a talisman.

In India and Tibet, the Swastika is depicted everywhere: on the walls and gates of temples (see photo below), on residential buildings, as well as on the fabrics in which all sacred texts and tablets are wrapped. Very often, sacred texts from the Book of the Dead, which are written on funeral covers, are framed with swastika ornaments before cremation.

At the gate of the Vedic Temple. Northern India, 2000

Warships in the roadstead (in the inland sea). XVIII century

You can see the image of many Swastikas both in an old Japanese engraving of the 18th century (picture above) and on the unparalleled mosaic floors in the halls of the St. Petersburg Hermitage and other places (picture below).

Pavilion Hall of the Hermitage. Mosaic floor. year 2001

But you will not find any reports about this in the media, because they have no idea what the Swastika is, what ancient figurative meaning it carries, what it has meant for many millennia and means now for the Slavs and Aryans and many peoples inhabiting our Earth.

In these media, alien to the Slavs, the Swastika is called either a German cross or a fascist sign and reduces its image and meaning only to Adolf Hitler, Germany 1933-45, to fascism (National Socialism) and the Second World War.

Modern “journalists”, “historians” and guardians of “universal human values” seem to have forgotten that the Swastika is the oldest Russian symbol, that in past times, representatives of the highest authorities, in order to enlist the support of the people, always made the Swastika a state symbol and placed its image on money.

250 ruble banknote of the Provisional Government. 1917

1000 ruble banknote of the Provisional Government. 1917

5000 ruble banknote of the Soviet Government. 1918

10,000 ruble banknote of the Soviet Government. 1918

This is what the princes and tsars did, the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks, who later seized power from them.

Now few people know that the matrices of the 250 ruble banknote, with the image of the Swastika symbol - Kolovrat - against the background of a double-headed eagle, were made according to a special order and sketches of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II.

The Provisional Government used these matrices to issue banknotes in denominations of 250, and later 1000 rubles.

Beginning in 1918, the Bolsheviks introduced new banknotes in denominations of 5,000 and 10,000 rubles, which depicted three Swastika-Kolovrat: two smaller Kolovrat in lateral ligatures intertwined with large numbers 5,000, 10,000, and a large Kolovrat is placed in the middle.

But, unlike the 1000 rubles of the Provisional Government, which had the State Duma depicted on the reverse side, the Bolsheviks placed a double-headed eagle on banknotes. Money with the Swastika-Kolovrat was printed by the Bolsheviks and was in use until 1923, and only after the appearance of USSR banknotes were they taken out of circulation.

The authorities of Soviet Russia, in order to gain support in Siberia, created sleeve patches in 1918 for the soldiers of the Red Army of the South-Eastern Front, they depicted a Swastika with the abbreviation R.S.F.S.R. inside.

But they also did: Russian Government A.V. Kolchak, calling under the banner of the Siberian Volunteer Corps; Russian emigrants in Harbin and Paris, and then the National Socialists in Germany.

Created in 1921 according to the sketches of Adolf Hitler, the party symbols and flag of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party) subsequently became state symbols of Germany (1933-1945).

Few people now know that in Germany the National Socialists did not use the Swastika, but a symbol similar to it in design - Hakenkreuz, which has a completely different figurative meaning - changing the world around us and a person’s worldview.

For many millennia, different designs of swastika symbols have had a powerful influence on people’s lifestyles, their psyche (Soul) and subconscious, uniting representatives of various tribes for some bright purpose; gave a powerful surge of light divine forces, revealing the internal reserves in people for comprehensive creation for the benefit of their Clans, in the name of justice, prosperity and well-being of their Fatherland.

At first, only the clergy of various Tribal cults, creeds and religions used this, then representatives of the highest state authorities began to use swastika symbols - princes, kings, etc., and after them all kinds of occultists and political figures turned to the Swastika.

After the Bolsheviks completely captured all levels of power, the need for support of the Soviet regime by the Russian people disappeared, because it would be easier to confiscate the values ​​​​created by the same Russian people. Therefore, in 1923, the Bolsheviks abandoned the Swastika, leaving only the five-pointed star, Hammer and Sickle as state symbols.

In ancient times, when our Ancestors used, the word Swastika was translated as Who Came from Heaven. Since Rune - SVA meant Heaven (hence Svarog - Heavenly God), - S - Rune of direction; Runes - TIKA - movement, coming, flow, running. Our children and grandchildren still pronounce the word tick, i.e. run. In addition, the figurative form - TIKA is still found in everyday words Arctic, Antarctic, mysticism, homiletics, politics, etc.

Ancient Vedic sources tell us that even our galaxy has the shape of a Swastika, and our Yarila-Sun system is located in one of the arms of this Heavenly Swastika. And since we are located in the galactic sleeve, our entire galaxy (its ancient name is Svasti) is perceived by us as Perun’s Way or the Milky Way.

Any person who loves to look at the scattering of stars at night can see the constellation Swastika to the left of the constellation Mokosh (Ursa Major) (see below). It shines in the skies, but has been excluded from modern star maps and atlases.

As a cult and everyday solar symbol that brings happiness, good luck, prosperity, joy and prosperity, the Swastika was initially used only among the white people of the Great Race, professing the Old Faith of the First Ancestors - Ingliism, the Druidic cults of Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia.

The Legacy of the Ancestors brought the news that for many millennia the Slavs used Swastika symbols. There were 144 types of them: Swastika, Kolovrat, Posolon, Holy Dar, Svasti, Svaor, Solntsevrat, Agni, Fash, Mara; Inglia, Solar Cross, Solard, Vedara, Light, Fern Flower, Perunov Color, Swati, Race, Bogovnik, Svarozhich, Svyatoch, Yarovrat, Odolen-Grass, Rodimich, Charovrat, etc.

We could list more, but it would be better to briefly consider a few Solar Swastika symbols: their outline and figurative meaning.

Vedic symbols of the Slavic-Aryans and their meaning

Various variations of Swastika symbols with no less different meanings are found not only in cult and protective symbols, but also in the form of Runes, which, like letters in ancient times, had their own figurative meaning. So, for example, in the ancient Kh’Aryan Karuna, i.e. In the runic alphabet, there were four runes depicting the Swastika elements:

Rune Fash - had a figurative meaning: a powerful, directed, destructive Fire flow (thermonuclear fire)…

The Agni rune had figurative meanings: the Sacred Fire of the hearth, as well as the Sacred Fire of Life, located in the human body, and other meanings...

Rune Mara - had a figurative meaning: the Ice Flame guarding the Peace of the Universe. The rune of transition from the World of Revealing to the World of Light Navi (Glory), incarnation in a new Life... Symbol of Winter and Sleep.

Rune Inglia - had the figurative meaning of the Primary Fire of the Creation of the Universe, from this Fire many different Universes and various forms of Life appeared...

Swastika symbols carry a huge secret meaning. They contain enormous Wisdom. Each Swastika symbol reveals to us a Great picture of the universe.

The Heritage of the Ancestors says that the knowledge of Ancient Wisdom does not accept a stereotypical approach. The study of ancient symbols and ancient Traditions must be approached with an open heart and a pure Soul.

Not for profit, but for knowledge!

Swastika symbols in Russia were used by all and sundry for political purposes: monarchists, Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, but much earlier representatives of the Black Hundred began to use their Swastikas, then the baton was intercepted by the Russian Fascist Party in Harbin. At the end of the 20th century, the organization Russian National Unity began to use Swastika symbols (see below).

A knowledgeable person will never say that the Swastika is a German or fascist symbol. Only foolish and ignorant people say this, because they reject what they are not able to understand and know, and also try to pass off what they want as reality.

But if ignorant people reject some symbol or some information, it still does not mean that this symbol or the information does not exist.

Denying or distorting the truth to please some violates harmonious development others. Even the ancient symbol of the Greatness of Fertility of the Mother of the Raw Earth, called in ancient times SOLARD, is considered by some incompetent people to be a fascist symbol. A symbol that appeared many thousands of years before the rise of National Socialism.

At the same time, it does not even take into account that RNE’s SOLARD is combined with the Star of Lada the Mother of God, where the Divine Forces (Golden Field), the Forces of the Primary Fire (red), the Heavenly Forces (blue) and the Forces of Nature (green) are united. The only difference between the original Mother Nature Symbol and the sign that RNE uses is the multi-colored nature of the Original Mother Nature Symbol and the two-colored one of Russian National Unity.

