In world history textbooks, documentaries about the Second World War we see a sign that carries the ideology of fascism. A frightening sign is painted on the armbands of the SS men, on the fascist flag. They marked captured objects. Many countries were afraid of the bloody symbol and, of course, no one thought about what it meant fascist swastika.
Historical roots
Contrary to our assumptions, the swastika is not Hitler’s invention. This symbol begins its history far before our era. In the process of studying different eras archaeologists see this ornament on clothing and various household items.
The geography of finds is vast: Iraq, India, China and even in Africa a funeral fresco with a swastika was found. However, the most huge amount evidence of the use of swastikas in people’s everyday lives has been collected in Russia.
The word itself is translated from Sanskrit - happiness, prosperity. According to some scientists, the sign of a rotating cross symbolizes the path of the sun across the dome of heaven, is a symbol of fire and hearth. Protects the house and the temple.
Initially, tribes of white people, the so-called Aryan race, began to use the sign of a rotating cross in everyday life. However, Aryans are historically Indo-Iranians. Presumably, the indigenous territory is the Eurasian circumpolar region, the region of the Ural Mountains, and therefore the close connection with the Slavic peoples is quite understandable.
Later, these tribes actively moved south and settled in Iraq and India, bringing with them culture and religion to these lands.
What does the German swastika mean?
The sign of the rotating cross was revived in the 19th century thanks to active archaeological activities. Then it was used in Europe as a talisman that brought good luck. Later, a theory about the exclusivity of the German race appeared, and the swastika acquired the status symbol of many far-right German parties.
In his autobiographical book, Hitler indicated that he came up with the emblem of the new Germany on his own. However, in fact, this was a sign known to everyone for a long time. Hitler depicted him black, with a white ring, on a red background and called him Hakenkreuz, which in German means " hook cross».
The blood red canvas was deliberately proposed in order to attract attention Soviet people and taking into account psychological influence this shade. White ring is a sign of national socialism, and the swastika is a sign of the Aryans’ struggle for their pure blood.
According to Hitler's idea, hooks were knives prepared for Jews, gypsies and the unclean.
Swastika of the Slavs and the Nazis: differences
However, when compared with the fascist ideological emblem, a number of distinctive features were discovered:
- The Slavs did not have clear rules for depicting the sign. A fairly large number of ornaments were considered swastikas, all of them had their own names and had special powers. They featured intersecting lines, frequent branches, or even curved curves. As is known, in the Hitler emblem there is only a tetrahedral cross with sharp curved ends in left side. All intersections and bends are at right angles;
- The Indo-Iranians painted the sign in red on a white background, but other cultures: Buddhist and Indian used blue or yellow;
- The Aryan sign was a powerful noble amulet that symbolized wisdom, family values and self-knowledge. According to their idea, the German cross is a weapon against the unclean race;
- Ancestors used ornaments in household items. They decorated clothes, handles, napkins with them, and painted vases with them. The Nazis used the swastika for military and political purposes.
Thus, you cannot put both of these signs on the same line. They have quite a lot of differences, both in writing and in use and ideology.
Myths about the swastika
Highlight some misconceptions regarding the ancient graphic ornament:
- The direction of rotation does not matter. According to one theory, the direction of the sun is right side means peaceful creative energy, and if the rays look to the left, then the energy becomes destructive. The Slavs also used the left-handed ornament to attract the patronage of their ancestors and increase the strength of the clan;
- The author of the German swastika is not Hitler. For the first time, a mythical sign was brought to Austria by a traveler - the abbot of the monastery Theodor Hagen in late XIX century, from where it spread to German soil;
- The swastika in the form of a military sign was used not only in Germany. Since 1919, the RSFSR has used sleeve badges with swastikas to identify Kalmyk military personnel.
In connection with the difficult events of the war, the swastika cross acquired a sharply negative ideological connotation and, according to the decision of the post-war tribunal, was banned.
