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Comments
And here I thought I was the one who screwed up my own friends listing.
Posted by Lisa Jonte at April 18, 2004 12:07 AM
69.42.3.13
Akachally, if you'll notice, the swastika is oriented in the 'wrong' direction. It's the original symbol, which is an ancient, ancient Indian design, representing the sun. It's also known as a 'sun cross'.
Yet another thing the Nazis stole, but to 'make it theirs' they reversed it.
Posted by Flinx at April 18, 2004 01:02 AM
134.215.218.185
Actually, it's not exactly "wrong" in this incarnation. Buddhists almost always use a left-facing swastika.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika
My blog is so educational.
Posted by spike at April 18, 2004 01:20 AM
68.20.210.145
I think that's what dude meant.
Posted by Nick F at April 18, 2004 04:51 AM
193.120.73.51
It's actually also a Cherokee symbol, I believe. I was one of those white boys who found out they had some Native American ancestors and proceeded to obsess over it...
Anyway, I got into an argument once with my French teacher (who was Jewish) over the symbol. She was in the "history has claimed it for the Nazis" camp. The interesting thing is that this is a woman who almost lost her job because people thought her Star of David was a pentacle, and who simultaneously defended both symbols.
I'm sure the symbol will eventually lose the Nazi connotation in a few decades, but I'm sure there will be a lot of hold-outs, as well. I think that some want it to remain a symbol of Hitler, if only to have a convenient symbol for "evil." It's a lot like the pentacle in that respect; a symbol with it's own rich history that various fools used to represent something else, and now the public doesn't want to let go of that relatively young meaning...
Posted by spookable at April 18, 2004 10:02 AM
205.188.116.146
flaming vagina? dude, i thought ManWoman always said it was just the 3rd eye. haha. ManWoman is an interesting character. have you ever read the book "Modern Primitives?" it's all about body modification/extreme modification rituals. it's sort of outdated but it's still really interesting, especially the part about the Mayan's blood letting rituals (threading thorny ropes through their tongues, etc). i like the sections that are about the history of such practices, as opposed to the articles interviewing all the new-agey bodymod "celebrities" like ManWoman. Anyway, i thought it might be something you'd find interesting.
Posted by jaclyn at April 18, 2004 03:51 PM
68.230.67.166
Jac: Yup, seen that one. Didn't buy it, though; just sort of read it in the shop. And by "read" I mean "ignored the text and stared at the pictures like a five-year-old."
Nick F: Blargh. Blame my overeagerness to be erudite; I guess I read the comment a little to fast. Sorry, Flinx.
Posted by spike at April 19, 2004 07:10 AM
68.20.210.145
The courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama -- constructed in the 1900's, I think -- has Cherokee ("backwards") swastika's running all along the base of it, in concrete bas relief.
Of course, the words "Birmingham, Alabama" will call to many minds other recent incarnations of "evil" which the contemporary city itself has been working pretty hard to atone for. The Civil Rights Museum, which abuts the same park as the courthouse does (and which park was where dogs were sicced on protesters in the '60's) obliges you to walk along a pathway lined with statues of snarling, vicious police dogs about to attack you.
I guess I'm way off topic here.
Joey
www.moderntales.com
blog: www.joeymanley.com
Posted by Joey Manley at April 19, 2004 05:03 PM
12.202.70.214
This blog is just becoming more and more of a learning experience. I'd like to see the Civil Rights Museum sometime... now if only I could shake my fear of travelling farther south...
Posted by Spookable at April 19, 2004 05:55 PM
152.163.252.198
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