Svastika/Nkontim/Arevakhac/Wan/Manji/Hakaristi

This symbol is said to be older than this planet, The word svastika is a Sanskrit word equating to; 'well-being', 'mystical mark,' 'kind of mystical mark or cross made on persons or things to denote good luck,' and 'any lucky or auspicious object. There is also the illuminating principle, from the root meaning of the word svastika and the direct correlation of being a sun/star symbol. Who are Luminaries, in every sense!

The svastika has four arms, which are jointed, giving further reinforcement to the significance of the number 4, which stands for; solid material objects, the constructed Universe, order and discipline and for the four corners of the world. It also indicates; the four winds, the four cardinal directions, the seasons and the elements, with the very center of the svastika representing the quintessence, also known as the fifth element. This central hub, the still center, points to the svastika as a symbol of the Axis Mundi. In Freemasonary, the hub of the svastika resembles the Pole Star.

Officially, if the arms are pointing in a deasil (clockwise) direction, then it symbolizes the Sun, the male principle, the overt; if it is pointing counter-clockwise (or widdershins) then it resembles the Moon, the feminine principle, the covert. In this case, the svastika is sometimes called the "sauvastika. "However, there is generally no differentiation in the direction of the svastika that can be discerned from its usage as a religious symbol, and it is certainly not the case-despite popular belief that the left-oriented svastika is somehow "evil" or that this was the only svastika employed by the Nazis.

For many people, the swastika has been rendered sinister since it was adopted by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. They believed, mistakenly, that it was a symbol of a pure Aryan race. This ideology seemed to have spawned from European interest in the ancient civilizations of the Near East and India. During his extensive excavations, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered the hooked cross on the site of ancient Troy. He connected it with similar shapes found on pottery in Germany and speculated that it was a “significant religious symbol of our remote ancestors.” Other European scholars and thinkers linked the symbol to a shared Aryan culture that spanned Europe and Asia. The Nazis and all their derivatives were using this very ancient symbol as part of their banner (in essence they were wishing good luck to their campaign and cross of war). The irony here is astounding - this being a sun symbol used by people of a darker hue until this day. How irony (or is that ignorance) has a sense of humour.

Some investigators of the past, put forth the hypothesis that the svastika moved westward from the Indian subcontinent to; Finland, Scandanvia, the Scottish Highlands and other parts of Europe. People in what’s now Greece and Turkey used it. The Celts and Nordic peoples used it, as did the Germanic peoples and the Sintashta culture. The Phoenicians used it as a symbol of the sun and petroglyphs in Armenia have been found using svastika-like symbols. The svastika has been widely used in various cultural symbolism of religious and astronomical nature throughout the Armenian Highland, Mesopotamia, Africa, China, India and Mesoamerica.

In the vast majority of reality, the Svastika is a very old symbol. It is found on the North African Pyramids' (interestingly enough, in 2019 Dec, the Egyptian council was going to announce the Pyramids' age as they knew it, was the last time it was refurbished. They don't know how old these monuments are). Also during the Coptic period. Textile number T.231-1923 held at the V&A Museum in London includes small svastikas in its design. This piece was found at Qau-el-Kebir, near Asyut and is dated between 300 and 600 CE. Pottery found in the temples of Jebel Barkal (region of Kush - modern Sudan...) shows clear armed plus signs. West African cultures also used the symbol, it is a common motif on the gold weights (and other objects like clothing...) used and produced by Akan-speaking peoples since the 15th century. Informants from contemporary Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire give several interpretations for this form. It is sometimes called 'asosa,' the form can be called 'dindje blafou,' or "crossed crocodiles," which refers to the idea that it is a stylized rendering of a common Akan motif and proverb: two crocodiles sharing one stomach. Finally, informants and scholars have interpreted the svastika form and its derivatives as variations of the bow-armed cross, referred to as "nkyinkyim," which is also used as a shaved hairstyle by the maidservants of a queen-mother. It is also the Adinkra symbol nkontim - denoting Loyalty and service.

