History of the Swastika
According to some historians, this symbol arose several thousand years ago, when there was no mention of Germany. Meaning given character was to designate the rotation of the galaxy, if you look at some space images, you can see spiral galaxies, which are somewhat reminiscent of this sign.Slavic tribes used the Swastika symbol to decorate their dwellings and places of worship, wore embroidery on their clothes in the form of this ancient symbol, used it as amulets against evil forces, applied this sign to exquisite weapons.
For our ancestors, this symbol personified the heavenly body, represented all the brightest and kindest that is in our world.
Actually, this symbol was used not only by the Slavs, but also by many other people in whom it meant faith, goodness and peace.
How did it happen that this beautiful symbol of goodness and light suddenly became the personification of murder and hatred?
Thousands of years have passed since the sign of the Swastika was of great importance, it gradually began to be forgotten, and in the Middle Ages it was completely forgotten, only occasionally this symbol was embroidered on clothes. And only by a strange whim at the beginning of the twentieth century this sign saw the light again. at that time in Germany it was very restless and in order to gain faith in oneself and instill it in other people, various methods were used, including occult knowledge. The Swastika sign first appeared on the helmets of German militants, and only a year later it was recognized official symbol fascist party. Much later, Hitler himself liked to perform under the banners with this sign.
Types of swastika
Let's dot the "i" first. The fact is that the Swastika can be depicted in two forms, with the tips bent counterclockwise, and clockwise.Both of these symbols contain a completely different opposite meaning, thus balancing each other. That Swastika, the tips of the rays of which are directed counterclockwise, that is, to the left, mean goodness and light, denoting the rising sun.
The same symbol, but with the tips turned to the right, carries a completely opposite meaning and means misfortune, evil, all kinds of troubles.
If you look at what kind of Swastika Nazi Germany had, you can make sure that its tips are bent to the right. This means that this symbol has nothing to do with light and goodness.
From the foregoing, we can conclude that not everything is as simple as it seemed to us. Therefore, do not confuse these two completely opposite in meaning Swastikas. This sign can still serve as an excellent protective amulet in our time, if only it is depicted correctly. If people will fearfully pointing at this amulet with your finger, you can explain the meaning of the Swastika symbol and make a short digression into the history of our ancestors, for whom this symbol was a sign of light and goodness.
It so happened that in the small, relatively secluded town of Rewalsar in the Himalayas, we arrived quite late, so late that it was hard for small, sleepy and lazy provincial hotels to bother with our settlement. The hosts of the hotels shrugged their shoulders, shook their heads and waving their hands somewhere in the direction of the night slammed the doors in front of our noses. But we were willingly, though not free of charge, accepted to live in a guest house on the territory of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery on the lake.
As is often the case in Tibetan places, an Indian took care of our meeting and accommodation, since Tibetan monks deal with money and worldly matters. In addition, the monastery had been immersed in night darkness for more than an hour, and the monks should have had enough sleep, so that tomorrow early in the morning they should go to meditation with a cheerful and pious face. The Hindu who gave us the keys to the hotel room told us about this and other sorrows of the world, and in order to somehow console himself, he strongly recommended that we visit this event at seven in the morning.
The main topics are below: buses and trains, flights and visas, health and hygiene, safety, route selection, hotels, food, necessary budget. The relevance of this text is spring 2017.
Hotels
"Where will I live there?" - this question is for some reason very strong, just terribly annoying for those who have not yet traveled in India. There is no such problem. Hotels there are a dime a dozen. The main thing is to choose. Further we are talking about inexpensive, budget hotels.
In my experience, there are three main ways to find a hotel.
Spiral
You will usually arrive at new town by bus or train. So around them there is almost always a great mass of hotels. Therefore, it is enough to move a little away from the place of arrival and start walking in a circle with an increasing radius to come across a lot of hotels. inscriptions "Hotel" designates a place where you can have a bite to eat in a large area of India, so signboards are the main landmarks "guest house" And Lounge.
In the zones of mass idleness (Goa, the resorts of Kerala, the Himalayas), the private sector is developed, well, as we have on the Black Sea coast. There you can ask about housing from the local population and focus on the signs " Rent". In Buddhist places you can live in monasteries, in Hindu places in ashrams.
The further you move away from the bus station or railway station, the lower the prices, but hotels are becoming rarer and rarer. So you look at several hotels of reasonable price and quality and return to the chosen one.
If you are traveling in a group, then you can send one or two people light in search of a hotel, while the rest are waiting at the station with things.
