The Swastika's many meanings
The Swastika’s Many Meanings
The swastika is the oldest religious symbol known to the human race and is widely recognized in various cultures all across the world. The swastika has been used over 3000 years and is even older than the Ankh which is a symbol used by the ancient Egyptians (History of the Swastika, by Jennifer Rosenberg). The word “swastika” originated from India, meaning well-being. It was and still is used by many different cultures symbolizing life, power, strength, peace, the sun, and good luck (History of the Swastika, by Jennifer Rosenberg) but it is also seen by some people as a symbol of death, hatred, violence and murder. The left hand swastika shows the movement of the sun around the earth from east to west this is displayed by the L shape where the side of the L is the direction the sun is moving (卍) (Swastika, Wiki). It has been used by England, Germany, Greece, China, Native Americans, and India. In America it has been used on postcards birthday cards, coins, and Coca-Cola keychains as a universal sign of good luck. It has even been used in our military as the United States Army 45th Division Insignia before WWII (History of the Swastika).
Many religions use the swastika. The Japanese Buddhists use the swastika as a religious symbol, in Japanese it is called manji, and represents Dharma, universal harmony, and the balance of opposites. When the manji is facing left, it is the front manji, representing love and mercy. Facing right, it represents strength and intelligence, this is called the reverse manji. The manji may appear on the chest or the feet of some Buddha statues. Because the Nazis had their swastika facing right the Buddhists started making their manji face left (卍) post WWII. The left facing manji can be found on vegetarian food packaging to signify that the food may be consumed by Buddhists (Swastika, Swastika within Religion, Buddhas with Swastikas)
The Hindu’s also use the swastika. Hinduism also uses the forward and
The swastika is the oldest religious symbol known to the human race and is widely recognized in various cultures all across the world. The swastika has been used over 3000 years and is even older than the Ankh which is a symbol used by the ancient Egyptians (History of the Swastika, by Jennifer Rosenberg). The word “swastika” originated from India, meaning well-being. It was and still is used by many different cultures symbolizing life, power, strength, peace, the sun, and good luck (History of the Swastika, by Jennifer Rosenberg) but it is also seen by some people as a symbol of death, hatred, violence and murder. The left hand swastika shows the movement of the sun around the earth from east to west this is displayed by the L shape where the side of the L is the direction the sun is moving (卍) (Swastika, Wiki). It has been used by England, Germany, Greece, China, Native Americans, and India. In America it has been used on postcards birthday cards, coins, and Coca-Cola keychains as a universal sign of good luck. It has even been used in our military as the United States Army 45th Division Insignia before WWII (History of the Swastika).
Many religions use the swastika. The Japanese Buddhists use the swastika as a religious symbol, in Japanese it is called manji, and represents Dharma, universal harmony, and the balance of opposites. When the manji is facing left, it is the front manji, representing love and mercy. Facing right, it represents strength and intelligence, this is called the reverse manji. The manji may appear on the chest or the feet of some Buddha statues. Because the Nazis had their swastika facing right the Buddhists started making their manji face left (卍) post WWII. The left facing manji can be found on vegetarian food packaging to signify that the food may be consumed by Buddhists (Swastika, Swastika within Religion, Buddhas with Swastikas)
The Hindu’s also use the swastika. Hinduism also uses the forward and