Swastika
Patricia Anne Davis
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My English name is Patricia Anne Davis and my ceremonial Dineh name is “one who greets the enemy with peace” or “peace-maker.” I am born
of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw to the yei dine ee ta chii’
nii clan
(“red streak running into the water”).
My maternal grandparents are
of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw- Chahta and my paternal grandparents are of the kin yaa aanii clan (“towering house” people) of the Dineh Nation. My late father was
Anselm G. Davis, Sr., a Native American Church roadman, who gave forty years of service to three generations of
Native people. I am a Dineh practitioner of the sacred circle ceremony principles from
Dineh
oral tradition. I translate the blessing way of life concepts in the four cardinal directions format into therapeutic English
concepts. I teach universal holistic
health and healing promotion concepts with practical application to all
people. I have traveled to Although the common name for my late father’s tribe is
“Navajo”, it is not the name we call ourselves. The spiritual names we call ourselves in
our own language are these: precious
children of the holy people, earth-surface people; and five-fingered humane
beings or, the people – Dineh. Thus,
you can see that the word “Navajo” is an imposed English name by the European
conquerors of our land in North American.
You can also see that the literal translation of our spiritual names
for our selves is inclusive of all people. Therefore, the following interpretation of
the universal symbol, called the “swastika” from the Sanskrit language in The term hozho describes
an all encompassing concept of holiness
and wholeness without competing
collectivities that represent competing ideologies. This term is descriptive of spiritual purpose within natural order that
can also be called divine law, natural law or the laws of nature. Spirituality concepts described from the Dineh Native
American tribal language world-view are in the context of the spiritual purpose of natural order. Every culture that used the “swastika”
symbol has a name for it from that language world-view. The Dineh have used
this symbol as a life-promoting symbol of the galaxy in the cosmos. At the macrocosmic level of interpretation
our solar system is shaped into a group formation of stars in the sky that
looks similar to the “swastika” symbol.
At the microcosmic level, each person is a five-pointed “star”
symbolic of the head, two arms and two legs.
The holistic-SELF of every
person is represented by air-spiritual
wellbeing; fire-mental wellbeing; water-emotive wellbeing; earth-physical wellbeing and corn-social/financial wellbeing. This makes the five-pointed star analogy of
the holistic-SELF. In the Dineh view, the holistic-SELF
eternally exists within the holographic
universe, which I will call the holographic
holistic thinking system to give spiritual meaning to the integrated
description of the purpose of natural
order. The holistic-SELF eternally existing within the holistic thinking system holographic is hozho, which is oneness within the Creator. The “swastika” symbol is a sacred symbol
representing the forces of destruction and construction; the life and death
processes simultaneously in motion. It
is entity and process; structure and movement; construct and action; particle
and wave synchronistically interrelated. A humane
being is both living within the universe and also composed of the sacred
elements of divine creation living within the natural order. The
clockwise and counter-clockwise directional motion represented by this symbol
is holiness and wholeness in hozho. In and of itself this symbol is not “evil.” It is the intention of using this symbol
for life-producing choices or death-producing choices applied in the
decision-making process which results in the intended outcome. The human mind chooses the intent for using
the symbol, which is a misuse of thinking power if used for destroying the sacred-SELF and others. In the Dineh
language there is a word to describe people who use their five-senses as a
weapon against themselves and others.
This is how this symbol was misused.
The issue for educating the people about this symbol is not in its
misused and misunderstood meaning, but to correct the appropriate purpose of
the mind for using cross-cultural wisdom, knowledge, symbols for the common
benefit and giving voice to life-producing intention and outcomes for future
generations. The holistic-SELF eternally exists within the holographic thinking system and
experiences the two life forces in the biological anabolic and catabolic
processes of living in hozho. The mind can deny or affirm the sacred-SELF or deny or affirm the trickster-self. One manifests and the other is
un-manifested as the mind chooses.
When the trickster-self chooses
to manifest in the dualistic thinking
system, the outcome is a win-lose and no-win for all concerned. The intent and outcome is within the
failure paradigm. When the
holistic-SELF chooses to manifest in the holographic thinking system, the
outcome is a win-win for all concerned and the sacred-SELF is affirmed in oneness with the Creator. Ó Patricia Anne Davis 2006 |