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THE SWASTIKA, THE EARLIEST KNOWN SYMBOL, by Wilson, Thomas, 1832-1902/1896

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Prometheus:
Should we discredit it because of a 10 year German Nazi period in 12-20.000 year of its history?

see also http://www.ancient-origins.net/searchall/swastika


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THE SWASTIKA,  THE EARLIEST KNOWN SYMBOL, by Wilson, Thomas, 1832-1902;

AND ITS MIGRATIONS; WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE
MIGRATION OP PERTAIN INDUSTRIES IN PREHISTORIC TIMES.



Curator, Department of Prehistoric Anthropology, IT. S. National Museum.

https://archive.org/details/theswastika00wilsuoft

see also

https://archive.org/details/onmeaningandori00londgoog
On the Meaning and Origin of the Fylfot and Swastika.
by Robert Philips Greg , Society of Antiquaries of London 1884


and

Amulets and superstitions : the original texts with translations and descriptions of a long series of Egyptian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Hebrew, Christian, Gnostic and Muslim amulets and talismans and magical figures, with chapters on the evil eye, the origin of the amulet, the pentagon, the swastika, the cross (pagan and Christian), the properties of stones, rings, divination, numbers, the Kabbâlâh, ancient astrology, etc., bySir E. A. Wallis Budge ... 1930
by Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir, 1857-1934.
https://archive.org/details/b29978154










PREFACE.

An English gentleman, versed in prehistoric arclueology, visited me
in the summer of 1894, and during our conversation asked if wc had
the Swastika in America. I answered, “ Yes,” and showed him two . >
or three specimens of it. He demanded if we had any literature on the
subject. I cited him De Mortillet, I)e Morgan, and Zmigrodzki, and
he said, “ Xo, I mean English or American.” I began a search which
proved almost futile, as even the word Swastika did not appear in such
works as Worcester’s or Webster’s dictionaries, the Encyclopedic Dic-
tionary, the Encyclopedia Britannica, Johnson’s Universal Cyclo-
pedia, the People’s Cyclopedia, nor Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and
Roman Antiquities, his Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,
or his Classical Dictionary. I also -searched, with the same results,
Mollett’s Dictionary of Art and Archeology, Fairholt’s Dictionary of
Terms in Art, “L’Art Gothique,” by Gonza, Perrot and Chipiez’s exten-
sive histories of Art in Egypt, in Chaldea and Assyria, and in Phe-
nicia; also “The Cross, Ancient and Modern,” by W. W. Blake, “The
History of the Cross,” by John Ashton; and a reprint of a Dutch work
by Wildener. In the American Encyclopedia the description is errone-
ous, while all the Century Dictionary says is, “ Same as fylfot,” and
“ Compare Crux Ansata and Gammadion.” I thereupon concluded that
this would be a good subject for presentation to the Smithsonian Insti-
tution for “diffusion of knowledge among men.”

The principal object of this paper has been to gather and put in a
compact form such information as is obtainable concerning the Swas-
tika, leaving to others the task of adjustment of these facts and their

763
 764

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

arrangement into an harmonious theory. The only conclusion sought
[to be deduced from the facts stated is as to the possible migration in
v prehistoric times of the Swastika and similar objects.

No conclusion is attempted as to the time or place of origin, or the
primitive meaning of the Swastika, because these are considered to be
lost in antiquity. The straight line, the circle, the cross, the triangle,
are simple forms, easily made, and might have been invented and
re-invented in every age of primitive man and in every quarter of the
globe, each time being an independent invention, meaning much or
little, meaning different, things among different peoples or at different
times among the jsfifne people; or they may have had no settled or
definite meaning./ But the Swastika wasjprobably the first to be madel
with a definite inWrtion and a continuous or consecutive meaning, the\
^knowledge of which passed from person to person, from tribe to tribe, \
j from people to people, and from nation to nation, until, with possibly^.
^changed meanings, it has finally circled the globe.

There are many disputable questions broached intliis paper. The
uthor is aware of the differences of opinion thereon among learned
men, and he has not attempted to dispose of these questions in the
few sentences employed in their announcement. He has been con-
servative and has sought to.avoid dogmatic decisions of controverted
questions. The antiquity of man, the locality of his origin, the time
of his dispersion and the course of his migration, the origin of bronze
and the course of its migration, all of which may be more or less
^/involved in a discussion of the Swastika, are questions not to be
settled by the dogmatic assertions of any individual.

Much of the information in this paper is original, and relates to pre-
historic more than to modern times, and extends to nearly all the coun-
tries of the globe. It is evident that the author must depend on other
discoverers; therefore, all books, travels, writers, and students have
been laid under contribution without scruple. Due acknowledgment
is hereby made for all quotations of text or figures wherever they occur.

Quotations have been freely made, instead of sifting the evidence and
(giving the substance. The justification is that there has never been
any sufficient marshaling of the evidence on the subject, and that the
former deductions have been inconclusive; therefore, quotations of
authors are given in their own words, to the end that the philosophers
who propose to deal with the origin, meaning, and cause of migration of
_ilie Swastika will have all the evidence before them.

Assumptions may appear as to antiquity, origin, and migration of
the Swastika, but it is explained that many times these only reflect
the opinion of-the writers who are quoted, or are put forth as working
hypotheses.

The indulgence of the reader is asked, and it is hoped that he will
endeavor to harmonize conflicting statements upon these disputed [
questions rather than antagonize them.
 THE SWASTIKA.

765

I.—Definitions, Description, and Origin.

DIFFERENT FORMS OF THE CROSS.

The simple cross made with two sticks or marks belongs to prehistoric
times. Its first appearance among men is lost in antiquity. One may
theorize as to its origin, but there is no historical identification of it
either in epoch or by country or xieople, The sign is itself so simple that
it might have originated among any people, however primitive, and in
any age, however remote. The meaning given to the earliest cross is
equally unknown. Everything concerning its beginning is in the realm
of speculation/' But a-differentiation grew up in early times among
nations by which certain forms of the cross have been known under cer-
tain names and with specific significations. Some of these, such as the
Maltese cross, are historic and can be well identified.

The principal forms of the cross, known as symbols or ornaments, can
be reduced to a few classes, though when combined with heraldry its use
extends to 385 varieties.1

It is not the purpose of this paper to give a history of the cross, but
the x>rincipal forms are shown by way of introduction to a study of -the..
A Swastika.

Ij The Latin cross, Crux immissa, (fig. 1) is found on coins, medals, and
5 ornaments anterior to the Christian era. It was on this cross that^
•f Christ is said to have been crucified, and thus it became accepted as
J the Christian cross.

[ The Greek cross (fig. 2) with arms of equal length crossing at rigbtj
j angles, is found on Assyrian and Persian monuments and tablets,!

, Greek coins and statues.   ^

The St. Andrew’s cross, Crux decussata, (fig. 3) is the same as the
Greek cross, but turned to stand on two legs.

Fig. 1.

latin cross (Crux irnmixsa).

GREEK CROSS.

Fig. 3.

ST. ANDREW’S CROSS (CfUX deCUSSCbtOL.)

1 William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica, 1828-1840.
 766

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

The Crux ansata (fig. 4) according to Egyptian mythology, was
Ankh, the emblem of Ka, the spiritual double of man. It was also said
to indicate a union of Osiris and Isis, and was regarded as a symbol of
the generative principle of nature.

The Tau cross (fig. 5), so called from its resemblance to the Greek
letter of that name, is of uncertain, though ancient, origin-
In Scandinavian mythology it passed under the name
of u Thor’s hammer,” being therein confounded with the
Swastika. It was also called St. Anthony’s cross for the
Egyptian hermit of that name, and was always colored
blue. Clarkson says this mark was received by the Mitli-
raeists on their foreheads at the time of their initiation.
0. W. King, in his work entitled uEarly Christian Nuinis-
Fig.4. matics” (p. 214), expresses the opinion that the Tau cross
Egyptian cross was placed on the foreheads of men who cry after aboini-
(Cmx ansata). natj011s> (Ezekiel ix, 4.) It is spoken of as a phallic
emblem.

Another variety of the cross appeared about the second century,
composed of a union of the St. Andrew’s cross and the letter P (fig. 6),
being the first two letters of the Greek word XPT2T02 (Christus).
This, with another variety containing all the foregoing letters, passed
as the monogram of Christ (fig. 6).

As an instrument of execution, the cross, besides being the inter-
section of two beams with four projecting arms, was frequently of
compound forms as Y> on which the convicted person was fastened by
the feet and hung head downward. Another form | |, whereon he was

Fig. 5.

TAU CROSS, THOR’S HAMMER,
OR ST. ANTHONY’S CROSS.

MONOGRAM OF CHRIST.

Labaruin of Coustautine.

fastened by one foot and one hand at each upper corner; still another
form rp, whereon his body was suspended on the central ux>right with
his arms outstretched upon the cross beams.

Fig. 7 represents the sign of the military order of the Knights of
Malta. It is of medieval origin.

Fig. 8 (a and b) represents two styles of Celtic crosses. These belong
chiefly to Ireland and Scotland, are usually of stone, and frequently
set up at marked places on the road side.
 I-

THE SWASTIKA.

767

CELTIC CROSSES.

Higgins, in bis “Anacalypsis,” a rare and costly work, almost an ency-
clopedia of knowledge,1 says, concerning the origin of the cross, that
the official name of the governor of Tibet, Lama, comes from the ancient
Tibetan word for the cross. The original spelling was L-a-m-li. This
is cited with approval in Davenport’s
“Aphrodisiacs” (p. 13).