Ordinary people had their own names for Swastika symbols. In the villages of the Ryazan province they called it “feather grass” - the embodiment of the Wind; on Pechora - a “hare”, here the graphic symbol was perceived as a piece sunlight, ray, Sunny bunny; in some places the Solar Cross was called “horse”, “horse shank” (horse head), because a long time ago the horse was considered a symbol of the Sun and Wind; were called Swastika-Solyarniks and “Ognivtsy”, again, in honor of Yarila the Sun. The people very correctly felt both the Fiery, Flaming Nature of the symbol (Sun) and its Spiritual essence (Wind).

Elder Master Khokhloma painting Stepan Pavlovich Veseloye (1903-1993) from the village of Mogushino, Nizhny Novgorod region, following traditions, painted the Swastika on wooden plates and bowls, calling it “saffron milk cap”, the Sun, and explained: “It is the wind that shakes and moves a blade of grass.”

In the photo you can see swastika symbols even on the carved cutting board.

In the villages, girls and women still wear smart shirts and shirts for holidays, and men wear blouses embroidered with swastika symbols of various shapes. They bake lush loaves and sweet cookies, decorated on top with Kolovrat, Salting, Solstice and other Swastika patterns.

As mentioned earlier, before the onset of the second half of the 20th century, the main and almost the only patterns and symbols that existed in Slavic embroidery were Swastika ornaments.

But in the second half of the 20th century, in America, Europe and the USSR they began to decisively eradicate this Solar symbol, and they eradicated it in the same way as they had previously eradicated: the ancient folk Slavic and Aryan Culture; ancient Faith and folk traditions; the true Heritage of the Ancestors, undistorted by the rulers, and the long-suffering Slavic people themselves, the bearer of the ancient Slavic-Aryan Culture.

And even now, many of the same people or their descendants are trying to ban any types of rotating Solar crosses, but using different pretexts: if earlier this was done under the pretext of class struggle and anti-Soviet conspiracies, now it is a fight against extremist activity.

For those who are not indifferent to the ancient Native Great Russian Culture, here are several typical patterns Slavic embroidery XVIII-XX centuries. On all enlarged fragments you can see Swastika symbols and ornaments for yourself.

The use of swastika symbols in ornaments in the Slavic lands is simply innumerable. They are used in the Baltic states, Belarus, the Volga region, Pomerania, Perm, Siberia, the Caucasus, the Urals, Altai and Far East and other regions.

Academician B.A. Rybakov called the Solar symbol - Kolovrat - a connecting “link between the Paleolithic, where it first appeared, and modern ethnography, which provides countless examples of swastika patterns in fabrics, embroidery and weaving.”

But after the Second World War, in which Russia, as well as all Slavic and Aryan peoples, suffered huge losses, the enemies of the Aryan and Slavic Culture began to equate fascism with the Swastika.

The Slavs used this Solar sign throughout their existence

The flow of lies and fabrications regarding the Swastika has filled the cup of absurdity. “Russian teachers” in modern schools, lyceums and gymnasiums in Russia teach children that Swastika is German fascist cross, made up of four letters "G", representing the first letters of the leaders of Nazi Germany: Hitler, Himmler, Goering and Goebbels (sometimes replaced by Hess).

Listening to teachers, you might think that Germany during the time of Adolf Hitler used exclusively the Russian alphabet, and not at all the Latin script and the German Runic.

Do German surnames: HITLER, HIMMLER, GERING, GEBELS (HESS) contain at least one Russian letter “G” - no! But the flow of lies does not stop.

Swastika patterns and elements have been used by the peoples of the Earth over the past 10-15 thousand years, which is confirmed even by archaeological scientists.

Ancient thinkers said more than once: “Two troubles hinder human development: ignorance and ignorance.” Our Ancestors were knowledgeable and in charge, and therefore used various Swastika elements and ornaments in everyday life, considering them symbols of Yarila the Sun, Life, Happiness and Prosperity.

In general, only one symbol was called Swastika. This is an equilateral cross with curved short rays. Each beam has a 2:1 ratio.

Only narrow-minded and ignorant people can denigrate everything pure, bright and dear that remains among the Slavic and Aryan peoples.

Let's not be like them! Do not paint over Swastika symbols in ancient Slavic Temples and Christian churches, on and Images of the Many-Wise Ancestors.

Do not destroy, at the whim of the ignorant and Slav-haters, the so-called “Soviet staircase”, the mosaic floor and ceilings of the Hermitage or the domes of the Moscow St. Basil’s Cathedral just because various versions of the Swastika have been painted on them for hundreds of years.

Everyone knows that the Slavic prince Prophetic Oleg nailed his shield to the gates of Constantinople (Constantinople), but few people now know what was depicted on the shield. However, a description of the symbolism of his shield and armor can be found in historical chronicles (Drawing of the shield of the Prophetic Oleg below).

Prophetic people, that is, those who have the gift of Spiritual Foresight and those who know the Ancient Wisdom, which they left to people, were endowed by the Priests with various symbols. One of these most notable people was the Slavic prince - Prophetic Oleg.

In addition to being a prince and an excellent military strategist, he was also a high-level priest. The symbolism that was depicted on his clothes, weapons, armor and princely banner tells about this in all detailed images.

The Fiery Swastika (symbolizing the land of the Ancestors) in the center of the nine-pointed Star of England (symbol of the Faith of the First Ancestors) was surrounded by the Great Kolo (Circle of Patron Gods), which emitted eight rays of Spiritual Light (the eighth degree of Priestly initiation) to the Svarog Circle. All this symbolism spoke of enormous spiritual and physical strength, which is directed to the defense of the Motherland and the Holy Old Faith.

They believed in the Swastika as a talisman that “attracts” good luck and happiness. On Ancient Rus' It was believed that if you draw Kolovrat on your palm, you will definitely be lucky. Even modern students draw Swastikas on their palms before exams. Swastikas were also painted on the walls of the house so that happiness would reign there; this exists in Russia, Siberia, and India.

For those readers who wish to receive more information about the Swastika, we recommend the Ethno-religious essays of Roman Vladimirovich Bagdasarov “SWASTIKA: The Sacred Symbol”.

One generation replaces another, state systems and regimes collapse, but as long as the People remember their Ancient Roots, honor the traditions of their Great Ancestors, preserve their Ancient culture and symbols, until that time the People are ALIVE and will LIVE!

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Swastika(character "卐" or "卍", स्वस्तिक from स्वस्ति, svasti- greeting, wish of good luck, prosperity) - a sign in the form of an equal-ended cross with ends bent in one of two directions: clockwise or counterclockwise. Being a development of the simplest graphic symbol - the cross, the swastika has been found since the Stone Age (the oldest one is at the Mezinskaya site). Subsequently, the swastika is found, in the form of a separate sign or part of a meander pattern, in the cultures of all continents except Australia.

In the summer of 1920, Adolf Hitler approved the swastika as the political emblem of the NSDAP. From this moment, as the understanding of the civilizational danger of fascism as an ideology and aggressive doctrine expands, the world gradually comes to understand the negative background “sanctified” by this hitherto harmless ancient symbol. Already at the end of the 1920s, Soviet ideology formulated an unambiguously critical attitude towards this (“chosen as a political emblem by German anti-Semitic fascists, who mistakenly consider the swastika the exclusive emblem of the Aryan race”). And after the outbreak of World War II and the treacherous attack of Hitler’s fascists on the USSR, the whole world began to unequivocally associate the swastika only with the Hitler regime and its crimes against humanity.

Hitler and the German fascists placed the swastika in a global civilizational context. Already because of this, its position among the elements of the sign system of humanity, a neutral assessment turns out to be inapplicable to it, and attempts at “moral rehabilitation” of it are perceived as immoral - no matter what counter-arguments are given to this.

In relation to the sign system, as a special, subcortically acting element of world perception, such “newly acquired negativity” is normal. At a more primitive, everyday level, one can point to famous signs, constructed from one or more fingers, and perceived by others as an axiomatically negative symbol. Any attempts to “justify” a fig or a single raised finger, to force a rethinking of these figures in the light of certain exceptions sought in prehistory, are doomed to failure due to the persistent unambiguous association that has become part of the modern cultural stereotype in relation to these signs.

The swastika and its antagonists in the 20th century

Before the swastika found its place among political symbols, until the beginning of the 20th century, it came to the attention of scientists in two directions. In art history - as an element of a meander pattern (rhombo-meander ornament). In stavrography (from σταυρος tree, cross, And γράφω writing; an auxiliary discipline that studies the history and iconography of the cross) - as an element of the genesis of this fundamental symbol of Christianity. An example of research in the latter direction is given, for example, in the classic article in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron.

