Slavic swastika and its meaning. Forgotten reality Sun sign and swastika

Today, when many people hear the word “swastika,” they immediately think of Adolf Hitler, concentration camps, and the horrors of World War II. But, in fact, this symbol appeared before the new era and has a very rich history. It also became widespread in Slavic culture, where many of its modifications existed. A synonym for the word “swastika” was the concept “solar”, that is, solar. Were there any differences in the swastika of the Slavs and the Nazis? And, if so, what were they expressed in?

First, let's remember what a swastika looks like. This is a cross, each of the four ends of which bends at right angles. Moreover, all angles are directed in one direction: to the right or to the left. Looking at such a sign, one gets the feeling of its rotation. There are opinions that the main difference between the Slavic and fascist swastikas lies in the direction of this very rotation. For the Germans, this is right-hand traffic (clockwise), and for our ancestors it is left-hand traffic (counterclockwise). But this is not all that distinguishes the swastika of Aryans and Aryans.

Another important distinguishing feature is the constancy of color and shape of the Fuhrer’s army badge. The lines of their swastika are quite wide, absolutely straight, and black. The underlying background is a white circle on a red canvas.

What about the Slavic swastika? Firstly, as already mentioned, there are many swastika signs that differ in shape. The basis of each symbol, of course, is a cross with right angles at the ends. But the cross may not have four ends, but six or even eight. Additional elements may appear on its lines, including smooth, rounded lines.

Secondly, the color of the swastika signs. There is also diversity here, but not so pronounced. The predominant symbol is red on a white background. The red color was not chosen by chance. After all, he was the personification of the sun among the Slavs. But there are both blue and yellow colors on some of the signs. Thirdly, the direction of movement. It was said earlier that among the Slavs it is the opposite of fascist. However, this is not quite true. We find both right-handed swastikas among the Slavs and left-handed ones.

We examined only the external distinctive attributes of the swastika of the Slavs and the swastika of the fascists. But much more important facts are the following:

  • Approximate time of appearance of the sign.
  • The meaning that was given to it.
  • Where and under what conditions was this symbol used?

Let's start with the Slavic swastika

It is difficult to name the time when it appeared among the Slavs. But, for example, among the Scythians, it was recorded in the fourth millennium BC. And since a little later the Slavs began to separate from the Indo-European community, then, for sure, they were already used by them at that time (third-second millennium BC). Moreover, among the Proto-Slavs they were fundamental ornaments.

Swastika signs abounded in the everyday life of the Slavs. And therefore one cannot attribute the same meaning to all of them. In fact, each symbol was individual and carried its own meaning. By the way, the swastika could be either an independent sign or part of a more complex one (most often it was located in the center). Here are the main meanings of Slavic swastika (solar symbols):

  • Sacred and Sacrificial fire.
  • Ancient wisdom.
  • Home.
  • Unity of the Family.
  • Spiritual development, self-improvement.
  • Patronage of the gods in wisdom and justice.
  • In the sign of Valkikria, it is a talisman of wisdom, honor, nobility, and justice.

That is, in general, we can say that the meaning of the swastika was somehow sublime, spiritually high, noble.

Archaeological excavations have given us a lot of valuable information. It turned out that in ancient times the Slavs applied similar signs to their weapons, embroidered them on suits (clothing) and textile accessories (towels, towels), and carved them on elements of their homes and household items (dishes, spinning wheels and other wooden utensils). They did all this mainly for the purpose of protection, in order to protect themselves and their home from evil forces, from grief, from fire, from the evil eye. After all, the ancient Slavs were very superstitious in this regard. And with such protection we felt much more secure and confident. Even the mounds and settlements of the ancient Slavs could have a swastika shape. At the same time, the ends of the cross symbolized a certain direction of the world.

Fascist swastika

  • Adolf Hitler himself adopted this sign as a symbol of the National Socialist movement. But we know that he was not the one who came up with it. In general, the swastika was used by other nationalist groups in Germany even before the emergence of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Therefore, let’s take the time of appearance as the beginning of the twentieth century.

Interesting fact: the person who suggested that Hitler take the swastika as a symbol initially presented a left-handed cross. But the Fuhrer insisted on replacing it with a right-hand one.