Of the many forms of the crossjl
the Swastika, is the most ancientJ
Despite the theories and speculations
of students, its origin is unknown. It
began before history, and is properly
classed as prehistoric. Its descrip-
tion is as follows: The bars of tlicT
normal Swastika (frontispiece and
fig. 0) are straight, of equal thickness
throughout, and cross each other at
right angles, making four arms of equal size, length, and style. TlieirL
peculiarity is that all the ends are bent at right angles and in the samef?

direction, right or left. Prof. Max
Muller makes the symbol different
according as the arms are bent to the
right or to the left. That bent to the
right he denominates the true Swas-
tika, that bent to the left he calls
Suavastika (fig. 10), but he gives no
authority for the state-
ment, and the author has
been unnble to find, ex-
cept in Burnouf, any justification for a difference of names.

Professor Goodyear gives the title of uMeander” to that
form of Swastika which bends~two or more times (fig. 11).
r The Swastika is sometimes represented with dots or
points in the corners of the intersections (fig. 12a), and occasionally
the same when without bent ends (fig. 12fr), to which Zmigrodzki gives



Fig. 9.

NORMAL SWASTIKA.

Fig. 10.

SUAVASTIKA.

1

EJ

f* Fig. 11.

m

SWASTIKA.

Meander.

LE

n

L

1.

I v/

b

Fig.12.

CROIX SWASTICALE (ZMIORODZKI).

the name of Croix Sicasticale. Some Swastikas have three dots placed
equidistant around each of the four ends (fig. 12c).

1 Higgins, “Anacalypsis,” London, 1836, i,p. 230.
 768

RErORT OP N.



There are several varieties possibly related to the Swastika which havq
been found in almost every part of toe globe, and though the relation
may appear slight, and at first sight difficult to trace, yet it will
appear more or less intimate as the examination is pursued through
its ramifications/iYs this paper is an investigation into and report
upon facts rather than conclusions to be drawn from them, it is deemed
wise to give those forms bearing even possible relations to the Swas-
tika. Certain of them have been accepted by the author as related
to the Swastika, while others have been rejected 5 but this rejection

Fig. 13a.

OGEE AND rriRAL SWASTIKAS.

Tetraskolion (four-armed). *

Fig. 13b.

SPIRAL AND VOLUTE.
Triskelion (throe armed).

Fig.

SPIRAL AN

13c.

D VOLUTE.

(Five or many armed.)

Fig. 13d.

OGEE SWASTIKA, WITH
CIRCLE.

PECULIAR FORMS OF SWASTIKA.

has been confined to cases where the known facts seemed to justify
another origin for the symbol. Speculation has been avoided.

NAMES AND DEFINITIONS OF THE SWASTIKA.

The Swastika has been called by different names in different coun-
tries, though nearly all countries have in later years accepted the ancient
Sanskrit name of Swastika: and this name is recommended as the most
deHiiite"and certain, being now the most general and, indeed, almost
universal. It was formerly spelled s-v-a-s-t-i-c-a and s-n-a-s-t-i-k-a, but
pie later spelling, both English and French, is s-w-a-s-t-i-k-a. The
definition and etymology of the word is thus given in Littre’s French
Dictionary:

.. SvastiTca, or Swastika, a mystic figure used by several (East) Indian sects. It was
/ equally well known to the Brahmins as to tlie Buddhists. Most of the rock
\ inscriptions in the Buddhist caverns in the west of India aro preceded or followed by
J the holy (sacramcntelle) sign of the Swastika. (Eug. Burnouf, “Lo Lotus de la bonne
j loi.” Paris, 1852, p. 625.; It was seen on the vases and pottery of Rhodes (Cyprus)
/ and Etruria. (F. Delaunay, Jour. Off., Nov. 18,1873, p. 7024, 3d Col.)

Etymology: A Sanskrit word signifying happiness, pleasure, good luck. It is com-
posed of Su (equivalent of Greek ev), “good,” and asti, “being,” “good being,” with
\ the suffix lea (Greek ua, Latin co).
 THE SWASTIKA.   7f>9

In the “Revue d’Ethnographie” (iv, 18S5, p. 820), Mr. Dumoutier
gives the following analysis of the Sanskrit swastika:

Su, radical, signifying good, well, excellent, or snvidas, prosperity.

Asti, third person, singular, indicative present of the verb as, to bo, which is sum
in Latin.

Ka, suffix forming the substantive.

Professor Whitney in the Century Dictionary says, Swastika—[San-
skrit, lit., “of good fortune.” Svasti (Su. well, -f asti, being), welfare.]
Same as fylfot. Compare Crux ansata and gamma (lion.

In “Ilios” (p. 317), Max Muller says:

Ethnologically, srastika is derived from svasti, and svasti from su, “well,” and as,
“to be.” Svasti occurs frequently in the Veda, both as a noun in a sense of happiness,
and as an adverb in the sense of “well” or “hail!” It corresponds to the Grech
evedrai. The derivation Svasti-ka is of later date, and it always means an auspicious
sign, such as are found most frequently among lluddliists and Jainas.

M. Eugene B.urnouf1 defines the mark Swastika as follows:

A monogrammatic sign of four branches, of which the ends are curved at right
angles, the name signifying, literally, the sign of benediction or good augury.

The foregoing explanations relate only to the present accepted name
“Swastika.” The sign Swastika must have existed long before the
name was given to it. It must have been in existence long before the
Buddhist religion or the Sanskrit language.

In Great Britain the common name given to the Swastika from Anglo-
Saxon times by those who apparently had no knowledge Avhcneeit came,
or that it came from any other than their own country, was Fylfot, said
to have been derived from the Anglo-Saxon fower fot, meaning four- ,
footed, or many-footed.1 2

George Waring, in his work entitled “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages”
(p.'tO), says:

The word [Fylfot] is Scandinavian and is eompounue_ of Old Norsefuil, equivalent
to the Anglo-Saxon fela, German riel, many, and foir, foot, the many-footed figure.
*   *   * It is desirable to have some settled name by which to describe it • we will

take the simplest and most descriptive, the “Fylfot.”

He thus transgresses one of the oldest and soundest rules of scien-
tific nomenclature, and ignores the fact that the name Swastika has been
employed for this sign in the Sanskrit language (the etymology of the
word naturally gave it the name Svastika, sv—good or well, asti—to
be or being, or it is) and that two tlfonsand and more years of use in
Asia and Europe had sanctioned and sanctified that as its name. The
use of Fylfot is confined to comparatively few persons in Great Britain

1   “Des Sciences et Religion,” p. 256.

2R. P. Greg, “The Fylfot and Swastika,” Archieologia, xlviii, part 2,1885, p. 298;
Goblet d’Alviella, “Migration des Symboles,” p.50.

II. Mis. 90, pt. 2----49
 770

RErORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

Prometheus:

and, possibly, Scandinavia. Outside of these countries it is scarcely
known, used, or understood.

The Swastika was occasionally called in the French language, in
earlier times, Croix gammce or Gammadion, from its resemblance to a
combination of four of the Greek letters of that name, and it is so
named by Count Goblet d’Alviella in his late work, “La Migration des
Symboles.” It was also called Croix 'cramponnec, Croix pattce, Croix d
crochet. But the consensus even of French etymologists favors the
name Swastika.

Some foreign authors have called it Thor’s hammer, or Thor’s hammer-
mark, but the correctness of this has been disputed.1 Waring, in his
elaborate work’, “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,”2 says:

The * used to he vulgarly called in Scandinavia the hammer of Thor, and Thor’s
hammer-marlc, ortho hammer-mark, hut this name properly belongs to the mark y.

Ludwig Miillcr gives it as his opinion that the Swastika has no connec-
tion with the Thor hammer. The best Scandinavian authors report the
“Thor hammer” to be the same as the Greek tan (fig. 5), the same form
as the Roman and English capital T. The Scandinavian name is Midi
ner or Mjolner, the crusher or mallet.

P The Greek, Latin, and Tan crosses are represented in Egyptian liiero-
\ glyphies by a hammer or mallet, giving the idea of crushing, pounding,
\ or striking, and so an instrument of justice, an avenger of wrong,"
Lhencc standing for Horns and other gods.* 2 3 4 Similar symbolic meanings
have been given to these crosses in ancient classic countries of the

Orient.5

SYMBOLISM AND INTERPRETATION.

Many theories have been presented concerning the symbolism of the
' Swastika, its relation to ancient deities and its representation of certain
qualities. In the estimation of certain wiiters it has been respectively!
the emblem of Zeus, of Baal, of the sun, of the sun-god, of the_suiug
chariot of Agni the fire-god, of Indra the rain-god, of the sky, the sky-
god, and finally the deity of all deities, the great God, the Maker and
*7*^Jiuler of the Universe. It has also been held to symbolize light or the
L-^ god of light, of the forked lightning, and of wa£gr. It is believed by
/ some to have been the oldest Aryan symbohj In the estimation of
^ others it represents Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, Creator, Preserver,
Destroyer. It appears in the footprints of Buddha, engraved upon the

’Stephens, “Old Northern Runic Monuments,” part ii, p. 509; Ludwig Muller,
quoted on p. 778 of this paper; Goblet d’Alviella, “La Migration des Symboles,”
p. 45; Haddon, “Evolution in Art,” p. 288.

2Page 12.

3“La Migration des Symboles,” pp. 21, 22.

4“Le Culto do la Croix avant J^sus-Christ,” in the Correspondant, October 25,1889,
and in Science Catholique, February 15, 1890, p. 163.