However, in none of these lines of analysis, the swastika by definition had an antagonistic sign; the main cultural antagonism of the era, starting with the fall Ancient Rome and ending with the New (if not the Newest) time, was reflected by the confrontation of another pair of globalistic symbols - cross(Christianity) and crescent(Islam). Moreover, at the end of the 19th century, the swastika as a derivative of the cross did not have independent meaning a symbol of any faith or one that makes geopolitically significant claims.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the rapid development of Oriental studies observed in Christian civilization during the second half of the 19th century, the amateur public, fed by popular presentations of newly acquired information on the ancient history of India and its neighboring countries, “discovers”, among others, swastika-like symbols . It is a Buddhist symbol of perfection." manji", "Buddhist cross" (like the Maltese), as well as the "four arms" of the Jains. And although in none of these religions not one of these symbols claims to be the main one (like the cross and the crescent) - nevertheless, comments are beginning to come out from the pen of European (by initial education and culture) writers and compilers, in which the meaning of the swastika-like symbols of the East is obviously exaggerated. This in mass consciousness Europeans are paving the way for a mythologized perception of the swastika as a symbol of some secret, power, magic, etc.

The societies of those countries where, for one reason or another, the crisis of the ruling ideology and/or church is most profoundly infected with this esoteric epidemic are the most affected. The craze for “paganism”, “gypsyism”, collected and falsified samples of “folklore” - all this represents a massive protest against classical Christian values ​​in the form in which they were propagated by clergy with the powerful support of the administrative and legislative resources of the respective countries. And although known part population, due to its consciousness, took a truly antagonistic position, atheism, - most of However, she rejected one religious cult in favor of another, or designed for herself options for an eclectic combination of them.

Swastika on the hood of Nicholas II's car. Tsarskoe Selo, 1913.

This crisis path of development was also observed in Tsarist Russia, starting with the petty-bourgeois circles of the literary intelligentsia of the “Silver Age” with its exotic spectrum of cultural orientation, and ending with the family of the last emperor, which - despite its ostentatious adherence to Orthodoxy - in its narrow circle demonstrated weakness in terms of superstitions , and in relation to specific charlatans. Swastika (sometimes Alexandra Feodorovna wrote owl) was one of the empress's favorite non-Christian symbols

In his memoirs, Pierre Gilliard, the teacher of the royal children, recalled: “I then noticed on the wall near one of the windows of their majesties’ room the empress’s favorite sign, the “sovastika,” which she ordered to be depicted everywhere for good luck.” And already in 1913, a swastika adorned the hood of the Russian Tsar’s personal car, causing bewilderment among those who knew that this was by no means the corporate logo of the manufacturer, the Delano-Belleville company. The hypothesis that the Romanov family was thereby secretly promoting the new state symbol that they had prepared for Russia - on the one hand, seems implausible: after all, the “God-bearing people” have become accustomed to worshiping a different cross for 900 years. True, in Courland, Latvian riflemen from the Tsarist army already in 1915 picked up this symbol on their banners.

But on the other hand, there is the same “Sovereign” icon, newly revealed by the clergy in the first days after the abdication of the Tsar, i.e. the first icon of Republican Russia: on it a swastika is drawn into the headdress of the Mother of God! And immediately after this, a few months later, on the Kerenkas newly released into circulation, the same swastika from the “Sovereign” icon (or the hood of Nicholas II’s car?) seemed to replace the imperial regalia that had disappeared from the chest of the imperial eagle.

One way or another, these incidents with the appearance of the swastika among the symbols used in tsarist Russia and in the first years after its collapse did not manage to create a significant precedent on the basis of which it would be possible to draw far-reaching conclusions and build concepts that would “rehabilitate” the swastika in perception of the peoples of the Russian Empire and, later, the USSR. Only a few years passed, and all these funny precedents were pushed aside by the swastika in its German-fascist version.

The main political competitor of the NSDAP in the political arena of the Weimar Republic are the German communists, and thus, translated into the language of political symbols, the antagonist of the swastika becomes the global symbol of social democracy and communists, hammer and sickle. 8 years after coming to power, Hitler unleashes a war with the USSR, and the concept of “fascist” (symbolized by the swastika) becomes one of the extreme expressions of the category “anti-Soviet”. The hoisting of the Victory Banner with a hammer and sickle over the Reichstag draws a symbolic line under this historical confrontation.

Fascism, which collapsed in 1945 primarily due to the uncompromising struggle of the peoples of the Soviet Union against the German invaders, was the most dangerous, but not the only representative of the forces of anti-Soviet orientation. Solving their own problems of inter-imperialist rivalry, Germany’s largest geopolitical rivals only by chance found themselves in the “same trenches” with the Soviet Union - back in 1938, entering into the Munich agreement with Hitler, they hoped to strengthen his position in future war against the USSR, in which the imperialists of England and France believed to be only outside observers.

By delaying the opening of the “second front” and not allowing any excessive strengthening of the USSR’s production potential during the course of military supplies under Lend-Lease, at the end of the Second World War, the imperialist powers almost immediately transferred the USSR’s relations to the level of balancing between war and peace. However, given that the course and outcome of the Second World War, as well as the contribution of the USSR to the victory over fascism, was generally known, anti-Soviet propaganda and the political course of the imperialist states were forced to be accompanied by a condemnation of fascism (with a certain connivance to neo-fascism). That is, while numerous contemporaries and participants in the war were still alive, the concepts of “anti-Sovietism” and “fascism” were divorced.

As generations of contemporaries of the war against fascism died out, a new layer gradually formed in the ranks of anti-Soviet activists within the USSR itself, with powerful information and propaganda support from anti-Soviet centers in the West. New generations of anti-Sovietists, due to their rejection of any “official” history, readily accepted new historiographical schemes “thrown in” by foreign analysts. In these schemes, contrary to historical facts, was carried out - through manipulative constructions - in preparation for proving the alleged identity of two antagonistic subjects of history - Hitler's Germany and the Soviet Union - and their ideologies - National Socialism and (proletarian) internationalism.

Another direction of destructive influence on the mass perception of the phenomenon of fascism, which developed as a result of the degeneration of ideological and educational work under Gorbachev and Yakovlev, appealed to those whose psychotype was favorable for the development of the “cult” strong hand" It should be noted that the very concept of “atrocities of the fascist occupiers” (perversely perceived by these types of anti-Soviet extras as a manifestation of force) objectively became every year more and more literary and abstract. And this type of manipulation would not have been so successful if not for the events of 1973 in Chile, when the most disgusting and inhumane manifestations of fascism again became a modern reality.

Hence, it no longer seems accidental that it was the Chilean junta and even the personality of Pinochet that began to be presented during the years of perestroika with the opposite sign - as an example of positive action. The establishment of fascist practice in reality post-Soviet Russia- when in October 1993, riot police literally echoed the atrocities of their fascist predecessors in Chile, and created an analogue of the stadium as a place of mass torture, abuse and murder of civilians. The “amnesty” announced after this to the perpetrators left unpunished a precedent for actions that were confusingly similar to fascist ones, and thereby indirectly inspired various extremist forces to rely on the use of force, the most bloody and inhumane methods of solving the problems of the capitalist existence of modern Russia . Hence the appearance of the swastika or its modified versions in the symbolism of some movements does not seem strange.

Currently, many people associate the swastika with Hitler and the Nazis. This opinion has been hammered into our heads for the last 70 years.

Few people remember now that in the period from 1917 to 1923, the swastika symbol was depicted on Soviet money as a state-legalized symbol, and also that at that time, on the sleeve patches of officers and soldiers of the Red Army, there was also its image in a laurel wreath, inside of which the letters R.S.F.S.R. were written. The swastika of the Slavs and the Nazis has differences, but they are very similar. There is even an opinion that Kolovrat (see its description below) was given to Adolf Hitler as a party symbol by Stalin himself in 1920. Many speculations and legends have accumulated around this ancient symbol. Few people remember that our ancestors actively used it. After reading this article, you will find out what the swastika means among the Slavs, as well as where it is used and by whom else, besides the Slavs, it is used.

What exactly is a swastika?

A swastika is a rotating cross, the ends of which are curved and directed either counterclockwise or clockwise. Now, as a rule, all symbols of this type around the world are called the general word “swastika”. However, this is fundamentally wrong. Indeed, in ancient times, the swastika symbol had its own name, as well as a figurative meaning, protective power and purpose.

