|
The name sauwastika is a variant of swastika. It comes from the Sanskrit, sauvastika being a vriddhi-derivation of svastika. In English, the spelling is meant to distinguish the left-facing from the right-facing form of the motif. Some writers have speculated that the left-facing and right-forms had different meanings, and that the left-facing form was inauspicious, in opposition to the right-facing version. In Hinduism, sauwastika refers to the anti-clockwise symbol and represents masculine energy, whereas the clockwise swastika represents feminine energy. The swastika (å) is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles either clockwise or anticlockwise. ...
The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...
Vrddhi is a Sanskrit word meaning growth (cognate to English weird, Old English wyrd). ...
Early accounts of distinctions between the two versions
Eugene Burnouf, the first Western expert on Buddhism, stated in his book "Lotus de la bonne loi" that the Buddhists recognize no less that sixty-five auspicious signs in the footprints of the Buddha, the first of them being the Svastika the fourth is the Suavastika [sic], or that with the arms turned to the left; the third, the Nandyurarta, is a mere development of the Svastika. When Heinrich Schliemann discovered swastika motifs in Troy, he wrote to the Indologist Max Müller, who confirmed this distinction, adding that "the Svastika was originally a symbol of the sun, perhaps of the vernal sun as opposed to the autumnal sun, the Suavastika, and, therefore, a natural symbol of light, life, health, and wealth." The letter was published in Schliemann's book Ilios. Eugène Burnouf (April 8, 1801 - May 28, 1852) was a French orientalist. ...
Portrait of Heinrich Schliemann. ...
Walls of the excavated city of Troy (Turkey) This article is about the city of Troy / Ilion as described in the works of Homer, and the location of an ancient city associated with it. ...
Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (December 6, 1823 – October 28, 1900), more commonly known as Max Müller, was a German Orientalist, one of the founders of Indian studies, who virtually created the discipline of comparative religion. ...
However, Thomas Wilson, author of The Swastika, states that: "The 'Suavastika' which Max Müller names and believes was applied to the Swastika sign, with the ends bent to the left (fig.10), seems not to be reported with that meaning by any other author except Burnouf." Likewise, in Sir Monier Monier-Williams's Sanskrit dictionary, it is glossed as an obscure word attested only by lexicographers, with a meaning "benedictive, salutatory" or "auspicious progress". [1] Photo of Monier Monier-Williams by Lewis Carroll Sir Monier Monier-Williams (1819-1899) studied, documented and taught Asian languages in England, and compiled one of the most widely-used Sanskrit-English dictionaries. ...
Modern use of the sauwastika The evidence for sauwastika seems sketchy, and there seems to be very little--other than conjecture--to support the notion that the left-facing swastika is regarded as evil in Hindu tradition. Although the more common form is the right-facing swastika, Hindus all over India and Nepal still use the symbol in both orientations for the sake of balance. Buddhists almost always use the left-facing swastika.
Nevertheless the notion of a 'backwards' swastika has persisted. D'Alviella, in The Migration of Symbols, says [2] —
- In India it [the gammadion] bears the name of swastika, when its arms are bent towards the right, and sauwastika when they are turned in the other direction.
The distinction has acquired significance in some forms of neo-paganism in which it is claimed that the right-facing swastika has a sunwise rotation whereas the left-facing sauwastika has a widdershins rotation. These rotations are said to have traditional opposite associations: Neopaganism (sometimes Neo-Paganism, meaning New Paganism) is a heterogeneous group of religions which attempt to revive ancient, mainly European pre-Christian religions. ...
Widdershins (sometimes withershins, or widershins) is a word which (usually) means anticlockwise, however in certain circumstances it can be used to refer to a direction which is against the light, i. ...
- sunwise - toward God, lucky, good
- widdershins - away from God, unlucky, evil
Nazi swastika and the sauwastika Some contemporary writers — Servando González, for example — confuse matters even further by asserting that the right-facing swastika, used by the Nazis is in fact the "evil" sauwastika. (González "proves" that the left-facing swastika is the sunwise one with reference to an 1930s box of Standard fireworks from Sivakasi, India.) The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ...
Sivakasi is a place in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. ...
This inversion — whether intentional or not — seems to derive from a desire to prove that the Nazi's use of the right-handed swastika was expressive of their "evil" intent. However, the notion that Hitler deliberately inverted the "good left-facing" swastika is wholly unsupported by any historical evidence.
See also An example of a lauburu: each arm can be drawn with three sweeps of a compass The lauburu or Basque cross has four comma-shaped heads similar to the Japanese tomoe. ...
The sun cross or suncross is a traditional religious and neopagan symbol. ...
The armoured triskelion on the flag of the Isle of Man Triskelion (or triskele, from Greek Ï„Ïισκελης three-legged) is a symbol consisting of three bent human legs, or, more generally, three interlocked spirals, or any similar symbol with three protrusions exhibiting a symmetry of the cyclic group C3. ...
Odin with Sleipnir, Valknuts are drawn beneath the horse (Tängelgarda stone) The valknut (Old Norse valr, slain warriors + knut, knot) is a symbol consisting of three interlocked triangles. ...
External links
References - Eugene Burnouf, Lotus de la bonne loi.
- Heinrich Schliemann, Ilios. Harper Brothers. (1881)
- Thomas Wilson, The Swastika: The Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migrations; with Observations on the Migration of Certain Industries in Prehistoric Times. Smithsonian Institution. (1896)
|
Feeds |
Contact