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79-618: Holy Mountain may refer to: the mytheme or archetype of the world mountain mountains considered sacred mountains in Abrahamic tradition Mount Sinai , by the Bedouin, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt Mount Tabor , Lower Galilee, Israel Temple Mount , Jerusalem Mount Gerizim , West Bank, Palestine Toponymy [ edit ] Mount Athos , called

158-706: A battle between a Thunder God and a snake-like adversary . In their proposed reconstruction, the Snake lives under the World Tree, sleeping on black wool. They surmise this snake on black wool is a reference to a cattle god, known in Slavic mythology as Veles . Further studies show that the usual tree that appears in Slavic folklore is an oak: for instance, in Czech , it is known as Veledub ('The Great Oak'). In addition,

237-592: A Centre; that is to say, a place that is sacred above all." Specific examples of cosmic mountains or centers include one from Egyptian texts described as providing support for the sky, Mount Mashu from the Epic of Gilgamesh , Adam's Peak which is a sacred mountain in Sri Lanka associated with Adam or Buddha in Islamic and Buddhist traditions respectively, Mount Qaf in other Islamic and Arabic cosmologies,

316-479: A National Film Board of Canada interactive documentary Holy Mountain (band) , a Scottish psychedelic rock band Sleep's Holy Mountain , a 1993 album by the band Sleep "Holy Mountains", a song by the band System of a Down on the album Hypnotize Holy Mountain Records , a record label, distributing artists such as the band Om "Holy Mountain" (song) , a song by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds from

395-406: A natural and universal psychological perception – i.e., that the particular spot that one occupies stands at "the center of the world". This space serves as a microcosm of order because it is known and settled. Outside the boundaries of the microcosm lie foreign realms that – because they are unfamiliar or not ordered – represent chaos, death, or night. From the center, one may still venture in any of

474-674: A product of human manufacture (such as a staff, a tower , a ladder , a staircase , a maypole , a cross , a steeple , a rope , a totem pole , a pillar , a spire ). Its proximity to heaven may carry implications that are chiefly religious ( pagoda , temple mount , minaret , church ) or secular ( obelisk , lighthouse , rocket , skyscraper ). The image appears in religious and secular contexts. The axis mundi symbol may be found in cultures utilizing shamanic practices or animist belief systems, in major world religions, and in technologically advanced "urban centers". In Mircea Eliade 's opinion: "Every Microcosm, every inhabited region, has

553-648: A separate Greek myth the Hesperides live beneath an apple tree with golden apples that was given to the highest Olympian goddess Hera by the primal Mother goddess Gaia at Hera's marriage to Zeus. The tree stands in the Garden of the Hesperides and is guarded by Ladon , a dragon. Heracles defeats Ladon and snatches the golden apples. In the epic quest for the Golden Fleece of Argonautica ,

632-519: A series of spiral structures that take him through the core of the earth, from the depths of hell to celestial paradise. It is also a central tenet in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex . Anyone or anything suspended on the axis between heaven and earth becomes a repository of potential knowledge. A special status accrues to the thing suspended: a serpent , a rod, a fruit, mistletoe . Derivations of this idea find form in

711-632: A sign and suddenly a "serpent gliding from the Caucasus mountains" appears and coils around the grove as to protect it. In Roman mythology the world tree was the olive tree , that was associated with Pax . The Greek equivalent of Pax is Eirene , one of the Horae . The Sacred tree of the Roman Sky father Jupiter was the oak , the laurel was the Sacred tree of Apollo . The ancient fig-tree in

790-563: A snake that menaces its nestlings. A similar imagery is attested in Hittite literature : a snake encircles the base of a tree, an eagle perches atop it, and a bee occupies its middle, which Craig Melchert considers to be a version of the "world tree" or "tree of life" motif. Professor Amar Annus states that, although the motif seems to originate much earlier, its first attestation in world culture occurred in Sumerian literature , with

869-477: A sort of axis, or path, which can lead from man's current central position in the intermediate realms into heavenly or sub-earthly realms. Thus, in this view, symbolic representations of a vertical axis represent a path of "ascent" or "descent" into other spiritual or material realms, and often capture a philosophy that considers human life to be a quest in which one develops insights or perfections in order to move beyond this current microcosmic realm and to engage with