The word “swastika” itself, according to the “modern version,” allegedly came to us from Sanskrit. It means "prosperity". That is we're talking about about an image in which there is a strong positive charge. An amazing coincidence, but the Milky Way galaxy has a swastika shape, as well as a strand of human DNA, if viewed from the end. Just imagine that this one word simultaneously contains the entire essence of the macro- and microworld! That is why the overwhelming majority of the symbols of our ancestors are swastika.

The oldest swastika

As the oldest symbol, swastika symbolism is found most often in various archaeological excavations. It was found more often than other symbols on the ruins of ancient settlements and cities, in burial mounds. Swastika symbols, in addition, were depicted on weapons, architectural details, household utensils and clothing among many peoples of the world. It is found everywhere in ornamentation as a symbol of the Sun, Light, Life, Love. Even an interpretation has appeared in the West that it should be understood as an abbreviation consisting of four letters that begin with the Latin L: Luck - “happiness, luck, fate”, Life - “life”, Light - “sun, light”, Love - "Love".

Nowadays, the oldest archaeological artifacts on which this image can be seen approximately date back to the 4th-15th millennium BC. The richest (based on materials from various archaeological excavations) in the use of both cultural, everyday and religious purposes of the swastika is Siberia and Russia in general.

What does the swastika mean among the Slavs?

Neither Asia, nor India, nor Europe can compare with our country in the abundance of swastika symbols covering banners, weapons, national costumes, agricultural and household items, household utensils, as well as temples and houses. Excavations of settlements, cities and ancient mounds speak for themselves. Many Slavic cities in ancient times had a clear swastika shape. It was oriented to the four cardinal directions. These are cities such as Vendogard, Arkaim and others.

The swastikas of the Slavs were the main and even almost the only elements of the pre-Slavic ancient ornaments. However, this does not mean that our ancestors were bad artists. After all, the swastikas of the Slavs were very numerous and varied. In addition, not a single pattern in ancient times was simply applied to any object, since each element of it had a talisman (security) or cult meaning. That is, the swastikas of the Slavs had mystical powers. And our ancestors knew about this.

People, having united mystical forces together, created a favorable atmosphere around their loved ones and themselves, in which it was easier to create and live. Paintings, stucco moldings, carved patterns, and carpets woven by hardworking hands cover swastika patterns.

Swastikas among other peoples

Not only the Slavs and Aryans believed in the mystical power that these images possessed. Similar symbols were found on clay vessels from Samarra, located in modern Iraq. They date back to the 5th millennium BC. e.

In dextrorotatory and laevorotatory forms, swastika symbols are also found in the Indus River basin (Mohenjo-Daro, pre-Aryan culture), as well as in ancient China around 2000 BC. e.

Archaeologists have found in northeast Africa a funeral stele that existed in the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. e. kingdom of Meroe. The fresco depicts a woman entering the afterlife. At the same time, a swastika is emblazoned on her clothes.

The rotating cross is also decorated with weights for scales made of gold, which belonged to the inhabitants of Ghana (Ashanta); ancient Indian clay utensils, beautiful carpets woven by the Celts and Persians.

Below is an image of a swastika on the wedding dress of a woman living in one of the British colonies, dating back to 1910.

Variety of swastikas

Man-made belts created by Russians, Komi, Lithuanians, Latvians, themselves and other peoples also have swastika symbols. Today it is difficult even for an ethnographer to figure out which people these ornaments can be attributed to.

Use of the swastika

Vedic symbols (in particular swastikas) were used by the Rus in architecture and urban planning, depicted on clay and wooden utensils, on the facades of huts, on women's jewelry - rings, temple rings, icons, family coats of arms, and pottery. However, the Slavs found the greatest use of swastikas in decorating household items and clothing; they were widely used by embroiderers and weavers.

There are many tablecloths, towels, valances (that is, strips of fabric with lace or embroidery that are sewn to the long edge of the sheet, so that the valance hangs above the floor when the bed is made, remaining open), belts, shirts, in the ornaments of which the swastika was used.

Today, the swastika of the Slavs is sometimes used in a very original way. Tattoos depicting her are becoming popular. A photo of one sample is presented below.

There were more than 144 types of different variants used in Russia. They were there different forms and sizes, with different numbers of rays, directed in different directions. Next, we will briefly consider some symbols and indicate their meaning.

Kolovrat, Holy Gift, Svaor, Svaor-Solntsevrat

Kolovrat is a symbol denoting the rising Yarilo-Sun. It also points to the eternal victory over the darkness of light and over death - life. Important The color of the Kolovrat also plays a role: fiery is a symbol of rebirth, black is a symbol of change, and heavenly is a symbol of renewal. An image of the Kolovrat is presented below.

The holy gift is the swastika of the Slavs, meaning the northern ancestral home of all white peoples - Daariya, which is now called Arctida, Hyperborea, Paradise Land, Severia. It is believed that this sacred ancient land was located in the Northern Ocean. She died as a result of the First Flood.

Svaor is a symbol of constant, never-ending celestial movement, which is called Svaga. This is the cycle of all forces in the Universe. It is believed that if you depict Swaor on household items, there will always be happiness and prosperity in the house.

Svaor-Solntsevrat is a swastika, meaning constant movement across the sky of Yarila the Sun. The use of this symbol for a person meant purity of actions and thoughts, light and goodness of spiritual illumination.

Agni, Fash, Posolon, Charovrat

The following Slavic swastikas were also encountered.

Agni (fire) is a symbol of the hearth and the sacred fire of the altar. This is a talismanic sign of the bright gods on high, protecting temples and homes.

Fash (flame) symbolizes protective protective spiritual fire. It cleanses the human spirit from base thoughts and selfishness. This is a symbol of the unity of military spirit and power, victory over the forces of ignorance and darkness of light and reason.

Salting means the setting Yarilo-Sun, that is, retiring. It is a symbol of the completion of work for the benefit of the race and homeland, the spiritual fortitude of man, as well as the peace of mother nature.

Charovrat is a talisman sign that protects an object or person from the induction of black spells. They depicted it in the form of a rotating fiery cross, believing that this fire destroys various spells and dark forces.

Bogovnik, Rodovik, Wedding, Duniya

Let us present to you the following Slavic swastikas.

The Godhead symbolizes the patronage of man by the light gods and the eternal power of those who have embarked on the path of spiritual perfection and development.

A mandala with this image helps to realize the unity and interpenetration of the four elements that are primordial in our Universe.

Rodovik means the light power of the parent, which helps peoples, provides support to the ancestors of people who work for the benefit of their family and create for their descendants.

The wedding dress is the most powerful amulet of the family, which symbolizes the unification of two principles in marriage. This is the merging of two swastika systems into a new one, where the fiery masculine principle unites with the watery feminine.

Duniya is a symbol of the reunification of heavenly and earthly living fire. Its purpose is to preserve the unity of the family. Fiery altars, which were intended for bloodless rituals offered to the glory of the ancestors and gods, were built in the form of Duniya.

Sky Boar, Thunderbird, Thunderbird, Colard

The heavenly boar is a sign of the palace, a symbol of its patron - the god Ramhat. It denotes the connection of the future and the past, heavenly and earthly wisdom. This symbolism in the form of a talisman was used by people who embarked on the path of self-improvement.

The thunderstorm is considered a symbol of fire, with which you can control the elements of the weather. It was also used to protect temples and people's homes from the elements.

Thunderbolt is a symbol of Indra, the god who guards ancient wisdom, that is, the Vedas. It was depicted as a talisman on military armor and weapons, as well as above the entrances to various vaults so that anyone entering there with bad thoughts would be struck by thunder.

Colard is a symbol of transformation and renewal by fire. It was used by young people who entered into an alliance and wanted to get healthy offspring. The bride was given jewelry with Solard and Colard for her wedding.

Solard, Ognevik, Yarovik, Swastika

Solard is a symbol of the greatness of Mother Earth, receiving love, warmth and light from Yarila the Sun. Solard means prosperity of the ancestral land. This is a fire that gives prosperity to families that create for their descendants, for the glory of their ancestors and gods.

The fireman is a symbol of the god Rod. His image is on the platbands, as well as on the “towels” that are on the window shutters and the slopes of the roofs of the houses. It was applied as a talisman to ceilings. Even in Moscow, in St. Basil's Cathedral, you can see this symbol under one of the domes.

