The True Meaning and Proper Translation of “Swastika”
Today, and for the last 1000 years or so, the swastika represents “good luck” in a game of telephone that has perhaps lasted for around 1 million years given the archaeological record.
As a result of such a long time period in oral tradition, certain nuances of the swastika symbol have been forgotten, but remain encoded in human symbology and context.
In the Thai language they use a greeting, what’s called “a gesture of goodwill”: “Sawasdee Kha”, closely resembling the Sanskrit word Swastika.
When we examine the varying definitions and usages of the Thai greeting, we notice they use a specific hand sign in the process of the greeting itself: a slight bow of the head with prayerful hands put together. In the eastern Sanskrit tradition this hand sign represents the Anjali/Atmanjali mudra, a mudra with a very specific and related meaning that will help us determine the true meaning of swastika.
The Anjali mudra happens to be used by the peoples of India, Japan, China, Thailand, Sri Lanka and beyond, signifying a large piece of this puzzle we are putting together for you here today.
Anjali Mudra, Namaste
Anjali is a Sanskrit term which means, “to offer” or “to salutate”, and the term Mudra means “seal”. So basically, it is the salutation seal and symbolizes that we are “honoring and celebrating this moment”.
An expression of “goodwill”, salutation, ultimately signifies the act and conduction of our “intentional goodwill” that we are then purposefully manifesting.
When we examine the Hindu meaning of the Anjali mudra, we see the usage of the term “Namaste” as a vocal greeting that accompanies the hand gesture. Namaste has varying definitions, but for today’s purposes we will use the following: “I bow to the divine light in you that is the same divine light in me”.
In the yogic tradition, they are of the mindset that all matter in creation literally represents the divine essence of creation, what the west calls “God”; therefore, the standard greeting constantly reemphasizes our literal status as “Gods” or “Divine Earthly Beings” as we are the ones conducting our lives into either a heaven or hell. When we combine this meaning and status of literal “Godhood”, the expression of a “greeting of goodwill” then becomes the literal manifestation of our “divine will”.
In the sanskrit yoga tradition, they use a pose called “Swastikasana” to symbolize “auspiciousness”: promising success, favored by fortune, prosperousness, fortunate.
“Swastikasana is the first physical pose that is described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (HYP). This crossed-legged seated pose with the feet kept under the thighs on either side also features as a meditative seat in other 8th and 10th century classical texts like Pātañjalayogaśāstravivaraṇa and Vimānārcanākalpa, respectively. On the physical level, regular practice of this posture stretches the muscles of the hips and hamstrings, and enhances their flexibility. Mentally, it is suitable to improve the concentration level and to instill a sense of calmness and meditativeness. Particular emphasis is also given to the spine’s alignment so that there is no blockage to the prana flow to activate the Sushumna Nadi, situated within the spinal cord. It is also an excellent alternative for yoga practitioners who find it difficult to sit in other classical postures like — Padmasana (Lotus Pose) and Siddhasana. Regular practice with a straight spine and palms in Gyan mudra is known to activate the Third Eye Chakra (Ajna Chakra). Metaphorically located between the eyebrows, this chakra is the center of perception, consciousness, and intuition. How one relates to the self and the external world and the ability to cut through illusions to see reality for what it is, are some of the characteristics of this energy center. Significantly, both right and left brain hemispheres are impacted and a balance is created between one’s logical and creative thinking, respectively.”
In the previous excerpt, a few key aspects are relevant to the subject matter of today’s article, namely, the union of brain hemispheres, the enhancement of perception, consciousness and intuition to perceive reality in an objective and correct way and then act accordingly by living a perfect life of “good luck”.
Much like the Anjali mudra we discussed previously, the pose Swastikasana also unites the left and right hemispheres of the brain, which makes us aware of our “divine essence”, which ultimately provides us with “divine intuition”, which allows us to make the best decisions that most align with our desires and existence, which is perceived as “good luck” in the form of the swastika from our limited modern perspective.
When a person is said to have “good luck”, they used to say that they are “favored by the deities”, but really they are favored by themselves and coincidentally experience their best life possibilities. “Good luck” and the antecedent of “being favored by deities” now seems mistranslated because in actuality you are being favored by yourself in subconsciously manifesting your own destiny.
A person with “good luck” or a “very lucky person” or an “auspicious person” is a person who aligns their waking life, either subconsciously or consciously, with their ultimate identity as a “creator of their own destiny”, the true meaning and translation of “Divinity” and “God”. Any such person will be perceived as “fortunate” or “favored by the deities or spirits”, when in reality, they are simply a self-actualized person being favored by themselves.
Global depictions of the swastika, a previously forgotten existence mechanic
Humans have subconsciously encoded Sawasdeeka, swastika, swastikasana, namaste etc. as a regular greeting or practice, in the hopes of remembering our close relationship with divinity that ultimately colors our life experience in a positive way if we can put it into practice correctly.
The swastika does not simply mean “good luck” or “auspiciousness” without a subject or identifier. The swastika represents our literal “divine will”, or more correctly translated, “our status as a creator of our own destiny based on our thoughts and actions”. As a result of our status as “divine beings” or, more correctly, our status as “creators of our own destiny”, we physically manufacture our own “good luck”. Our will and manifestation aligns with the cosmic spiral flow indicated in the design of the swastika itself, what our people refer to colloquially as “going with the flow”. The true meaning of the auspicious swastika literally refers to us and our ability to manifest good luck, as we align our thoughts, actions, desires and perceptions to our own self-determinate capability of manifesting our own destiny.
Note from the author: I am from the Native American tribe called the Miakan of South Texas. My people have lived in the Rio Grande valley for over 20,000 years, interacting with various genetics as a result of Pan American history.
By my family, I am regarded as a “curandero”, a type of healing shaman with innate knowledge beyond the scope of my physical experience. The true origin of this expertise has nothing to do with what I’ve physically and personally experienced in this life, or even anything to do with who I am as a person, but more to do with the ancient memories and information encoded in my DNA that colors my personality and desires.
In this ancient shamanic tradition, my people will say this knowledge comes from the totem animals, from visions, from spirits and from our ancestors and all of these assertions are correct because they are all interacting with my DNA and what the western scientific mindset calls “hereditary epigenetics”.
As a result of my diverse genetic lineage, I contain various “memories” or “epigenetic traits” from “Black Native American Indians”, from “White Native American Indians”, from “Red Native American Indians”, from “Asian Native American Indians”, from “Inuit Native American Indians” and perhaps even many others I am not currently aware.
Having access to this type of epigenetic information contained within my DNA provides me with intuition and connate wisdom about ancient global symbology, biology, astrology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, etc. that literally feel like memories to me. This is how and why I have compiled the true translation of the word and symbol referred to colloquially as “swastika”, so that our people will once again have access to a very important aspect of our history and identity as divine, willful beings. This knowledge will be utilized to change the world as our hands literally build the physical universe, something our old books previously said was a luxury only afforded to “God”.