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948-405: A square oriented toward the four compass directions. A traditional home was oriented toward the sky through feng shui , a system of geomancy , just as a palace would be. Traditional Arab houses are also laid out as a square surrounding a central fountain that evokes a primordial garden paradise. Mircea Eliade noted that "the symbolism of the pillar in [European] peasant houses likewise derives from

1027-664: A universally told story, is that of the healer traversing the axis mundi to bring back knowledge from the other world. It may be seen in the stories from Odin and the World Ash Tree to the Garden of Eden and Jacob's Ladder to Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel . It is the essence of the journey described in The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri . The epic poem relates its hero's descent and ascent through

1106-410: A winged mythical creature" that represents a heavenly realm. The eagle seems to be the most frequent bird, fulfilling the role of a creator or weather deity. Its antipode is a snake or serpentine creature that crawls between the tree roots, being a "symbol of the underworld". The World Tree has also been compared to a World Pillar that appears in other traditions and functions as separator between

1185-609: A world center within the boundaries of its two-dimensional space analogous to that created in three-dimensional space by a shrine. In the classical elements and the Vedic Pancha Bhoota , the axis mundi corresponds to Aether , the quintessence. Plants often serve as images of the axis mundi. The image of the Cosmic Tree provides an axis symbol that unites three planes: sky (branches), earth (trunk), and underworld (roots). In some Pacific Island cultures,

1264-466: A world tree. Some scholars have argued that the religious importance of the horizontal and vertical dimensions in many animist cultures may derive from the human body and the position it occupies in the world as it perceives the surrounding living world. Many Indigenous cultures of the Americas have similar cosmologies regarding the directionality and the world tree, however the type of tree representing

1343-566: Is also associated with a classical element (top part – fire ; middle part – earth , soil, ground; bottom part – water ). Its branches are said to reach the skies and its roots to connect the human or earthly world with an underworld or subterranean realm. Because of this, the tree was worshipped as a mediator between Heavens and Earth. On the treetops are located the luminaries ( stars ) and heavenly bodies, along with an eagle's nest; several species of birds perch among its branches; humans and animals of every kind live under its branches, and near

1422-499: Is central and considered very holy. The Æsir go to Yggdrasil daily to hold their courts. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations: one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir , and another to the well Mímisbrunnr . Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the harts Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór ,

1501-497: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages World mountain In astronomy , axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles . In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere . Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy , the axis mundi is

1580-461: Is often identified with the Tree of Life , and also fulfills the role of an axis mundi , that is, a centre or axis of the world. It is also located at the center of the world and represents order and harmony of the cosmos. According to Loreta Senkute, each part of the tree corresponds to one of the three spheres of the world (treetops – heavens; trunk – middle world or earth; roots – underworld) and

1659-459: Is present in many cultural traditions and religious beliefs, it can be thought to exist in any number of locales at once. Mount Hermon was regarded as the axis mundi in Canaanite tradition, from where the sons of God are introduced descending in 1 Enoch 6:6. The ancient Armenians had a number of holy sites, the most important of which was Mount Ararat , which was thought to be the home of

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1738-525: Is seen as a sort of bridge between either: two worlds, the earthly and the heavenly (as in Hindu, and Taoist philosophical and theological systems); or three worlds, namely the earthly, heavenly, and the "sub-earthly" or "infra-earthly" (e.g., the underworld, as in the Ancient Greek, Incan, Mayan, and Ancient Egyptian religious systems). Spanning these philosophical systems is the belief that man traverses

1817-525: Is the axis mundi (though not necessarily a "world tree") that Ọrunmila climbs to alternate between heaven and earth. The human body can express the symbol of the world axis. Some of the more abstract Tree of Life representations, such as the sefirot in Kabbalism and the chakra system recognized by Hinduism and Buddhism, merge with the concept of the human body as a pillar between heaven and earth. Disciplines such as yoga and tai chi begin from

1896-459: Is the oak, and the one at Dodona (famous for the cultic worship of Zeus and the oak) was said by later tradition to have its roots furrow so deep as to reach the confines of Tartarus. In a different cosmogonic account presented by Pherecydes of Syros , male deity Zas (identified as Zeus ) marries female divinity Chthonie (associated with the earth and later called Gê/ Gaia ), and from their marriage sprouts an oak tree. This oak tree connects

