THE TOMOYE AND THE SWASTIKA 213 



an S crossing one another at right angles, he produced 

 what is common enough wherever the more formal rect- 

 angular Swastika is found, namely, the curvilinear or 

 " ogee Swastika," Fig. 56, B. 



It is not possible with our present knowledge to pene- 

 trate into the remote past and really ascertain the origin 

 of the shape or device called a Swastika. But it is, I think, 

 quite likely that in manipulating the " tomoye " symbol 

 (whether copied from a section of shell or originating by 

 more independent invention and " trying " of lines and 

 curves and circles), very 

 early man duplicated the 

 symmetrical S by which 

 he had divided a circle 

 and produced the tetra- 

 skelion seen in Fig. 56, A. 

 The conversion of this 

 into the rectangular 

 Swastika and into 

 varieties of the ogee and 

 menander (which I have 

 not found space to de- 

 scribe) would be an easy 

 and natural sequence. 



At the same time, I 



FIG. 59. An altar-stone of prehistoric 

 age. The circular surface is cut into by 

 a trough of S-shape, which divides it so 

 as to resemble the Japanese " Tomoye." 

 From Copan, Honduras. 



have no conviction that this is 

 the real origin of the Swastika, and await further evidence. 

 The "flying-stork theory," which was put forward by 

 Reinach, is very attractive. Birds as badges and " totems " 

 are frequent among primitive mankind, and certain species 

 are often regarded as sacred and bringing good luck. 

 The stork is one of these. If the artists who marked the 

 very ancient clay-pottery of Hissarlik with the Swastika 

 and also with outlines of the flying stork, strongly 

 resembling a Swastika, did not derive the Swastika from 

 the stork, but had received it from some independent 