5 Same authorities.
 THE SWASTIKA.

771

solid rock on the mountains of India (fig. 32). It stood for the Jupiter]
Tonans and Pluvius of the Latinspaud the Thor of the Scandinavians.^
In the latter case it has been considered—erroneously, however—a vari-
ety of the Thor hammer, (in the opinion of at least one author it had
an intimate relation to the Lotus sign of Egynfc. and Persia^ Some
authors have attributed a phallic meaning to it. Others have recog-
nized it as representing the generative principle of mankind, making
it the symbol of the female. Its appearance on the person of certain
goddesses, Artemis, Hera, Demeter, Astarte, and the Chaldean Nana,
the leaden goddess from Hissarlik (fig. 125), has caused it to be claimed
as a sign of fecundity.   i

In forming the foregoing theories/their authors have been largely
controlled by the alleged fact of the substitution and permutation
of the Swastik^slgn on various objects with recognized symbols of
these different (deities. The claims of these theorists are somewhat
clouded in obschrity and lost in the antiquity of the subject. What
seems to have' been at all times nn attribute of the Swastika is its ^
character as a chariTfoFamuIet, as a sign of benediction, blessing, long
life, good fortune, good luck. This character lias continued into mod-
ern times, and while the Swastika is recognized as a holy and sacred
.symbol by at least one Buddhistic religious sect, it is still used by the
common people of India, China, and Japan as a sign of long life, good
wishes, and good fortune.   ^

Whatever else the sign Swastika may have stood for, and however
many meanings it may have had, it was always ornamental. It may
have been used with any or all the above significations, but it was

/



(njways ornamental as well.
/\ Tli

LTlie Swastika sign had great extension and spread itself practically
over the world, largely, if not entirely, in prehistoric times, though its^
jj*<e in some countries has continued into modern times.

. The elaboration of the meanings of the Swastika indicated abyvt
and its dispersion or migrations form the subject of this paper. * ^
Dr. Scliliemann found many specimens of Swastika in his excava-
tions at the site of ancient Troy on the hill of Hissarlik. They were
mostly on spindle whorls, and will be described in due course. He
appealed to Prof. Max Mfiller for an explanation, who, in reply, wrote
an elaborate description, which Dr. Scliliemann published in uIlios.lw

He commences with a protest against the word Swastika being
applied generally to the sign Swastika, because it may prejudice the
reader or the public in favor of its Indian origin. He says:

I   do not like tlie use of the word svastika outside of India. It is a word of
Indian origin and has its history and definite meaning in India. * * * The occur-
rence of such crosses in different parts of the world may or may not point to a com-
mon origin, hut if they are once called Svastika the vulgus profanum will at once

Page 31G, et se<j.
 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

jump to tlio conclusion tliat they all come from India, and it will take some time to
weed out such prejudice.

Very little is known of Indian art before the third century B. C., the period when
the Buddhist sovereigns began their public buildings.1

The name Svastika, however, can ho traced (in India) a little farther hack. It
occurs as the name of a particular sign in the old grammar of Panani, about a cen-
tury earlier. Certain compounds are mentioned there in which tlib last word is
Jcarna, “ear.” *   *   * Ono of the signs for marking cattle was the Svastika [fig.

41], and what Panani teaches in his grammar is that when the compound is formed,
svastika-karna, i.e., “having the ear marked with the sign of a Svastika/’ tlio final
a of Svastika is not to he lengthened, while it is lengthened in other compounds,
such as datra-karna, i. e., “having the ear marked with the sign of a sickle.”

D’Alviella1 2 reinforces Max Muller’s statement that Panini lived during
the middle of the fourth century, B. C. Thus it is shown that the word
Swastika had been in use at that early period long enough to form an
integral part of the Sanskrit language and that it was employed to
illustrate the particular sounds of the letter a in its grammar.

Max Midler continues his explanation:3

It [the Swastika] occurs often at the beginning of the Buddhist inscriptions, on
fBuddhist coin's^ and in Buddhist manuscripts. Historically, the Svastika is first
{""attested on a coin of Krananda, supposing Kranaiula to he the same king as Xan-
| dyarnes, the predecessor of Sandrokyptos, whose reign came to an end in 315 B. C.
(See Thomas on the Identity of Xamlrames and Krananda.) The paleographic evi-
dence, however, seems rather against so early a date. In the footprints of Buddha
the Buddhists recognize no less that sixty-five auspicious signs, tho first Of them being
the Swastika [see fig. 32], (Eugene Burnouf, “Lotus de la bonne loi,” p. 625); the
fourth is the Suavastika, or that with the arms turned to the left [see fig. 10]; the
third, tho Xanclydvarta [see fig. 14], is a mere development of tho Svastika. Among
the Jainas the Svastika was the sign of their seventh Jina, SnpArsva (Colehrooke
“Miscellaneous Essays,” ii, p. 188; Indian Antiqnary, vol. 2, p. 135).

In tho later Sanskrit literature, Svastika retains the meaning of an auspicious
mark; thus we see in the Ramayana (ed. Gorresio, ii, p. 348) that Bliarata selects
a ship marked with tho sign of the Svastika. Varahamiliira in the Brihat-samhita
(Med. S:ec., vi,p. Cli.) mentions certain buildings called Svastika and Naudyavarta
(53.34, seq.), but their outline does not correspond very exactly with the form of
the signs. Some Sthupas, however, are said to have been built on the plan of the
Svastika. *   *   * Originally, svastika may have been intended for no more than

two lines crossing each other, or a cross. Thus we find it used in later times refer-
ring to a woman covering her breast with crossed arms (BAlarAm, 75.16), svahastas-
vastika-stani, and likewise with reference to persons sitting crosslegged.

Dr. Max Ohnefalscli-Kichter4 speaking of the Swastika position,
either of crossed legs or arms, among the Hindus,5 suggests as a pos-
sible explanation that these women bore the Swastikas upon their

1 The native Buddhist monarchs ruled from about B. C. 500 to the conquest of
Alexander, B. C. 330. See “ The Swastika on ancient coins,” Chapter ii of this paper,
and Waring, “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” p. 83.

2“La Migration des symboles,” p. 104.

3 “Ilios,” pp. 347, 348.

4Bulletins de la Society d’Anthropologic, 1888, p. 678.

5Mr. Gandhi makes the same remark in his letter on the Buddha shell statue shown
in pi. 10 of this paper.
 THE SWASTIKA.

773

arms as did the goddess Aphrodite, in fig. 8 of Ids writings, (see fig. 180
in the present paper), and when they assumed the position of arms
crossed over their breast, the Swastikas being brought into prominent
view, possibly gave the name to the position as being a representative
of the sign.

Max Muller continues1:

Quito another question is, why the sign should have had an auspicious mean-
ing, and why in Sanskrit it should have been called Svastika. The similarity be-
tween the group of letters sv in the ancient Indian alphabet and the sign of Svastika
is not very striking, and seems purely accidental.

A remark of yours [Schliemann] (Troy, p. 38) that the Svastika resembles a wheel
in motion, the direction of the motion being indicated by the crampons, contains a
useful hint, which has been confirmed by some important observations of Mr. Thomas,
the distinguished Oriental nnmismatist, who has called attention to the fact that in
the long list of the recognized devices of the twenty-four Jaina Tirthankaras the
smTis absent, but that while the eighth Tirtliankara has the sign of the half-moon,
the seventh Tirtliankara is marked with" the Svastika, 1. C., the tUitT Jiere, then,
we have clear indications that the Svastika, with the hands pointing in the right
direction, whs originally a symbol of the sun, perhaps of the vernal sun as opposed
to the autumnal sun, the Suavastika, and, therefore, a natural symbol of light, life,
Imalth, and wealth.

Hut, while from these indications we are justified in supposing that among the
Aryan nations the Svastika may have been an old emblem of the sun, there are other
indications to show that in other parts of the world the same or a similar emblem
was used to indicate the earth. Mr. Beal *   *   * has shown *   *   * that the

simple cross (+ i occurs as a sign for earth in certain ideographic groups. It was
probahlyTntended to indicate the four quarters—north, south, east, west—or, it may
be, more generally, extension in length and breadth.

That the cross is used as a sign for “four” in the Bactro-Fali inscriptions (Max
Muller, “ Chips from a German Workshop,” Vol. ii, p. 298) is well known ; but the fact
that the same sign has the same power elsewhere, as, for instance, in the Hieratie
numerals, does not prove by any means that the one figure was derived from the
other. We forget too easily that -wliat was possible in one place was possible also
in other places; and the more we extend onr researches, tins more we shall learn that
the chapter of accidents is larger than we imagine.

The u Suavastika” which Max Miiller names and believes was applied
to the Swastika sign, with the ends bent to the left (fig. 10), seems not
to be reported with that meaning by any other author except Burnouf.1 2
Therefore the normal Swastika would seem to be that with the ends
bent to the right. Burnouf says the word Suavastika may be a deriva^
tive or development of the Svastikaya, and ought; to signify “he who, 1
or, that which, bears or carries the Swastika or a species of Swastika.”]
Greg,3 under the title Sovastikaya, gives it as his opinion that there is
no difference between it and the Swastika. Colonel Low4 mentions the
word Sawattheko, which, according to Burnouf5 is only a variation of

1   “Ilios,” p.348.

2   “Lotus do la Bonne Loi,” App. vm, p. 626, note 4.