1975-583: The Comitium at Rome, was considered as a descendant of the very tree under which Romulus and Remus were found. In Norse mythology , Yggdrasil is the world tree. Yggdrasil is attested in the Poetic Edda , compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda , written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson . In both sources, Yggdrasil is an immense ash tree that

2054-674: The Garden of Eden story in the Book of Genesis in the Bible . According to Jewish mythology , in the Garden of Eden there is a tree of life or the "tree of souls" that blossoms and produces new souls , which fall into the Guf , the Treasury of Souls . The Angel Gabriel reaches into the treasury and takes out the first soul that comes into his hand. Then Lailah , the Angel of Conception, watches over

2133-683: The Pahlavi Bundahishn , it is said that evil god Ahriman created a lizard to attack the tree. Bas tokhmak is another remedial tree; it retains all herbal seeds and destroys sorrow. Remnants are also evident in the Kalpavriksha ("wish-fulfilling tree") and the Ashvattha tree of the Indian religions . The Ashvattha tree ('keeper of horses') is described as a sacred fig and corresponds to "the most typical representation of

2212-606: The Rod of Asclepius , an emblem of the medical profession, and in the caduceus , an emblem of correspondence and commercial professions. The staff in these emblems represents the axis mundi, while the serpents act as guardians of, or guides to, knowledge. A modern artistic representation of the axis mundi is the Colonne sans fin ( The Endless Column , 1938) an abstract sculpture by Romanian Constantin Brâncuși . The column takes

2291-533: The banyan tree – of which the Bodhi tree is of the Sacred Fig variety – is the abode of ancestor spirits. In Hindu religion, the banyan tree is considered sacred and is called ashwath vriksha ("Of all trees I am the banyan tree" – Bhagavad Gita ). It represents eternal life because of its seemingly ever-expanding branches. The Bodhi tree is also the name given to the tree under which Gautama Siddhartha ,

2370-667: The oak in Slavic , Finnish and Baltic , Jianmu ( Chinese : 建木 ; pinyin : jiànmù ) in Chinese mythology , and in Hindu mythology the Ashvattha (a Ficus religiosa ). Scholarship states that many Eurasian mythologies share the motif of the "world tree", "cosmic tree", or "Eagle and Serpent Tree". More specifically, it shows up in "Haitian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Norse, Siberian and northern Asian Shamanic folklore". The World Tree

2449-560: The "bird-peaked" tree holds the sun and the moon, and the underworld is "a land of snakes, lizards and frogs". In the mythology of the Samoyeds , the world tree connects different realities (underworld, this world, upper world) together. In their mythology the world tree is also the symbol of Mother Earth who is said to give the Samoyed shaman his drum and also help him travel from one world to another. According to scholar Aado Lintrop,

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2528-422: The "higher and lower realms". Mircea Eliade introduced the concept in the 1950s. Axis mundi closely relates to the mythological concept of the omphalos (navel) of the world or cosmos. Items adduced as examples of the axis mundi by comparative mythologists include plants (notably a tree but also other types of plants such as a vine or stalk ), a mountain , a column of smoke or fire , or

2607-414: The 'symbolic field' of the axis mundi . In many archaic dwellings the central pillar does in fact serve as a means of communication with the heavens, with the sky." The nomadic peoples of Mongolia and the Americas more often lived in circular structures. The central pole of the tent still operated as an axis, but a fixed reference to the four compass points was avoided. A common shamanic concept, and

2686-521: The Baltic and Slavic patterns there was an image of an inverted tree, "growing with its roots up, and branches going into the ground". Scholarship recognizes that Baltic beliefs about a World Tree, located at the central part of the Earth, follow a tripartite division of the cosmos (underworld, earth, sky), each part corresponding to a part of the tree (root, trunk, branches). It has been suggested that

2765-691: The Holy Mountain or Hagion Oros (Ἅγιον Ὄρος) The Holy Mountain, a translation of Jebel Barkal , a mountain in Nubia Holy Mountains National Nature Park in Ukraine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy (Italy), World Heritage Site Popular culture [ edit ] The Holy Mountain (1926 film) , a German silent film The Holy Mountain (1973 film) , a 1973 film directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky Holy Mountain (website) ,

