Saturday, October 24, 2015

Navajo "Whirling Log" Coin Silver Cuff









Coin silver cuff -- although it may look like one, that's not a Nazi Party swastika -- rather it's a variation of the "whirling log" motif for the Dine. It became much less popular as a motif after WWII started...

"In the Western world the swastika is synonymous with fascism, but it goes back thousands of years and has been used as a symbol of good fortune in almost every culture in the world. 

As more evidence emerges of its long pre-Nazi history in Europe, can this ancient sign ever shake off its evil associations?

In the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, swastika means "well-being". The symbol has been used by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains for millennia and is commonly assumed to be an Indian sign.

Early Western travellers to Asia were inspired by its positive and ancient associations and started using it back home. By the beginning of the 20th Century there was a huge fad for the swastika as a benign good luck symbol.

In his book 'The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption?' US graphic design writer Steven Heller shows how it was enthusiastically adopted in the West as an architectural motif, on advertising and product design."









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