ray in Swasticafé

One of the lines of cups on the [Ilkley] Swastika Stone is less than a degree off magnetic north-south. (1) One naturally looks north from the stone, as it is on a rocky outcrop on the north side of the moor. Was it associated with the Pole Star with which its cups align? Why then does its shape describe a clockwise motion, whereas the stars turn anti-clockwise around the pole?
Perhaps the design relates to the shamanic practice of ascent up the ‘Pillar of the World’ (to use the Lapp term). Numerous Siberian and northern European peoples documented by Mircea Eliade (2) see the Pole Star as the summit of a pole holding up the sky (seen as a tent). Eliade notes similar beliefs about the Pole Star in Ancient Saxon, Scandinavian and Romanian myths. If, then, one imagines the Swastika design to be the base of a Pillar of the World, the implicit motion of the design makes sense. Something that appears to turn anti-clockwise when looking up from the bottom of a pole will, if it slides down the pole and is viewed from above, appear to turn clockwise.
The Swastika may map the turning sky down onto the ground, forming the bond between 'levels' that is so central to shamanic cosmology.

www.group-telegram.com/ua/swastichat.com/29025

Jan 23 at 02:03

One of the lines of cups on the [Ilkley] Swastika Stone is less than a degree off magnetic north-south. (1) One naturally looks north from the stone, as it is on a rocky outcrop on the north side of the moor. Was it associated with the Pole Star with which its cups align? Why then does its shape describe a clockwise motion, whereas the stars turn anti-clockwise around the pole?
Perhaps the design relates to the shamanic practice of ascent up the ‘Pillar of the World’ (to use the Lapp term). Numerous Siberian and northern European peoples documented by Mircea Eliade (2) see the Pole Star as the summit of a pole holding up the sky (seen as a tent). Eliade notes similar beliefs about the Pole Star in Ancient Saxon, Scandinavian and Romanian myths. If, then, one imagines the Swastika design to be the base of a Pillar of the World, the implicit motion of the design makes sense. Something that appears to turn anti-clockwise when looking up from the bottom of a pole will, if it slides down the pole and is viewed from above, appear to turn clockwise.
The Swastika may map the turning sky down onto the ground, forming the bond between 'levels' that is so central to shamanic cosmology.

BY ray in Swasticafé