  • The meaning of the swastika among the Nazis is diametrically opposed to that of the Slavs. According to one version, it meant the purity of German blood. Hitler himself said that the black cross itself symbolizes the struggle for the victory of the Aryan race, creative work. In general, the Fuhrer considered the swastika an ancient anti-Semitic sign. In his book, he writes that the white circle is the national idea, the red rectangle is the social idea of ​​the Nazi movement.
  • Where was the fascist swastika used? Firstly, on the legendary flag of the Third Reich. Secondly, the military had it on their belt buckles, as a patch on the sleeve. Thirdly, the swastika “decorated” official buildings and occupied territories. In general, it could be on any fascist attributes, but these were the most common.

Thus, the swastika of the Slavs and the swastika of the Nazis have enormous differences. This is expressed not only in external features, but also in semantic ones. If among the Slavs this sign personified something good, noble, and lofty, then among the Nazis it was a truly Nazi sign. Therefore, when you hear something about a swastika, you shouldn’t immediately think about fascism. After all, the Slavic swastika was lighter, more humane, more beautiful.

Half a century has passed since the end of the Second World War, but the two letters SS (more precisely, of course, SS) are still synonymous for most with horror and terror. Thanks to the mass production of Hollywood and the Soviet film factories that tried to keep up with it, almost all of us are familiar with the uniforms of the SS men and their emblem with a death's head. But the actual history of the SS is much more complex and multifaceted. In it one can find heroism and cruelty, nobility and meanness, selflessness and intrigue, deep scientific interests and a passionate craving for the ancient knowledge of distant ancestors.

The head of the SS, Himmler, who sincerely believed that the Saxon king Henry I “Birdcatcher”, the founder of the First Reich, elected in 919 as king of all Germans, was spiritually reincarnated in him. In one of his speeches in 1943 he said:

“Our order will enter the future as a union of the elite, uniting the German people and the whole of Europe around itself. It will give the world leaders of industry, agriculture, as well as political and spiritual leaders. We will always obey the law of elitism, choosing the highest and discarding the lowest. If we If we stop following this fundamental rule, we will thereby condemn ourselves to and disappear from the face of the earth like any other human organization."

His dreams, as we know, were not destined to come true for completely different reasons. From a young age, Himmler showed an increased interest in “the ancient heritage of our ancestors.” Associated with the Thule Society, he was fascinated by the pagan culture of the Germans and dreamed of its revival - of the time when it would replace the “foul-smelling Christianity.” In the intellectual depths of the SS, a new “moral” was being developed, based on pagan ideas.

Himmler considered himself the founder of a new pagan order that was “destined to change the course of history,” to carry out a “cleansing of the rubbish accumulated over millennia” and return humanity to “the path prepared by Providence.” In connection with such grandiose plans for a “return,” it is not surprising that the ancient . On the uniforms of the SS men they were distinguished, testifying to the elitism and sense of camaraderie that reigns in the organization. Since 1939, they went to war singing a hymn that included the following line: "We are all ready for battle, we are inspired by the runes and the death's head."

According to the Reichsführer SS, runes were to play a special role in the symbolism of the SS: on his personal initiative, within the framework of the Ahnenerbe program - the Society for the Study and Dissemination of the Cultural Heritage of Ancestors - the Institute of Runic Writing was established. Until 1940, all recruits of the SS Order underwent mandatory instruction regarding runic symbolism. By 1945 there were 14 main runic symbols in use in the SS. The word "rune" means "secret script". Runes are the basis of alphabets carved into stone, metal and bone, and became widespread primarily in pre-Christian Northern Europe among the ancient Germanic tribes.

"...The great gods - Odin, Ve and Willi carved a man from an ash tree and a woman from a willow. The eldest of Bor's children, Odin, breathed soul into people and gave life. To give them new knowledge, Odin went to Utgard, the Land of Evil , to the World Tree. There he tore out his eye and brought it to , but this seemed not enough to the Guardians of the Tree. Then he gave his life - he decided to die in order to be resurrected. For nine days he hung on a branch, pierced by a spear. Each of the eight nights of Initiation revealed new ones to him secrets of existence. On the ninth morning, Odin saw rune-letters inscribed on the stone under him. His mother’s father, the giant Belthorn, taught him to cut and paint runes, and the World Tree began to be called from then on - Yggdrasil..."

This is how the Snorrian Edda (1222-1225) tells about the acquisition of runes by the ancient Germans, perhaps the only complete overview of the heroic epic of the ancient Germans, based on the legends, prophecies, spells, sayings, cults and rituals of the Germanic tribes. In the Edda, Odin was revered as the god of war and the patron of the dead heroes of Valhalla. He was also considered a necromancer.

