Editing World tree (section)

=== Tripartite division of the world ===
The World Tree is often identified with the ''Tree of Life'',<ref name=Lintrop2001>{{cite journal|last1=Lintrop|first1=Aado|title=The Great Oak and Brother-Sister|journal=Folklore|date=2001|volume=16|pages=35–58|doi=10.7592/FEJF2001.16.oak2|doi-access=free}}</ref> and also fulfills the role of an ''[[axis mundi]]'', that is, a centre or axis of the world.<ref name="Toporov 1990 46–63 48">{{cite journal |last=Toporov |first=V. |author-link=Vladimir Toporov |title=The Thracian Horseman in an Indo-European Perspective |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=772269 |journal=ORPHEUS. Journal of Indo-European and Thracian Studies |volume=18 |date=1990 |pages=46–63 [48]}}</ref><ref name=Crews2003/> It is also located at the center of the world and represents order and harmony of the cosmos.<ref name="lituanistika.lt">Senkutė, Loreta. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/45631 Varuna "Rigvedoje" ir dievo įvaizdžio sąsajos su velniu baltų mitologijoje]" [God Varuna o f the Rigveda as related to images in ancient Baltic mythology]. In: ''Rytai-Vakarai: Komparatyvistinés Studijos XII''. pp. 366–367. {{ISBN|9789955868552}}.</ref> 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 is also associated with a classical element (top part – [[fire]]; middle part – [[earth]], soil, ground; bottom part – [[water]]).<ref name="lituanistika.lt"/>

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.<ref>Usačiovaitė, Elvyra. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/5648 Gyvybės medžio simbolika Rytuose ir Vakaruose]" [Symbolism of the Tree of Life in the East and the West; Life tree symbols in the East and West]. In: ''Kultūrologija'' [Culturology]. 2005, t. 12, p. 313. {{ISSN|1822-2242}}.</ref> On the treetops are located the luminaries ([[star]]s) and heavenly bodies,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Toporov |first=V. |author-link=Vladimir Toporov |title=The Thracian Horseman in an Indo-European Perspective |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=772269 |journal=ORPHEUS. Journal of Indo-European and Thracian Studies |volume=18 |date=1990 |pages=46–63 [48] |quote=The ''top'' [of the World Tree] is correlated ... with celestial and astral symbols: the Sun and the Moon, usually placed symmetrically above the tree, on the right and on the left, less frequently stars.}}</ref> 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 the root is the dwelling place of snakes and every sort of reptiles.<ref name="Straižys, Vytautas 1997">{{cite journal|last1=Straižys|first1=Vytautas|last2=Klimka|first2=Libertas|title=The Cosmology of the Ancient Balts|journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy|date=February 1997|volume=28|issue=22|pages=S57–S81|doi=10.1177/002182869702802207|s2cid=117470993}}</ref><ref name=Kuperjanov2002>{{cite journal|last1=Kuperjanov|first1=Andres|title=Names in Estonian Folk Astronomy - from 'Bird's Way' to 'Milky Way'|journal=Folklore|date=2002|volume=22|pages=49–61|doi=10.7592/FEJF2002.22.milkyway|doi-access=free}}</ref>