Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1908-04-17

SWASrIKA. right angle at the
end, meets the eye everywhere
Nearly every woman who buys one
knows that 1t is In some sense good
luck pin," but, how 1t came to be con-
sidered such and where the peculiar
and curiously attractive symbol origi-
mated is known to comparatively few
persons.
The swastika Is one of the great re-
hgious symbols of the world 1t has
been recognized as a religious emblem
by more people, very likely, than has
the cross itself. AS such symbol it is
very many hundreds of years older
than the Christian era, In fact, it is
perhaps, the very earliest of religious
signs or characters. 1t has been re-
vered all over Europe and Asia, and
long before the dawn of Christianity
our pagan ancestors looked up to 1t,
as the emblem Of what they worship
ed. 1t Is one of the oldest things in
history, and there is scarcely a land
in whose ruined temples it is not
found
"Swastika," the name given it by
the Brahmins and Buddhists of India,
is Sanscrlt word signifying "of good
fortune In the Pail tongue it Is
suit" which means ut is WE'LL" or
80 be it," which Is much the same
meaning as the Sanscrit word The
Japanese call it "manjr' and the Chi
nese call 1t "manji' and the Chinese
know it as "ouan" or wan" The
French call it ''le croix pattee," the
footed cross, while the ancient Eng
lish name Is "fy-fot," meaning either
four-footed or many-footed.
The most puzzling and most inter
esting thing about the swastika is that
1t ls found In nearly all parts of the
world, in this country as well as IN
Europe and Asia, wherever archaeolo
gists dig up the buried cities OF the
remote past. Drawn, painted, cut
woven, scratched or otherwise design
ed, not only upon burial urn and sacri
fetal stone, but also upon utensils ant
objects Of everyday use, the curious
SymDOl AppedFSs
1t has been found among relics tina
mark the bronze age in Europe anC
some antiquarians believe they hav,
discovered the fact of its existence II
the so-called polished stone age O
man.
Prof. Schlieman found it at Hissar
Xix in the buried cities that underla,
the ancient Troy, of which Home
sang, which indicates it's existence a
a period from 5000 to $500 years ago
Those who look upon the region t,
he northwest of India as the prima
| home of the blonde races of the worlC
also consider that ancient land as be
ing the birthplace of the swastika. r
P. Greg, an eminent English authority
argues that ut was a much-used anC
favorite religious symbol among tn,
earlier Aryan races, and was intended
by them, in the first instance, to rep
resent in a cruciform shape an ideo
graph or symbol suggested by the fork
ed lightning" Our primal white for
bears worshiped Dyausoitar (Jupiter)
the sky father, and the jagged light
ming was the natural emblem of THU
awful power.
With the successive emIgrations O.
the Aryans from northern India al
over Europe, the swastlka spread and
adopted ms a symbol of Buddha in tn,
seventh century before Christ, 1t wal
later carried into China and Japan
The Arabs and Jews knew 1t not, mol
did the ancient Egyptians, but they
were not Of Aryan blood.
Thus the hammer of Thor, the Scan
dinavian deity for whom Thursday II
named, was this very sams swastikt
which the maiden Of to-day is using t.
ornament a summer shEt waist. L
vas with his mighty hammer, MIoll
ner, that Thor is tabled to have crush
ed the head of the Midgard serpent
destroyed the giants, restored to life
the dead goats which, drew his car anC
consecrated the pyre of Bladur, thu