The famous Roman historian Tacitus, in his book “Germania” (98 BC), described in detail how the Germans were engaged in predicting the future using runes.

Each rune had a name and a magical meaning that went beyond purely linguistic boundaries. The design and composition changed over time and acquired magical significance in Teutonic astrology. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. The runes were remembered by various "folkish" (folk) groups that spread in Northern Europe. Among them was the Thule Society, which played a significant role in the early days of the Nazi movement.

Hakenkreutz

SWASTIKA is the Sanskrit name for the sign depicting a hook cross (among the ancient Greeks this sign, which became known to them from the peoples of Asia Minor, was called “tetraskele” - “four-legged”, “spider”). This sign was associated with the cult of the Sun among many peoples and was found already in the Upper Paleolithic era and even more often in the Neolithic era, primarily in Asia (according to other sources, the oldest image of the swastika was discovered in Transylvania, it dates back to the late Stone Age; swastika found in the ruins of the legendary Troy, this is the Bronze Age). Already from the 7th-6th centuries BC. e. it enters into symbolism, where it signifies the secret doctrine of the Buddha. The swastika is reproduced on the oldest coins of India and Iran (BC penetrates from there to); in Central America it is also known among the peoples as a sign indicating the circulation of the Sun. In Europe, the spread of this sign dates back to a relatively late time - the Bronze and Iron Ages. During the era of migration of peoples, he penetrates through the Finno-Ugric tribes to the north of Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic, and becomes one of the supreme Scandinavian god Odin (Wotan in German mythology), who suppressed and absorbed the previous solar (solar) cults. Thus, the swastika, as one of the varieties of the image of the solar circle, was practically found in all parts of the world, as a solar sign served as an indication of the direction of rotation of the Sun (from left to right) and was also used as a sign of well-being, “turning away from the left side.”

It was precisely because of this that the ancient Greeks, who learned about this sign from the peoples of Asia Minor, changed the turn of their “spider” to the left and at the same time changed its meaning, turning it into a sign of evil, decline, death, since for them it was “alien” . Since the Middle Ages, the swastika was completely forgotten and was only occasionally found as a purely ornamental motif without any meaning or meaning.

Only at the very end of the 19th century, probably on the basis of the erroneous and hasty conclusion of some German archaeologists and ethnographers that the swastika sign could be an indicator for identifying the Aryan peoples, since it is allegedly found only among them, in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century they began to use the swastika as anti-Semitic sign (for the first time in 1910), although later, at the end of the 20s, the works of English and Danish archaeologists were published who discovered the swastika not only in territories inhabited by Semitic peoples (in Mesopotamia and Palestine), but also directly on Hebrew sarcophagi.

For the first time, the swastika was used as a political sign-symbol on March 10-13, 1920 on the helmets of militants of the so-called “Erhard Brigade”, which formed the core of the “Volunteer Corps” - a monarchical paramilitary organization under the leadership of generals Ludendorff, Seeckt and Lützow, who carried out the Kapp putsch - counter-revolutionary a coup that installed the landowner W. Kapp as “premier” in Berlin. Although the Social Democratic government of Bauer fled ignominiously, the Kapp putsch was liquidated in five days by the 100,000-strong German Army created under the leadership of the German Communist Party. The authority of militaristic circles was then greatly undermined, and from that time on the swastika symbol began to mean a sign of right-wing extremism. Since 1923, on the eve of Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch” in Munich, the swastika has become the official emblem of Hitler’s fascist party, and since September 1935 - the main state emblem of Hitler’s Germany, included in its coat of arms and flag, as well as in the emblem of the Wehrmacht - an eagle holding in its claws wreath with swastika.

Only a swastika standing on an edge at 45°, with the ends directed to the right, can fit the definition of “Nazi” symbols. This very sign was on the state banner of National Socialist Germany from 1933 to 1945, as well as on the emblems of the civil and military services of this country. It is also advisable to call it not “swastika”, but Hakenkreuz, as the Nazis themselves did. The most accurate reference books consistently distinguish between the Hakenkreuz ("Nazi swastika") and the traditional swastikas in Asia and America, which stand at a 90° angle on the surface.

Share the article with your friends!

    Symbols of the Third Reich

    https://site/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ger-axn-150x150.png

    Half a century has passed since the end of the Second World War, but the two letters SS (more precisely, of course, SS) are still synonymous for most with horror and terror. Thanks to the mass production of Hollywood and the Soviet film factories that tried to keep up with it, almost all of us are familiar with the black uniforms of the SS men and their emblem with a death's head. But the actual history of the SS is significantly...