Yarovik was used as a talisman to avoid the death of livestock, as well as to preserve the harvest that was harvested. Therefore, it was very often depicted above the entrance to sheepfolds, cellars, barns, barns, cow sheds, stables, etc.

The swastika is a symbol of the cycle of the Universe. It symbolizes the heavenly law to which all things obey. This fire sign was used by people as a talisman that protected order and law, on the inviolability of which life depended.

Suasti, Solon, Yarovrat, Soulful swastika

Suasti is a symbol of the cycle of life on earth, the movement and rotation of the earth. It also denotes the four cardinal directions and the northern rivers dividing Daaria into four “countries” or “regions.”

Solon is a solar symbol of antiquity, protecting a person from dark forces. As a rule, it was depicted on household items and clothing. Solon is very often found on various kitchen utensils: pots, spoons, etc.

Yarovrat is a symbol of Yaro-god, who controls favorable weather conditions and spring flowering. In order to get a rich harvest, it was considered mandatory by the people to draw this symbol on various agricultural tools: scythes, sickles, plows, etc.

The soul swastika was used to concentrate healing powers. It could only be included in the ornament of clothing by priests who had risen to a high level of moral and spiritual perfection.

Spiritual swastika, Caroler, Overcome grass, Fern flower

The following four types of swastikas of the Slavs are offered to your attention.

The Spiritual swastika, which symbolized unity and harmony: conscience, spirit, soul and body, as well as spiritual strength, received the greatest attention among sorcerers, sorcerers, and magicians. Magi used it to control the elements of nature.

Kolyadnik is a symbol of Kolyada, a god who makes changes for the better and renewal on earth. This is a sign of the victory of day over night, light over darkness. This is what this Slavic swastika means. Charms with her image were used by men. It was believed that they gave them strength in the battle with the enemy and creative work. This swastika of the Slavs, the photo of which is presented below, was very popular.

Overcome grass is a symbol that is the main amulet that protects against diseases. It was believed among the people that evil forces send illnesses to people, and the double sign of fire is able to cleanse the soul and body, burn away any disease and illness.

The fern flower is the swastika, a symbol of the Slavs, denoting spiritual purity and possessing enormous healing powers. It is popularly called Perunov color. It is believed that he can open treasures hidden in the ground and make wishes come true. This symbol actually enables a person to reveal his spiritual powers.

Solar Cross, Heavenly Cross, Svitovit, Svetoch

Another interesting swastika is the Solar Cross. This is a symbol of the prosperity of the family, the spiritual strength of Yarila. This swastika of the ancient Slavs was used mainly as a body amulet. Typically, this symbol endowed the greatest power with the priests of the forest, Kmeti and Gridny, who depicted it on religious accessories, weapons and clothing.

The heavenly cross is a sign of the strength of clan unity, as well as heavenly power. It was used as a body amulet, which protected the wearer, granting him the help of heaven and ancestors.

Svitovit is a symbol of the connection between heavenly fire and earthly waters. From it pure new souls are born, preparing for incarnation in the obvious world, on earth. Therefore, this amulet was embroidered by pregnant women on sundresses and dresses so that they would have healthy offspring.

The torch is a symbol that personifies two great streams of fire and their unification: the divine and the earthly. This connection gives birth to a whirlwind of transformation, helping to reveal the essence of human existence through knowledge of the most ancient foundations.

Valkyrie, Svarga, Svarozhich, Iglia

Let us supplement the types of swastikas of the Slavs with the following.

Valkyrie is a talisman that protects honor, nobility, justice and wisdom.

This symbol was especially revered by warriors who defended their faith and native land. It was used to preserve the Vedas by the priests as a protective symbol.

Svarga is a sign of spiritual ascent, the heavenly path through the multidimensional realities and terrains located on the Golden Path to the world of Pravi - the final point of the journey.

Svarozhich is a symbol of the power of Svarog, the god who preserves all the diversity of life forms in the Universe in their original form. This sign protects intelligent forms from spiritual and mental degradation, as well as from destruction.

Iglia means the fire of creation, from which all the Universes arose, as well as the Yarila-Sun system in which we live. This image in amulet use is considered a symbol of divine purity, which protects our world from darkness.

Rodimic, Rasic, Stribozic, Vedara

Rodimich is a symbol of the power of the parent, who preserves in its original form in the Universe the law of continuity of knowledge of ancestral wisdom, from ancestors to descendants, from old to young. This amulet reliably preserves the ancestral memory from generation to generation.

Rasic symbolizes the unity of the great Slavic race. The sign of England, inscribed in the Multidimensional Book, has four colors, and not one, according to the color of the iris of the eyes of four genera: among the Russen - fiery, among the Holy Russians - heavenly, among the Aryans - golden, among the Aryans - silver.

Stribozhich is a symbol of the guardian priest who conveys the ancient wisdom of childbirth. It preserves: the memory of gods and ancestors, the culture of relationships, and the traditions of communities.

Vedara is a symbol of the keeper of the faith of the first ancestors, who passes on the wisdom of the gods from generation to generation. This symbol helps to use and learn ancient knowledge for the benefit of faith and prosperity of the birth.

So, we looked at the main swastikas of the Slavs and their meaning. Of course it's not full list. In total, as we have already mentioned, there are 144. However, these are the main Slavic swastikas, and their meaning, as you can see, is very interesting. It turns out that our ancestors had a huge spiritual culture, transmitted to us in these symbols.

The four-pointed swastika is a twenty-sided triangle with axial symmetry of the 4th order. The correct -ray swastika is described by a point group of symmetry (Schönflies symbolism). This group is generated by rotation of the th order and reflection in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation - the so-called “horizontal” plane in which the drawing lies. Due to the operation of reflecting the swastika achiral and doesn't have enantiomer(that is, the "double" obtained by reflection, which cannot be combined with the original figure by any rotation). As a result, in oriented space, right- and left-handed swastikas do not differ. Right- and left-handed swastikas differ only on the plane, where the design has purely rotational symmetry. When even, an inversion appears, where is a 2nd order rotation.

You can build a swastika for anyone; when you get a figure similar to the integral sign. For example, the symbol Borjgali(see below) is a swastika with . A swastika-like figure will generally be obtained if you take any region on a plane and multiply it by rotating it times about a vertical axis that does not lie in the vertical plane of symmetry of the region.

Origin and meaning

Illustration from ESBE.

The word "swastika" is a composite of two Sanskrit roots: सु, su, “good, good” and अस्ति, asti, “life, existence,” that is, “well-being” or “well-being.” There is another name for the swastika - “gammadion” (Greek. γαμμάδιον ), since the Greeks saw the swastika as a combination of the four letters “gamma” (Γ).

The swastika is a symbol of the Sun, good luck, happiness and creation. In Western European medieval literature, the name of the sun god of the ancient Prussians Swaikstixa(Svaixtix) is first found in Latin-language monuments from the beginning of the 17th century: "Sudauer Buchlein"(mid-15th century), "Episcoporum Prussiae Pomesaniensis atque Sambiensis Constitutiones Synodales" (1530), "De Sacrificiis et Idolatria Veterum Borvssorvm Livonum, aliarumque uicinarum gentium" (1563), "De Diis Samagitarum" (1615) .

The swastika is one of the ancient and archaic solar signs - an indicator of the visible movement of the Sun around the Earth and the division of the year into four parts - four seasons. The sign records two solstices: summer and winter - and the annual movement of the Sun.

Nevertheless, the swastika is considered not only as a solar symbol, but also as a symbol of the fertility of the earth. Has the idea of ​​four cardinal directions, centered around an axis. The swastika also implies the idea of ​​​​moving in two directions: clockwise and counterclockwise. Like “Yin” and “Yang”, a dual sign: rotating clockwise symbolizes male energy, counterclockwise - female. In ancient Indian scriptures, a distinction is made between male and female swastikas, which depict two female as well as two male deities.

The Encyclopedia of Brockhaus F.A. and Efron I.A. writes about the meaning of the swastika as follows:

The swastika can be “correct” or “reverse”. Accordingly, a swastika in the opposite direction symbolizes darkness and destruction. In ancient times, both swastikas were used simultaneously. This has a deep meaning: day follows night, light replaces darkness, new birth replaces death - and this is the natural order of things in the Universe. Therefore, in ancient times there were no “bad” and “good” swastikas - they were perceived in unity.

