Balto-Slavic swastika

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"The hands of God" - one of the Earliest attested depictions of the swastika

The swastika, which is found on Slavic and Baltic patterns (on embroidery and ornaments of weapons and armor), has pronounced features of the solar cult.

A great contribution to the study of the swastika of the Balto-Slavic period was made by the Russian ethnographer and art critic Svetlana Zharnikova.[1] It was she who first discovered the connection between the North-Vologda national embroidery and King's Indian patterns.[2]

According to painter Stanisław Jakubowski the "little sun" (Polish słoneczko) is an Early Slavic pagan symbol of the Sun, he claimed it was engraved on wooden monuments built near the final resting places of fallen Slavs to represent eternal life. The symbol was first seen in his collection of Early Slavic symbols and architectural features, which he named Prasłowiańskie motywy architektoniczne (Polish: Early Slavic Architectural Motifs). His work was published in 1923, by a publishing house that was then based in the Dębniki district of Kraków.[3]

Many images of the swastika found on Slavic idols were used as symbols of Baltic and Slavic deities: Perun/Perkūnas, Stribog and others.

Interpretation[]

Most of the characters are reproduced according to the publication: Ivanits, Linda J. Russian Folk Belief (1989)[4] and Svetlana Zharnikova. Gold Thread.[1]

  • Perun symbol red (2).svg (Yarga, four-pointed cross) — a symbol of Perun, was often depicted in Old Russian embroidery in red with the edges bent counterclockwise. Ugunskrusts (Latvian: Fiery cross or thunderous (thunderous) cross) is related to this somvol - the sign of Perkūnas.[5]
  • Stribog symbol red.svg (Curved cross) — a symbol of the Stribog, found mainly in Old Russian and West Slavic applied art. According to Boris Rybakov, a similar sign found on Late Russian embroidery has already lost its original meaning and was used only for decoration.[5]
  • Symbol of Veles.svg (Inverted Triangle) — a symbol of Veles, which is often incorrectly interpreted as an inverted letter "A" in the neo-Pagan environment. The first image of the symbol was found on the mountain Łysa Góra in Poland, on the lower part of a half-rotted idol. The popular name of the symbol is unknown.
  • Kolovrat (Коловрат) Swastika (Свастика) - Rodnovery.svg (Ladinets) — the symbol of the Lada, known from the Baltic and Slavic poetry and folklore.[6] This symbol was already present in woodcuts produced in the 1920s by the Polish artist Stanisław Jakubowski under the name słoneczko ("little sun").[7]
  • Red Rodnover kolovrat.svg (Ladinets bent counterclockwise) — the symbol of Yarilo, known under the distorted name "Kolovrat". Some researchers attribute this symbol to the deity Simargl, however, according to the popular version, "Simargl" is a distortion from the phrase "sema yarila" (Yarilo with seven rays).[8]
  • Belobog symbol red.svg — the symbol of Belobog, known from the East Slavic protective embroidery. In modern embroidery, this symbol is mostly not used due to its complex structure, or is replaced by a more simplified one - in the form of an ordinary rhombus.
  • Chernobog symbol red.svg — the symbol of Chernobog, which was originally supposed to be an ordinary protective sign drawn over the head of the bed (that is, it played the function of a dream catcher).[9]

West Slavic block[]

Picture of an urn from 1941 and the coat of arms of Litzmannstadt (occupied Łódź), based on the swastika from the urn.[10]
Main articles: Bronze- and Iron-Age Poland and Czech lands

A huge number of images of the swastika on the ornament of edged weapons and household items were found on the territory of modern Poland, Czech and Slovakia. Most of the images date back to the Bronze Age.[5]

One of the earliest such discoveries is an ashtray from Biala (Poland) with a swastika and two crosses depicted on it. Initially, some researchers doubted the connection of the images on the ashtray with the Slavic culture, but later, in the 1960s, two wooden idols were found on the territory of Belarus during the excavations of the Slavic temple, on which images of swastika crosses were applied, similar to those depicted on the ashtray.[11]

In the Russian Empire[]

In Russia, before World War I, the swastika was a favorite sign of the last Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. She placed it where she could for happiness, including drawing it in pencil on the walls and windows in the Ipatiev House – where the royal family was executed. There, she also drew a swastika on the wallpaper above the bed where the heir apparently slept.[12] It was printed on some banknotes of the Russian Provisional Government (1917) and some sovznaks (1918–1922).[13] In 1919 it was approved as insignia for the Kalmyk formations,[14] and for a short period had a certain popularity amongst some artists, politics and army groups.[15] Also it was present on icons, vestments and clerical clothing but in World War II it was removed, having become by association a symbol of the German occupation.[16]

In modern countries[]

The symbol of the Latvian neo-pagan organization Dievturiba

The image of the swastika is often used in modern Russia and the Baltic countries.