The swastika is the oldest and most common graphic sign in the world. The cross with its ends facing down decorated the facades of houses, coats of arms, weapons, jewelry, money and household items. The first mention of the swastika dates back to the eighth millennium BC.

This sign has a lot of meanings. Ancient peoples considered it a symbol of happiness, love, sun and life. Everything changed in the 20th century, when the swastika became a symbol of Hitler's rule and Nazism. Since then, people have forgotten about the primitive meaning, and only know what Hitler’s swastika means.

The swastika as an emblem of the fascist and Nazi movement

Even before the Nazis appeared on the German political scene, the swastika was used by paramilitary organizations as a symbol of nationalism. This badge was mainly worn by the soldiers of G. Erhardt’s detachment.

Hitler, as he himself wrote in a book called My Struggle, claimed that he intended the swastika to symbolize the superiority of the Aryan race. Already in 1923, at the Nazi congress, Hitler convinced his fellows that the black swastika on a white and red background symbolized the fight against Jews and communists. Everyone began to gradually forget its true meaning, and starting from 1933, people associated the swastika exclusively with Nazism.

It is also worth considering that not every swastika is the personification of Nazism. The lines should intersect at an angle of 90 degrees, and the edges should be bent to the right. The cross must be placed against the background of a white circle surrounded by a red background.

After the end of World War II, in 1946, the Nuremberg Tribunal equated the distribution of swastikas with a criminal offense. The swastika has become prohibited, as stated in paragraph 86a of the German criminal code.

As for the attitude of Russians towards the swastika, Roskomnadzor lifted the punishment for its distribution without propaganda purposes only on April 15, 2015. Now you know what Hitler's swastika means.

Various scientists have put forward hypotheses related to the fact that the swastika signifies flowing water, the female gender, fire, air, the moon and the worship of gods. This sign also acted as a symbol of fertile land.

Left-handed or right-handed swastika?

Some scientists believe that it makes no difference which way the curves of the cross are directed, but there are also experts who have a different point of view. You can determine the direction of the swastika both at the edges and at the corners. And if two crosses are drawn next to each other, the ends of which are directed in different directions, it can be argued that this “set” personifies a man and a woman.

If we talk about Slavic culture, then one swastika means movement with the sun, and the other - against it. In the first case, happiness is meant, in the other, unhappiness.

On the territory of Russia, swastikas have been repeatedly found in various designs (three, four and eight rays). It is assumed that this symbolism belongs to the Indo-Iranian tribes. A similar swastika was also found on the territory of such modern countries as Dagestan, Georgia, Chechnya... In Chechnya, the swastika flaunts on many historical monuments, at the entrance to crypts. There she was considered a symbol of the Sun.

Another interesting fact is that the swastika that we are used to seeing was the favorite symbol of Empress Catherine. She drew it everywhere she lived.

When the revolution began, the swastika became popular among artists, but the People's Commissar quickly banished it, since this symbolism had already become a symbol of the fascist movement, which had just begun to exist.

Difference between fascist and Slavic swastikas

The most significant difference between the Slavic swastika and the German one is the direction of its rotation. For the Nazis it goes clockwise, and for the Slavs it goes against it. In fact, these are not all the differences.

The Aryan swastika differs from the Slavic one in the thickness of its lines and background. The number of ends of a Slavic cross can be four or eight.

It is very difficult to name the exact time of the appearance of the Slavic swastika, but it was first discovered at the settlement sites of the ancient Scythians. Markings on the walls date back to the fourth millennium BC. The swastika had different designs, but similar outlines. In most cases it meant the following:

  1. Worship of the gods.
  2. Self-development.
  3. Unity.
  4. Home comfort.
  5. Wisdom.
  6. Fire.

From this we can conclude that the Slavic swastika meant highly spiritual, noble and positive things.

The German swastika appeared in the early 20s of the last century. It means completely opposite things compared to Slavic. The German swastika, according to one theory, symbolizes the purity of Aryan blood, because Hitler himself said that this symbolism is dedicated to the victory of the Aryans over all other races.

The fascist swastika adorned the captured buildings, uniforms and belt buckles, and the flag of the Third Reich.