2844-587: The Sun, the Moon, God, Laima, Auseklis (the morning star), or the daughter of the Sun rest[ed]". According to Slavic folklore, as reconstructed by Radoslav Katičić , the draconic or serpentine character furrows near a body of water, and the bird that lives on the treetop could be an eagle, a falcon or a nightingale. Scholars Ivanov and Toporov offered a reconstructed Slavic variant of the Indo-European myth about

2923-467: The World Tree is "a powerful tree with widespread branches and strong roots, reaching deep into the earth". The recurrent imagery is also present in Lithuanian myth: on the treetops, the luminaries and eagles, and further down, amidst its roots, the dwelling place of snakes and reptiles. The World Tree of Lithuanian tradition was sometimes identified as an oak or a maple tree . In Latvian mythology

3002-597: The album Who Built the Moon? "The Holy Mountain", a song by Poppy from the 2019 EP Choke Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Holy Mountain . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holy_Mountain&oldid=1243175672 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

3081-416: The axis mundi lie in a particular philosophical or metaphysical representation of a common and culturally shared philosophical concept, which is that of a natural reflection of the macrocosm (or existence at grand scale) in the microcosm (which consists of either an individual, community, or local environment that shares the same principles and structures as the macrocosm). In this metaphysical representation of

3160-404: The axis of rotation of the planetary spheres within the classical geocentric model of the cosmos. In 20th-century comparative mythology , the term axis mundi – also called the cosmic axis , world axis , world pillar , center of the world , or world tree – has been greatly extended to refer to any mythological concept representing "the connection between Heaven and Earth " or

3239-482: The axis. Altars, incense sticks, candles, and torches form the axis by sending a column of smoke, and prayer, toward heaven. It has been suggested by Romanian religious historian Mircea Eliade that architecture of sacred places often reflects this role: "Every temple or palace – and by extension, every sacred city or royal residence – is a Sacred Mountain, thus becoming a Centre." Pagoda structures in Asian temples take

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3318-479: The earth and the skies, upholding the latter. Another representation akin to the World Tree is a separate World Mountain. However, in some stories, the world tree is located atop the world mountain, in a combination of both motifs. A conflict between a serpentine creature and a giant bird (an eagle) occurs in Eurasian mythologies: a hero kills the serpent that menaces a nest of little birds, and their mother repays

3397-620: The embryo until it is born. According to the Gnostic codex On the Origin of the World , the tree of immortal life is in the north of paradise , which is outside the circuit of the Sun and Moon in the luxuriant Earth. Its height is so great it reaches Heaven. Its leaves are described as resembling cypress , the color of the tree is like the Sun, its fruit is like clusters of white grapes and its branches are beautiful. The tree will provide life for

3476-483: The favor – a motif comparativist Julien d'Huy dates to the Paleolithic. A parallel story is attested in the traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Americas , where the thunderbird is slotted into the role of the giant bird whose nest is menaced by a "snake-like water monster". Romanian historian of religion, Mircea Eliade , in his monumental work Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy , suggested that

3555-666: The first building on Earth), as well as the Temple Mount ( Dome of the Rock ). In Hinduism , Mount Kailash is identified with the mythical Mount Meru and regarded as the home of Shiva ; in Vajrayana Buddhism , Mount Kailash is recognized as a similarly sacred place. In Shinto , the Ise Shrine is the omphalos . Sacred places can constitute world centers ( omphaloi ), with an altar or place of prayer as

3634-765: The form of a "sky pillar" ( columna cerului ) upholding the heavens even as its rhythmically repeating segments invite climb and suggest the possibility of ascension. World tree Specific world trees include Égig érő fa in Hungarian mythology , Ağaç Ana in Turkic mythology , Kenac' Car in Armenian mythology , Modun in Mongol mythology , Yggdrasil in Norse mythology , Irminsul in Germanic mythology,

3713-482: The form of a stairway linking earth and heaven. A steeple in a church or a minaret in a mosque also serve as connections of earth and heaven. Structures such as the maypole , derived from the Saxons ' Irminsul , and the totem pole among indigenous peoples of the Americas also represent world axes. The calumet , or sacred pipe, represents a column of smoke (the soul) rising from a world center. A mandala creates