3   Arclueologia, p. 36.

4   Transaction* of tlie Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain, m, p. 120.

6 “Lotus de la Bonn© Loi,” App. vm, p. 625, note 2.
 774

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

the Pali word Sottliika or Suvattliika, the Pali translation of the San-
skrit Swastika. Burnouf translates it as Svastikaya.

M. Eugene Burnouf1 speaks of a third sign of the footprint of Qakya,
called Kandavartava, a good augury, the meaning being the “circle of
fortune,” which is the Swastika inclosed within a square with avenues
radiating from the corners (fig. 14). Burnouf says the above sign has
many significations. It is a sacred temple or edifice, a species of laby-
rinth, a garden of diamonds, a chain, a golden waist or shoulder belt,
and a conique with spires turning to the right.

Colonel Sykes1 2 3 4 5 6 7 concludes that, according to the Chinese authorities
Ea-hian, Soung Young, Hiuan thsang, the “Doctors of reason, ’Tao-sse,

or followers of the mystic cross ^ were diffused in China and India
before the advent of Sakya in the sixth century B. C. (according to
Chinese, Japanese, and Buddhist authorities, the eleventh century B.C.),
continuing until Ea-hian’s time; and that they
were professors of a qualified Buddhism, which,
it is stated, was the universal religion of Tibet
before Sakya’s advent,3 and continued until the
introduction of orthodox Buddhism in the ninth
century A. D.4

Klaproth5 calls attention to the frequent men-
tion by Ea-hian, of the Tao-sse, sectaries of the
mystic cross Lfi (Sanskrit Swastika), and to their
existence in Central Asia and India; while lie
says they were diffused over the countries to the
west and southwest of China, and came annually
from all kingdoms and countries to adore Kassapo,
Buddha’s predecessor.15 Mr. James Burgess7 mentions the Tirtlianka-
ras or Jainas as being sectarians of the Mystic Cross, theJswastika.
"-The Cyclopedia of India (title Swastika), coinciding with Prof. Max
Muller, says:

NANDAVARTAYA, a third
SIGN OF T11E FOOTPRINT OF
BUDDIIA.

Burnouf, “Lotus de la Bonne I.oi,”
Paris, 1R52, p. fififi.

The Swastika symbol is not to be confounded with the Swastika sect in Tibet
which took the symbol for its name as typical of the belief of its members. They
render the Sanskrit Swastika as composed of su “well” and asti “it is,” meaning,
as Professor Wilson expresses it, “ so be it,” and implying complete resignation under
all circumstances. They claimed the Swastika of Sanskrit as the suti of Pali, and
that the Swastika cross was a combination of the two symbols sutli-sutL They are
rationalists, holding that contentment and peace of mind should be the only objects
of life. The sect has preserved its existence in different localities and under different
names, Thirthankara, Ter, Mnsteg, Pon, the last name meaning purity, under which
a remnant are still in the farthest parts of the most eastern province of Tibet.

1   “Lotus de la Bonne Loi,” p. 626.

2   “Notes on the Religious, Moral, and Political state of India,” Journ. Asiatic Soc.
Great Britain, vi, pp. 310-334.

3   Low, Trans. Roy. Asiatic Soc. of Great Britain in, pp. 334, 310.

4   Ibid., p. 299.

5   Ibid., p. 299.

6   Low, Trans. Royal Asiatic Soc. of Great Britain, in, p. 310.

7   Indian Antiquary, ii, May, 1873, p. 135.
 THE SWASTIKA.

Prometheus:

775

General Cunningham1 acids his assertion of the Swastika being the
symbol used by the Buddhist sect of that name. He says in a note:

The founder of this sect flourished about the year 604 to 523 B. C., and that the mystic
cross is a symbol formed by the combination of the two Sanskrit syllables su and ti-suti.

Waring2 proceeds to demolish these statements of a sect named
Swastika as pure inventions, and “ consulting Professor Wilson’s inval-
uable work on the Hindoo religious sects in the ‘Asiatic Researches,’
we find no^account of any sect named Swastika.”

Mr. Y. R. Gandhi, a learned legal gentleman of Bombay, a repre-
sentative of the Jain sect of Buddhists to the World’s Parliament of
Religions at Chicago, 1893, denies that there is in either India or Tibet
a sect of Buddhists named “Swastika.” He suggests that these gen-
tlemen probably mean the sects of Jains (of which Mr. Gandhi is a
member), because this sect uses the Swastika as a sign of benediction
and blessing. This will be treated further on. (See p. 804.)

Zmigrodzki, commenting on the frequencyjof the Swastika on tlie7
objects found by Dr. Schliemann(a^Hissarlik,\gives it as his opinion3]'
that these representations of the Swastika have relation to a human
cult indicating a supreme being filled with goodness toward man. ~~Th
siin^ stars, etc., indicate him as a god of light." This, in connection
with the idol of Venus, with its triangular shield engraved with a
Swastika (fig. 125), and the growing trees and palms, with their increas-
ing and multiplying branches and leaves, represent to him the idea of
fecundity, multiplication, increase, and hence the god of life as well as
of light. The Swastika sign on funeral vases indicates to him a belief
in a divine spirit in man which lives after death, and lienee lie con-
cludes that the people of Ilissarlik, in the “Burnt City” (theThird of*
Schliemann), adored a supreme being, the god of light and of life, and
believed in the immortality of the soul.

R. P. Greg says :4

Originally it [the Swastika] would appear to have been au early Aryan atmos-
pkeric device or symbol indicative of both rain and lightning, phenomena appertain-
ing to "the god Indra, subsequently or collaterally developing, possibly, into the
Suastika, or sacred lire churn in India, and at a still later period in Greece, adopted
rather as a solar symbol, or converted about B. C. 650 into the meander or key
pattern.

Waring, while he testifies to the extension of the Swastika both in
time and area, says:5

But neither in the hideous jumble of Pantheism—the wild speculative thought,
mystic fables, and perverted philosophy of life among the Buddhists—nor in the
equally wild and false theosophy of the Brahmins, to whom this symbol, as distinc-

^‘Bilsa Topps,” p. 17.

2“ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages/’ p. 12.

3Tenth Congress International d’Antliropologie et d’Arclneologie Prehistoriques,
Paris, 1889, p. 474.

4 Arclneologia, xlvii, pt. 1, p. 159.

6 “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” p. 11.
 776

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

tive of the Vishnavas, sectarian devotees of Vishnu, is ascribed by Moor in his
“Indian Pantheon,” nor yet in the tenets of the Jains,1 do we find any decisive
explanation of the meaning attached to this symbol, although its allegorical inten-
tion is indnbitable.

lie mentions the Swastika of the Buddhists, the cross, the circle,
their combination, the three-foot Y and adds: ‘‘They exhibit forms of
those olden and widely spread pagan symbols of Deity and sanctity,
eternal life and blessing.”

Professor Sayee says:58   tf •

The Cyprian vase figured in Di Cesnola’s “Cyprus,” pi. xlv, fig. 36 [see fig. 156],
which associates the Swastika with the figure of an animal, is a striking analogue
of the Trojan whorls on which it is associated with the figures of stags. The fact that
it is drawn within the vulva of the leaden image of the Asiatic goddess [see fig. 125]
seems to show that it was a symbol of generation. I believe that it is identical
with the Cyprian character Jjf or l|l (ne), which has the form )jn in the inscription
of Golgi, .and also with the 1 littite |^j or ||| which Dr. Hyde Clarke once suggested
to me was intended to represent the organs of generation.

Mr. Waller, in Ills work entitled “Monumental Crosses,” describes
the Swastika as having been known in India as a sacred symbol many
centuries before our Lord, and used as the distinguishing badge of a
religious sect calling themselves “Followers of the Mystic Cross.”
Subsequently, he says, it was adopted by (he followers of Buddha
valid was still later used by Christians at a very early period, being
y? first introduced on Christian monuments in the sixth century. But
Mr. Waring says that in this he is not correct, as it was found in some
of the early paintings in the Roman catacombs, particularly on the
habit of a Fossor, or gravedigger, given by D’Agineourt.

Pugin, in his “Glossary of Ornament,” under the title “Fylfot,” says
that in Tibet the Swastika was used as a representation of God cruci-
fied for the human race, citing as his authority F. Augustini Antonii
Georgii.3 lie remarks:

From these accounts it would appear that tins fylfot is a mystical ornament, not
only adopted among Christians from primitive times, but used, as if prophetically,
for centuries before tlio coming of our Lord. To descend to later times, we find it
constantly introduced in ecclesiastical vestments, *   *   * till the end of the fif-

teenth century, a period marked by great departure from traditional symbolism.

Its use was continued in Tibet into modern times, though its meaning
is not given.4 (See p. 8013.)

The Lev. G. Cox, in his “Aryan Mythology,” says:

We recognize the male and the female symbol in the trident of Poseidon, and in
J   the fylfot or hammer of Thor, which assumes the form of a eross-pattoe in the vari-

• ous legends which turn on the rings of Frey a, llolda, Venus, or Aphrodite.

'See explanation of the Swastika by Mr. Gandhi according to tl^e Jain tenets,
p. 804.

2“Ilios,” p. 353.

3“Alphabetum Tibetarium,” Rome, 1762, pp. 211, 460, 725.

4Rockhill, “ Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet,” Smithsonian Insti-
tution, Washington, 1894, p. 67.
 THE SWASTIKA.

777

Here again we find the fylfot and cross-pattee spoken of as the same
symbol, and as being emblematic of the reproductive principles, in
which view of its meaning Dr. Inman, in his “ Ancient Faiths
Embodied in Ancient Barnes,” concurs.

