Fig. 11.
SWASTIKA.
Meander.
Of the many forms of the cross, the Swastika is the most ancient. Despite the theories and speculations of students, its origin is unknown. It began before history, and is properly classed as prehistoric. Its description is as follows: The bars of the normal Swastika ([frontispiece] and [fig. 9]) are straight, of equal thickness throughout, and cross each other at right angles, making four arms of equal size, length, and style. Their peculiarity is that all the ends are bent at right angles and in the same direction, right or left. Prof. Max Müller 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 Swastika, that bent to the left he calls Suavastika ([fig. 10]), but he gives no authority for the statement, and the author has been unable to find, except in Burnouf, any justification for a difference of names. Professor Goodyear gives the title of “Meander” to that form of Swastika which bends two or more times ([fig. 11]).
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. 12b]), to which Zmigrodzki gives the name of Croix Swasticale. Some Swastikas have three dots placed equidistant around each of the four ends ([fig. 12c]).
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| a | b | c | ||
| Fig. 12. CROIX SWASTICALE (ZMIGRODZKI). | ||||
There are several varieties possibly related to the Swastika which have been found in almost every part of the 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. As 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 Swastika. Certain of them have been accepted by the author as related to the Swastika, while others have been rejected; but this rejection has been confined to cases where the known facts seemed to justify another origin for the symbol. Speculation has been avoided.