Two ancient symbols, misunderstood for millennia, reveal the hidden connections between Hinduism, Judaism, and the modern battle over identity and ideology.
This was an excellent article unfortunately it will go on deaf ears in most cases. Thank you for point this out; if you research you will find a similar article in a podzine called "Truth Revolt". Well written it was virtually the same as yours and mostly ignored!
You can only keep trying to educate people! Ignorance is at the root of most hatred; that alone is a good reason to continue!
Very informative. When hiking the Himalayas in the late 1970’s, I noticed backwards swastikas in many Buddhists temples. These were thousands of years old and learned that the nazis were 180 degree opposites.
Regarding the swastika, there are Indian tribes in the US which use a version of this symbol. Yes, Hitler and the Nazis made it an odius symbol but that doesn't change the history of this device which, as mentioned in the article, is an ancient symbol in various countries and religions.
I'd me remiss not to mention the Norse usage (not as old as the Hindu, but old enough, and recorded) of the Sun Wheel, as it is called. The one that the Nazis stole directly. Sun Wheel can spin either way - waxing or waning.
This tendency to ban speech and symbols - I might understand temporary bans in horrible places - but - this isn't the world I was born into.
Nazis were cultural thieves. You can see non-ideological swastikas in various Asian art works including some old Kung Fu movies. Iwould not be surprised if it turns out that the hammer and sickle was some ancient idolatry before the Soviets appropriated it.
Today the Swastika means only one thing: Genocide, mass murder and Ideological Nazi terrorism. It is soaked BRIGHT RED in the blood of the 50 million people murdered in Europe and Russia, and 80 Million people killed in total, counting those murdered in the Asian East. The Swastika can never be relativised, or lessened in what it means. It means death, and will do so until the end of time.
My father survived the Holocaust, and growing up, the only association I experienced with the swastika was as Paul Yudt describes. However, I learned, as did my father, that its origins were in ancient Indian Hinduism. Still, despite knowing that, there remains a revulsion and fear upon the sight of them. Context is everything though. Dabbed in red paint on a synagogue door, or in a pro-Palestinian (pro-Hamas) sign is very different than seeing it in Indian art. And yet, the reflex to be repulsed persists; followed by taking a deep breath, and reminding oneself that Hindus had it first, and that we should not let Nazi barbarity take it away from its rightful place in Hindu religion and culture. Education will help, and this article is a perfect example.
The Nazis have no right to destroy the symbols of another culture! Dan, don't give them even that small victory, they are murderous monsters and thieves and I refuse to let them steal part of Hindi culture...
This is a great article concerning the Hindu meaning of the swastika. Because of the positive Sanskrit qualities of the name it is sometimes is the given name to Indian woman. I watch a lot of Hindi cinema films and watching the credits one time I noticed the credit for a film production assistant named Swastika. I decided to give that name to a character in my first novel. I define the meaning of the name because it also contains the feminine quality of the goddess lioness warrior Durga. In my novel she morphs into a modern Indian college student which was my way of tracking Hindu culture into how Indian women function as strongly feminine grounded within an essentially patriarchal society.
Hindu backward? Reveals an appalling Christo-Eurocentric ignorance fueled by an antipathy to anything that challenges its sense of being The Truth, The Light, and The Way. But then again, all religions subscribing to the belief that theirs is the only right repeats the same doctrinaire, supremacist thinking.
Those dismissive of Hinduism should open any book of Hindi philosophy to get a little insight into the complexity and subtlety of this 5,000 year old civilization.
Point well taken. It most definitely is not a religion in the Western or even traditional sense of that word.
It is also said that there are no gods in Buddhism. Correct me if I am wrong, but one account of the Buddha's enlightenment is that as he sat under the Bo tree, first myriad gods (Devas) appeared, then devils (asuras), and finally, Mara.
Even if this version is authoritative, still, unlike in traditional religions, Buddhism does not involve worshiping Devas because these figures like their dark counterparts are taken as representations of inner human attributes.
This article has the story wrong about the Hindu meaning of the swastika. Here's what I learned as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal 1967-69. A "tika" is a symbol. Many readers will have seen a Hindu with perhaps a red dot, a "tika", on their forehead. When I left my post at the end of my service, the mother of my best Nepali friend place a tika on my forehead. In a gathering of a few Nepalis in Toronto on some Hindu holiday, as the oldest person in the group, I was the one to place a tika on everyone's forehead. "Swasta" is "health". A swastika is a symbol of health. Trekking through Nepal, I could always identify a hospital or heath center by the swastika on the wall.
I would love to get an opportunity to talk with you if you can make the time. I traveled to Mumbai with my daughter many years ago and it was an interesting experience. Severe poverty combined with some of the kindest people I have ever met!
I believe that we don't need to allow the Nazis any symbols in our history books. Their era was a poisonous psychotic episode in which human sickness and evil took charge of an entire population. (re: M. Scott Peck, Erich Fromm, Abraham Maslow, Martin Buber) We do need to understand how that happens and how we can work to prevent it. I don't think that we collectively have that understanding yet.