Burnouf1 recounts the myth of Agni (from which comes, through
tlie Latin ignis, the English word igneous), the god of Sacred Fire, as
told in the Yeda:1 2

Tlie young queen, the mother of Fire, carried the royal infant mysteriously con-
cealed inTier bosom. She was a woman of the people, whose common name was
“Arani”—that is, the instrument of wood (the Swastika) from which lire was made
orTSfougiit by rubbing. *   *   * The origin of the sign [Swastika] is now easy to

recognize. It represents tlie two pieces of wood which compose I'arani, of which
the extremities were bent to be retained by the four nails. At the junction of the
two pieces of wood was a fossette or cup-like hole, and there they placed a piece of
wood upright, in form of a lance (the Pramantha), violent rotation of which, bv
whipping (after the fashion of top-whipping), producecflire, as did Prometheus, the
jforteur dvTfeu, in Greece.

And this myth was made, as have been others, probably by the
priests and poets of succeeding times, to do duty for different philoso-
phies. The Swastika was made to represent Arani (the female prinO
ciple); the Pramantha or upright fire stake representing Agni, the fire C
god (the male); and so the myth served its part to account for the birtlpd
of fire. Burnouf hints that the myth grew out of the production of£
holy fire for the sacred altars by the use of the Pramantha and Swas-T
tika, after the manner of savages in all times. Zinigrodzki accepts
this myth, and claims all specimens with dots or points—supposed nail
holes—as Swastikas.

The Count Goblet d’Alviella3 argues in opposition to the theory
announced by Burnouf and by Zinigrodzki, that the Swastika or croix
swasticale, when presenting dots or points, had relation to fire making.
He denies that the points represent nails,'or that nails were made or
necessary either for the Swastika or the Arani, and concludes that
there is no evidence to support tlie theory, and nothing to show the
Swastika to have been used as a fire-making apparatus, whether with
or without the dots or points.

Mr. Greg4 opposes this entire theory, saying:

The difficulty about tlie Swastika and its supposed connection with fire appears j
to me to lie in not knowing precisely wliat the old fire drill and cliark were like. (
*   *   * I much doubt whether the Swastika had originally any connection either f

with the fire-chark or with the sun. *   *   * The best authorities consider Mur- )

uouf is in error as to the earlier use of the two lower cross pieces of wood aud the four
nails said to have been used to fix or steady the framework.

He quotes from Tylor’s description5 of the old fire drill used in India

1   “Des Sciences et Religion/’ pp. 252, 257.

2   Vol. xi.

3“ La Migration des Symboles,” pp. 61-63.

4 Arclueologia, xlviii, pt. 2, pp. 322, 323.

"“Early History of Mankind,” p. 257, note C,
 778

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

for kindling tlie sacrificial fire by tlie process called 44 churning,” as it
resembles that in India by which butter is separated from milk. It
consists in drilling one piece of Arani wood by pulling a cord with
one hand while the other is slackened, and so, alternately (the strap
drill), till the wood takes fire. Mr. Greg states that the Eskimos use
similar means, and the ancient Greeks used the drill and cord, and he
adds his conclusions: 44 There is nothing of the Swastika and four nails
in connection with the fire-churn.”

Burton1 also criticises Burnouf’s theory:

If used on sacrificial altars to reproduce tlio lioly lire, tlie practice is peculiar and
not derived from everyday life; for as early as Pliny they knew that the savages
used two, and never three, fire sticks.

Burnouf continues his discussion of myths concerning tlie origin of
fire:

According to Ilymnes, the discoverer of fire was Atliaran, whose name signifies
lire, hut Bhrigon it was who made the sacred fire, producing resplendent llaines on
the earthen altar. In theory of physics, Agni, who Avas the lire residing Avithin the
11 onction,” (?) came from the milk of the coav, Avliick, in its turn, came iroin the
plants that had nourished her; and these plants in their turn grew by receiving and
appropriating the heat or lire of the sun. Therefore, the Arirtue of the “onction”
came from the god.

Olio of tlio Vedas says of Agni, the god of fire:1 2 3

Agni, thou art a sage, a priest, a king,

Protector, father of the sacrifice;

Commissioned by our men thou dost ascend
A messenger, eonveying to the sky
Our hymns and offerings, though thy origin
Re three fold, now from air and now from Avater,
Noav from the mystic double Arani*

Count Goblet d’Alviella combats tlie hypothesis of Burnouf that the
Swastika when turned to right or left, passed, the one for the male and
the other for the female principle, and declares, on the authority of Sir
Georire Bird wood, that it is, in modern India, a popular custom to name

which appear in couples as having different sexes, so that to say

“the male Swastika” and the 44female Swastika.” indicating them by
the pronouns “he” or 44she,” would be expressed in the same manner
when speaking of the hammer and the anvil or of any other objects
used in pairs.4

Ludwig Muller, in his elaborate treatise, gives it as his opinion that the
( Swastika had no connection with the Tau cross or with the Crux ansata,
or with the fire wheel, or with arani, or agni, or with the mystic or alpha-
betic letters, nor with the so-called spokes of the solar wheel, nor the
forked lightning, nor the hammer of Thor, lie considers that the tris-

v

1   “ The Book of the Sword/’ p. 202, note 2.

2   Burnouf, “Des Sciences et Religion,” p. 18.

3The tAvo pieces of wood of Ficus religiosa, used for kindling fire.

4“La Migration des Symboles, ” p. 63.
 THE SWASTIKA.

779

kelion might throw light on its origin, as indicating perpetual whirling
or circular movement, which, in certain parts of southern Asia as the
emblem of Zeus, was assimilated to that of Baal, an inference which he
draws from certain Asiatic coins of 400 B. 0.

Mr. R. P. Greg1 opposes this theory and expresses the opinion that
the Swastika is far older and wider spread as a symbol than the tris-
kelion, as well as being a more purely Aryan symbol. Greg says that
Ludwig M filler attaches quite too muchTmportancc to the sun in con-
nection with the early Aryans, and lays too great stress upon the sup-
posed relation of the Swastika as a solar symbol. The Aryans, he says,
were a race not given to sun worship; and, while he may agree with |
Miiller that the Swastika is an emblem of Zeus and Jupiter merely as|
the Supreme God, yet he believes that the origin of the Swastika had''
no reference to a movement of the sun through the heavens; and he
prefers his own theory that it was a device suggested by the forked
lightning as the chief weapon of the air god.

Mr. Greg’s paper is of great elaboration, and highly complicated.(susd
lie devotes an entire page or plate (21) to a chart showing the older
Aryan fire, water, and sun gods, according to the Brahmin or Buddhist
system. The earliest was Dyaus, tlie bright sky or the air god; Adyti,
the infinite expanse, mother of bright gods; Varuna, the covering of
the shining firmament. Out of this trinity came another, Zeus, being
the descendant of Dyaus, the sky god; Agni, the fire; Sulya, the sun,
and Indra, the rain god. These in their turn formed the great Hindu
trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva—creator, preserver, and destroyer;
and, in his opinion, the. Swastika was the symbol or ordinary device of
Indra as well as of Zeus. He continues his table of descent from these
gods, with their accompanying devices, to the sun, lightning, fire, and
water, and makes almost a complete scheme of the mythology of that
period, into which it is not possible to follow him. However, he declines
to accept the theory of Max Miiller of any difference of form or mean-
ing between the Suavastika and the Swastika because the ends or
arms turned to the right or to the left, and he thinks the two symbols to
be substantially the same. He considers it to have been, in the first

instance, exclusively of early Aryan origin and use, and that down to

about COO B. 0. it was the emblem or symbol of the supreme Aryan
gQil; that it so continued down through the various steps of descent
(according to the chart mentioned) imtil-it-hecame-the device nod sym-
bol of Brahipa, and finally of Buddha. He thinks that it may have
been the origin of the Greek fret or meander pattern. Later still it;>
was adopted even by the~eariy Uiinstians as a suitable variety of theiiy
cross, and became variously modified in form and was used as a charm.\
D’Alviella1 2 expresses his doubts concerning the theory advanced by

Greg3 to the effect that the Swastika is to be interpreted as a symbol

1   Archifiologia, xliii, pt. 2, pp. 324, 325.

2   “La Migration ties Symboles,” p. 64.

3   “Fylfot and Swastika,” Arclnoologia, 1885, p. 293.
 780

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

Prometheus:


of the air or of the god who dwells in the air, operating sometimes to
produce light, other times rain, then water, and so on, as is represented
1 by the god Indra among the Hindus, Thor among the Germans and
\ Scandinavians, Berkun among the Slavs, Zeus among the Pelasgi and
Greeks, Jupiter Tonans, and Pluvius among the Latins. lie disputes
the theory that the association of the Swastika sign with various
others on the same object proves its relationship with that object or
\ sign. That it appears on vases or similar objects associated with what
is evidently a solar disk is no evidence to him that the Swastika
belongs to the sun, or when associated with the zigzags of lightning
that it represents the god of lightning, nor the same with the god of
?"heaven. The fact of its appearing either above or below any one of
these is, in his opinion, of no importance and has no signification, either
general or special.

D’Alviella says1 that the only example known to him of a Swastika
npoTi^n. mompnent consecrated to Zeus or Jupiter is on a Celto-Poman
altar, erected, according to all appearances, by the Daci during the time
they were garrisoned at Ambloganna, in Britain. The altar bears the
letters 1. O. M., which have been thought to stand for Jupiter Optimus
Maximus. The Swastika thereon is flanked by two disks or rouelles,
with four rays, a sign which M. Gaidoz believes to have been a
representative of the sun among the Gaulois.1 2

Dr. Brinton 3 considers the Swastika as being related to the cross and
not to the circle, and asserts that the Ta Ki or Triskeles, the Swastika
and the Cross, were originally of the same signification, or at least
closely allied in meaning.