Rehabilitation of the Aryan symbol
Different states today have different attitudes towards the swastika:
- In America, a certain sect is actively trying to rehabilitate the swastika. There is even a holiday for the rehabilitation of the swastika, which is called the World Day and is celebrated on June 23;
- In Latvia, before a hockey match, during an exhibition flash mob, dancers unfurled a large swastika figure on an ice rink;
- In Finland, the swastika is used on the official flag of the air force;
- In Russia, heated debates are still raging over the issue of restoring the rights of the mark. There are entire groups of swastikophiles who make various positive arguments. In 2015, Roskomnadzor spoke about the permissibility of displaying the swastika without its ideological propaganda. That same year, the Constitutional Court banned the use of the swastika in any form, due to the fact that it was immoral towards veterans and their descendants.
Thus, attitudes towards the Aryan sign are different all over the world. However, we all need to remember what the fascist swastika means, since it was a symbol of the most destructive ideology in the history of mankind and has nothing in common with the ancient Slavic sign in terms of semantic load.
Video about the meaning of the fascist symbol
In this video, Vitaly Derzhavin will tell you about several more meanings of the swastika, how it appeared and who was the first to use this symbol:
Nowadays, the Swastika is a negative symbol and is associated only with murder and violence. Today, the Swastika is firmly associated with fascism. However, this symbol appeared much earlier than fascism and has nothing to do with Hitler. Although it is worth recognizing that the Swastika symbol has discredited itself and many people have there is a negative opinion about this symbol, except perhaps for the Ukrainians, who revived Nazism on their land, which they are very happy about.
History of the Swastika
According to some historians, this symbol arose several thousand years ago, when there was no trace of Germany. Meaning of this symbol was to indicate the rotation of the galaxy; if you look at some space photographs, you can see spiral galaxies that somewhat resemble this sign.Slavic tribes used the Swastika symbol to decorate their homes and places of worship, wore embroidery on clothes in the form of this ancient symbol, used it as amulets against evil forces, and applied this sign to exquisite weapons.
For our ancestors, this symbol personified the heavenly body, representing all the brightest and kindest things that exist in our world.
Actually, this symbol was used not only by the Slavs, but also by many other people for whom it meant faith, goodness and peace.
How did it happen that this beautiful symbol of goodness and light suddenly became the personification of murder and hatred?
Thousands of years have passed since the Swastika sign was of great importance, gradually it began to be forgotten, and in the Middle Ages it was completely forgotten, only occasionally this symbol was embroidered on clothes. And only by a strange whim at the beginning of the twentieth century this sign saw the light again. that time in Germany was very turbulent and in order to gain self-confidence and instill it in other people, various methods were used, including occult knowledge. The Swastika sign first appeared on the helmets of German militants, and only a year later it was recognized official symbol fascist party. Much later, Hitler himself loved to perform under the banners with this sign.
Types of swastika
Let's first dot the i's. The fact is that the Swastika can be depicted in two forms, with the tips bent counterclockwise and clockwise.Both of these symbols contain completely different opposite meanings, thus balancing each other. That Swastika, the tips of the rays of which are directed counterclockwise, that is, to the left, means good and light, denoting the rising sun.
The same symbol, but with the tips turned to the right, carries a completely opposite meaning and means misfortune, evil, all kinds of troubles.
If you look at what kind of Swastika Nazi Germany had, you can see that its tips are bent to the right. This means that this symbol has nothing to do with light and goodness.
From all of the above, we can conclude that not everything is as simple as it seemed to us. Therefore, do not confuse these two completely opposite meanings of the Swastika. This sign in our time can serve as an excellent protective amulet, if only it is depicted correctly. If people frightened to point your finger at this amulet, you can explain the meaning of the “Swastika” symbol and make a short excursion into the history of our ancestors, for whom this symbol was a sign of light and goodness.
