Editing Swastika (section)

==Origin==

European uses of swastikas are often treated in conjunction with [[cross symbol]]s in general, such as the [[sun cross]] of [[prehistoric religion|Bronze Age religion]]. Beyond its certain presence in the "[[proto-writing]]" symbol systems, such as the [[Vinča script]],<ref>Paliga S., ''The tablets of Tărtăria'' Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 19, n°1, 1993. pp. 9–43; [http://www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_1993_num_19_1_2073 (Fig. 5 on p. 28)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106214611/https://www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_1993_num_19_1_2073 |date=6 November 2019 }}</ref> which appeared during the [[Neolithic]].<ref>Freed, S. A. and R. S., "Origin of the Swastika", ''Natural History'', January 1980, 68–75.</ref>

===North Pole===
[[File:Precessional north pole (Běijí 北极) in α Ursae Minoris, drawing a wàn 卍 in the four phases of time.svg|right|thumb|Approximate representation of the {{lang|chm-Latn|Tiānmén}} {{lang|zh|天門}} ('Gate of Heaven') or {{lang|chm-Latn|Tiānshū}} {{lang|zh|天樞}} ('Pivot of Heaven') as the processional north celestial pole, with [[Polaris|α Ursae Minoris]] as the [[pole star]], with the spinning [[Big Dipper|Chariot]] constellations in the four phases of time. {{lang|chm-Latn|[[Tiān]]}}, generally translated as 'heaven' in [[Chinese theology]], refers to the northern [[celestial pole]] ({{lang|zh|北極}} ''Běijí''), the pivot and the vault of the sky with its spinning constellations. The celestial pivot can be represented by ''wàn'' {{lang|zh|卍}} ('myriad things').]]
According to [[René Guénon]], the swastika represents the North Pole, and the rotational movement around a centre or immutable axis ({{lang|la|[[axis mundi]]}}), and only secondly it represents the [[Sun]] as a reflected function of the North Pole. As such it is a symbol of life, of the vivifying role of the supreme principle of the universe, the [[absolute (philosophy)|absolute]] God, in relation to the cosmic order. It represents the activity (the Hellenic {{lang|grc-Latn|[[Logos]]}}, the Hindu {{lang|sa-Latn|[[Om]]}}, the Chinese {{lang|chm-Latn|[[Chinese theology|Taiyi]]}}, 'Great One') of the principle of the universe in the formation of the world.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Guénon|first1=René|author-link1=René Guénon|last2=Fohr|first2=Samuel D.|title=Symbols of Sacred Science|publisher=Sophia Perennis|date=2004|isbn=978-0-900588-78-5|pages=64–67, 113–117}}</ref> According to Guénon, the swastika in its polar value has the same meaning of the [[yin and yang]] symbol of the Chinese tradition, and of other traditional symbols of the working of the universe, including the letters Γ ([[gamma (letter)|gamma]]) and G, symbolising the [[Great Architect of the Universe]] of [[Freemasonry|Masonic]] thought.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Guénon|first1=René|author-link1=René Guénon|last2=Fohr|first2=Samuel D.|title=Symbols of Sacred Science|publisher=Sophia Perennis|date=2004|isbn=978-0-900588-78-5|pages=113–117, 130}}</ref>

According to the scholar Reza Assasi, the swastika represents the north [[ecliptic North Pole]] centred in [[Zeta Draconis|ζ Draconis]], with the constellation [[Draco (constellation)|Draco]] as one of its beams. He argues that this symbol was later attested as the four-horse chariot of [[Mithra]] in ancient Iranian culture. They believed the cosmos was pulled by four heavenly horses who revolved around a fixed centre in a clockwise direction. He suggests that this notion later flourished in Roman [[Mithraism]], as the symbol appears in Mithraic iconography and astronomical representations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Assasi|first=Reza|title=Swastika: The Forgotten Constellation Representing the Chariot of Mithras|url=https://www.academia.edu/4087681|type=Supplement: Šprajc, Ivan; Pehani, Peter, eds. ''Ancient Cosmologies and Modern Prophets: Proceedings of the 20th Conference of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture''|journal=Anthropological Notebooks|volume=XIX|number=2|publisher=Slovene Anthropological Society|location=Ljubljana|date=2013|issn=1408-032X}}</ref>