If the hotel is refused and they say that the hotel is only for Indians, then insisting on settling is practically useless.
Ask a taxi driver
For those who have a lot of luggage or are just too lazy to look. Or you want to settle near the sights, for example, at the Taj Mahal, and not at the station. Also in major cities there are places of traditional congestion of tourists: in Delhi it is Main Bazaar, in Calcutta it is Suder Street, in Bombay it is also called somehow, but I forgot, that is, in any case, you have to go there.
In this case, find a rickshaw or taxi driver and set the task of where you want to live, in what conditions and for what kind of money. In this case, you can sometimes be taken to the desired hotel for free, even show you several places to choose from. It is clear that the price immediately increases, it is pointless to bargain, since the taxi driver's commission is already included in the price. But sometimes, when you are too lazy or in the middle of the night, it is very convenient to use this method.
Book online
This is for those who like certainty and assurance, more comfort and less adventure.
Well, if you book in advance, then book hotels of better quality and not too cheap (at least $30-40 per room), because otherwise there is no guarantee that in reality everything will be as beautiful as in the photographs. They also complained to me that sometimes they came to a booked hotel, and the rooms, despite the reservation, were already occupied. The owners of the hotel were not embarrassed, they said that a client came with money, and there was not enough willpower to refuse the client with cash. The money was returned, of course, but it's still a shame.
Finding, checking in and staying in cheap Indian hotels can be an adventure in itself, a source of fun and sometimes not so fun memories. But then there will be something to tell at home.
Settlement technology
- Get rid of the presence of "Hindu helpers" and barkers, their presence automatically increases the cost of settling.
- Go to a hotel that seems worthy of you and ask how much it costs and decide whether it is worth living there, at the same time you have time to appreciate the interior and helpfulness.
- Be sure to ask to show the room before checking in, show dissatisfaction and indignation with all your appearance, ask to show another room, most likely it will be better. You can do this several times, achieving everything better conditions accommodation.
Those who are interested in the energy of Osho and Buddha, meditation and India, we invite you all to travel to the places where you were born, lived the first years of life and gained enlightenment greatest mystic 20th century Osho! In one trip, we will combine the exotic of India, meditation, absorb the energy of Osho's places!
The tour plan also includes a visit to Varanasi, Bodhgaya and possibly Khajuraho (subject to availability of tickets)
Key Travel Locations
Kuchvada
A small village in central India, where Osho was born and lived for the first seven years, surrounded and cared for by his loving grandparents. There is still a house in Kuchvad, which has remained exactly the same as it was when Osho's life. Also next to the house is a pond, on the banks of which Osho liked to sit for hours and watch the endless movement of the reeds in the wind, funny Games and the flights of herons over the surface of the water. You can visit Osho's house, spend time on the banks of a pond, stroll through the village, soak up that serene spirit of rural India, which undoubtedly had an initial influence on the formation of Osho.
In Kuchvada there is a fairly large and comfortable ashram under the patronage of sannyasins from Japan, where we will live and meditate.
A small video "emotional impression" from visiting Kuchvada and Osho's house.
Gadarwara
At the age of 7, Osho moved with his grandmother to live with his parents in small town Gadarwara, where they pass it school years. By the way, classroom where Osho studied still exists, and there is even a desk where Osho sat. You can go to this class, sit at a desk, where our beloved master spent so much time in his childhood. Unfortunately, getting into this class is a matter of chance and luck, depending on which teacher conducts classes in the class. But in any case, you can walk along the streets of Gadarvara, visit the initial and high school, the house where Osho lived, Osho's beloved river...
And most importantly, on the outskirts of the city there is a quiet, small and cozy ashram, where there is a place where, at the age of 14, Osho experienced a deep experience of death.
Video from Osho Ashram in Gadarwar
Jabalpur
Large city with over a million inhabitants. In Jabalpur, Osho studied at the university, then worked as a teacher and became a professor, but the main thing is that at the age of 21 he gained enlightenment, which happened to him in one of the parks of Jabalpur, and the tree under which this happened is still growing on old place.In Jabalpur we will live in a quiet and comfortable ashram with a magnificent park.
From the ashram it is easy to get to the Marble Rocks - a natural wonder where Osho liked to spend time during his stay in Jabalpur.
Varanasi
Varanasi is famous for its cremation fires, which burn day and night. But there is also a surprisingly pleasant promenade, the famous temple Kashi Vishwanath, boat trips on the Ganges. Near Varanasi is the small village of Sarnath, famous for that there the Buddha read his first sermon, and the first listeners were ordinary deer.