Waring,4 after citing his authorities, sums up his opinion thus:





We have given remarks of the various writers on this symbol, and it will be seen
tliat, though they are more or less vague, uncertain, and confused in their descrip-
tion of it, still, with one exception, they all agree that it is a mystic symbol, pecul-
iar to somo deity or other, bearing a special signification, and generally believed to
have some connection with one of the elements—water.

Burton says:5

" The Svastika is apparently the simplest form of the Guilloche [scroll pattern or
spiral]. According to Wilkinson (11, Chap. IX), the most complicated form of the
Guilloche covered an Egyptian ceiling upward of a thousand years older than the
objects found at Nineveh. The Svastika spread far and wide, everywhere assuming
some fresh mythological and mysterious significance. In the north of Europe it
became the Fylfot or Crutched eross.

Count Goblet d’Alviella is of the opinion (p. 57) that the Swastika
was “ above all an amulet, talisman, or pliylactere,” while (p. 5G) “it is
incontestable that a great number of the Swastikas were simply motifs

1 “ La Migration des Symboles,” p. 65.

2“Lc Dieu gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la, roue,” Paris, 1886.

3Proc. Amer. Pliilosoph. Soc., 1889, pp. 177-187.

4   “Ceramic Art in Kemote Ages.”

5   “The Book of the Sword,” p. 202.
 THE SWASTIKA.

781

opQJLPameiitation, of coin-marks, and marks of fabrics.” but lie agrees
(p. 57) thaTtHere is no symbol that has given rise to so many interpre- ft
tations, not even the tricula of the Buddhists, and “this is a great deal
to say.” Ludwig Muller believes the Swastika to have been used as an
ornament and as a charm and amulet, as well as a sacred symbol.

Dr. H. Colley March, in his learned paper on the “ Fylfot and the
Futhorc Tir,” 1 thinks the Swastika had no relation to fire or fire making
or the fire god. His theory is that it symbolized axial motion and not
merely gyration; that it represented the_ celestial pole, the axis of the
heavens around which revolvetho stars of the firmament. This appear-
ance^TTotation is most impressive in the constellation of the Great
Bear. About four thousand years ago the apparent pivot of rotation
was at a Draconls, much nearer the Great Bear than now, and at that
time the rapid circular sweep must have been far more striking than at l
present. In addition to the name Ursa Major the Latins called this /
constellation Septentriones, “the seven plowing oxen,” that draggedV
the stars arquiubtlie pole, and the Greeks called it IXnuj^ from its vast ]
spiral movement.2 In the opinion of Dr. March all these are repre- '
sented or symbolized by the Swastika.

Prof. W. H. Goodyear, of Few York, lias lately (1891) published an
elaborate quarto work entitled “The Grammar of the Lotus: A Few
History of Classic Ornament as a Development of Sun AYorship.”3 It
comprises 408 pages, with 7G plates, and nearly a thousand figures. His
theory develops tlm_sun symbol from the lotus by a series of ingenious
and coni))lica ted-evoLutions passing through the Ionic style of archi-
tecture, the volutes and spirals forming meanders or Greek frets, and
from this to the Swastika. The result is attained by the following line
of argument and illustrations:

The lotus was a “fetish of immemorial antiquity and has been wor-
shiped in many countries from Japan to the Straits of Gibraltar;” it
was a symbol of “fecundity,” “life,” “immortality,” and of “resurrec-
tion,” and has a mortuary significance and use. But its elementary
and most important signification was as a solar symbol.4

He describes the Egyptian lotus and traces it through an innumer-
able number of specimens and with great variety of form. He men-
tions many of the sacred animals of Egypt and seeks to maintain their
relationship by or through the lotus, not only with each other but with
solar circles and the sun worship.5 Direct assochBiqn of the solar disk
and lotus.are, according to him, common on the monuments and on
Pheniciau and Assyrian seals; while the lotus and tl i e saciet fan i i \ in Is,
as in cases...cited of the goose representing Seb (solar god, and father
of Osiris), also Osiris himself and Horus, the hawk and lotus, bull and

1   Trans. Lancaster and Cheshire Antiq. Soc., 1886.

2   Iladdon, “ Evolution in Art,” London, 1895, p 288.

3   Sampson, Low, Mars ton & Co., London.

4   Goodyear, “The Grammar of the Lotus,” pp. 4, 5.

Ibid., p. 6.
 782

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

lotus, the asp and lotus, the lion and lotus, the sphinx and lotus, the
gryphon and lotus, the serpent and lotus, the ram and lotus—all of
which animals, and with them the lotus, have, in his opinion, some
related signification to the sunj>r_some j^^-hhj-deiti&s,1 He is of the
opinion that the lotus motif was the foundation of the Egyptian style
of architecture, and that it appeared at an early date, say, the four-
teenth century-B.XL By intercommunication with the Greeks it formed
the foundation of the Greek Tonic capital, which, he says,* * 3 “offers no

Fig. 15.

Fir. 16.

TYl'ICAL LOTUS ON CYPltlAN
VASES.

TYPICAL LOTUS ON KllODIAN
VASES.'

From figures in Coixlyt-ur’s “ Grammar of the Lotus

Fig.17.

TYPICAL LOTUS ON MELIAN
VASES.



dated example of the earlier time than the sixth century B. 0.” lie
supports this contention by authority, argument, and illustration.

lie shows3 the transfer of the lotus motif to Greece, and its use as
an ornament on the painted vases and on those from Cyprus, Rhodes,
and Melos (figs. 15,10, 17).

Chantre4 notes the presence of spirals similar to those of fig. 17, in

the terramares of northern Italy and up
and down the Danube, and his fig. 180 •
(fig. 17) he says represents the decorat-
ing motif, the most frequent in all that
part of i >rehistoric Bnroi>e. He cites
“Notes sur les torques'" on ornaments
spirals.”5

That the lotus had a foundation deep
and wide in Egyptian mythology is not
to be denied; that it was allied to and
associated on the monuments and other

Fig. 18.

DETAIL OF CYPltlAN VASE SHOWING
LOTUSES AVITII CUKLLNU SEPALS.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 47, fig. 1.

objects with many sacred and mytliologic characters in Egypt and after
wards in Greece is accepted. How far it extends in the direction con-
tended for by Professor Goodyear, is no part of this investigation. It
appears well established that in both countries it became highly con
Iventionalized, and it is quite sufficient for the purpose of this argument
ftliat it became thus associated with the Swastika. Figs. 18 and 11)

Goodyear, “ The Grammar of the Lotus,” pp. 7, 8.

‘-Ibid., p. 71.

:Ibid., pp. 74, 77.

* “Age du Bronze,” Denxieme partie, p. 301.

5   Matdriaux pour PHistoire Primitive et Natnrelle de l’llomme, 3d ser., vm, p. <>.
 THE SWASTIKA.

783

represent details of Cyprian vases and amphora belonging to the Ces-
nola collection in the Yew York Metropolitan Museum of Art, showing

Fig. 19.

DETAIL OF CYPRIAN AMPHORA IN METROPOLITAN1 MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK CITY.
Lotus with curling sepals arid different Swastikas.

Goodyear, “ Crainmar of the Lotus, ’ pi. 47, figs. 2, 3.

Fig. 20.

THEORY OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE SPIRAL
SCROLL FROM LOTUS.

Ono volute.

Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” fig. 61.

the lotus with curling sepals among which are interspersed Swastikas
of different forms.   '

According to Professor Goodyear,1 these bent sepals of tlmiotnaAvere
exaggerated and finally became spfr.

_als.1 2 which, being projected at a
tangent, made volutes, and, continu-
ing one after the other, as shown in
fig. 20, formed bands of ornament;
or,3 being connected to right ami left,
spread the ornament overall extended
surface as in fig. 21. One of his paths of evolution closed these volutes
and dropped the connecting tangent, when they formed the concentric

rings of which we see so much. Several
forms of Egyptian scarabad, showing the evo-
lution of concentric rings, arc shown in figs.
22, 23, and 24.

By another path of the evolution of his tlie-^
ory, one has only to square the spiral volutes,
and the result is the Greek fret shown in tig.
25.4 The Greek fret 1ms only to be doubled,
when it produces the Swastika shown in tig. V
2G.5 Thus we have, according to him, the origin
of the Swastika, as shown in tigs. 27 and 28.6

Professor Goodyear is authority for the state-
ment that the earliest dated instances of the
isolated scroll is in the fifth dynasty of Egypt,
and of the lotus and spiral isiiutiiaIMeyehfh~dynasty^ The spiraTof
fig. 19 (above) belongs to the twelfth dynasty.7

Fig. 21.

THEORY OF LOTUS RUDIMENTS IN
SPIRAL.

Tomb 33, Alxl-el Kourneh, Thebes

Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” p. !)6.

1   “ Grammar of tlie Lotus,” pi. 8, p. 81.

2   Ibid., pp. 82-94.

3Ibid., p. 96.

4 Ibid., pi. x, figs. 7-9, p. 97.

r> Ibid., p. 354.

* Ibid., p. 353.