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 suggests 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:
| This sign has been used since time immemorial by Brahminists and Buddhists of India, China and Japan in ornaments and writing, expressing greetings and wishes for well-being. From the East the swastika moved to the West; Her images are found on some of the ancient Greek and Sicilian coins, as well as in the painting of ancient Christian catacombs, on medieval bronze tombstones, on priestly vestments of the 12th - 14th centuries. Having adopted this symbol in the first of the above forms, called the “gammed cross” ( crux gammata), Christianity gave it a meaning similar to what it had in the East, that is, it expressed to them the sending of grace and salvation. |
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
Swastika - 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, Chuvashs 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. Ossendowski, Genghis Khan wore 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 magical symbol is 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.
| I sent you at least 5 drawn cards, which you can always recognize by my signs (“swastika”), I always come up with new ones |
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 “lungtn”, 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 at 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 Northern, 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 Aryan race" This choice also combined the mystical occult meaning swastikas, and 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 Freikorps 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 for the swastika in German as "solstice" or "Kolovrat" in Russian or "hakaristi" in Finnish, and is usually used to indicate 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. 76°23′29.9″ E. d. / 41.44735121 , 76.39164121 (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 of "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.
Gallery
- 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
Notes
- R.V. Bagdasarov. Radio broadcast “Swastika: blessing or curse” on “Echo of Moscow”.
- Korablev L. L. Graphic magic of the Icelanders. - M.: “Veligor”, 2002. - P. 101
- http://www.swastika-info.com/images/amerika/usa/cocacola-swastika-fob.jpg
- Gorodtsov V. A. Archeology. Stone period. M.; Pg., 1923.
- Jelinek Jan. Large illustrated atlas primitive man. Prague, 1985.
- Tarunin A. Past - Kolovrat in Russia.
- 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.
- Bagdasarov, Roman. Swastika: sacred symbol. Ethno-religious essays. - M.: M., 2001. - P. 432.
- Sergey Fomin. Materials for the history of the Tsarina's Cross
- Letters Royal Family from captivity. Jordanville, 1974. P. 160; Dehn L. The Real Tsaritsa. London, 1922. R. 242.
- Right there. P. 190.
- 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.
- Evgeny Zhirnov. Grant the right to wear a swastika to all Red Army soldiers // Vlast magazine. - 01.08.2000 - No. 30 (381)
- http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/victory/559590-echo/ Interview with historian and religious scholar Roman Bagdasarov
- http://lj.rossia.org/users/just_hoaxer/311555.html LYUNGTN
- Kuftin B. A. Material culture Russian Meshchera. Part 1. Women's clothing: shirt, poneva, sundress. - M.: 1926.
- W. Shearer. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
- quote from the book by R. Bagdasarov “The Mysticism of the Fiery Cross”, M., Veche, 2005
- Discussion of the terms Hakenkreuz and Swastika in the LiveJournal community “Linguaphiles” (in English)
- Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf"
- Kern Hermann. Labyrinths of the world / Transl. from English - St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2007. - 432 p.
- Azerbaijani Carpets (English)
- Li Hongzhi. Zhuan Falun Falun Dafa
Literature
In Russian
- 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 of the US National Museum, Thomas Wilson, and first published in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington) in 1896). - Akunov V. The swastika is the oldest symbol of humanity (selection of publications)
- Bagdasarov R.V.
No country in the world has so many varieties of Vedic symbols as in Russia. They are found everywhere throughout its vast territory, within its modern borders, from east to west and from north to south, from ancient times until the beginning of the 20th century.
Archaeologists find them in all cultures that have ever existed there and to which modern scientists have given different names: Kostenki and Mezin cultures (25-20 thousand years BC), Trypillian culture (VI-III thousand BC). BC), Andronovo culture (XVII-IX centuries BC) - this is the name of the civilization that existed in the 17th-9th centuries BC. e in the territory of Western Siberia, the western part of Central Asia and the Southern Urals, Tagar culture of the Yenisei River basin (IX-III centuries BC), Pazyryk culture (late 1st millennium BC), Scythian and Sarmatian culture . Vedic symbols, in particular swastikas, were used by the Rus in urban planning and architecture, depicted on the facades of wooden log huts, on wooden and clay utensils, on women's jewelry - temple rings, on rings, on icons and paintings of "Orthodox" churches, on pottery and on family coats of arms. The swastika found its greatest use in decorating clothing and household items, and was widely used by weavers and embroiderers.