Summing up, we can conclude that the fascist swastika made people forget that it also has a positive interpretation. All over the world it is associated precisely with the fascists, but not with the sun, ancient gods and wisdom... Museums that have in their collections ancient tools, vases and other antiquities decorated with swastikas are forced to remove them from exhibitions, because people do not understand the meaning of this symbol. And this, in fact, is very sad... No one remembers that the swastika was once a symbol of the humane, bright and beautiful. Unknowing people who hear the word “swastika” immediately remember the image of Hitler, pictures of war and terrible concentration camps. Now you know what the Hitler sign means in ancient symbolism.

Tags: ,

No country in the world has so many varieties of Vedic symbols as in Russia. They are found everywhere throughout its vast territory, within its modern borders, from east to west and from north to south, from ancient times until the beginning of the 20th century.

Archaeologists find them in all the cultures that have ever existed there and to which modern scientists have given different names: Kostenki and Mezin cultures (25-20 thousand years BC), Trypillian culture (VI-III thousand BC). BC), Andronovo culture (XVII-IX centuries BC) - this is the name of the civilization that existed in the 17th-9th centuries BC. e in the territory of Western Siberia, the western part of Central Asia and the Southern Urals, Tagar culture of the Yenisei River basin (IX-III centuries BC), Pazyryk culture (late 1st millennium BC), Scythian and Sarmatian culture . Vedic symbols, in particular swastikas, were used by the Rus in urban planning and architecture, depicted on the facades of wooden log huts, on wooden and clay utensils, on women’s jewelry - temple rings, on rings, on icons and paintings of “Orthodox” churches, on pottery and on family coats of arms. The swastika found its greatest use in decorating items of clothing and household items, and was widely used by weavers and embroiderers.

There are a huge number of towels, tablecloths, valances (a strip of fabric with embroidery or lace, which is sewn to one of the long edges of the sheet, so that when the bed is made, the valance remains open and hangs above the floor), shirts, belts, in the ornaments of which the swastika was used.

The abundance and variety of swastika motifs is simply amazing, as is the fact that previously they appeared unforgivably rarely even in specialized books on folk applied art, not to mention the existence of separate collections. This gap was filled P.I. Kutenkov, who collected colossal material - the result of studying the distribution of swastikas in the Novgorod land, Vologda, Tver, Arkhangelsk, Vyatka, Kostroma, Perm, Transbaikalia and Altai and described it in the book “Yarga-swastika - a sign of Russian folk culture.” In it, he provides tables in which he summarized the characteristic designs of swastikas used in Russia in the period from the 1st to the 20th centuries. AD

There are swastikas that were used in Russia more than 144 species. They come in different colors and shapes, with different numbers of rays and different directions. Until relatively recently, the swastika was the most widespread and deeply revered symbol, which was used in Russia throughout millennia, and through her, the rest. And this fact should not surprise us. After all, it was Russia that became the source Vedic traditions of the world. It was from its territory that earthly civilization began to develop. It was the Rus who became its backbone and brought its initial knowledge to all other peoples, and therefore the symbolism of the Rus, including the swastika - the oldest solar symbol, and perhaps a symbol of the universe. After all, ancient Vedic sources say that our galaxy has the shape of a swastika. With the help of the X'Aryan Runes, which our ancestors used for a long time, the word “swastika” is translated as “Coming from Heaven”: the rune “SVA” means heaven, “S” is the rune of direction, the rune “TIKA” is movement, coming, flow , run. The swastika appeared everywhere in all the lands where the Slavic-Aryans ever lived.

Swastika on the car of Nicholas II

By the way, in almost all foreign languages, images of the solar symbol (of which there are very few varieties) are called with one word “swastika”, and in the Russian language there are, as we have already noted, 144 types of different variants of the swastika and the same number of names, since the language of our ancestors, Slavic-Aryan was much richer, deeper and more complex than modern. One word, phrase or runic symbol could carry up to 50 meanings (and not 2-3 homonyms, as now). It was not at all easy to read the ancient text. Everything depended on the level of development and education of the person who reads the ancient manuscript, what meaning and content he could reveal. Here are some names of the swastika: Posolon, Holy Gift, Solntsevrat, Agni, Solar Cross, Solard, Light, Fern Flower, Perunov Tsvet, Bogovnik, Svarozhich, Svyatoch, Yarovrat, Odolen-Grass, Rodimich, Charovrat, Svasti, Fash, Mara, England , Vedara, Swati, Rasa, etc. And of course Kolovrat- a symbol of the rising Yarila-Sun, a symbol of the eternal victory of light over darkness and eternal life over death. The color of Kolovrat also plays an important role: fiery, symbolizes rebirth; heavenly - renewal; black – change. The different directions of the swastika correlate with the rising and setting Sun, with Nature awakening and falling asleep, and not with the opposition of good and evil, light and dark.

