Kolovrat

Since my photography is greatly inspired by slavic culture I had to make a post about this very controversial symbol nowadays.

Swarga – also known as swarzyca, swarożyca, kolovrat or the eight-armed wheel, is probably the most well-known and widespread symbol used by slavic pagans, often regarded as a Slavic symbol.

The simplest form of this symbol is an equilateral cross with bent or "broken" arms (most often at a right angle). The name originates from Sanskrit and can be translated as "bringing prosperity," "creating happiness," and so on. The oldest findings containing the sun wheel come from Armenia and the territory of present-day Ukraine, dating back over twelve thousand years but can also be found across Asia, Europe, both Americas, and Africa.

It is difficult to determine where it originates and what its original lineage is, but it is quite certain that in primitive societies it was associated with solar cults and symbolized fire and the sun. Sometimes it is said that there are two versions of the swarzyca: the right turned one, associated with the sun, light, and day, and its opposite – the left turned one, symbolizing night, darkness, and magic.

In Slavic lands, swarga was often placed on monuments, urns, as well as on coins, weapons, or clothing. It also appears as part of another Slavic symbol, the Hands of God. Swarzyca appears in various forms and variants, from simple ones consisting of a few curved lines to more complicated patterns. It can take sharply angular forms or more rounded ones.

One form of the swarzyca is the so-called kolovrat (wheel of life), which consists of eight arms with perpendicular, sharply pointed, and rounded "bends" at the edges. The kolovrat, with its "dynamism," further expands the meaning to include the unceasing flow of life, as well as its continuity, repetition, and constancy. Moreover, by symbolizing the sun and, thus, fire, it is connected with one of the most important Slavic deities, the divine blacksmith, Swaróg. It is a symbol that brings prosperity, happiness, and protection against evil forces.

In modern times, the swastika is unfortunately mostly associated with Nazism and the crimes of the Nazis, and the awareness of its positive meaning, ancient origins, and widespread presence is rather low. However, before it was profaned by Hitler and his followers, this symbol was often used, for example, as an emblem on the uniforms of the Polish Army. It was also used by culture researchers from the Podhale region like Mieczysław Karłowicz (to this day, a stone with a carved swastika can be found at the place of his death 1*).

Unfortunately due to the relatively few archaeological finds with this symbol, it cannot be clearly stated that swarzyca dominated the culture of the ancient Slavs. Kolovrat is almost non-existent and can only be found on the bottom of ceramics from Czech Republic and Poland, rarely also on pendants or as a graffiti on Old Rus coins. That obviously cannot prove it wasn't used more often but due to christianity most pagan symbols and traditions were erased or destroyed.

Some links about this subject:

1* https://pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:Memorial_stone_to_Mieczys%C5%82aw_Kar%C5%82owicz_%281909%29a.jpg

• Five-armed right-rotating swastika from Kruszwice, Poland: https://pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:Kruszwica_kolegiata_swastyka.jpg

• article with more photos: https://sagy.vikingove.cz/en/origins-of-kolovrat-symbol/ (although I think the author has a really strong bias against this symbol and doesn't take into account the christianisation of slavic ladns).

Would love to read your opinions and your point of view.

Love, Erinthul.