7 Ibid, p. 354, fig. 174.
 784

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

Professor Goodyear devotes an entire chapter to the Swastika. On
pages 352,353 he says:

j’*'" There is no proposition in archaeology which can ho so easily demonstrated as the
I assertion that the Swastika was originally a fragment of the Egyptian meander,
I provided Greek geometric vases arc called in evidence. The connection between

Kl! Yl’TIAN* SOAKAli.KI SIIOXVIN'O KVOU’TKlV OF OOXCKNTKIC IMNOS.

Fig.22.

C< )NCKNTRIC RINGS CON-
NECTED RY TANGENTS.

From n fi^un; in I Vine's “History
of Searulis.”

Fig. 23.

CONCENTRIC RINGS WITH PIS-
CONNK(VI'EI) TANGENTS.
I'arrinper colleclion, Metropolitan Mu-
SiMim of Art, New York City.

(iooilvenr, “ Grammar of the l.otus,” ]>t
s.fitr.os.

Fig. 24.

CONCENTRIC RINGS WITIIOCT
CONNECTION.

Farnian eolleelion, M et rojxdi tan Mu-
seum of Art, New York City.
Goodyear, “Grammar of tile l.nhis,”]d.
8, fig. 25.

the meander and the Swastika has been long since suggested by Prof. A. S. Murray.1
^ Hindu specialists have suggested that the Swastika produced the meander.
\ Ilirdwynd.- says: “ I believe Hie Swastika to be the origin of the key pattern orna-
ment of Greek and Chinese decorative art.” Zmigrodzki, in a recent publication,1
has not only reproposed this derivation of the meander, but has even connected the

My come spirals with this supposed development,
and has proposed to change the name of the spiral
ornament accordingly. *   *   * The equivalence

of the Swastika with the meander pattern is sug-
gested, in the first instance, by its appearance in
the shape of the meander on the Rhodian (pi. 28,
fig. 7), Median (]>1. 60, fig. 81T archadc-Greek (pi.
60, fig. 9, and pi. 61, fig. 12), and Greek geometric
vases (pi. 56). The appearance^ n shape of the
meander may be verified in the British Museum on
one geometric vase of the oldest type, and it also
occurs in the Louvre.

ris-25*   On page 354, Goodyear says:

SPECIAL EGYPTIAN MEANDER.

An illustration „f tl.o theory of <lo- ThS solar .8iSniflcnnre of. th^fiwnstifca-k^von
rivation from tho spiral.   hy the Hindu coins of the .Tams. Its generative

Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,”pi. io, fig.9. significance is proven by a leaden statuette from

Troy. It is an equivalent of the lotus (pi. 47, figs.
1,2,3), of the solar diagram (pi. 57, fig. 12, and pi. 60, fig. 8), of the rosette (pi. 20,
fig. 8), of concentric rings (pi. 47, fig. 11), of the spiral scroll (pi. 34, fig. 8, and pi. 1 * 3

1   Cesnola, “ Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples, ” p. 410.

3   “Industrial Arts of India,” p. 107.

3 “ Zur Geschichte der Swastika.”
 THE SWASTIKA.

785

39, fig. 2), of the geometric boss (pi. 48, fig. 12), of the triangle (pi. 46, fig. 5), and of
the anthemion (pi. 28, fig. 7, and pi. 30, fig. 4). It appears with the solar deer (pi. 60,
figs. 1 and 2), with the solar antelope (pi. 37, fig. 9), with the symbolic fish (pi. 42,
fig* 1)? with the ibex (pi. 37, fig. 4), with the solar sphinx (pi. 34, fig. 8), with the
solar lion (pi. 30, fig. 4), the solar ram (pi. 28, fig. 7), and the solar horse (pi. 61, figs.

/I, 4, 5, and 12). Its most emphatic and _____________________________________

constant association is with the solar bird   -.   " ~   .... ........ — —

(pi. 60, fig. 15; fig. 173).

Count Goblet dA.lviella, following
Ludwig Midler, Percy Gardner, S.

Beal, Edward Thomas, Max Mid-
ler, II. Gaidoz, and other authors,
accepts their theory that the Swas-
tika was a symbolic representation
of the sun or of a sun god, Jind argues
it fully.1 He starts with the propo-
sition that most of the nations of the earth have represented the sun

Fig. 26.

DETAIL OE GREEK VASE.
Meandor and Swastika.

Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” fig. 1*1

DETAIL OP GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE IN THE BRITISH
MUSEUM.

Swastika, right, with solar geese. V

Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” j>. 353, fig. 173.

Each of

or apparent relationship between
the six symbols given, either with
themselves or with the sun. Only
one of them, that of Assyria, pre-
tends to be a circle $ and it may or may not stand for the sun. It has
no exterior rays. All the rest are crosses of different kinds,
the six symbols is represented as
being from a single nation of peo-
ple. They are prehistoric or of
high antiquity, and most of them
appear to have no other evidence
of their representation of the suiiy
than is contained in the sign

Sigl

itself, so that the_first   ^

is to the premises, to wit, that"
while his symbols may have some-
times represented tne sun, itTis
faf from certain that they are
used

Fig. 28.

GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE.

Swastika witli solar geose.

Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” j). 353, fig. 172.

An objection is made to the
theory or hypothesis presented by Count d’Alviella1 2 that it is not

1   “La Migration ties Symboles,” chap. 2, pt. 3, p. 66.

2Ibid., p. 67.

IT. Mis. 00, pt. 2----50
 786

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

Prometheus:

tlie cross part of the Swastika which represents the sun, but its bent
armsA which show the revolving motion, by which he says is evolved
the tetraskelion or what in this paper is named the “Ogee Swastika.”
The author is more in accord with Dr. Briutou and others that the
Swastika is derived from the cross and not from the wheel, that the bent
arms do not represent rotary or gyratory motion, and that it had no
association with, or relation to, the circle. This, if true, relieves the
V^wastika from all relation with the circle as a symbol of the sun.
Besides, it is not believed that the symbol of the sun is one which
required rotary or gyratory motion or was represented by it, but, as
willbe explained, in speaking of the Assyrian sun-god Shamash (p. 789),
it is rather by a circle with pointed rays extending outward.

lPAlviella1 presents several figures in support of his contention.
The first (a) is on a fibula from Etruria (fig. 190 of this paper). His
explanation is that the small circle of rays, bent at right angles, on the
broad shield of the pin, represents graphically the rotary movement of
the sun, and that the bent arms in the Swastikas on the same object
are taken from them. /Tt seems curious that so momentous a subject as
the existence of a symbol of a great god, the god of light, heat, and thus
of life, should be made to depend upon an object of so small importance.
This specimen (fig. 190) is a fibula or pin, one of the commonest objects
of Etruscan, Greek, or Roman dressTjThe decorations invoked are on
the broad end, which has been fiattened to protect the point of the
pin, where appears a semicircle of so-called rays, the two Swastikas
and two possible crosses. There is nothing about this pin, nor indeed
any of the other objects, to indicate any holyor “sacred character, nor
that any of them were used in any ceremony having relation to the sun,
to any god, or to anything holy or sacred. His fig. b is fig. 88 in this
paper. It shows a quadrant of the sphere found by Schliemann at His-
sarlik. There is a slightly indefinite circle with rays from the outside,
which are bent and crooked in many directions. The sphere is of terra
cotta; the marks that have been made on it are rough and ill formed.
They were made by incision while the clay was soft and were done in
the rudest manner. There are dozens more marks upon the same
sphere, none of which seem to have received any consideration in this
regard. There is a Swastika upon the sphere, and it is the only mark
or sign upon the entire object that seems to have been made with care
or precision. His third figure (c) is taken from areliquaire of the thir-
teenth century A. D. It has a greater resemblance to the acanthus
plant than it has to any solar disk imaginable. The other two figures
(d and c) are tetraskelions or ogee Swastikas from ancient coins.

D’Alviella’s next argument1 2 is that the triskelion, formed by the same
process as the tetraskelion,is an “incontestable” representation of solar

1   u La Migration des Symboles,” p. 69.

2   Ibid., p. 71.
 THE SWASTIKA.

787

movement. No evidence is submitted in support of this assertion, and
the investigator of the present day is required, as in prehistoric objects,
to depend entirely upon the object itself. The bent arms contain-no
innate evidence (even though they should be held to represent rotary
or gyratory motion) representing the sun or sun gods. It is respect-
fully suggested that in times of antiquity, as in modern times, the sqn
is not represented as having a rotary motion, but is rather represented
by a circle with diminishing rays projecting from the center or exterior.

It seems unjustifiable, almost ridiculous, to transform the three Hexed
human legs, first appearing on the coins of Lycia, into a sun symbol,
to make it the reliable evidence of sun worship, and give it a holy*or
sacred character as representing a god. It is surely pushing the argu-
ment too far to say that this is an “incontestable” representation of
the solar movement. The illustrations by d’Alviella on his page 71
are practically the same as figs. 224: to 220 of this paper.

Count d’Alviella’s further argument1 is that symbols of the sun godl
being frequently associated, alternated with, and sometimes replacedj
by, the Swastika, proves it to have been a suu symbol. But this is
doubted, and evidence to sustain the proposition is wanting. Undoubt-
edly the Swastika was a symbol, was intentional, had a meaning and a
degree of importance, and, while it may have been intended to repre-
sent the sun and have a higher and holier character, yet these mere
associations are not evidence of the fact.