Bodhgaya
The place of Buddha's enlightenment. In the main temple of the city, which is surrounded by a beautiful and extensive park, a tree still grows in the shade of which the Buddha gained enlightenment.
In addition, Bodhgaya has a wide variety of Buddhist temples erected by followers of the Buddha from many countries: China, Japan, Tibet, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma ... Each temple has its own unique architecture, decoration, and ceremonies.
Khajuraho
Khajuraho itself is not directly related to Osho, except that Osho often mentioned the tantric temples of Khajuraho, and his grandmother was directly related to Khajuraho.
Today, many people, having heard the word "swastika", immediately imagine Adolf Hitler, concentration camps and the horrors of the Second World War. But, in fact, this symbol appeared even before new era and has very rich history. It has also become widespread in Slavic culture, where there were many of its modifications. A synonym for the word "swastika" was the concept of "solar", that is, sunny. Were there any differences in the swastika of the Slavs and the Nazis? And if so, what were they expressed in?
First, let's recall what a swastika looks like. This is a cross, each of the four ends of which is bent at a right angle. Moreover, all corners are directed in one direction: to the right or to the left. Looking at such a sign, a feeling of its rotation is created. There are opinions that the main difference between the Slavic and fascist swastikas lies in the direction of this very rotation. For the Germans, this is right-hand traffic (clockwise), and for our ancestors it is left-hand (counterclockwise). But this is not all that distinguishes the swastika of the Aryans and Aryans.
Also important hallmark is the constancy of color and shape in the sign of the Fuhrer's army. The lines of their swastika are quite wide, absolutely straight, black. The underlying background is a white circle on a red canvas.
But what about the Slavic swastika? First, as already mentioned, there are many swastika signs that differ in shape. The basis of each symbol, of course, is a cross with right angles at the ends. But the cross may not have four ends, but six or even eight. Additional elements may appear on its lines, including smooth, rounded lines.
Secondly, the color of the swastika signs. There is also diversity here, but not so pronounced. The predominant symbol is red on a white background. The red color was not chosen by chance. After all, he was the personification of the sun among the Slavs. But there are also blue yellow colors on some of the signs. Thirdly, the direction of movement. Earlier it was said that among the Slavs it is the opposite of fascist. However, this is not quite true. We meet both right-handed swastikas among the Slavs, and left-handed ones.
We have considered only the external distinctive attributes of the swastika of the Slavs and the swastika of the Nazis. But much more important facts are the following:
- Approximate time of sign appearance.
- The value given to it.
- Where and under what conditions was this symbol used.
Let's start with the Slavic swastika
It is difficult to name the time when it appeared among the Slavs. But, for example, among the Scythians, it was recorded in the fourth millennium BC. And since a little later the Slavs began to stand out from the Indo-European community, then, for sure, they were already used by them at that time (the third or second millennium BC). Moreover, among the Proto-Slavs they were fundamental ornaments.
Swastika signs abounded in the everyday life of the Slavs. And therefore it is impossible to attribute the same meaning to all of them. In fact, each symbol was individual and carried its own semantic load. By the way, the swastika could be either an independent sign or be part of more complex ones (moreover, most often it was located in the center). Here are the main meanings of the Slavic swastika (solar symbols):
- Sacred and Sacrificial fire.
- Ancient wisdom.
- Home.
- Unity of the Genus.
- Spiritual development, self-improvement.
- The patronage of the gods in wisdom and justice.
- In the sign of Valkykria, it is a talisman of wisdom, honor, nobility, justice.
That is, in general, we can say that the meaning of the swastika was somehow sublime, spiritually high, noble.
Archaeological excavations have given us a lot of valuable information. It turned out that in ancient times the Slavs put similar signs on their weapons, embroidered on a suit (clothes) and textile accessories (towels, towels), carved on elements of their homes, household items (dishes, spinning wheels and other wooden devices). They did all this mainly for the purpose of protection, in order to protect themselves and their home from evil forces, from grief, from fire, from the evil eye. After all, the ancient Slavs were very superstitious in this regard. And with such protection, they felt much more secure and confident. Even mounds and settlements of the ancient Slavs could have a swastika shape. At the same time, the ends of the cross symbolized a certain direction of the world.
Nazi swastika
- Adolf Hitler himself adopted this sign as a symbol of the National Socialist movement. But, we know that he did not come up with it. In general, the swastika was used by other nationalist groups in Germany even before the emergence of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Therefore, we take the time of appearance for the beginning of the twentieth century.
