Swaztika on Ancient Ethiopian Rock Hewn churches

[gelaye]

can anyone explain their occurance? they are exactly the same in design to those in buddhist monastaries ? was it part of sabaen culture?

[zemelmete]

Svastika symblolizes/-d luck, health etc in many cultures in the world. In one word - positive symbol. Svastika is international and has been used by many nations. Only after The Third Reich meaning of this sign changed and became negative symbol in Western European countries and America. But in many Eastern European countries svastika still hasn't really negative meaning, here many people like to use svastika as ornament in clothes, jewellery etc. It is even shown in latvian paper money.

Actually svastika is my favorite ornament, I like it very much and I am sad that many people misunderstand it's meaning. I am really dissapointed that nazist germans were using so nice thing as svastika and spoiled it's image.

[Circe]

Wikipedia features a detailed article on swastika, here's an extract:

Overview
The swastika has not always been used as a symbol of Nazism and was in fact borrowed from Eastern cultures. It seems to have first been used by early inhabitants of Eurasia. It is an important symbol in Eastern religions, notably Hinduism and Buddhism, among others, and was also used in Native American faiths before World War II. By the early twentieth century it was regarded worldwide as a symbol of good luck and auspiciousness. Swastikas appeared on the spines of books by the Anglo-Indian writer Rudyard Kipling, and the symbol was used by Robert Baden-Powell's Boy Scout movement.

Since the rise of the National Socialist German Workers Party, the swastika has been associated with fascism, racism, World War II, and the Holocaust in much of the western world. Before this, it was particularly well-recognized in Europe from the archaeological work of Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered the symbol in the site of ancient Troy and who associated it with the ancient migrations of Indo-European (Aryan) peoples.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika#endnote_manwoman.net) Nazi use derived from earlier German v�lkisch nationalist movements, for which the swastika was a symbol of "Aryan" identity, a concept that came to be equated by theorists like Alfred Rosenberg with a Nordic master race originating in northern Europe. The swastika remains a core symbol of Neo-Nazi groups.

Since the end of World War II, the traditional uses of swastika in the western world were discouraged. Many innocent people or products were wrongly persecuted. There have been failed attempts by individuals and groups to educate Westerners to look past the swastika's recent association with the Nazis to its prehistoric origins.

Entire article @: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

[geo]

All the symbols with four 'rays' ('sceli', 'aktidai' in greek) such as isoscelic crosses, swasticas etc. were used as sun-symbols or to symbolize the four seasons, the four elements, the great circle of Nature etc.

The are among the holier and most ancient symbols and their use is almost universal.

[Bryce]

zemelmete said:

Actually svastika is my favorite ornament, I like it very much and I am sad that many people misunderstand it's meaning. I am really dissapointed that nazist germans were using so nice thing as svastika and spoiled it's image.

How I agree with you and I find the sunwheel, with its arms curved instead of turning at right angles, even more beautiful. I would gladly paint it in bright colors on my car and on the walls of my house but I know quite well that I would be mistaken for a Nazi or a member of a sect (which in my opinion is quite close since I've always held the NSDAP to be a sectarian organization, not a mere political party).

[Crimson Guard]

The swastika along with the Triskelion has been used by the Italics and. Greeks..These symbols seemed to have orginated in this area(mediterrean).

I remember in pottery class,the jewish teacher threatened to destroy my pot and get me thrown outve high school cause I used the Mediterrean interconnecting Swastika design....I simply told her,"look this symbol is part of my culture,I will press charges for decrimnination" . She just walked away and said nothing as that was the end of that.

[Yankel]

crimsonguard said:

I remember in pottery class,the jewish teacher threatened to destroy my pot and get me thrown outve high school cause I used the Mediterrean interconnecting Swastika design....I simply told her,"look this symbol is part of my culture,I will press charges for decrimnination" . She just walked away and said nothing as that was the end of that.

Don't you live in NYC? I doubt you have or had the chutzpah.

[Crimson Guard]

From Brooklyn..Its a true story!

[geo]

Baah i don't believe you.. I think you wrote all this to discriminate the jewish teacher...

[shango]

Gelaye,

The swastika is also found in West Africa. It appears on Ashanti gold weights in Ghana. There are more variations on the swastika symbol in Ahantiland then anywhere else in the world!

[shango]

store.yahoo.com/art98/crocgolweig.html