One of the oldest forms of the swastika is Asia Minor and is an ideogram of the four cardinal directions in the form of a figure with four cross-shaped curls. The swastika was understood as a symbol of the four main forces, the four cardinal directions, the elements, the seasons and the alchemical idea of ​​the transformation of elements.

Use in religion

In many religions, the swastika is an important religious symbol.

Buddhism

Other religions

Widely used by Jains and followers of Vishnu. In Jainism, the four arms of the swastika represent the four levels of existence.

Use in history

The swastika is a sacred symbol and is found already in the Upper Paleolithic period. The symbol is found in the culture of many nations. Ukraine, Egypt, Iran, India, China, Transoxiana, Russia, Armenia, Georgia, the Mayan state in Central America - this is the incomplete geography of this symbol. The swastika is represented in oriental ornaments, on monumental buildings and on household utensils, on various amulets and Orthodox icons.

In the Ancient World

The swastika was found on clay vessels from Samarra (the territory of modern Iraq), which date back to the 5th millennium BC, and in ornaments on ceramics of the South Ural Andronovo culture. Left- and right-handed swastikas are found in the pre-Aryan culture of Mohenjo-Daro (Indus River basin) and ancient China around 2000 BC.

One of the oldest forms of the swastika is Asia Minor and is an ideogram of the four cardinal directions in the form of a figure with four cross-shaped curls. Even in the 7th century BC, images similar to the swastika were known in Asia Minor, consisting of four cross-shaped curls - the rounded ends are signs of cyclic movement. Interesting coincidences in the image of Indian and Asia Minor swastikas (points between the branches of the swastika, jagged thickenings at the ends). Other early forms of the swastika - a square with four plant-like curves at the edges - are a sign of earth, also of Asia Minor origin.

A stele from the kingdom of Meroe, which existed in the 2nd-3rd centuries AD, was discovered in Northeast Africa. e. The fresco on the stele depicts a woman entering the afterlife; a swastika also appears on the clothes of the deceased. The rotating cross also decorates golden weights for scales that belonged to the inhabitants of Ashanta (Ghana), and clay utensils of the ancient Indians, and Persian carpets. The swastika is often found on the amulets of the Slavs, Germans, Pomors, Curonians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Mordovians, Udmurts, Bashkirs, Chuvash and many other peoples. The swastika is found wherever there are traces of Buddhist culture.

In China, the swastika is used as a symbol of all the deities worshiped in the Lotus School, as well as in Tibet and Siam. In ancient Chinese manuscripts it included such concepts as “region” and “country”. Known in the form of a swastika are two curved mutually truncated fragments of a double helix, expressing the symbolism of the relationship between “Yin” and “Yang”. In maritime civilizations, the double helix motif was an expression of the relationship between opposites, a sign of the Upper and Lower Waters, and also signified the process of the formation of life. On one of the Buddhist swastikas, each blade of the cross ends with a triangle indicating the direction of movement and crowned with the arch of the flawed moon, in which the sun is placed, like in a boat. This sign represents the sign of the mystical arba, the creative quaternary, also called the hammer of Thor. A similar cross was found by Schliemann during the excavations of Troy.

The swastika was depicted in pre-Christian Roman mosaics and on coins of Cyprus and Crete. An ancient Cretan rounded swastika made from plant elements is known. The Maltese cross in the shape of a swastika made of four triangles converging in the center is of Phoenician origin. It was also known to the Etruscans. According to A. Ossendovsky, Genghis Khan wore on his right hand a ring with the image of a swastika, into which a ruby ​​was set. Ossendowski saw this ring on the hand of the Mongol governor. Currently this magic symbol known mainly in India and Central and East Asia.

Swastika in India

Swastika in Russia (and on its territory)

Various types of swastika (3-rayed, 4-rayed, 8-rayed) are present on the ceramic ornament of the Andronovo archaeological culture (Southern Urals of the Bronze Age).

The rhombic-meander swastika ornament in the Kostenkovo ​​and Mezin cultures (25-20 thousand years BC) was studied by V. A. Gorodtsov. There is no reliable data yet about where the swastika was first used, but the earliest image of it was not registered in Rus'.

The swastika was used in rituals and construction, in homespun production: in embroidery on clothes, on carpets. Household utensils were decorated with swastikas. She was also present on the icons. Embroidered on clothing, the swastika could have a certain protective meaning.

The swastika symbol was used as a personal sign and amulet symbol by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Images of the swastika are found on hand-drawn postcards of the Empress. One of the first such “signs” was placed by the empress after the signature “A.” on a Christmas card drawn by her, sent on December 5, 1917 from Tobolsk to her friend Yu. A. Den.

The swastika was depicted on some banknotes of the Provisional Government of 1917 and on some Sovznak printed with the “Kerenok” cliche, which were in circulation from 1918 to 1922. .

In November 1919, the commander of the South-Eastern Front of the Red Army, V.I. Shorin, issued a document that approved the distinctive sleeve insignia of Kalmyk formations using a swastika. The swastika in the order is denoted by the word “lyngtn”, that is, the Buddhist “Lungta”, meaning “whirlwind”, “vital energy”.

Also, the image of a swastika can be seen on some historical monuments in Chechnya, in particular on ancient crypts in the Itum-Kala region of Chechnya (the so-called “City of the Dead”). In the pre-Islamic period, the swastika was a symbol of the Sun God among the pagan Chechens (Dela-Malkh).

Swastikas and censorship in the USSR

In the territory of modern Israel, images of swastikas were discovered during excavations in the mosaics of ancient synagogues. Thus, the synagogue on the site of the ancient settlement of Ein Gedi in the Dead Sea region dates back to the beginning of the 2nd century, and the synagogue on the site of the modern kibbutz Maoz Chaim on the Golan Heights operated between the 4th and 11th centuries.

In North, Central and South America, the swastika appears in Mayan and Aztec art. In North America, the Navajo, Tennessee and Ohio tribes used the swastika symbol in ritual burials.

Thai greeting Swatdi! comes from the word svatdika(swastika).

The swastika as an emblem of Nazi organizations

Nevertheless, I was forced to reject all the countless projects sent to me from all over by young supporters of the movement, since all these projects boiled down to only one theme: taking old colors and drawing a hoe-shaped cross on this background in different variations. […] After a series of experiments and alterations, I myself compiled a completed project: the main background of the banner is red; there is a white circle inside, and in the center of this circle is a black hoe-shaped cross. After much rework, I finally found the necessary relationship between the size of the banner and the size of the white circle, and also finally settled on the size and shape of the cross.

In the mind of Hitler himself, it symbolized the “struggle for the triumph of the Aryan race.” This choice combined the mystical occult meaning of the swastika, the idea of ​​the swastika as an “Aryan” symbol (due to its prevalence in India), and the already established use of the swastika in the German far-right tradition: it was used by some Austrian anti-Semitic parties, and in March 1920 During the Kapp Putsch, it was depicted on the helmets of the Erhardt brigade that entered Berlin (there may have been Baltic influence here, since many soldiers of the Volunteer Corps encountered swastikas in Latvia and Finland). Already in the 20s, the swastika became increasingly associated with Nazism; after 1933, it finally began to be perceived as a Nazi symbol par excellence, as a result of which, for example, it was excluded from the emblem of the scout movement.

However, strictly speaking, the Nazi symbol was not just any swastika, but a four-pointed one, with the ends pointing to the right and rotated 45°. Moreover, it should be in a white circle, which in turn is depicted on a red rectangle. This very sign was on the state banner of National Socialist Germany from 1933 to 1945, as well as on the emblems of the civil and military services of this country (although, of course, other options were used for decorative purposes, including by the Nazis).

Actually, the Nazis used the term to designate the swastika, which served as their symbol. Hakenkreuz ("hakenkreuz", verbatim "hook cross", translation options also - "crooked" or "arachnid"), which is not a synonym for the word swastika (German. Swastika), also circulating in German. It can be said that "hakenkreuz"- the same national name swastikas in German, like "solstice" or "Kolovrat" in Russian or "hakaristi" in Finnish, and is usually used specifically to refer to the Nazi symbol. In the Russian translation, this word was translated as “hoe-shaped cross”.

On the poster of the Soviet graphic artist Moor “Everything is “G”” (1941), the swastika consists of 4 letters “G”, symbolizing the first letters of the surnames of the leaders of the Third Reich written in Russian - Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Goering.

Geographical objects in the form of a swastika

Forest swastika

Forest swastika - forest planting in the shape of a swastika. They are found both in open areas in the form of appropriate schematic planting of trees, and in forest areas. In the latter case, as a rule, a combination of coniferous (evergreen) and deciduous (deciduous) trees is used.