Villagers called the swastika in their own way. In the Tula province it was called “feather grass”. The peasants of Pechora - “hare” (like a sunbeam), in the Ryazan province they called it “horse”, “horse head” (the horse was considered a symbol of the sun and wind), in Nizhny Novgorod - “redhead”, “loach” in the Tver province, “bow-legged” "in Voronezhskaya. In the Vologda lands it was called differently: “kryuchya”, “kryukovets”, “kryuk” (Syamzhensky, Verkhovazhsky districts), “ognivo”, “ognivets”, “konegon” (Tarnogsky, Nyuksensky districts), “sver”, “ cricket" (Velikoustyug district), "leader", "leader", "zhgun", (Kichm.-Gorodetsky, Nikolsky districts), "bright", "shaggy brightly", "kosmach" (Totemsky district), "geese", “chertogon” (Babushkinsky district), “mower”, “kosovik” (Sokolsky district), “crossroads”, “vratok” (Vologda, Gryazovets districts), “vrashenets”, “vrashenka”, “vraschun” (Sheksninsky, Cherepovets districts ), “ugly” (Babaevsky district), “melnik” (Chagodoshchensky district), “krutyak” (Belozersky, Kirillovsky districts), “pylan” (Vytegorsky district).

Amazing ancient ornaments performed a protective function, along with an undoubted aesthetic one, in which everything was important - the location of the embroidery (shoulders, neckline, hem, etc.), color, threads, choice of ornament, etc. Solar symbols, as well as any other sign, carried a certain semantic load in them, writing out a kind of message, which could only be deciphered by a knowledgeable person, of whom, unfortunately, there are none left. But back in the second half of the 19th century, in some Russian villages there lived old witches who knew how to “read” embroidered patterns...

Here's how Roman Bagdasarov talks about it in his book “Swastika: sacred symbol. Ethno-religious essays".

“...In the middle of the 19th century, the ritual of reading patterns, which was part of brides’ viewings, was still alive. This is how it happened in the village of Nikolskoye, Kadnikovsky district, in the Vologda region. On Epiphany (January 6, Old Style), brides came and came from near and far villages, bringing with them the best outfits. These outfits were almost all made by them. The girl wore a shirt with two red stripes underneath, and another four or five with the most bizarre patterns that went from the hem to the chest. For the outer shirt - a sundress, three or four elegant aprons. On top of everything is a sheepskin coat, trimmed with fur and covered with peasant cloth.

After lunch, the most important moment of the show began. The brides stood in rows near the church fence. Several guys chose an elderly woman and, under her leadership, headed towards the dressed-up girls who stood afraid to move. The woman approached one of the girls, parted the skirts of her fur coat and showed her elegant aprons. Then she lifted the hem of her sundress, one after another, all the patterned shirts until the one with two red stripes on the hem.

And all this time she explained the meaning of the patterns. Grooms judged by shirts and aprons about the girl’s abilities and her hard work: whether she knew how to spin, weave, sew and weave lace. The language of Russian folk embroidery is a “writing system” where ink and paper are replaced by canvas and, most often, red thread. The concept of “write” in ancient times had the meaning of “decorate” and “depict”. “To stitch a letter” meant to embroider in a line, marking one after another a series of symbolic signs.

When a girl prepared her dowry, her mother or grandmother carefully monitored her work and immediately corrected mistakes. An eyewitness tells how the daughter was weaving a dowry towel and wanted to place two rows of triangles in its border, top to top. Seeing this, her mother stopped her: “You can’t do that, daughter! You will get dragon teeth, you will bring misfortune on your head, your girlish color and married life will end up in the dragon’s teeth. Place the patterns sole to sole - the sun's rays will come out. And they will shine for you throughout your life..." .

The most archaic parts of clothing: the headdress, mantles and hem had characteristic differences in different regions of Russia. From them you can read information about the ethno-religious characteristics of the Slavs. And on the Pechora River back in the 1970s, hunters, reading from afar the patterns on mittens and woolen stockings, determined the clan affiliation of the fellow countryman they met. The swastika is found on all elements of traditional clothing. We can say that it permeated the outfit of a Russian person literally from head to toe...

