Article: Reclaiming the Swastika

[Agaliha]

Here is an article I saw on Beliefnet Reclaiming the Swastika (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/178/story_17871_1.html)

The Swastika is a holy symbol in Hinduism [as well as other Eastern Faiths] but sadly because of the Nazis it's been hated and misunderstood.

I heard a story of a young man being beat up because he had an image of Ganesha [which has a swastika in his palm] and they accused him of being a Nazi! Unbelievable.

I think it is important to know the real meaning and history of it.

Here are some other sites that explain it as well:

Swastika - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://rds.yahoo.com/;_ylt=AipbfCIhZ21Ldob6tf997RlXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBwdmFmdDRvBGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDc3I-/SIG=1a8o9a46o/EXP=1132030019/**http%3A%2F%2Frdrw1.yahoo.com%2Fclick%3Fu%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSwastika%26y%3D0 20AD2F81030581E%26i%3D482%26c%3D21090%26q%3D02%255ESSHPM%255BL7wvq%257Bjvlr%253Flh%7Elkvt%7E6%26e%3D utf-8%26r%3D0%26d%3Dwow%7EYHOO-en-us%26n%3DLDK4G7NJ2LS46Q02%26s%3D6%26t%3D%26m%3D437816C3%26x%3D0101FF889EC102B7)
Swastika (http://rds.yahoo.com/;_ylt=AqUe3JWVGShY_S7UScTbXNpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBwY2VhdGNtBGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDNQRzZWMDc3I-/SIG=12danu7tj/EXP=1132030019/**http%3A%2F%2Fweb.singnet.com.sg%2F%7Esidneys%2FSwastika.htm)
Hinduism - Symbols We Live With (http://rds.yahoo.com/;_ylt=AgpD46I58ocgsrtszPXEGlVXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBwODlycHBuBGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMgRzZWMDc3I-/SIG=12kurj5u5/EXP=1132030019/**http%3A%2F%2Fhinduism.about.com%2Flibrary%2Fweekly%2Faa121400a.htm)
Swastika (http://rds.yahoo.com/;_ylt=AqgVo.Pi9mr7eMC8cv6SbVNXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBwMDd2dXE2BGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDNARzZWMDc3I-/SIG=122ecm5pk/EXP=1132030019/**http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crystalinks.com%2Fswastika.html)
The Truth About Swastika (http://rds.yahoo.com/;_ylt=AqaE79vDPytWYnMzyUmUjIFXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBxYzdxanB1BGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMTQEc2VjA3Ny/SIG=13banhmpj/EXP=1132030225/**http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hindunet.org%2Fhome%2Fdharma_and_philosophy%2Fpanchajanya%2FSwastik1.htm)

[Mithrea]

When I first got interested in the Falun Gong, I used their sunwheel as my avatar. It has a swastika in the center. You wouldn't believe the pms I got! :lol: I had to explain myself about 1000 times.

[Mithrea]

Here it is:

[Agaliha]

Oh, that's cool looking.


You wouldn't believe the pms I got! :lol: I had to explain myself about 1000 times.
I bet!

I hate the fact that the Nazis have damaged it for everyone.

I don't know how people link the Eastern Swastika with the Nazi one-- they look different.
See:

Eastern--
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/8255/hinduswastika4qe.jpg

Nazi-- [I'm only puting it here to show the differences] I can remove it if anyone has a problem with it.
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/2172/naziawastika3pe.png


I also found this table of other Swastikas [they are found thoughout the world, even in place with no contact with each other-- Old World and New for example]--
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/5357/swastikas4uc.png

[Serendipity]

I heard a story of a young man being beat up because he had an image of Ganesha [which has a swastika in his palm] and they accused him of being a Nazi! Unbelievable.

I think it is important to know the real meaning and history of it.

Yes, I agree that it is important to learn. And no, I do not condone beating people to death. But I'm also not going to go get any symbol that also represents millions of people dying from the hands of a mad-man tattooed on my body. Especially not while my Jewish father, who fought in WWII, is still living.

It's sad that the Nazis destroyed what the symbol previously meant, but that cannot change what they turned it into. It would be nice if there were no longer nazis running around with swastika's, but they're still here. And until they stop using that symbol you cannot expect people to ignore the tainted meaning.

[Agaliha]

But I'm also not going to go get any symbol that also represents millions of people dying from the hands of a mad-man tattooed on my body.

Um...It wasn't a tattoo. It was an icon [a picture] of his God, Ganesha. Ganesha has a swastika on his palm-- in some of the images. That's what I was talking about.
Equate it to kicking someones ass because they have an image of Jesus on a Cross [pretend for a moment that the cross is defiled and hated].
Either way it is not acceptable. Someone should feel free to have a religious image without fear of bodily harm. If Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans and everyone else can have their sacred symbols why can't Hindus?



It's sad that the Nazis destroyed what the symbol previously meant, but that cannot change what they turned it into.


Yes it is sad, though I agree and disagree on the fact that it cannot be changed.
This is the second holiest symbols in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddism and other faiths. It is equalivant to a cross, a cresent, a star and any other sacred symbol. Over in the East it is all over-- painted on building, in temples, in jewelry, icons, images, statues of their Gods. There it is what it is meant to be.
I think the problem is here, in America and Non-Eastern Faith countries. Here I don't think the stigma will leave it because we only assocaite with with hate.
Though if you look, the Nazi swastika isn't even the same as the Eastern one. People just lump them all together.

I totally undestand what you are coming from and I am sorry about anything your father had to endure. I am on the same boat as you with the Nazis-- I wish history could be changed... :(

I'm not saying for people to accept the symbol, but rather to understand it's history and true meaning.
It was a good symbol for 1000s of years before it was turned bad. On a clock the time the Nazis changed it is like a few seconds compared to the almost hour it was good.

I found my thread about the swastika for awhile ago:
Tricky symbol, opinions anybody? (http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=101737)

About the Sauvastika (http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/15/155.html): The evil swastika.

[Gnoblod]

I'm a big fan of the swastika. I'm incorporating it into my next tattoo, I just need to finish to stuff around it.

[Toby Stimpson]

As witha nything that is hated, more exposure of it is required to associate it with good things, so to speak. the Same can be said about hate words like N****** or F**. I have no probvlem using the Fag word when Im around my friends becasue as a member of the gay community, it has become a word that has been reclaimed by us. When it coems to images such as the Swastika...yes it was a symbol used to promote hatred but at the same time it is a worldwide symbol and what one silly little man did in one corner of the world should not be allowed to be cast over the rest of the world. Dont get me wrong, it is important to know history but at the same time children will not know history if symbols are not taken and used more effectivly, as Belle Terre said. History will be forgotten or even replaced if people do not try atleast to go out and then explain themselves...after all, In India they know what hitler did but at the same they know that a symbol is just a symbol and can be used for anything. Explaining to people this is the only way to change their minds...

Namaste

Tobias