An interesting fact: the person who suggested to Hitler to take the swastika as a symbol initially presented a left-sided cross. But the Fuhrer insisted on replacing it with a right-hand one.
- The meaning of the swastika among the Nazis is diametrically opposed to that of the Slavs. According to one version, it meant the purity of German blood. Hitler himself said that the black cross itself symbolizes the struggle for victory. Aryan race, creative work. In general, the Fuhrer considered the swastika an ancient anti-Semitic sign. In his book, he writes that the white circle is national idea, red rectangle social idea Nazi movement.
- Where was it used fascist swastika? First, on the legendary flag of the Third Reich. Secondly, the military had it on the belt buckles, as a patch on the sleeve. Thirdly, the swastika "decorated" official buildings, occupied territories. In general, it could be on any attributes of the Nazis, but these were the most common.
So in this way, the swastika of the Slavs and the swastika of the Nazis has tremendous differences. This is expressed not only in external features, but also in semantic ones. If among the Slavs this sign personified something good, noble, high, then among the Nazis it was a truly Nazi sign. Therefore, you should not, having heard something about the swastika, immediately think about fascism. After all, the Slavic swastika was lighter, more humane, more beautiful.
The swastika is the oldest and most common graphic sign in the world. The cross with the ends turned down adorned the facades of houses, coats of arms, weapons, jewelry, money and household items. The first mention of the swastika dates back to the eighth millennium BC.
This sign has a lot of meanings. Ancient peoples considered it a symbol of happiness, love, sun and life. Everything changed in the 20th century, when the swastika became a symbol of Hitler's rule and Nazism. Since then, people have forgotten about the primitive meaning, and they only know what Hitler's swastika means.
The swastika as an emblem of the fascist and Nazi movement
Even before the Nazis entered the political arena in Germany, the swastika was used by paramilitary organizations as a symbol of nationalism. This sign was mainly worn by the fighters of the G. Erhardt detachment.
Hitler, as he himself wrote in a book called "My Struggle", claimed to have embedded in the swastika a symbol of the superiority of the Aryan race. Already in 1923, at the Nazi Congress, Hitler convinced his brethren that the black swastika on white and red background symbolizes the fight against Jews and communists. Everyone began to gradually forget her true value, and since 1933, the swastika in people was associated exclusively with Nazism.
It is worth considering that not every swastika is the personification of Nazism. The lines should intersect at 90 degrees and the edges should be folded into right side. The cross must be in the background white circle surrounded by a red background.
After the end of World War II, in 1946, the Nuremberg Tribunal equated the distribution of the swastika with a criminal offense. The swastika has become banned, this is indicated in paragraph 86a of the German penal code.
As for the attitude of the Russians to the swastika, Roskomnadzor canceled the punishment for its distribution without propaganda purposes only on April 15, 2015. Now you know what Hitler's swastika means.
A variety of scholars put forward hypotheses related to the fact that the swastika denotes flowing water, female, fire, air, moon and worship of the gods. Also, this sign acted as a symbol of the fruitful land.
Left-handed or right-handed swastika?
Some scientists believe that there is no difference in which direction the bends of the cross are directed, but there are also experts who have a different point of view. You can determine the direction of the swastika both at the edges and at the corners. And if two crosses are drawn side by side, the ends of which are directed to different sides, it can be argued that this "set" represents a man and a woman.
If we talk about Slavic culture, then one swastika denotes movement towards the sun, and the other against it. In the first case, happiness is meant, in the second, unhappiness.
On the territory of Russia, the swastika was repeatedly found in various designs (three, four and eight beams). It is assumed that this symbolism belongs to the Indo-Iranian tribes. A similar swastika was also found on the territory of such modern countries, like Dagestan, Georgia, Chechnya ... In Chechnya, the swastika flaunts on many historical monuments, at the entrance to the crypts. There she was considered a symbol of the Sun.
An interesting fact is that the swastika that we are used to seeing was a favorite symbol of Empress Catherine. She painted him everywhere she lived.
When the revolution began, the swastika became popular among artists, but the People's Commissar quickly expelled it, since this symbolism had already become a symbol of the fascist movement, which had just begun to exist.
The difference between the fascist and Slavic swastikas
The most significant difference between the Slavic swastika and the German one is the direction of its rotation. For the Nazis, it goes clockwise, and for the Slavs, it goes against it. In fact, these are far from all the differences.
The Aryan swastika differs from the Slavic in the thickness of the lines and in the background. Number of ends Slavic cross maybe four or eight.
