The Swastika
Definitions, Description & Origin
Count d'Alviella's further argument (1) is that symbols of the sun god being frequently associated, alternated with, and sometimes replaced by, the Swastika, proves it to have been a sun symbol. But this is doubted, and evidence to sustain the proposition is wanting. Undoubtedly the Swastika was a symbol, was intentional, had a meaning and degree of importance, and, while it may have been intended to represent the sun and have a higher and holier character, yet these mere associations are not evidence of the fact.
D'Alviella's plate 2, page 80, while divided into sections a and b, is filled only with illustrations of Swastika associated with circles, dots, etc., introduced for the purpose of showing the association of the Swastika therewith, and that the permutation and replacing of these signs by the Swastika is evidence that the Swastika represented the sun. Most of the same illustrations are presented in this paper, and it is respectfully submitted that they evidence does not bear out his conclusion. If it be established that these other symbols are representatives of the sun, how does that prove that they Swastika was itself a representative of the sun or the sun god? D'Alviella himself argues (2) against the proposition of equivalence of meaning because of association when applied to the Crux ansata, the circle, the crescent, the triskelion, the lightning sign, and other symbolic figures. He denies that because the Swastika is found on objects associated with these signs therefore they became interchangeable in meaning, or that the Swastika stood for any of them. The Count² says that more likely the engraver added the Swastika to these in the character of a talisman or phylactery. On page 56 he argues n the same line, that because it is found on an object of sacred character does not necessarily give it the signification of a sacred or holy symbol. He regards the Swastika as a symbol of good fortune, and sees no reason why it may not be employed as an invocation to a god of any name or kind on the principle, "Good Lord, good devil," quoting the Neapolitan proverb, that it will do no harm, and possibly may do good.
Prof. Max Müller (3) refers to the discovery by Prof. Perey Gardner of one of the coins of Mesembria, whereon the Swastika replaces the last two syllables of the word, and he regards this as decisive that in Greece the meaning of the Swastika was equivalent to the sun. This word, Mesembria, being translated ville de midi, means town or city of the south, or the sun. He cites from Mr. Thomas's paper on the "Indian Swastika and its Western Counterparts" (4) what he considers an equally decisive discovery made some years ago, wherein it was
shown
that the wheel, the emblem of the sun in motion, was replaced by the Swastika
on certain coins; likewise on some of the Andhra coins and some punched
gold coins noted by Sir Walter Elliott. (5)
In these cases the circle or wheel alleged to symbolize the sun was replaced
by the Swastika. The Swastika has been sometimes inscribed within the
rings or normal circles representing what is said to be the four suns
on Ujain patterns or coins (fig. 230). Other authorities have adopted
the same view, and have extended ti to include the lightning, the storm,
the fire wheel, the sun chariot, etc. (See Ohnefalseh-Richter, p. 790)
This appears to be a non sequitur. All these speculations may be
correct, and all these meanings may have been given to the Swastika, but
the evidence submitted does not prove the fact. There is in the case of
the foregoing coins no evidence yet presented as to which sign, the wheel
or the Swastika, preceded and which followed in point of time. The Swastika
may have appeared first instead of last, and may not have been a substitution
for the disk, but an original design. The disk employed, while possibly
representing the sun in some places, may not have done so always not in
this particular case. It assumes too much to say that every time a small
circle appears on an ancient object it represented the sun, and the same
observation can be made with regard to symbols of the other elements.
Until it shall have been satisfactorily established that the symbols represented
these elements with practical unanimity, and that the Swastika actually
and intentionally replaced it as such, the theory remains undemonstrated,
the burden rests on those who take the affirmative side; and until these
points shall have been settled with some degree of probability the conclusion
in not warranted.As an illustration of the various significations possible, one has but to turn to Chapter IV, on the various meanings given to the cross among the American Indians, where it is shown that among these Indians the cross represented the four winds, the sun, stars, dwelling, the dragon fly, midé society, flocks of birds, human form, maidenhood, evil spirit, and divers others.
ENDNOTES:
1. "La Migration des Symboles," pp. 72, 75, 77. [Back]
2. Ibid., p. 61. [Back]
3. Athenæum, August 20, 1892, p. 266. [Back]
4. Numismatic Chronicle, 1880, xx, pp. 18-48. [Back]
5. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., iii, pl. 9. [Back]
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