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There are a huge number of towels, tablecloths, valances (a strip of fabric with embroidery or lace, which is sewn to one of the long edges of the sheet, so that when the bed is made, the valance remains open and hangs above the floor), shirts, belts, in the ornaments of which the swastika was used.
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The abundance and variety of swastika motifs is simply amazing, as is the fact that previously they appeared unforgivably rarely even in specialized books on folk arts and crafts, not to mention the existence of separate collections. This gap was filled P.I. Kutenkov, who collected colossal material - the result of studying the spread of swastikas in Novgorod land, Vologda, Tver, Arkhangelsk, Vyatka, Kostroma, Perm, Transbaikalia and Altai and described it in the book ]]> ]]>. In it, he provides tables in which he summarized the characteristic designs of swastikas used in Russia in the period from the 1st to the 20th centuries. AD
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Swastika on the car of Nicholas II
By the way, in almost all foreign languages, images of the solar symbol (of which there are very few varieties) are called with one word “swastika”, and in Russian various options There are many swastikas and as many names.
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Villagers called the swastika in their own way. In the Tula province it was called “feather grass”. The peasants of Pechora - “hare” (like a sunbeam), in the Ryazan province they called it “horse”, “horse head” (the horse was considered a symbol of the sun and wind), in Nizhny Novgorod - “redhead”, “loach” in the Tver province, “bow-legged” "in Voronezhskaya. In the Vologda lands it was called differently: “kryuchya”, “kryukovets”, “kryuk” (Syamzhensky, Verkhovazhsky districts), “ognivo”, “ognivets”, “konegon” (Tarnogsky, Nyuksensky districts), “sver”, “ cricket" (Velikoustyug district), "leader", "leader", "zhgun", (Kichm.-Gorodetsky, Nikolsky districts), "bright", "shaggy brightly", "kosmach" (Totemsky district), "geese", “chertogon” (Babushkinsky district), “mower”, “kosovik” (Sokolsky district), “crossroads”, “vratok” (Vologda, Gryazovets districts), “vrashenets”, “vrashenka”, “vraschun” (Sheksninsky, Cherepovets districts ), “ugly” (Babaevsky district), “melnik” (Chagodoshchensky district), “krutyak” (Belozersky, Kirillovsky districts), “pylan” (Vytegorsky district).
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Amazing ancient ornaments performed a protective function, along with an undoubted aesthetic one, in which everything was important - the location of the embroidery (shoulders, neckline, hem, etc.), color, threads, choice of ornament, etc. Solar symbols, as well as any other sign, carried a certain semantic load in them, writing out a kind of message, which could only be deciphered by a knowledgeable person, of whom, unfortunately, there are none left. But back in the second half of the 19th century, in some Russian villages there lived old witches who knew how to “read” embroidered patterns...
Here's how Roman Bagdasarov talks about it in his book "Swastika: sacred symbol. Ethno-religious essays".
"…IN mid-19th century centuries, the ritual of reading patterns was still alive, which was part of brides' viewings. This is how it happened in the village of Nikolskoye, Kadnikovsky district, in the Vologda region. On Epiphany (January 6, Old Style), brides came and came from near and far villages, bringing with them the best outfits. These outfits were almost all made by them. The girl wore a shirt with two red stripes underneath, and another four or five with the most bizarre patterns that went from the hem to the chest. For the outer shirt - a sundress, three or four elegant aprons. On top of everything is a sheepskin coat, trimmed with fur and covered with peasant cloth.