D’Alviella's plate 2, page 80, while divided into sections a and b, is
filled only with illustrations of Swastika associated with circles, dots,
etc., introduced for the purpose of showing the association of the
Swastika therewith, and that the permutation and replacing of these
signs by the Swastika is evidence that the Swastika represented the
sun. Most of the same illustrations are presented m this paper, and it
is respectfully submitted that the evidence does not bear out his con-
clusion. If it be established that these other symbols are representa-
tives of the sun, how does that prove that the Swastika was itself a
representative of the sun or the sun god ? ITAlviella himself argues*
against the proposition of equivalence of meaning because of associ-
ation when applied to the Crux ansata, the circle, the crescent, the
triskelion, the lightning sign, and other symbolic figures. He denies
that because the Swastika is found on objects associated with these^
signs therefore they became interchangeable in meaning, or that th^/V
Swastika stood for any of them. The Count* 2 says that more likely the p,
engraver added the Swastika to these in the character of a talisman or r
phylactery. On'pagulrfnie argues irftTfe same line, LhatUecause it is
foundTnTau object of sacred character does not necessarily give it the
signification of a sacred or holy symbol. He regards the Swastika as

1<4La Migration des Symboles,” pp. 72, 75, 77.

2 Ibid., p. 61.
 788

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.

a'syinbol of good fortune, and sees no reason why it may not be em-
/ployed as an invocation to a god of any name or kind-on the principle,
“Good Lord, good devil,” quoting the Neapolitan proverb, that it will
do no harm, and possibly may do good.

Prof. Max Muller 1 refers to the discovery by Prof. Percy Gardner of

/due of the coins of Mesembria, whereon the Swastika replaces the last
two syllables of the word, and he regards this as decisive that in
Greece the meaning of the Swastika was equivalent to the sun. This
word, Mesembria, being translated villa do midi, means town or city
of the south, or the sun. lie cites from Mr. Thomas’s paper on the
“Indian Swastika and its Western Counterparts”1 2 what he considers
an equally decisive discovery made some years ago, wherein it was
(shown that the wheel, the emblem of the sun in motion, was replaced
I by the Swastika on certain coins; likewise on some of the Andhra
coins and some punched gold coins noted by Sir Walter Elliott.3 In
these cases the circle or wheel alleged to symbolize the sun was re-
placed by the Swastika. The Swastika has been sometimes inscribed
within the rings or normal circles representing what is said to be the
four suns on Ujain patterns or coins (fig. 230). Other authorities have
adopted the same view, and have extended it to include the lightning,
\/the storm, the fire wheel, the sun chariot, etc. (See Ohncfalsch-Kiclitcr,
p. 790.) This appears to be a non seguitur. All these speculations may be
correct, and all these meanings may have been given to the Swastika,
( but the evidence submitted does not prove the fact. There is in the
\ case of the foregoing coins no evidence yet presented as to which sign,
1 the wheel or the Swastika, preceded and which followed in point of
( time. The Swastika may have appeared first instead of last, and may
not have been a substitution for the disk, but an original design. The
disk employed, while possibly representing the sun in some places, may
not have done so always nor in this particular case. It assumes too
much to say that every time a small circle appears on an ancient object
« it represented the sun, and the same observation can be made with
vp regard to symbols of' the other elements. Until it shall have been
^ satisfactorily established that the symbols represented these elements
with practical unanimity, and that the Swastika actually and inten-
tidmtfly replaced if"as“STTch, the theory remains undemonstrated, the
burden rests on those ivlio take the affirmative side; and until these
points shall have been settled with some degree of probability the con-
clusion is not warranted.

As an illustration of the various significations possible, one has but
to turn to Chapter iv, on the various meanings given to the cross among
American Indians, where it is shown that among these Indians the
cross represented the four winds, the sun, stars, dwellings, the dragon

1   Atlienajum, August 20, 1892, x>- 266.

2   Numismatic Chronicle, 1880, xx, pp. 18-48.

3   Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., ill, pi. 9.
 THE SWASTIKA.   789

fly, mide' society, flocks of birds, human form, maidenhood, evil spirit,
and divers others.

Mr. Edward Thomas, in his work entitled u The Indian Swastika and
its Western Counterparts,”1 says:

As far as I have been able to trace or connect the various manifestations of this
emblem [the Swastika], they one aiul all resolve themselves into tlie primitive^ ?
conception of solar motion, which was intuitively associated with the rolling or'-'
wlieel-like projection of the sun through tho upper or visible are of the heavens, as
understood and accepted in the crude astronomy of the ancients. The earliest phase
of astronomical science wo are at present in position to refer to, with the still extant
aid of indigenous diagrams, is the Chaldean. The representation of the sun in this
system commences with a simple ring or ontline circle, which is speedily advanced
toward the impression of onward revolving motion by the insertion of a cross or
four wlieel-like spokes within the circumference of the normal ring. As the original
Chaldean emblem of the sun was typified by a single ring, so tho Indian mind
adopted a^ similar definition, which remains to this day as the ostensible device or
cast-mark, of the modern Sauras or sun worshipers.

Tlie same remarks are made in “Ilios” (pp. 353, 354).   ^—•

The author will not presume to question, much less deny, the facts
stated by this learned gentleman, but it is to be remarked that, on tlie
theory of j)r§siimp|4oii, the circle jniglit represent many other things
than the sun, and unless flie evidence in favor of the foregoing state-
ment is susceptible of verification, the theory can hardly be accepted
as conclusive. Why should not the circle represent other things than,
the sun? In modern astronomy the full moon is represented by the!
plain circle, while the sun, at least in heraldry, is always represented
'as a circle with rays. It is believed that the u cross or four wheel!
like spokes” in the Chaldean emblem of the sun will be Tbiiml to be
rays rather that cross or spokes. A cast is in the TJ. S. National
Museum (Cat. No. 15470(1) of an original specimmi^frcim^Niffer, now in
tlie Boyal Museum, Berlin, of Shamash, the Assyrian god of the sun.

He is represented on this monument by a solar disk, 4 inches in diam-
eter, with eight rays similar to those of stars, their bases on a faint
circle at the center, and tapering outwards to a point, the whole sur-
rounded by another faint circle. This is evidence that the sun symbol
of Assyria required rays as well as a circle. A similar representation
of the sun god is found on a tablet discovered in the temple of the
Sun God at Abu-Habba.* 2 *

Perrot and Chipiez3 show a tablet from Sippara, of a. king, Nabu-
abal-iddin, 900 B. C., doing homage to the sun god (identified by the ,
inscription), who is represented by bas-relief of a small circle in tlieK
center, with rays and lightning zigzags extending to an outer circle.

In view of these authorities and others which might be cited, it is

'London, 1880.

2Rawlinson, “Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia/’ v, pi. 00; Trans. Soo.
Biblical Archaeology, vm, p. 165.

3   “History of Art in Chaldea and Assyria,” i, p. 200, fig. 71.
 790

REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.



questionable whether the plain circle was continuously a representation
of the sun in the Chaldean or Assyrian astronomy. It is also doubtful
whether, if the circle did represent the sun, the insertion of the cross
or the four wlieel-like spokes necessarily gave the impression of “ onward
revolving motion ; ” or whether any or all of the foregoing afford a
satisfactory basis for the origin of the Swastika or for its relation to,
or representation of, the sun or the sun god.

Hr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter1 announces as his opinion that the
Swastika in Cyprus had nearly always a signification more or less
religious and sacred, though it may have been used as an ornament to
fill empty spaces. He attributes to the Croix sicasticale—or, as he calls
it, Croix cantonnee—the equivalence of the solar disk, zigzag lightning,
and double hatchet; while to the Swastika proper he attributes the
signification of rain, storm, lightning, sun, light, seasons, and also that
it lends itself easily to the solar disk, the fire wheel, and the sun chariot.

Greg1 2 says:

Considered finally, it may be asked if the fylfot or gammadion was an early sym-
bol of the sun, or, if only an emblem of the solar re.volutious or m ovements across
tlio heavens, why it was drawn square rather thau curved: The even if used in
a solar sense, must have implied something more tfian, or something distinct from,
\(j the sun, whoso proper and almost universal symbol was the circle. It was evidently
more connected with the cross —|— than with the circle or solar disk.

Hr. Brinton3 considers the Swastika as derived from the cross
rather than from the circle, and the author agrees that this is probable,
although it may be impossible of demonstration either way.

Several authors, among the rest d’Alviella, Greg, and Thomas, have
announced the theory of the evolution of the Swastika, beginning
with the triskelion, thence to the tetraskelion, and so to the Swastika.
A slight examination is sufficient to overturn this hypothesis. In the
first place, the triskelion, which is the foundation of this hypothesis,
made itsjirst appearance~bii the coins of Lycia. But this appearance
was within whatis called like first period of coinage, to wit, between
700 and 4S0 B. 0., and it did not become settled until the second, and
even the tlurcT period, 280 to 240 B. O., when it migrated to Sicily.
But the Swastika had already appeared in Armenia, on the hill of
Hissarlik, in the terrainares of northern Jtaly, and on the hut-urns of
southern Italy many hundred, possibly a thousand or more, years prior
to that time. Count d’Alviella, in his plate 3 (see Chart I, p. 794),
assigns it to a period of the fourteenth or thirteenth century B. C., with
an unknown and indefinite past behind it. It is impossible that a sym-
bol which first appeared in 480 B. C. could have been the ancestor of
one which appeared in 1400 or 1300 B. C., nearly a thousand years before.

1   Bull. Soc. d’Anthrop., Paris, 1888, pp. 674,675.

2   Arcbuvologia, xlviU, pt. 2, p. 326.

3Proe. Amer. Pliilosopli. Soc., 1889, xxix, p. 180.
 THE SWASTIKA.

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