For centuries, simple villagers have preserved with some kind of religious respect the shape, color and smallest accessories of the costume of their ancestors,” noted ethnographers in the mid-19th century. In cities, traditional Russian attire existed until the indicated time. In rural areas, it was worn everywhere at the beginning (in some places even in the middle) of the 20th century.

The rules for wearing traditional clothing had a number of features: one was supposed to be worn by persons who had not yet reached marriageable age, another by adults who had not yet become parents, a third by those who had children, and a fourth by persons who had become grandparents and had lost the ability to bear children. At the same time, old maids after a certain age did not have the right to wear their old girl’s costume. Regardless of the origin and social position occupied by a Russian person, his clothing reflected primarily his marital status.

The wedding dress carried the most intense symbolism. According to the “Wedding Order”, the newlyweds were called prince and princess, other participants were located according to the levels of the military hierarchy: the great boyar-tysyatsky, the boyars-companions of the bride and groom. The wedding shirt had a special meaning. It was made over three holiday nights: “on the first night of Christ [Easter], on the second, on Ivanovo, on the third night of Peter.” Embroidered on it was a picture of the world accessible to human understanding, in which the swastika occupied an important place...”

This hour-long video contains data from various sources about the Slavic swastika, which is sometimes called the Kolovrat.

No country in the world has so many varieties of Vedic symbols as in Russia. They are found everywhere throughout its vast territory, within its modern borders, from east to west and from north to south, from ancient times until the beginning of the 20th century.

Archaeologists find them in all the cultures that have ever existed there and to which modern scientists have given different names: Kostenki and Mezin cultures (25-20 thousand years BC), Trypillian culture (VI-III thousand BC). BC), Andronovo culture (XVII-IX centuries BC) - this is the name of the civilization that existed in the 17th-9th centuries BC. e in the territory of Western Siberia, the western part of Central Asia and the Southern Urals, Tagar culture of the Yenisei River basin (IX-III centuries BC), Pazyryk culture (late 1st millennium BC), Scythian and Sarmatian culture . Vedic symbols, in particular swastikas, were used by the Rus in urban planning and architecture, depicted on the facades of wooden log huts, on wooden and clay utensils, on women's jewelry - temple rings, on rings, on icons and paintings of "Orthodox" churches, on pottery and on family coats of arms. The swastika found its greatest use in decorating items of clothing and household items, and was widely used by weavers and embroiderers.

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

There are a huge number of towels, tablecloths, valances (a strip of fabric with embroidery or lace, which is sewn to one of the long edges of the sheet, so that when the bed is made, the valance remains open and hangs above the floor), shirts, belts, in the ornaments of which the swastika was used.

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

The abundance and variety of swastika motifs is simply amazing, as is the fact that previously they appeared unforgivably rarely even in specialized books on folk applied art, not to mention the existence of separate collections. This gap was filled P.I. Kutenkov, who collected colossal material - the result of studying the spread of swastikas in Novgorod land, Vologda, Tver, Arkhangelsk, Vyatka, Kostroma, Perm, Transbaikalia and Altai and described it in the book ]]> ]]>. In it, he provides tables in which he summarized the characteristic designs of swastikas used in Russia in the period from the 1st to the 20th centuries. AD

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

Swastika on the car of Nicholas II

By the way, in almost all foreign languages, images of the solar symbol (of which there are very few varieties) are called with one word “swastika”, and in the Russian language there are many different variants of the swastika and the same number of names.

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

Villagers called the swastika in their own way. In the Tula province it was called “feather grass”. The peasants of Pechora - “hare” (like a sunbeam), in the Ryazan province they called it “horse”, “horse head” (the horse was considered a symbol of the sun and wind), in Nizhny Novgorod - “redhead”, “loach” in the Tver province, “bow-legged” "in Voronezhskaya. In the Vologda lands it was called differently: “kryuchya”, “kryukovets”, “kryuk” (Syamzhensky, Verkhovazhsky districts), “ognivo”, “ognivets”, “konegon” (Tarnogsky, Nyuksensky districts), “sver”, “ cricket" (Velikoustyug district), "leader", "leader", "zhgun", (Kichm.-Gorodetsky, Nikolsky districts), "bright", "shaggy brightly", "kosmach" (Totemsky district), "geese", “chertogon” (Babushkinsky district), “mower”, “kosovik” (Sokolsky district), “crossroads”, “vratok” (Vologda, Gryazovets districts), “vrashenets”, “vrashenka”, “vraschun” (Sheksninsky, Cherepovets districts ), “ugly” (Babaevsky district), “melnik” (Chagodoshchensky district), “krutyak” (Belozersky, Kirillovsky districts), “pylan” (Vytegorsky district).