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After lunch, the most important moment of the show began. The brides stood in rows near the church fence. Several guys chose an elderly woman and, under her leadership, headed towards the dressed-up girls who stood afraid to move. The woman approached one of the girls, parted the skirts of her fur coat and showed her elegant aprons. Then she lifted the hem of her sundress, one after another, all the patterned shirts until the one with two red stripes on the hem.
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And all this time she explained the meaning of the patterns. Grooms judged by shirts and aprons about the girl’s abilities and her hard work: whether she knew how to spin, weave, sew and weave lace. The language of Russian folk embroidery is a “writing system” where ink and paper are replaced by canvas and, most often, red thread. The concept of “write” in ancient times had the meaning of “decorate” and “depict”. “To stitch a letter” meant to embroider in a line, marking one after another a series of symbolic signs.
When a girl prepared her dowry, her mother or grandmother carefully watched her work and immediately corrected mistakes. An eyewitness tells how the daughter was weaving a dowry towel and wanted to place two rows of triangles in its border, top to top. Seeing this, her mother stopped her: “You can’t do that, daughter! You will get dragon teeth, you will bring misfortune on your head, your girlish color and married life will end up in the dragon’s teeth. Place the patterns, sole to sole, and the sun's rays will come out. And they will shine for you throughout your life..." .
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The most archaic parts of clothing: the headdress, mantles and hem had characteristic differences in different regions of Russia. From them you can read information about the ethno-religious characteristics of the Slavs. And on the Pechora River back in the 1970s, hunters, reading from afar the patterns on mittens and woolen stockings, identified family affiliation a fellow countryman I met. The swastika is found on all elements of traditional clothing. We can say that it permeated the outfit of a Russian person literally from head to toe...
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For centuries, simple villagers have preserved with some kind of religious respect the shape, color and smallest accessories of the costume of their ancestors,” noted ethnographers in the mid-19th century. In cities, traditional Russian attire existed until the indicated time. In rural areas, it was worn everywhere at the beginning (in some places even in the middle) of the 20th century.
The rules for wearing traditional clothing had a number of features: one was supposed to be worn by persons who had not yet reached marriageable age, another by adults who had not yet become parents, a third by those who had children, and a fourth by persons who had become grandparents and had lost the ability to bear children. At the same time, old maids after a certain age did not have the right to wear their old girl’s costume. Regardless of the origin and social position occupied by a Russian person, his clothing reflected primarily his marital status.
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The wedding dress carried the most intense symbolism. According to the “Wedding Order”, the newlyweds were called prince and princess, other participants were located according to the levels of the military hierarchy: the great boyar-tysyatsky, the boyars-companions of the bride and groom. The wedding shirt had special meaning. It was made over three holiday nights: “on the first night of Christ [Easter], on the second, on Ivanovo, on the third night of Peter.” Embroidered on it was a picture of the world accessible to human understanding, in which the swastika occupied an important place...”
About use
Today, when many people hear the word “swastika,” they immediately think of Adolf Hitler, concentration camps, and the horrors of World War II. But, in fact, this symbol appeared even before new era and has a very rich history. It has become widespread in Slavic culture, where many of its modifications existed. A synonym for the word “swastika” was the concept “solar”, that is, solar. Were there any differences in the swastika of the Slavs and the Nazis? And, if so, what were they expressed in?
First, let's remember what a swastika looks like. This is a cross, each of the four ends of which bends at right angles. Moreover, all angles are directed in one direction: to the right or to the left. Looking at such a sign, one gets the feeling of its rotation. There are opinions that the main difference between the Slavic and fascist swastikas lies in the direction of this very rotation. For the Germans, this is right-hand traffic (clockwise), and for our ancestors it is left-hand traffic (counterclockwise). But this is not all that distinguishes the swastika of Aryans and Aryans.
Also important distinctive feature is the constancy of color and shape of the Fuhrer's army badge. The lines of their swastika are quite wide, absolutely straight, and black. The underlying background is a white circle on a red canvas.