It is very difficult to name the exact time of the appearance of the Slavic swastika, but it was first discovered at the sites of the settlement of the ancient Scythians. The marks on the walls date back to the fourth millennium BC. The swastika had a different design, but similar outlines. In most cases, it meant the following:
- Worship of the gods.
- Self-development.
- Unity.
- Home comfort.
- Wisdom.
- Fire.
From this we can conclude that the Slavic swastika meant highly spiritual, noble and positive things.
german swastika appeared in the early 1920s. It denotes completely opposite things, in comparison with the Slavic. The German swastika, according to one theory, marks the purity of Aryan blood, because Hitler himself said that this symbolism is dedicated to the victory of the Aryans over all other races.
The Nazi swastika flaunted on captured buildings, uniforms and belt buckles, the flag of the Third Reich.
Summing up, we can conclude that the fascist swastika made people forget that it also has a positive interpretation. All over the world, it is associated precisely with the Nazis, but not with the sun, ancient gods and wisdom ... Museums that have ancient tools, vases and other antiques decorated with a swastika in their collections are forced to remove them from expositions, because people do not understand the meaning of this character. And this, in fact, is very sad ... Nobody remembers that once the swastika was a symbol of the humane, bright and beautiful. For unknowing people who hear the word "swastika", the image of Hitler immediately pops up, pictures of the war and terrible concentration camps. Now you know what the sign of Hitler means in ancient symbolism.
Tags: ,As a separate symbol, the swastika has many meanings, and in a large number of peoples they are positive. So, for the ancient tribes, it had the meaning of movement, creation, light, the Sun, good luck, happiness, life and well-being. Personifying rotational movements, converted into translational, symbolizes philosophical specifics.
The swastika, as one of the oldest and archaic signs, indicates the visible activity of the Sun, its rotation around the Earth, due to which the earth year is divided into four parts - climatic seasons. The symbol also characterizes the winter and summer solstice in the annual movement of the Sun. In addition to solar symbols, the swastika has the meaning of the fertility of the earth, carrying the idea of the four parts of the world, centered around its axis. It also implies a two-way movement in the direction of the hour hand and against it, symbolizing the male and female principles of Yin and Yang, respectively. in the scriptures ancient india distinction is made between male and feminine energy, there are images of deities personified from two male and two female swastikas.
In general, despite the popular and widespread use of the swastika in art and painting, and its ancient and lasting legacy in many cultures, after association with it Nazi Germany, the swastika began to have negative meaning and its use was considered synonymous with emulating Nazism. Unfortunately, many other symbols, such as runes, also took on a negative connotation after the end of World War II.
History is known a large number of similar fascist movements, which appeared mainly between the two terrifying wars of the twentieth century, as well as the very diverse symbols of the Nazi movement. National Emblems were used as symbols, as a sign of the unity of the nation, as well as various figures that had historical meaning. Some Nazi organizations symbolically used armed salutes.
The adoption and widespread wearing of symbols created by totalitarian fascist governments was considered one of the key aspects of Nazi propaganda.
In the understanding of Hitler himself, she accurately personified the triumph of his struggle for the superiority of the Aryan race over all the nations of the world. This choice combined both mystical and occult meanings, the meaning of the swastika as a symbol of the Ancient Aryan race was formed. In addition, its already established use by the extreme right political forces- it was used by some Austrian radical parties, it was also used during the Kapp putsch, not without the influence of the Baltic countries - it served a good propaganda role. But already in the twenties, the swastika was directly associated with Nazism, and after the thirties it was perceived mainly as Nazi symbol, the result was a complete ban on the image of the swastika in some countries, and it was also excluded from the emblems of the children's scouting movement.
german nazis borrowed from the Italian fascists showmanship, the use of rituals and saluting. Nazism differed from fascism in a pronounced racist vector, therefore Nazi Germany used the swastika as a symbol of the Aryan race in order to confirm its superiority. Used by the Third Reich specific option swastikas - a hexagon inscribed in a square, rotated at an angle of 45 degrees, with rays directed clockwise and bent at a right angle. It was mainly depicted in black, against a white or red circle, sometimes against any other background (for example, on camouflage). Also, this swastika was located on the state German flag, as well as on the emblems of state and military organizations of the country. Swastika blue color was used by the pro-German regime in Finland, a similar sign, but in red, was used as an identification symbol of the Latvian air forces in the pre-war period. Moreover, it is known that some units of the Red Army in the period civil war used this particular type of swastika on stripes and banners even before the adoption of the Red Star as a national symbol.
