Tregear. — O71 Maori Spirals and Sun-worship. 287 



The " Cycloptedia of India," dealing with the subject of 

 the sioastika, adds that the etymology of the word means " Be 

 it well ! " and with this General Cunningham* agrees. Pro- 

 fessor Monier Williams, in his Sanscrit dictionary, says that 

 svastika is "a kind of mystical mark made on persons or 

 things to denote good luck," and derives it from svasti, 

 " welfare, blessing." Burnouf writes,! "It was used among 

 the Brahmins from all antiquity. Sioastika, or swasta, in 

 India corresponds to "benediction" among Christians. 

 The same author, in the "Lotus de la Bonne Loi" (Ap- 

 pendix), says, " The sign of the swastika was not less known 

 to the Brahmins than to the Buddhists. Most of the inscrip- 

 tions on the Buddhist caverns in western India are either 

 preceded or followed by the holy (sacramentelle) sign of the 

 sioastika." Mr. W. Crooke| writes, "The mystical emblem 

 of the sioastika, which appears to represent the suu in its 

 journey through the heavens, is of constant occurrence. The 

 trader paints it on the fly-leaf of his ledger ; he who has 

 young children or animals liable to the evil eye makes a re- 

 presentation of it on the wall beside his door-post. It holds 

 first place among the lucky marks of the Jains," &c. 



The sioastika sign is used as one of the pictograms of the 

 Chinese, and means "long life," "many years"; but this 

 was probably not the original signification, as the Empress 

 Wu of the Tang Dynasty (684-704 a.d.) decreed that the sign 

 for the sun should be a sioastika in a circle. This is the state- 

 . ment of the Chinese Minister Yang Yu to Mr. Wilson, but it 

 is confirmed by Professor G. F. Wright. To leave the East 

 and go to Great Britain, where we should hardly expect to 

 find it in use, I will quote Mr. J. B. Waring, § who says, 

 "It may be seen upon the bells of many of our parish 

 churches, as at Appleby, Maxborough, Hathersaye, Wadding- 

 ton, Bishop's Norton, West Barkwith, and other places, where 

 it was placed as a magical sign to subdue the vicious spirit of 

 the tempest." In the discussion before the International 

 Congress of Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology, 1876, 

 the report of proceedings says, " It seems to have been agreed 

 that the sign {swastika) stood for blessing or good luck," this 

 relating to runes on an ancient Scandinavian bronze sword. 

 So it appears that it stood for " good luck " even in the age 

 of bronze, a far cry back. Miss Mary Owen, writing concern- 

 ing ceremonial garters, &c., worn in sun-worship by North 



* " Bilsa Topes," p. 17. 

 t " Des Sciences et Religion," p. 256. 



I " Introduotion to Popular Raligioa and Folk-lore of Northern 

 India," p. 58. 



§ " Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," p. 13. 