It would be nice if Israel would make efforts to strip the image of the Swastika from all the histories of Nazis and deliberately restore it as one of the representations of Hindu tradition. This would be a helpful correction to our mental library of historical images.
Years ago, in my own mind, I made a note to remember to remove the Swastika from the Nazis and restore it to and reserve it for the ancient cultures of India. In 1996, a programmer colleague from India told me that the Hindus were dismayed in the 1930s when they learned that Hitler stated that the Nazis "will turn this god into a demon". The Hindus have a very wholesome tradition. Likewise, as noted in Ruth's essay, the Magen David has ancient meanings as the divine union of male and female. This is an excellent symbol of Wholeness.
A Hindu neighbor told me about the Hindu use and meaning of the 6-pointed star called "magen David" by Jews. She said it symbolized the presence of God. Remembering the blessing after the haftorah I had to agree. In both cases it clearly has the same origin. Having analyzed several biblical texts I also had to agree with the combination of masculine and feminine, given that even well before the common era one finds evidence that the God of Israel includes both a masculine aspect and a feminine aspect. I believe that it is that which is referred to in saying the human beings were made in the likeness of God. Even when male and female of the physical body of the first hermaphroditic human being were separated, both retained the capacity both to be distant, stern, and just and to be close, loving, and merciful.
Last week I was notified that if I entered England that I would be arrested for inciting violence against the Muslims! Free speech has finally died in England...
Then tonight I received a certified letter from a company that contracted me (whose name I won't mention but sounds like "Fokker Next Gen"...Oops) that they are terminating my collaboration on production process engineering. They claim that my social media presence shines the company in a bad light! I think that fearing to speak the truth is worse!
Guess I won't be going to Europe next year!
That just means I have more time to spend in Israel next year!
I will not be silenced regarding the danger of the Muslims, the Evil Cult of Islam (ECI)!
I will defend the Jewish Citizens of my nation (USA) with my life!
I will gladly give my life in defense of the Holy Land and Greater Israel!
Because this is what it will take to defend Israel and God's plan for its people!
This was an excellent article unfortunately it will go on deaf ears in most cases. Thank you for point this out; if you research you will find a similar article in a podzine called "Truth Revolt". Well written it was virtually the same as yours and mostly ignored!
You can only keep trying to educate people! Ignorance is at the root of most hatred; that alone is a good reason to continue!
Thank you!
Sword of God Militia!
Very informative. When hiking the Himalayas in the late 1970’s, I noticed backwards swastikas in many Buddhists temples. These were thousands of years old and learned that the nazis were 180 degree opposites.
Well written and I agree 100%
Regarding the swastika, there are Indian tribes in the US which use a version of this symbol. Yes, Hitler and the Nazis made it an odius symbol but that doesn't change the history of this device which, as mentioned in the article, is an ancient symbol in various countries and religions.
I'd me remiss not to mention the Norse usage (not as old as the Hindu, but old enough, and recorded) of the Sun Wheel, as it is called. The one that the Nazis stole directly. Sun Wheel can spin either way - waxing or waning.
This tendency to ban speech and symbols - I might understand temporary bans in horrible places - but - this isn't the world I was born into.
Side by side in Ancient Greece. Before the first was stigmatized (that's an in joke).
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Archaeology.Prehistoric/posts/778851802264031/
Thank you for your erudite explanation. Much apprec iated.
Nazis were cultural thieves. You can see non-ideological swastikas in various Asian art works including some old Kung Fu movies. Iwould not be surprised if it turns out that the hammer and sickle was some ancient idolatry before the Soviets appropriated it.
Today the Swastika means only one thing: Genocide, mass murder and Ideological Nazi terrorism. It is soaked BRIGHT RED in the blood of the 50 million people murdered in Europe and Russia, and 80 Million people killed in total, counting those murdered in the Asian East. The Swastika can never be relativised, or lessened in what it means. It means death, and will do so until the end of time.
My father survived the Holocaust, and growing up, the only association I experienced with the swastika was as Paul Yudt describes. However, I learned, as did my father, that its origins were in ancient Indian Hinduism. Still, despite knowing that, there remains a revulsion and fear upon the sight of them. Context is everything though. Dabbed in red paint on a synagogue door, or in a pro-Palestinian (pro-Hamas) sign is very different than seeing it in Indian art. And yet, the reflex to be repulsed persists; followed by taking a deep breath, and reminding oneself that Hindus had it first, and that we should not let Nazi barbarity take it away from its rightful place in Hindu religion and culture. Education will help, and this article is a perfect example.
Didn't you write Love's Rite?
You have written some very interesting material; my daughter did a study on you!
The Nazis have no right to destroy the symbols of another culture! Dan, don't give them even that small victory, they are murderous monsters and thieves and I refuse to let them steal part of Hindi culture...
Fuck the Nazis!
Lord forgive my language!
