Talk:Funerary urn from Biała

This article was nominated for deletion on 22 March 2011. The result of the discussion was redirect and split.

Russia: Visual arts / History / Religion Stub‑class Low‑importance

	Russia portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Russia, a WikiProject dedicated to coverage of Russia on Wikipedia. To participate: Feel free to edit the article attached to this page, join up at the project page, or contribute to the project discussion.RussiaWikipedia:WikiProject RussiaTemplate:WikiProject RussiaRussia
Stub	This article has been rated as Stub-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the visual arts in Russia task force.
	This article is supported by the history of Russia task force.
	This article is supported by the religion in Russia task force.

We know that this symbol represents the hands of god for Slavic pagans today, but do we actually know that this symbol represented the same thing to ancient Vandals? 193.65.112.51 (talk) 16:03, 7 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What evidence is there that this was a symbol of the ancient Vandals at all? AnonMoos (talk) 13:14, 17 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not only that, but also wouldn't it have a polytheistic meaning not monotheistic?99.54.188.157 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 15:08, 22 November 2009 (UTC).[reply]

ok, so the Polish term (used in this sense) first pops up in 2005. This article was created in September 2006 (note how both the Russian and the Polish wiki articles are younger, and derived from this one). The term "Hands of God" in English first appears in early 2007, no doubt informed by this Wikipedia article. Another textbook case of Wikipedia used as a vehicle for spreading neopagan fakelore across the internet. --dab (𒁳) 14:43, 23 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

the term "fakelore" is very dubious itself. While in the original version of the article it was claimed "Hands of God" are the Slavic symbol that was in the continued use, in the later version this was toned down. Also, regardless of any associated fakelore or neo-mythology, the symbol is truly old and belongs, probably, to the Vandal or Przeworsk culture. Check this:

http://www.rbi.webd.pl/swarga/receboga.php the same urn is presented here in much higher resolution and it clearly contains the symbol. Also, there is wide understanding among Rodnovers (followers of Slavic reconstructionist paganism) that the symbol wasn't in continuous use since millenia and its reception as "Hands of God" is a modern one, as we don't know how Vandals/Przeworsk people felt about it. In my opinion, the article should be restored with proper explanations. And besides, it's still an important and recognizable symbol for not only Slavic faith, but to the neo-pagan/pagan community in Poland and neighbouring Slavic countries as a whole. Critto (talk) 02:01, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]