According to the Russian archaeologist [[Gennady Zdanovich]], who studied some of the oldest examples of the symbol in [[Sintashta culture]], the swastika symbolises the universe, representing the spinning constellations of the [[celestial north pole]] centred in [[Polaris|α Ursae Minoris]], specifically the [[Little Dipper|Little]] and [[Big Dipper]] (or Chariots), or Ursa Minor and Ursa Major.<ref name="ru-sled.ru">[[Gennady Zdanovich]]. [http://ru-sled.ru/o-mirovozzrenii-drevnix-zhitelej-strany-gorodov/ "О мировоззрении древних жителей «Страны Городов»"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170725145444/http://ru-sled.ru/o-mirovozzrenii-drevnix-zhitelej-strany-gorodov/ |date=25 July 2017 }}. ''Русский след'', 26 June 2017.</ref> Likewise, according to René Guénon-the swastika is drawn by visualising the Big Dipper/Great Bear in the four phases of revolution around the pole star.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Guénon|first1=René|author-link1=René Guénon|last2=Fohr|first2=Samuel D.|title=Symbols of Sacred Science|publisher=Sophia Perennis|date=2004|isbn=978-0-900588-78-5|page=117}}</ref>

===Comet===
[[File:Mawangdui_Astrology_Comets_Ms.JPG|thumb|left|Depiction of comets from the ''[[Book of Silk]]'', [[Han dynasty]], 2nd century BCE]]

In their 1985 book ''[[Comet (book)|Comet]]'', [[Carl Sagan]] and [[Ann Druyan]] argue that the appearance of a rotating [[comet]] with a four-pronged tail as early as 2,000 years BCE could explain why the swastika is found in the cultures of both the [[Old World]] and the {{nowrap|[[pre-Columbian Americas]]}}. The [[Han dynasty]] ''[[Book of Silk]]'' (2nd century BCE) depicts such a comet with a swastika-like symbol.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Sagan|first1=Carl|url=https://archive.org/details/cometsaga00saga/page/181/mode/2up|title=Comet|last2=Druyan|first2=Ann|publisher=Random House|date=1985|isbn=0-394-54908-2|edition=1st|location=New York|pages=181–187|oclc=12080683}}</ref>

Bob Kobres, in a 1992 paper, contends that the swastika-like comet on the Han-dynasty manuscript was labelled a "long tailed pheasant star" (''dixing'') because of its resemblance to a bird's foot or footprint.<ref name="kobres" /> Similar comparisons had been made by J.{{Nbsp}}F. Hewitt in 1907,<ref>{{cite book|author=Hewitt|first=J. F.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QvQeAAAAMAAJ&q=peacock+foot+tracks+su+astika+flying+star+bird&pg=PA145|title=Primitive Traditional History: The Primitive History and Chronology of India, South-eastern and South-western Asia, Egypt, and Europe, and the Colonies Thence Sent Forth|publisher=J. Parker and Company|date=1907|volume=1|location=Oxford|page=145}}</ref> as well as a 1908 article in ''[[Good Housekeeping]]''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Good Housekeeping |volume=47 |date=1908 |publisher=C. W. Bryan & Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHgQcMFTSwsC&q=swastika%20chicken%20tracks&pg=PA421}}</ref> Kobres goes on to suggest an association of mythological birds and comets also outside of China.<ref name="kobres" />

===Four winds===
[[File:Pima Swastika.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|[[Pima people|Pima]] symbol of the four winds]]
In [[Native American culture]], particularly among the [[Pima people]] of [[Arizona]], the swastika is a symbol of the four winds. Anthropologist [[Frank Hamilton Cushing]] noted that among the Pima the symbol of the four winds is made from a cross with the four curved arms (similar to a broken [[sun cross]]) and concludes "the right-angle swastika is primarily a representation of the circle of the four wind gods standing at the head of their trails, or directions."<ref>[[Frank Hamilton Cushing]]: "Observations Relative to the Origin of the Fylfot or Swastika", ''[[American Anthropologist]]'' vol 9, no. 2, June 1907 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/659592 p. 335] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220134853/https://www.jstor.org/stable/659592 |date=20 February 2022 }} at [[JSTOR]]</ref>