In Russia, some neo-Nazis[17][18] and also Rodnovers argue that the Russian name of the swastika is kolovrat (Russian: коловрат, literally "spinning wheel"), but there are no ethnographic sources confirming this.[17][19] In vernacular speech the swastika was called differently; for example, "breeze" – as in Christianity, the swastika represents spiritual movement, descent of the Holy Spirit, and therefore the "wind" and "spirit",[17] or ognevtsi ("little flames"), "geese", "hares" (a towel with a swastika was called as towel with "hares"), "little horses".[16][20]

The neo-Nazi Russian National Unity group's branch in Estonia is officially registered under the name "Kolovrat" and published an extremist newspaper in 2001 under the same name.[21] A criminal investigation found the paper included an array of racial epithets. One Narva resident was sentenced to 1 year in jail for distribution of Kolovrat.[22] The Kolovrat has since been used by the Rusich Battalion, a Russian militant group known for its operation during the War in Donbass.[23]

Today the swastika is officially used by Baltic neo-pagan organizations such as Romuva and Dievturiba.[24]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Svetlana Zharnikova. Gold thread. Vologda, 2003. 221 pp.
  2. ^ Svetlana Zharnikova. The world of images of the Russian spinning wheel (in Russian).
  3. ^ "Prasłowiańskie motywy architektoniczne". 1923. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  4. ^ Ivanits, Linda J. (1989). Russian Folk Belief. M. E. Sharpe. ISBN 9780765630889.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Boris Rybakov. DECORATIVE AND APPLIED ART OF RUSSIA (in Russian). Leningrad, "Aurora", 1971.
  6. ^ "Lada in Baltic and Slavic Written Sources – Studia-linguistica". Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  7. ^ Stanisław Jakubowski (1923). Prasłowiańskie motywy architektoniczne. Dębniki, Kraków: Orbis. Illustrations of Jakubowski's artworks Archived 2012-08-24 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ Alexander Ishutin. East Slavic gods and their names
  9. ^ Absence of these symbols in Historical Slavic religion: Шнирельман В. А. Арийский миф в современном мире. Новое литературное обозрение, 2015. Библиотека журнала «Неприкосновенный запас»; Some of the latter are found, for instance, in: Kushnir, Dimitry (2014). Slavic Light Symbols. The Slavic Way. 5. ISBN 9781505805963.
  10. ^ "Zbiory NAC on-line". audiovis.nac.gov.pl. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  11. ^ Boris Rybakov (1987). "Святилища, идолы и игрища". Язычество Древней Руси (Paganism of Ancient Rus) (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka. p. 173.
  12. ^ Pierre Gilliard. Тринадцать лет при русском дворе = Thirteen Years at the Russian Court. – М.: «Захаров», 2006. – ISBN 5-8159-0566-6. – p. 175.
  13. ^ Николаев Р. Советские «кредитки» со свастикой? (in Russian) // «Миниатюра» 1992 №7, с. 11. archived
  14. ^ s:ru:Приказ войскам Юго-Восточного фронта от 3 November 1919 № 213, Степанов Алексей. Красный калейдоскоп гражданской войны. Калмыцкие формирования. 1919 – 1921 // Цейхгауз. – 1995 – № 4 – С. 43
  15. ^ Вольфганг, Акунов. "Книга: Барон фон Унгерн – Белый бог войны". e-reading.org.ua. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Багдасаров, Роман. "Свастика: благословение или проклятие". Цена Победы. Echo of Moscow. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b c Багдасаров, Роман. "Свастика: благословение или проклятие". Цена Победы. Echo of Moscow. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  18. ^ McKay, George. Subcultures and New Religious Movements in Russia and East-Central Europe. p. 282.
  19. ^ Trubachyov, Oleg, ed. (1983). "Kolovortъ; кolovьrtъ" (PDF). Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages (in Russian). 10. Moskow: Nauka. pp. 149, 150.
  20. ^ Багдасаров Р. В. (2002). "Русские имена свастики". Свастика: священный символ. Этнорелигиоведческие очерки (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Moskow: Белые Альвы. ISBN 978-5-7619-0164-3.
  21. ^ Вячеслав Лихачев. Нацизм в России. с.5 – about symbolic of neo-nazi party "RNU"
  22. ^ Mudde, Cas. Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe. p. 61.
  23. ^ "Сомнительная символика в лагере Азовец: зачем выглядеть, как сторонники ДНР?". www.theinsider.ua.
  24. ^ Naylor, Aliide (31 May 2019). "Soviet power gone, Baltic countries' historic pagan past re-emerges". Religion News Service. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
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