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

Amazing ancient ornaments performed a protective function, along with an undoubted aesthetic one, in which everything was important - the location of the embroidery (shoulders, neckline, hem, etc.), color, threads, choice of ornament, etc. Solar symbols, as well as any other sign, carried a certain semantic load in them, writing out a kind of message, which could only be deciphered by a knowledgeable person, of whom, unfortunately, there are none left. But back in the second half of the 19th century, in some Russian villages there lived old witches who knew how to “read” embroidered patterns...

Here's how Roman Bagdasarov talks about it in his book “Swastika: sacred symbol. Ethno-religious essays".

“...In the middle of the 19th century, the ritual of reading patterns, which was part of brides’ viewings, was still alive. This is how it happened in the village of Nikolskoye, Kadnikovsky district, in the Vologda region. On Epiphany (January 6, Old Style), brides came and came from near and far villages, bringing with them the best outfits. These outfits were almost all made by them. The girl wore a shirt with two red stripes underneath, and another four or five with the most bizarre patterns that went from the hem to the chest. For the outer shirt - a sundress, three or four elegant aprons. On top of everything is a sheepskin coat, trimmed with fur and covered with peasant cloth.

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

After lunch, the most important moment of the show began. The brides stood in rows near the church fence. Several guys chose an elderly woman and, under her leadership, headed towards the dressed-up girls who stood afraid to move. The woman approached one of the girls, parted the skirts of her fur coat and showed her elegant aprons. Then she lifted the hem of her sundress, one after another, all the patterned shirts until the one with two red stripes on the hem.

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

And all this time she explained the meaning of the patterns. Grooms judged by shirts and aprons about the girl’s abilities and her hard work: whether she knew how to spin, weave, sew and weave lace. The language of Russian folk embroidery is a “writing system” where ink and paper are replaced by canvas and, most often, red thread. The concept of “write” in ancient times had the meaning of “decorate” and “depict”. “To stitch a letter” meant to embroider in a line, marking one after another a series of symbolic signs.

When a girl prepared her dowry, her mother or grandmother carefully monitored her work and immediately corrected mistakes. An eyewitness tells how the daughter was weaving a dowry towel and wanted to place two rows of triangles in its border, top to top. Seeing this, her mother stopped her: “You can’t do that, daughter! You will get dragon teeth, you will bring misfortune on your head, your girlish color and married life will end up in the dragon’s teeth. Place the patterns, sole to sole, and the sun's rays will come out. And they will shine for you throughout your life..." .

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

The most archaic parts of clothing: the headdress, mantles and hem had characteristic differences in different regions of Russia. From them you can read information about the ethno-religious characteristics of the Slavs. And on the Pechora River back in the 1970s, hunters, reading from afar the patterns on mittens and woolen stockings, determined the clan affiliation of the fellow countryman they met. The swastika is found on all elements of traditional clothing. We can say that it permeated the outfit of a Russian person literally from head to toe...

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

For centuries, simple villagers have preserved with some kind of religious respect the shape, color and smallest accessories of the costume of their ancestors,” noted ethnographers in the mid-19th century. In cities, traditional Russian attire existed until the indicated time. In rural areas, it was worn everywhere at the beginning (in some places even in the middle) of the 20th century.

The rules for wearing traditional clothing had a number of features: one was supposed to be worn by persons who had not yet reached marriageable age, another by adults who had not yet become parents, a third by those who had children, and a fourth by persons who had become grandparents and had lost the ability to bear children. At the same time, old maids after a certain age did not have the right to wear their old girl’s costume. Regardless of the origin and social position occupied by a Russian person, his clothing reflected primarily his marital status.

]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> ]]>

The wedding dress carried the most intense symbolism. According to the “Wedding Order”, the newlyweds were called prince and princess, other participants were located according to the levels of the military hierarchy: the great boyar-tysyatsky, the boyars-companions of the bride and groom. The wedding shirt had a special meaning. It was made over three holiday nights: “on the first night of Christ [Easter], on the second, on Ivanovo, on the third night of Peter.” Embroidered on it was a picture of the world accessible to human understanding, in which the swastika occupied an important place...”

About use