Until 2000, the forest swastika existed northwest of the settlement of Zernikow, in the Uckermark region, in the state of Brandenburg in northwestern Germany.

On a hillside near the village of Tash-Bashat, in Kyrgyzstan, on the border with the Himalayas is the forest swastika "Eki Narin" ( 41.447351 , 76.391641 41°26′50.46″ n. w. /  41.44735121 , 76.39164121 76°23′29.9″ E. d.).

(G)

Labyrinths and their images

Buildings in the shape of a swastika Complex 320-325 (English) Complex 320-325 ) - one of the buildings of the naval landing base in Coronado (eng. Naval Amphibious Base Coronado

), in San Diego Bay, California. The base is operated by the United States Navy and is a central training and operating base for Special Forces and Expeditionary Forces. Coordinates 32.6761, -117.1578.

The Complex building was built between 1967 and 1970. The original design consisted of two central buildings for the boiler plant and relaxation area and a threefold repetition of the L-shaped barracks building with a 90-degree angle to the central buildings. The completed building was shaped like a swastika when viewed from above.

Computer symbol swastika

The Unicode character table contains the Chinese characters 卐 (U+5350) and 卍 (U+534D), which are swastikas.

Swastika in culture In the Spanish TV series "Black Lagoon" (Russian version) Closed school

") the Nazi organization, developing in the depths of a secret laboratory under a boarding school, had a coat of arms in which the swastika was encrypted.

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Swastika in European culture

• Swastika in a Roman mosaic from the 2nd century AD.



Swastika in the culture of other nations



Swastika on a Buddha statue.



A swastika on a fragment of a jug in the Museum of the History of the City of Yerevan.



Left swastika on a Korean temple

Indian basketball team, 1909

see also

1. R.V. Bagdasarov. Radio broadcast “Swastika: blessing or curse” on “Echo of Moscow”.
2. Korablev L. L. Graphic magic of the Icelanders. - M.: “Veligor”, 2002. - P. 101
3. http://www.swastika-info.com/images/amerika/usa/cocacola-swastika-fob.jpg
4. Gorodtsov V. A. Archeology. Stone period. M.; Pg., 1923.
5. Jelinek Jan. Large illustrated atlas of primitive man. Prague, 1985.
6. Tarunin A. Past - Kolovrat in Russia.
7. Bagdasarov, Roman; Dymarsky Vitaly, Zakharov Dmitry Swastika: blessing or curse. "The Price of Victory". "Echo of Moscow". Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
8. Bagdasarov, Roman.. - M.: M., 2001. - P. 432.
9. Sergey Fomin. Materials for the history of the Tsarina's Cross
10. Letters from the Royal Family from captivity. Jordanville, 1974. P. 160; Dehn L. The Real Tsaritsa. London, 1922. R. 242.
11. Right there. P. 190.
12. Nikolaev R. Soviet "credit cards" with swastikas? . Bonistics website. - the article was also published in the newspaper “Miniature” 1992 No. 7, p. 11. Archived from the original source on August 23, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
13. Evgeny Zhirnov. Grant the right to wear a swastika to all Red Army soldiers // Vlast magazine. - 01.08.2000 - No. 30 (381)
14. http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/victory/559590-echo/ Interview with historian and religious scholar Roman Bagdasarov
15. http://lj.rossia.org/users/just_hoaxer/311555.html LYUNGTN
16. Kuftin B. A. Material culture of Russian Meshchera. Part 1. Women's clothing: shirt, poneva, sundress. - M.: 1926.
17. W. Shearer. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
18. quote from the book by R. Bagdasarov “The Mysticism of the Fiery Cross”, M., Veche, 2005
19. Discussion of the terms Hakenkreuz and Swastika in the LiveJournal community “Linguaphiles” (in English)
20. Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf"
21. Kern Hermann. Labyrinths of the world / Transl. from English - St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2007. - 432 p.
22. Azerbaijani Carpets
23. Li Hongzhi. Zhuan Falun Falun Dafa

Literature

In Russian

1. Wilson Thomas. Swastika. The oldest known symbol, its movement from country to country, with observations about the movement of some crafts in prehistoric times / Translation from English: A. Yu. Moskvin // History of the swastika from ancient times to the present day. - Nizhny Novgorod: Publishing House "Books", 2008. - 528 p. - P. 3-354. - ISBN 978-5-94706-053-9.
   (This is the first publication in Russian of the best fundamental work on the history of the swastika, written by the curator of the department of prehistoric anthropology National Museum USA by Thomas Wilson, and published for the first time in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington) in 1896).
2. Akunov V. The swastika is the oldest symbol of humanity (selection of publications)
3. Bagdasarov R.V. Swastika: sacred symbol. Ethno-religious essays. - Ed. 2nd, corrected. - M.: White Alva, 2002. - 432 p. - 3000 copies.

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Many legends and speculations have accumulated around this ancient symbol, so someone may be interested in reading about this ancient solar cult symbol. In fact, I, who grew up in the USSR, had a prejudiced attitude towards the swastika as a fascist sign. But is this really so? The swastika is one of the most archaic sacred symbols, found among many peoples of the world.

Swastika symbols were used to designate calendar signs back in the days of the Scythian kingdom. Swastika Many people nowadays
associated with fascism and Hitler. This has been hammered into people's heads for the last 70 years. It's time to fix the situation.In modern schools, and even in lyceums and gymnasiums in Russia, modern children are told a rather crazy hypothesis that the Swastika is a German fascist cross made up of four letters “G”, denoting the first letters of the leaders of Nazi Germany: Hitler, Himmler, Goering and Goebbels (sometimes he is replaced by Hess). Well, variations on this theme, Germany Hitler Goebbels Himmler. At the same time, few children think about the fact that in German surnames: HITLER, HIMMLER, GERING, GEBELS (HESS), there are no Russian letters “G”. I don’t know what they pass off as truth in Western schools, but I’m more than sure that there, too, the swastika is primarily a fascist symbol.

Unfortunately, the true meaning of this runic symbol has been overwritten by this stereotype over the past 70 years. At the same time, from time immemorial, the swastika was an integral part of the Slavic ornament.

Moreover, without wanting to look into the depths of centuries, you can find more intelligible examples. Not many people remember that the Swastika was depicted on Soviet money in the period from 1917 to 1923 as a legalized state symbol; not immediately noticeable, but it is a fact. She's in the center.

As you can see, Soviet power is already 18.

Have no doubt, before the stars she was no less popular.

And not only on Russian money it was. Here are the Lithuanian five litas.

There is a hypothesis that the Golden Swastika-Kolovrat was given to Adolf Hitler by Comrade I.V. Stalin himself as a party symbol in 1920. But this may have already been invented, I’m not sure.

Well, for balance, American troops of the 1930s. 45th Infantry Division.

And the famous Lafayette flying division.



There were also Finnish, Polish and Latvian swastika patches. If you are interested, you can find them all on the Internet yourself.

A thoughtful and not stupid person will always distinguish a swastika painted on the grave of a veteran from a swastika in an ethnic ornament.

The antics of neo-fascists and just bastards who paint black crosses on the tombstones of the Old Jewish Cemetery in Riga cannot in any way be attributed to ethnic rituals. And yet, with all my uncompromising attitude towards fascism and the results of the war and a rather biased attitude towards the swastika, I decided to dig up information on this topic. But since we’ve touched on the most famous interpretation of this symbol today, let’s talk about fascism itself.
The term Fascism comes from the Latin "fascio" ligament, bundle. In Russian, a similar word is fascina - a bunch of branches, twigs. Fashina symbolizes something strong, reliable, created from something weak and fragile. Remember the parable about the fingers, which are each weak on their own, but when clenched into a fist they represent strength. Or historical example, when you can easily break each arrow, but it is impossible to do this with a whole bunch.

“The Roman soldiers of Julius Caesar who conquered Egypt began to call themselves the first fascists (in many ways, their methods were quite fascist in modern understanding) In the image of the Medjays, the Romans believed that they were bringing order and law to the barbarian country. A battle ax covered with a bunch of rods and intertwined with ribbons, which was called a fascina, was considered a symbol of the emperor’s power. The symbolism is that around a strong power (axe), through small restrictions (ribbon), peoples (rods) will grow stronger." (c) But let’s return to the swastika sign, a runic solar symbol.