3792-518: The four cardinal directions, make discoveries, and establish new centers as new realms become known and settled. The name of China — meaning "Middle Nation" ( 中国 pinyin : Zhōngguó ) – is often interpreted as an expression of an ancient perception that the Chinese polity (or group of polities) occupied the center of the world, with other lands lying in various directions relative to it. A second interpretation suggests that ancient symbols such as

3871-437: The giant in eagle-shape Hræsvelgr , the squirrel Ratatoskr and the wyrm Níðhöggr . Scholarly theories have been proposed about the etymology of the name Yggdrasil , the potential relation to the trees Mímameiðr and Læraðr , and the sacred tree at Uppsala . In Baltic , Slavic and Finnish mythology, the world tree is usually an oak . Most of the images of the world tree are preserved on ancient ornaments. Often on

3950-576: The gods as well as the center of the universe. Likewise, the ancient Greeks regarded several sites as places of Earth's omphalos (navel) stone, notably the oracle at Delphi , while still maintaining a belief in a cosmic world tree and in Mount Olympus as the abode of the gods. Judaism has the Temple Mount ; Christianity has the Mount of Olives and Calvary ; and Islam has the Ka'aba (said to be

4029-656: The grand macrocosmic order. In other interpretations, an axis mundi is more broadly defined as a place of connection between heavenly and the earthly realms – often a mountain or other elevated site. Tall mountains are often regarded as sacred and some have shrines erected at the summit or base. Mount Kunlun fills a similar role in China. Mount Kailash is holy to Hinduism and several religions in Tibet . The Pitjantjatjara people in central Australia consider Uluru to be central to both their world and culture. The Teide volcano

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4108-525: The heavens above and its roots grew into the Earth, to reach the depths of Tartarus . This oak tree is considered by scholarship to symbolize a cosmic tree, uniting three spheres: underworld, terrestrial and celestial. Besides the oak, several other sacred trees existed in Greek mythology . For instance, the olive , named Moriai , was the world tree and associated with the Olympian goddess Athena . In

4187-458: The historical Buddha , sat on the night he attained enlightenment . The Mesoamerican world tree connects the planes of the underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial realm. The Yggdrasil , or World Ash, functions in much the same way in Norse mythology ; it is the site where Odin found enlightenment. Other examples include Jievaras in Lithuanian mythology and Thor's Oak in

4266-460: The imagery of the world tree. Another line of scholarship points to a "recurring theme" of the owl as the mediator to the upper realm, and its counterpart, the snake, as the mediator to the lower regions of the cosmos. Researcher Kristen Pearson mentions Northern Eurasian and Central Asian traditions wherein the World Tree is also associated with the horse and with deer antlers (which might resemble tree branches). Mircea Eliade proposed that

4345-554: The innocent during the consummation of the age . Mandaean scrolls often include abstract illustrations of world trees that represent the living, interconnected nature of the cosmos. In Mandaeism , the date palm ( Mandaic : sindirka ) symbolizes the cosmic tree and is often associated with the cosmic wellspring ( Mandaic : aina ). The date palm and wellspring are often mentioned together as heavenly symbols in Mandaean texts . The date palm takes on masculine symbolism, while

4424-495: The legendary bird Simurgh (alternatively, Saēna bird ; Sēnmurw and Senmurv ) perches atop a tree in the center of the sea Vourukasa . This tree is described as having all-healing properties and many seeds. In another account, the tree is the very same tree of the White Hōm (Haōma). Gaokerena or white Haoma is a tree whose vivacity ensures continued life in the universe, and grants immortality to "all who eat from it". In

4503-574: The mountain Harā Bərəz in Zoroastrian cosmology , Mount Meru in Hindu , Jain , and Buddhist cosmologies , and Mecca as a cosmic center in Sufi cosmology (with minority traditions placing it as Medina or Jerusalem ). There are multiple interpretations about the origin of the concept of the axis mundi. One psychological and sociological interpretation suggests that the symbol originates in

