nazi symbol?

That's because the swastika is actually an asian symbol for the rising sun, without the connotations that the Nazi Party created for it when they chose the symbol.

That symbol has been around for thousands of years and it was/is used in Hindu/Buddhist religious culture and has positive connotations. The Nazis thought the symbol was pretty cool and 'borrowed' it as a symbol for what most people consider a negative, the symbol of the Nazi Party.

Thousands of years of symbolysm ruined in one decade. It's sad, actually :(

yes, what everyone has said is correct to a certain extent. i've come across some interesting info on this recently, so excuse me if i go on for too long. the symbol is still everywhere in india and china, but it has also been found to once exist in traditions like christianity and islam and pagan european traditions. in every way it is a universal and ancient symbol, probably stemming from a tradition more ancient than any we know.

the meaning of it being " a symbol of the rising sun" is at best peripheral. a symbol of an object of nature (like the sun, moon etc) that comes from a traditional source (like Taoism or the Vedas etc) is never just a symbol of a physical entity, but more importantly, a symbol of the principle that the physical entity represents (and thus from where it came). the distinction might seem small but is actually quite important.

the direction in which the swastika is going does not change the essential meaning--although the symbol does have something secondarily to do with motion and more importantly, that which causes the "motion" of all things and seasons. in truth it is primarily a symbol about that principle of the "Unmoving Mover", which is also described as "the Pole" or "the Axis" at the center around which all things move. "The Unmoving Mover", due to the stillness achieved at the center is able to "turn the wheel" of all existence without participating in it. this principle is important to and uniform in almost any pre-modern metaphysical tradition. this one at the center is also Manu, Chakravarti etc among others. Confucius referred to this center as the "unwobbling pivot" or the "invariable middle."

watching the 36 Chambers again one can see it hinting at the idea of the unmoving mover in the chamber in which you see the swastika in particular (when he has to keep watching the candle without moving his head).

the nazi's use of this symbol is still entirely false to the point of being diabolical--b/c the symbol is one of that which is highest and most important and was in this sense "inverted" by the nazis. which is a designation of truest evil, to take something sacred and "violate" it in such a strong and universal way. see Rene Guenon's "The Reign of Quantity" or "Crisis of the Modern World" for more on this.

To see more about the symbolism of the swastika from a True Master, please look at the works of the esoterist Rene Guenon ("Symbols of Sacred Science" and "The Lord of the World").

No one will ever read this.