Editing Swastika (section)

===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" />