Another piece of physical evidence, dating back to the last Ice Age, is a figurine carved with a recognizable armed plus sign dating to 10,000-13,000 BCE according to Joseph Campbell - part of "an intricate meander pattern of joined-up svastikas" found on a late palaeolithic figurine of a bird, carved from mammoth ivory, found in what is now called Mezine, Ukraine. It has been suggested that this svastika may be a stylised picture of a stork in flight. As the carving was found near phallic objects, this may also support the idea that the pattern was a fertility symbol.

In the Balkans, the symbol has been used for at least the past 8,000 years (Lithuanian: sūkurėlis) and is a traditional Baltic ornament, found on relics dating from at least the 13th century. The svastika for Lithuanians represents the history and memory of their Lithuanian ancestors as well as the Baltic people at large. There are monuments in Lithuania such as the Freedom Monument in Rokiškis where the svastika can be found. The Indus-Saraswathi civilization used the svastika extensively, with archaeological evidence dating back to at least 4,000 BCE showing its usage. In the mountains of what is now known as Iran, there are svastikas or spinning wheels inscribed on stone walls, which are estimated to be more than 7,000 years old. One instance is in Khorashad, Birjand, on the holy wall Lakh Mazar.

In Armenian the svastika is one of the Armenian symbols of eternity and rebirth. The traditional swastika was the embodiment of light (in the broadest theological sense), hence its name Arevakhach (translated from Armenian – “solar cross”). During the sun worship period in Armenia, this sign was a symbol of the sun. The earliest depictions of a svastika found in Armenia are dating back to the Neolithic Period of human cultural evolution, around 7000-5000BC. The prime meaning of Arevakhach is the divine light and sun and the movement of life, prosperity, glory, eternity and luck they bring. In ancient Armenia, Arevakhach was portrayed on weapons, appliances, carpets, clothes, clan banners and crests, and was also used in the design of churches (the pagan (non-Christian) Arevakhach, like many other Armenian traditions and symbols, “merged” into Christianity) and houses. In the Armenian folk epic “Sasuntsi Davit” (David of Sassoun), the sign received another name, “Khach Paterazmin”, the “military cross” or the “cross of war”. There, it was a symbol of the struggle of Armenians with the invaders. Now, Arevakhach can be frequently seen on stone monuments of the Armenian Highlands.

A research has demonstrated that the letters of the Armenian alphabet could be modified images of Arevakhach. “Ker khach”, that is, a crooked cross, personifies the eternal rotation of the Earth, the Sun, and the cosmos. The clockwise rotation of the curved cross symbolises life-death-life, that is, infinity, as well as rotation. Counter-clockwise rotation symbolises death-life-death. Very often the svastika is symbolised in the form of the Solar Disk, commonly found in the stone carvings of the Armenian Plato, Iranian Plato and ancient civilisations of Anatolia and Mesoamerica.

The wheel is a major symbol of the Dharmic religions, and so is the svastika. It has a variety of symbolic meanings, they can be interpreted as the four Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sama, Atharva), the core Hindu scriptures. They can be thought of as the four goals of life; Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha (right action, worldly prosperity, worldly enjoyment, and spiritual liberation). The limbs are also interpreted as representing the four seasons, the four directions, and the four yugas, or epochs (Satya, Treta, Dvapara, Kali). When used in Hindu temples, homes and other places, the svastika is often decorated with a bindhu or dot in the center of the space between each arm. In India, both clockwise and counterclockwise svastikas were used, with different meanings: the counterclockwise svastika is associated with the goddess Kali-Maya, the mother of Buddha, and the clockwise svastika is associated with Ganesha, the elephant-headed father of Buddha. In Buddhism, it signifies Buddha’s footprints and heart - the balance of opposing forces, harmony and dharma (knowing the conduct of duty to undertake, set forth by an awakened one - Buddha. As a way to enlightenment through; law, justice, good works, devotion and righteousness). The svastika is one of the 108 sacred symbols of the Lord Vishnu. For Jains, the svastika is the symbol of the seventh Tirthankara (literally “ford-maker,” one of the liberated souls showing the way for others in the Jain tradition), with the arms symbolizing one of the four places a soul can be reborn in the cycle of birth and death.