4582-602: The myths of the pre-Christian Germanic peoples . The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis present two aspects of the same image. Each is said to stand at the center of the paradise garden from which four rivers flow to nourish the whole world. Each tree confers a boon. Bamboo , the plant from which Asian calligraphy pens are made, represents knowledge and is regularly found on Asian college campuses. The Christmas tree , which can be traced in its origins back to pre-Christian European beliefs, represents an axis mundi. In Yoruba religion , oil palm

4661-462: The object of the quest is found in the realm of Colchis , hanging on a tree guarded by a never-sleeping dragon (the Colchian dragon ). In a version of the story provided by Pseudo-Apollodorus in Bibliotheca , the Golden Fleece was affixed by King Aeetes to an oak tree in a grove dedicated to war god Ares . This information is repeated in Valerius Flaccus 's Argonautica . In the same passage of Valerius Flaccus' work, King Aeetes prays to Ares for

4740-446: The parts of the tree: between its roots, figure "chthonic animals", such as snakes and frogs, but he also mentions aquatic animals such as otters, beavers, and fishes, as well as dragons; the middle part of the tree is reserved for hoofed animals such as deer or elk (sometimes bees), and on the topmost part perches the "principal" bird, or a pair of birds sat on either side of the tree crown. A bird perches atop its foliage, "often ....

4819-456: The premise of the human body as axis mundi. The Buddha represents a world center in human form. Large statues of a meditating figure unite the human form with the symbolism of the temple and tower. Astrology in all its forms assumes a connection between human health and affairs and celestial-body orientation. World religions regard the body itself as a temple and prayer as a column uniting earth and heaven. The ancient Colossus of Rhodes combined

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4898-477: The realm of Patala (a netherworld where the Nāga dwell), or in an inverted position, rooted in the Heavens. Like other accounts, this tree may also function as an axis mundi . The world tree is also represented in the mythologies and folklore of North Asia and Siberia . According to Mihály Hoppál, Hungarian scholar Vilmos Diószegi located some motifs related to the world tree in Siberian shamanism and other North Asian peoples. As per Diószegi's research,

4977-406: The role of the human figure with those of portal and skyscraper. The Renaissance image known as the Vitruvian Man represented a symbolic and mathematical exploration of the human form as world axis. Secular structures can also function as axes mundi . In Navajo culture, the hogan acts as a symbolic cosmic center. In some Asian cultures, houses were traditionally laid out in the form of

5056-431: The root is the dwelling place of snakes and every sort of reptiles. The imagery of the World Tree is sometimes associated with conferring immortality, either by a fruit that grows on it or by a springsource located nearby. As George Lechler also pointed out, in some descriptions this "water of life" may also flow from the roots of the tree. According to Vladimir Toporov , animal species are commonly distributed along

5135-417: The serpent and the other residents escape. In fragments of the story of Etana , there is a narrative sequence about a snake and an eagle that live on opposite sides of a poplar tree ( şarbatu ), the snake on its roots, the eagle on its foliage. At a certain point, both animals swear before deity Shamash and share their meat with each other, until the eagle's hatchlings are born and the eagle decides to eat

5214-428: The snake's young ones. In revenge, the snake alerts god Shamash, who agrees to let the snake punish the eagle for the perceived affront. Later, Shamash takes pity on the bird's condition and sets hero Etana to release it from its punishment. Later versions of the story associate the eagle with mythical bird Anzû and the snake with a serpentine being named Bašmu . A world tree is a common motif in Persian mythology ,

5293-410: The tale of " Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld ". According to this tale, goddess Innana transplants the huluppu tree to her garden in the City of Uruk, for she intends to use its wood to carve a throne. However, a snake "with no charm", a ghostly figure ( Lilith or another character associated with darkness) and the legendary Anzû -bird make their residence on the tree, until Gilgamesh kills

5372-433: The typical imagery of the world tree (bird at the top, snake at the root) "is presumably of Oriental origin". Likewise, Roald Knutsen indicates a possible origin of the motif in Central Asia and later diffusion into other regions and cultures. A common theme in most indigenous cultures of the Americas is a concept of directionality (the horizontal and vertical planes), with the vertical dimension often being represented by