We will return to the symbolism of the Third Reich towards the end of the publication. In the meantime, let's look at the swastika without shudder and prejudice. Let's try to get rid of the contemptuous look at this ancient symbol of eternal rotation.

I decided to distance myself from the presentation of this topic by new Russian preachers. It is impossible to deny the fact that the ancient Slavic traditions used the solar sign of the swastika, but their approach was very intrusive. In order not to slide into the opposite direction of misconceptions, let’s look at the swastika a little more broadly.

Considering that not everyone can handle long texts, I decided to show the collected examples to rehabilitate the sign itself. Let's just pay attention to the diversity of swastikas in the cultures of different peoples. This should be enough to understand the essence.

Let's start, perhaps, with the universe. Find the Big Dipper, and to the left of it you will see the constellation in the form of the Swastika. I don’t know if this is true, but now it is excluded from their atlases starry sky. This is what they say in the articles. I haven't checked it myself, it's not that important.


Doesn't it look like a spiral galaxy?
And here are the runic symbols of the ancestors. There are also many examples and interpretation options.

And India, where the swastika is very common.

Even in the jungle you can find a swastika.

What do you think is in the picture? This is a fragment of the robe of an Orthodox priest of the highest church rank.

Do you still believe that the swastika was invented by the fascists of Nazi Germany?

Do you recognize anyone in this picture? The Russian Emperor hurries to his car.

But you are not looking at the king, but at the hood of the car. Found it? The appearance of the swastika at the court of the last Russian Tsar is associated with the name of his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna. Perhaps here the influence of the doctor Pyotr Badmaev on the empress was manifested. Buryat by origin, Lamaist, Badmaev preached Tibetan medicine and maintained connections with Tibet. There are known images of the gammatic cross on hand-drawn postcards of the Empress.

“The left-sided swastika had a special meaning in the royal family and was used as a talisman and as a symbolic reflection of the king’s personality. Before the execution, the former empress drew a swastika on the wall of Ipatiev’s house and wrote something. The image and inscription were photographed and then destroyed. The owner of this photograph was the leader of the white movement in exile, General Alexander Kutepov. In addition, Kutepov kept the icon found on the body of the former empress. Inside the icon there was a note in which the Green Dragon society was mentioned. Strange telegrams signed “Green” were received from Sweden by Grigory Rasputin. The Greens,” akin to the Thule society, is located in Tibet. Before Hitler came to power, there lived a Tibetan lama in Berlin, nicknamed “the man with green gloves.” Hitler regularly visited him and reported to the newspapers three times, without errors, how many Nazis would be elected to the Reichstag. The initiates called the lama “the holder of the keys to the kingdom of Agharti.” In 1926, still small colonies of Tibetans and Hindus appeared in Berlin and Munich. When the Nazis gained access to the Reich's finances, they began to send large expeditions to Tibet, this vital connection was not interrupted until 1943. On the day when Soviet troops ended the battle for Berlin, among the corpses of the last defenders of Nazism, about a thousand bodies of death volunteers, people of Tibetan blood, were found. (c)

In July 1918, immediately after the execution of the royal family, the White Army troops occupied Yekaterinburg. First of all, the officers hurried to the Ipatiev House - the last refuge of the august persons. There, among other things, they saw signs familiar from the icons - crosses with curved ends. It was a left-turning, so-called collective swastika - “amulet”. As it turned out later, it was painted by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

It is for these signs that ignorant London reviewers of the film about the Romanovs will later dub her the “fascist Brünnhilde,” unaware of the ancient Christian Indian traditions of leaving the swastika where the attributes of any holiday are removed after its completion, so that evil does not penetrate there. The Empress consecrated the house with an “amulet”, anticipating the end of the celebration of life...(c)

And this photo shows Jackie Bouvier, the future Jackie Kennedy, in a festive costume associated with culture American Indians.

The geography is expanding.
In India, the Swastika is a symbol of esoteric Buddhism. According to legend, it was imprinted on the heart of Buddha, for which it received the name “Seal of the Heart.”

Let's look into the history of the spread of the swastika.
"Together with one branch of the Indo-European tribes that moved from the southern regions of the Russian Plain in a southeastern direction and reached through Mesopotamia and Central Asia to the Indus Valley, the swastika entered the cultures of the eastern peoples.
It was common on painted dishes of ancient Susiana (Mesopotamian Elam on the eastern coast of the Persian Gulf - 3rd millennium BC) - on bowls, where it was placed in the very center of the composition. This is perhaps a typical example when the swastika was used by the most ancient non-Indo-European people. The signs were symmetrically located relative to a rectangle crossed out by an oblique cross indicating the ground.
Somewhat later, the swastika began to be used by Semitic peoples: the ancient Egyptians and Chaldeans, whose state was located on the western shore of the Persian Gulf.

If desired, you can even find a combination of a swastika and the six-pointed star of Magendovid in the ornament.

With the same wave of Indo-Europeans in the middle of the second millennium BC. The swastika penetrated into the culture of North India. There it successfully existed until our time, but acquired a mystical meaning.

In the most general interpretation, the swastika is considered by Indians to be a symbol of movement and the eternal rotation of the world - the “circle of samsara.” This symbol was supposedly imprinted on the Buddha's heart and is therefore sometimes called the "Seal of the Heart". It is placed on the chest of those initiated into the mysteries of Buddhism after their death. It is carved on every rock, temple, and wherever the founders of Buddhism left their milestones.

Later the swastika penetrates into Tibet, then into Central Asia and China. Another century later, the swastika came to Japan and Southeast Asia along with Buddhism, which made it its symbol."

Together with Buddhism from India, the swastika penetrated into Tibet and Japan. In Japan, the swastika symbol is called Manji. Manji can be seen on samurai flags, armor, and family crests.

Along with North America and the east of Eurasia is marked with a solar sign and a Japanese man wearing a manji-decorated helmet.

Japanese print from the 18th century

Japanese roof

Here is the facade of a building in Kathmandu decorated with a swastika.

And here is Buddha himself.

At this point it was possible to put an end to it. For a general understanding that there is nothing bad in the swastika itself, these examples are already enough. But we'll look at a few more. The East generally preserves its history more carefully and observes traditions. Pagoda tower with golden swastika, solar sign.

Another Buddha
Isn’t this an example of the fact that the solar Kolovrat is not just an ornament of a decorative nature, but a sacred symbol that has a deep sacred meaning. That’s why we can see it on a Buddhist mandala.

And on the sacred stupa

Modern Nepal

The Kolovrat swastika is also imprinted on the tusks of mammoths. Under the golden Kolovrat on a scarlet banner, the legendary Prince Svyatoslav marched on Constantinople and beat the Khazars. This radiant symbol was used by pagan Magi (priests) in rituals associated with the ancient Slavic Vedic Faith, and is still embroidered by Vyatka, Kostroma,
Vologda needlewomen.

In early Christianity, the swastika was known as a gamma cross; until the end of the Middle Ages it was one of the emblems of Christ; it could often be found on Orthodox icons. As an example, a swastika on a headdress Mother of God icons called "Sovereign". Remember the ornament on the festive robe of the Orthodox priest above? From there.

According to legend, Genghis Khan wore on his right hand a ring with the image of a swastika, into which was set a magnificent ruby ​​- the sun stone. In the oldest synagogue in Israel, a Swastika is depicted on the floor, although it is believed that the Jews are almost the only tribe that does not consider the swastika a sacred symbol.

The Swastika again became popular in European culture in the 19th century. It began to be used everywhere in ornamentation as a sign of Light, Sun, Love, Life. There has even been an interpretation that the Swastika symbol must be understood as an abbreviation of four words starting with the Latin letter “L”: Light - Light, Sun; Love - Love; Life - Life; Luck - Fate, Luck, Happiness. This is its modern interpretation, without signs of a pagan cult.

The swastika currently appears on the Finnish presidential standard.

Created in 1921 according to the sketches of Adolf Hitler, the party symbols and flag of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party) subsequently became the state symbols of Germany (1933-1945). It is possible that Hitler, when choosing the swastika as an emblem, was guided by the theory of the German geopolitician Karl Haushofer, who believed that the swastika was a symbol of thunder, fire and fertility among the ancient Aryan magicians.

It was Haushofer who came up with the expression: “Space as a factor of force,” which Hitler borrowed from him. In the mind of Hitler himself, the swastika symbolized the “struggle for the triumph of the Aryan race.” By this time, the Swastika was already actively used by Austrian anti-Semitic organizations.

And lastly, photos of a friend. Swastika in Singapore.

(With)