In Finland, the svastika (vääräpää meaning "crooked-head", and later hakaristi, meaning "hook-cross") was often used in traditional folk-art products, as a decoration or magical symbol on textiles and wood. The swastika was also used by the Finnish Air Force until 1945 and is still used on air force flags.

According to the Russian archaeologist Gennady Zdanovich, who studied some of the oldest examples of the symbol in Sintashta culture, the svastika symbolises the universe, representing the spinning constellations of the celestial north pole centred in α Ursae Minoris, specifically the Littleand Big Dipper (or Chariots), or Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. Likewise, according to René Guénon the svastika is drawn by visualising the Big Dipper/Great Bear in the four phases of revolution around the pole star.

The svastika motif is found in some traditional Native American art and iconography. Historically, the design has been found in excavations of Mississippian-era sites in the Hopewell Mounds in Ross Count, Ohio on copper objects and Mississippi River valleys. The svastika has been used by multiple Indigenous groups in America, including the Hopi, Navajo and Tlingit . Among various tribes, the svastika carries different meanings. To the Hopi it represents the wandering clan; to the Navajo it is one symbol for the whirling log (tsin náálwołí), a sacred image representing a legend that is used in healing rituals. A brightly coloured First Nations saddle featuring svastika designs is on display at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada. Before the 1930s, the symbol for the 45th Infantry Division of the United States Army was a red diamond with a yellow svastika, a tribute to the large Native American population in the southwestern United States. It was later replaced with a thunderbird symbol.

For the Chinese embrace an even broader meaning for the symbol than the Buddhist religion. For example, in China, the svastika is also the symbol for Wan, which means “ten thousand,” an auspicious number in Chinese classical culture. Based on this symbol, the hall of “Peace and Harmony in Ten Thousand Directions” was designed and built in the shape of the swastika at the Imperial Summer Palace in Beijing. Furthermore, today there is an organized movement in China to take back the positive connotation of the symbol.

When the Chinese writing system was introduced to Japan in the 8th century, the svastika was adopted into the Japanese language and culture. It is commonly referred as the manji (lit. "10,000-character"). Since the Middle Ages, it has been used as a mon by various Japanese families such as Tsugaru clan, Hachisuka clan or around 60 clans that belong to Tokugawa clan. On Japanese maps, a svastika (left-facing and horizontal) is used to mark the location of a Buddhist temple. The right-facing svastika is often referred to as the gyaku manji (逆卍, lit. "reverse svastika") or migi manji (右卍, lit. "right svastika"), and can also be called kagi jūji (鉤十字, literally "hook cross").

There is a theory that it may have first been "invented" by basket weavers, since the svastika shape is produced during the weaving process. In examining the component elements of the svastika, the first thing to notice is that the shape of the four arms resemble a wheel. Like a wheel, the svastika can rotate in either direction. It does seem people have found this symbol all through life on this place.

Like the lotus, the wheel and the tiger, the svastika is ever present in Tibetan furniture, usually symbolising earth and its indestructible durability. Its presence in Tibetan art brings blessings of stability and peace and acts as a reminder for its owner to strive for contentment.

In Conclusion

There is too much information to put on here, may add some more at some point. This symbol belongs to the world if not the Cosmos, not for a suspect ideology, for a micro-second in the span of life! Also please don't confuse these sun real-eyes-nations with the Western rhetoric of sun worship. These were deep comprehension of the stars - the very thing we are made up of - from "stardust to stardust".