The Swastika - Various Artists

The Swastika
Various Artists
Ancient Times to Present
Worldwide
 

When people hear the name or see the image of a Swastika, most people will automatically associate this symbol with Nazism.  However, the original meaning and overall representation of the swastika is that of religion and auspiciousness.  The swastika is also known as: the gammadion cross, cross cramponnee, wan, or manji.  Its meaning varies across the globe as well as in different periods of time.  The word itself derives from the word Sanskrit, also meaning good luck and well-being.

For example, dating back to ancient times in Ostia Antica in Italy, there are swastikas embedded in the design of the ancient Roman mosaics on bath floors.  The swastika was once perceived as a symbol of the sun, but in the particular context of Ostia Antica it was sign of fortune.  If the arms were bent to the right it meant good luck and if they were bent to the left it signified bad luck.

In Hinduism, the swastika is emblematic of the Purushartha Dharma (natural order). This consisted of artha (wealth), Kama (desire), and Moksha (liberation).  The swastika is also said to symbolize Brahma, who had four faces, one for each corner of the world (North, South, East, and West).  For Hindus the swastika is an overall representation of their god Brahman with his universal manifestation and Shakti (energy).

Similar to Hinduism is Jainism.  Jainism uses the four arms of the swastika to symbolize four places where a soul can be born in the cycle of birth and death.  They are Svarge (heaven), Naraka (hell), Manushya (humanity) and Moksha (salvation).  Worshipers practicing Jainism recreate the swastika with rice around the altar during religious ceremonies.


Report by Lindsay Holden - 2015