Editing World tree (section)

====Baltic beliefs====
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).<ref>Čepienė, Irena. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/59891 Kai kurie mitinės pasaulėkūros aspektai lietuvių tradicinėje kultūroje]" [Certain aspects of mythical world building in Lithuanian traditional culture]. In: ''Geografija ir edukacija'' [Geography and education]. 2014, Nr. 2, p. 57. {{ISSN|2351-6453}}.</ref><ref name="Běťáková, Marta Eva 2012. p. 178">Běťáková, Marta Eva; [[Václav Blažek|Blažek, Václav]]. ''Encyklopedie baltské mytologie''. Praha: Libri. 2012. p. 178. {{ISBN|978-80-7277-505-7}}.</ref>

It has been suggested that the word for "tree" in [[Baltic languages]] ([[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''medis''; in [[Latvian language|Latvian]] "tree" is ''koks'', but "forest" is ''mežs''), both derived from [[Proto-Indo-European]] ''*medh-'' 'middle', operated a semantic shift from "middle" possibly due to the belief of the ''Arbor Mundi''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kalygin|first1=Victor|title=Some archaic elements of Celtic cosmology|journal=Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie|date=30 January 2003|volume=53|issue=1|doi=10.1515/ZCPH.2003.70|s2cid=162904613}}</ref>

=====Lithuanian culture=====
The world tree ({{langx|lt|Aušros medis}}) is widespread in Lithuanian folk painting, and is frequently found carved into household furniture such as cupboards, towel holders, and laundry beaters.<ref>Straižys and Klimka, chapter 2.</ref><ref>[http://www.lithuanian.net/mitai/cosmos/baltai2.htm Cosmology of the Ancient Balts – 3. The concept of the World-Tree] (from the 'lithuanian.net' website. Accessed 2008-12-26.)</ref><ref>Klimka, Libertas. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/86027 Baltiškasis Pasaulio modelis ir kalendorius]" [Baltic Model of the World and Calendar]. In: ''LIETUVA iki MINDAUGO''. 2003. p. 341. {{ISBN|9986-571-89-8}}.</ref> According to Lithuanian scholars Prane Dunduliene and [[Norbertas Vėlius]], 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.<ref name="Straižys, Vytautas 1997"/> The World Tree of Lithuanian tradition was sometimes identified as an oak or a [[maple tree]].<ref name="Běťáková, Marta Eva 2012. p. 178"/>

=====Latvian culture=====
In [[Latvian mythology]] the world tree ({{langx|lv|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.<ref name="Běťáková, Marta Eva 2012. p. 178"/> 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 the Sun, the  Moon, God, Laima, Auseklis (the morning star), or the daughter of the Sun rest[ed]".<ref name=Kencis2011>{{cite journal|last1=Ķencis|first1=Toms|title=The Latvian Mythological Space in Scholarly Time|journal=Archaeologia Baltica|date=20 September 2011|volume=15|pages=144–157|doi=10.15181/ab.v15i1.28}}</ref>