5451-408: The underworld. Jacob's Ladder is an axis mundi image, as is the Temple Mount . For Christians, the Cross on Mount Calvary expresses this symbol. The Middle Kingdom, China, had a central mountain, Kunlun , known in Taoist literature as "the mountain at the middle of the world". To "go into the mountains" meant to dedicate oneself to a spiritual life. As the abstract concept of axis mundi

5530-414: The universe, mankind is placed into an existence that serves as a microcosm of the universe or the entire cosmic existence, and who – in order to achieve higher states of existence or liberation into the macrocosm – must gain necessary insights into universal principles that can be represented by his life or environment in the microcosm. In many religious and philosophical traditions around the world, mankind

5609-408: The wellspring takes on feminine symbolism. Armenian professor Hrach Martirosyan argues for the presence, in Armenian mythology , of a serpentine creature named Andndayin ōj , that lives in the (abyssal) waters that circundate the World Tree. According to scholarship, Georgian mythology also attests a rivalry between mythical bird Paskunji, which lives in the underworld on the top of a tree, and

5688-624: The word for "tree" in Baltic languages ( Latvian mežs ; Lithuanian medis ), both derived from Proto-Indo-European *medh- 'middle', operated a semantic shift from "middle" possibly due to the belief of the Arbor Mundi . The world tree ( Lithuanian : Aušros medis ) is widespread in Lithuanian folk painting, and is frequently found carved into household furniture such as cupboards, towel holders, and laundry beaters. According to Lithuanian scholars Prane Dunduliene and Norbertas Vėlius ,

5767-453: The world tree ( Latvian : Austras koks ) was one of the most important beliefs, also associated with the birth of the world. Sometimes it was identified as an oak or a birch , or even replaced by a wooden pole. According to Ludvigs Adamovičs's book on Latvian folk belief, ancient Latvian mythology attested the existence of a Sun Tree as an expression of the World Tree, often described as "a birch tree with three leaves or forked branches where

5846-527: The world tree also appears in folk medicine of the Don Cossacks . According to scholar Aado Lintrop , Estonian mythology records two types of world tree in Estonian runic songs, with similar characteristics of being an oak and having a bird at the top, a snake at the roots and the stars amongst its branches. The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of life are both components of

5925-602: The world tree appears in the Island of Buyan , on top of a stone. Another description shows that legendary birds Sirin and Alkonost make their nests on separate sides of the tree. Ukrainian scholarship points to the existence of the motif in "archaic wintertime songs and carols": their texts attest a tree at the center of the world and two or three falcons or pigeons sat on its top, ready to dive in and fetch mud to create land (the Earth diver cosmogonic motif). The imagery of

6004-472: The world tree depends on the surrounding environment. For many Indigenous American peoples located in more temperate regions for example, it is the spruce rather than the ceiba that is the world tree; however the idea of cosmic directions combined with a concept of a tree uniting the directional planes is similar. Like in many other Indo-European cultures , one tree species was considered the World Tree in some cosmogonical accounts. The sacred tree of Zeus

6083-626: The world tree in India", upon whose branches the celestial bodies rest. Likewise, the Kalpavriksha is also equated with a fig tree and said to possess wish-granting abilities. Indologist David Dean Shulman provided the description of a similar imagery that appears in South Indian temples : the sthalavṛkṣa tree. The tree is depicted alongside a water source (river, temple tank, sea). The tree may also appear rooted on Earth or reaching

6162-606: The world tree was an important element in shamanistic worldview. Also, according to him, "the giant bird ... hatches shamans in the branches of the World Tree". Likewise, Roald Knutsen indicates the presence of the motif in Altaic shamanism . Representations of the world tree are reported to be portrayed in drums used in Siberian shamanistic practices. Some species of birds ( eagle , raven , crane , loon , and lark ) are revered as mediators between worlds and also connected to

6241-696: Was for the Canarian aborigines ( Guanches ) a kind of axis mundi . In ancient Mesopotamia , the cultures of ancient Sumer and Babylon built tall platforms, or ziggurats , to elevate temples on the flat river plain. Hindu temples in India are often situated on high mountains – e.g., Amarnath , Tirupati , Vaishno Devi , etc. The pre-Columbian residents of Teotihuacán in Mexico erected huge pyramids , featuring staircases leading to heaven. These Amerindian temples were often placed on top of caves or subterranean springs, which were thought to be openings to

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