This is a great article concerning the Hindu meaning of the swastika. Because of the positive Sanskrit qualities of the name it is sometimes is the given name to Indian woman. I watch a lot of Hindi cinema films and watching the credits one time I noticed the credit for a film production assistant named Swastika. I decided to give that name to a character in my first novel. I define the meaning of the name because it also contains the feminine quality of the goddess lioness warrior Durga. In my novel she morphs into a modern Indian college student which was my way of tracking Hindu culture into how Indian women function as strongly feminine grounded within an essentially patriarchal society.
Thank you for a wonderful, informative essay.
Hindu backward? Reveals an appalling Christo-Eurocentric ignorance fueled by an antipathy to anything that challenges its sense of being The Truth, The Light, and The Way. But then again, all religions subscribing to the belief that theirs is the only right repeats the same doctrinaire, supremacist thinking.
Those dismissive of Hinduism should open any book of Hindi philosophy to get a little insight into the complexity and subtlety of this 5,000 year old civilization.
Point well taken. It most definitely is not a religion in the Western or even traditional sense of that word.
It is also said that there are no gods in Buddhism. Correct me if I am wrong, but one account of the Buddha's enlightenment is that as he sat under the Bo tree, first myriad gods (Devas) appeared, then devils (asuras), and finally, Mara.
Even if this version is authoritative, still, unlike in traditional religions, Buddhism does not involve worshiping Devas because these figures like their dark counterparts are taken as representations of inner human attributes.
Thank you. Reassuring to know my observations were respectful and largely devoid of ethnocultural assumptions.
Thank you, thank you. Additional information advances understanding.
Always eager to learn because ignorance is the wisdom of the fool.
This article has the story wrong about the Hindu meaning of the swastika. Here's what I learned as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal 1967-69. A "tika" is a symbol. Many readers will have seen a Hindu with perhaps a red dot, a "tika", on their forehead. When I left my post at the end of my service, the mother of my best Nepali friend place a tika on my forehead. In a gathering of a few Nepalis in Toronto on some Hindu holiday, as the oldest person in the group, I was the one to place a tika on everyone's forehead. "Swasta" is "health". A swastika is a symbol of health. Trekking through Nepal, I could always identify a hospital or heath center by the swastika on the wall.
I would love to get an opportunity to talk with you if you can make the time. I traveled to Mumbai with my daughter many years ago and it was an interesting experience. Severe poverty combined with some of the kindest people I have ever met!
I believe that we don't need to allow the Nazis any symbols in our history books. Their era was a poisonous psychotic episode in which human sickness and evil took charge of an entire population. (re: M. Scott Peck, Erich Fromm, Abraham Maslow, Martin Buber) We do need to understand how that happens and how we can work to prevent it. I don't think that we collectively have that understanding yet.
It would be nice if Israel would make efforts to strip the image of the Swastika from all the histories of Nazis and deliberately restore it as one of the representations of Hindu tradition. This would be a helpful correction to our mental library of historical images.
Years ago, in my own mind, I made a note to remember to remove the Swastika from the Nazis and restore it to and reserve it for the ancient cultures of India. In 1996, a programmer colleague from India told me that the Hindus were dismayed in the 1930s when they learned that Hitler stated that the Nazis "will turn this god into a demon". The Hindus have a very wholesome tradition. Likewise, as noted in Ruth's essay, the Magen David has ancient meanings as the divine union of male and female. This is an excellent symbol of Wholeness.
A Hindu neighbor told me about the Hindu use and meaning of the 6-pointed star called "magen David" by Jews. She said it symbolized the presence of God. Remembering the blessing after the haftorah I had to agree. In both cases it clearly has the same origin. Having analyzed several biblical texts I also had to agree with the combination of masculine and feminine, given that even well before the common era one finds evidence that the God of Israel includes both a masculine aspect and a feminine aspect. I believe that it is that which is referred to in saying the human beings were made in the likeness of God. Even when male and female of the physical body of the first hermaphroditic human being were separated, both retained the capacity both to be distant, stern, and just and to be close, loving, and merciful.
My life has turned a corner tonight.
Last week I was notified that if I entered England that I would be arrested for inciting violence against the Muslims! Free speech has finally died in England...
Then tonight I received a certified letter from a company that contracted me (whose name I won't mention but sounds like "Fokker Next Gen"...Oops) that they are terminating my collaboration on production process engineering. They claim that my social media presence shines the company in a bad light! I think that fearing to speak the truth is worse!
Guess I won't be going to Europe next year!
That just means I have more time to spend in Israel next year!
I will not be silenced regarding the danger of the Muslims, the Evil Cult of Islam (ECI)!
I will defend the Jewish Citizens of my nation (USA) with my life!
I will gladly give my life in defense of the Holy Land and Greater Israel!
Because this is what it will take to defend Israel and God's plan for its people!
אנחנו חזקים
אנחנו אמיצים
אנחנו מקריבים את חיינו לאלוהים!
We are Sword of God Militia!
Amazing to find a professor of Hindu symbology and writing on a Jewish discussion site! Things that make this an interesting grab bag!
And then you have radical Abrahamic believers like me...
We are Sword of God MIlitia!