World tree

The World Tree is part of the mythology of many peoples and is an ancient symbol of cosmic order. It stands as a world axis ( axis mundi ) in the center of the world. Its roots go deep into the earth and its top touching the sky or wear. Thus he connects the three levels sky, earth and underworld.

Model concepts

Different, however, was the idea of ​​how many levels or worlds there. From three ( heaven, earth, underworld ) to, for example, nine worlds ( Germanic ). Some people also imagined that its tip extends to the North Star. In different cultures, different tree species have been associated with the World Tree, for example, the birch, oak, yew or ash.

In general, mythical animals inhabit the world tree. Common in Indo-European peoples sits an eagle in the crown and a snake at the bottom of the tree. In Indian, Germanic and Slavic mythology there is dispute between these two animals. In Minoan culture, it is, however, the Bull of Heaven, which rotates the axis of the world in stoic circling run.

In most ancient cultures and religions trees or groves were revered as the seat of gods or other supernatural beings. So the tree ( the sycamore, for example, the Egyptians or the tree of life in the Jewish mythology) plays in mythology as the Tree of Life, a tree of immortality ( the peach tree in China) or as a symbol of awakening in Buddhism ( the Bodhi tree ) a role. In Babylonian mythology Xixum extends its branches to the sky, while his roots are deep in the underworld. Its trunk symbolizes the connection of the spheres.

Mesopotamia to India

In one of ancient Mesopotamia fundamental to India myth of the world tree goes on top of the world mountain ( in India Meru ) vertically from the underworld to the heavens, where the gods live, and where the birds fly, sitting in the tops of the tree. At the same time, this tree symbolizes the center of the four quarters of the world in a cosmological model, sometimes by four smaller trees in the four quarters of the world adds. The tree with birds is also a fertility symbol and stands for the periodic renewal of life, already mapped to the Bronze Age seals and amulets of Tilla Tepe in present-day Afghanistan in the mid-3rd millennium BC with the same motif of birds in the tree crown were in this necropolis also golden royal crowns from the first centuries BC have been found.

Shamanism

In shamanism the world tree plays an important role. Firstly, it is the center of the world, on the other hand, the trail leads back to him to the beginning of creation. He connects the real world with the former world in the original position, which was not yet separated from the sky. About the World Tree, the shaman record with the creation center connection and commence a flight into the realms of spirits and gods. Sometimes this connection is in between worlds by a river. Then the shaman enters with his soul's journey in a boat on this river in the spirit world. The World Tree also serves as the resting place of deceased shamans, the soul leaves the body from which to enter into the realm of the spirits.

List of World Trees

  • Babylonians, Sumerians: Sacred Tree of Eridu
  • Teutons: Yggdrasil (ash), nor the next Irminsul
  • Greeks: Tree of the Hesperides
  • Hebrews: Tree of Life ( Kabbalah ) ( Etz Chaijm )
  • Indians: Asvattha Tree
  • Islam: Tuba
  • Latvians: Austra coke (oak)
  • Maya: Wacah Chan (World Tree) and Yax Cheel Cab (first tree in the world )
  • Persian: Simurgh Tree ( mother of all trees)
Taxus Grove (nature) Mount Meru Tillya Tepe Mind Astral projection Austras koks Sergius Golowin Integrated Authority File
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