What about the Slavic swastika? Firstly, as already mentioned, there are many swastika signs that differ in shape. The basis of each symbol, of course, is a cross with right angles at the ends. But the cross may not have four ends, but six or even eight. Additional elements may appear on its lines, including smooth, rounded lines.
Secondly, the color of the swastika signs. There is also diversity here, but not so pronounced. The predominant symbol is red on a white background. The red color was not chosen by chance. After all, he was the personification of the sun among the Slavs. But there are also blue and yellow colors on some of the signs. Thirdly, the direction of movement. It was said earlier that among the Slavs it is the opposite of fascist. However, this is not entirely true. We find both right-handed swastikas among the Slavs and left-handed ones.
We examined only the external distinctive attributes of the swastika of the Slavs and the swastika of the fascists. But much more important facts are the following:
- Approximate time of appearance of the sign.
- The meaning that was given to it.
- Where and under what conditions was this symbol used?
Let's start with the Slavic swastika
It is difficult to name the time when it appeared among the Slavs. But, for example, among the Scythians, it was recorded in the fourth millennium BC. And since a little later the Slavs began to separate from the Indo-European community, then, for sure, they were already used by them at that time (third-second millennium BC). Moreover, among the Proto-Slavs they were fundamental ornaments.
Swastika signs abounded in the everyday life of the Slavs. And therefore one cannot attribute the same meaning to all of them. In fact, each symbol was individual and carried its own meaning. By the way, the swastika could be either an independent sign or part of a more complex one (most often it was located in the center). Here are the main meanings of Slavic swastika (solar symbols):
- Sacred and Sacrificial fire.
- Ancient wisdom.
- Home.
- Unity of the Family.
- Spiritual development, self-improvement.
- Patronage of the gods in wisdom and justice.
- In the sign of Valkikria, it is a talisman of wisdom, honor, nobility, and justice.
That is, in general, we can say that the meaning of the swastika was somehow sublime, spiritually high, noble.
Archaeological excavations have given us a lot of valuable information. It turned out that in ancient times the Slavs applied similar signs to their weapons, embroidered them on suits (clothing) and textile accessories (towels, towels), and carved them on elements of their homes and household items (dishes, spinning wheels and other wooden utensils). They did all this mainly for the purpose of protection, in order to protect themselves and their home from evil forces, from grief, from fire, from the evil eye. After all, the ancient Slavs were very superstitious in this regard. And with such protection we felt much more secure and confident. Even the mounds and settlements of the ancient Slavs could have a swastika shape. At the same time, the ends of the cross symbolized a certain direction of the world.
Fascist swastika
- Adolf Hitler himself adopted this sign as a symbol of the National Socialist movement. But we know that he was not the one who came up with it. In general, the swastika was used by other nationalist groups in Germany even before the emergence of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Therefore, let’s take the time of appearance as the beginning of the twentieth century.
Interesting fact: the person who suggested that Hitler take the swastika as a symbol initially presented a left-handed cross. But the Fuhrer insisted on replacing it with a right-hand one.
- The meaning of the swastika among the Nazis is diametrically opposed to that of the Slavs. According to one version, it meant the purity of German blood. Hitler himself said that the black cross itself symbolizes the struggle for the victory of the Aryan race, creative work. In general, the Fuhrer considered the swastika an ancient anti-Semitic sign. In his book, he writes that the white circle is the national idea, the red rectangle is the social idea of the Nazi movement.
- Where was the fascist swastika used? Firstly, on the legendary flag of the Third Reich. Secondly, the military had it on their belt buckles, as a patch on the sleeve. Thirdly, the swastika “decorated” official buildings and occupied territories. In general, it could be on any fascist attributes, but these were the most common.
Thus, the swastika of the Slavs and the swastika of the Nazis have enormous differences. This is expressed not only in external features, but also in semantic ones. If among the Slavs this sign personified something good, noble, and lofty, then among the Nazis it was a truly Nazi sign. Therefore, when you hear something about a swastika, you shouldn’t immediately think about fascism. After all, the Slavic swastika was lighter, more humane, more beautiful.