Editing World tree (section)

==In specific cultures==
===Indigenous American cultures===
{{Main|Mesoamerican world tree}}
* Among [[Indigenous peoples|Indigenous]] [[Mesoamerica]]n cultures, the concept of "world trees" is a prevalent motif in Mesoamerican cosmologies and iconography. The [[Temple of the Cross Complex]] at [[Palenque]] contains one of the most studied examples of the world tree in architectural motifs of all Mayan ruins. World trees embodied the four cardinal directions, which represented also the fourfold nature of a central world tree, a symbolic ''[[axis mundi]]'' connecting the planes of the Underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial world.{{sfn|Miller|Taube|1993|p=186}}
* Depictions of world trees, both in their directional and central aspects, are found in the art and traditions of cultures such as the [[Maya civilization|Maya]], [[Aztec]], [[Izapa]]n, [[Mixtec]], [[Olmec]], and others, dating to at least the Mid/Late Formative periods of [[Mesoamerican chronology]]. Among the Maya, the central world tree was conceived as, or represented by, a [[ceiba]] tree, called ''yax imix che'' ('blue-green tree of abundance') by the Book of [[Chilam Balam]] of Chumayel.<ref>Roys 1967: 100.</ref> The trunk of the tree could also be represented by an upright [[caiman]], whose skin evokes the tree's spiny trunk.{{sfn|Miller|Taube|1993|p=186}} These depictions could also show birds perched atop the trees.<ref name="Knowlton & Gabrielle 2010">{{cite journal|last1=Knowlton|first1=Timothy W.|last2=Vail|first2=Gabrielle|title=Hybrid Cosmologies in Mesoamerica: A Reevaluation of the Yax Cheel Cab , a Maya World Tree|journal=Ethnohistory|date=1 October 2010|volume=57|issue=4|pages=709–739|doi=10.1215/00141801-2010-042|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* A similarly named tree, ''yax cheel cab'' ('first tree of the world'), was reported by 17th-century priest Andrés de Avendaño to have been worshipped by the [[Itza people|Itzá]] [[Mayan people|Maya]]. However, scholarship suggests that this worship derives from some form of cultural interaction between "pre-Hispanic iconography and [millenary] practices" and European traditions brought by the Hispanic colonization.<ref name="Knowlton & Gabrielle 2010"/>
* Directional world trees are also associated with the four Yearbearers in [[Mesoamerican calendars]], and the directional colors and deities. [[Mesoamerican codices]] which have this association outlined include the [[Dresden Codex|Dresden]], [[Codex Borgia|Borgia]] and [[Codex Fejérváry-Mayer|Fejérváry-Mayer]] [[codex|codices]].<ref name="Knowlton & Gabrielle 2010"/> It is supposed that Mesoamerican sites and ceremonial centers frequently had actual trees planted at each of the four cardinal directions, representing the quadripartite concept.
* World trees are frequently depicted with birds in their branches, and their roots extending into earth or water (sometimes atop a "water-monster", symbolic of the underworld).
* The central world tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band of the [[Milky Way]].<ref>Freidel, ''et al.'' (1993){{full citation needed|date=August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Izapa Stela 5]] contains a possible representation of a world tree.

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 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 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.

===Greek mythology===
Like in many other [[Proto-Indo-European mythology|Indo-European cultures]], one tree species was considered the World Tree in some cosmogonical accounts.

====Oak tree====
The [[sacred tree]] of [[Zeus]] is the oak,<ref name="Philpot">{{cite book|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47215/47215-h/47215-h.htm|first=Mrs. J.H.|last=Philpot|title=The Sacred Tree; or the tree in religion and myth|publisher=MacMillan & Co.|place=London|year=1897}}</ref> 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.<ref>Philpot, Mrs. J. H. (1897). ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47215/47215-h/47215-h.htm#c5 The Sacred Tree; or the tree in religion and myth]''. London: MacMillan & Co. pp. 93–94.</ref>

In a different cosmogonic account presented by [[Pherecydes of Syros#Reconstruction|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 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.<ref>Marmoz, Julien. "La Cosmogonie de Phérécyde de Syros". In: ''Nouvelle Mythologie Comparée'' n. 5 (2019–2020). pp. 5–41.</ref>

====Other trees====
Besides the oak, several other [[Trees in mythology|sacred trees]] existed in [[Greek mythology]]. For instance, the [[olive]], named [[Moria (tree)|Moriai]], was the world tree and associated with the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian goddess]] [[Athena]].

In a separate Greek myth the [[Hesperides]] live beneath an [[apple tree]] with [[golden apple]]s that was given to the highest Olympian goddess [[Hera]] by the primal [[Mother goddess]] [[Gaia]] at Hera's marriage to Zeus.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hesperides-Greek-mythology|title=Hesperides|series=Greek mythology|encyclopedia=Britannica online}}</ref> The tree stands in the [[Hesperides#The Garden of the Hesperides|Garden of the Hesperides]] and is guarded by [[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]], a dragon. [[Heracles]] defeats Ladon and snatches the golden apples.

In the epic quest for the [[Golden Fleece]] of ''[[Argonautica]]'', the object of the quest is found in the realm of [[Colchis]], hanging on a tree guarded by a never-sleeping dragon (the [[Dragons in Greek mythology#The Colchian dragon|Colchian dragon]]).<ref>Godwin, William. ''[https://archive.org/details/livesnecromance04godwgoog/page/n63/mode/2up Lives of the Necromancers]''. London: F. J. Mason, 1876. p. 41.</ref> 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]].<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus. ''[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D9%3Asection%3D1 Bibliotheca]'' 1.9.1. Translation by Sir James George Frazer.</ref> This information is repeated in [[Valerius Flaccus (poet)|Valerius Flaccus]]'s ''Argonautica''.<ref>Valerius Flaccus. ''[https://www.loebclassics.com/view/valerius_flaccus-argonautica/1934/pb_LCL286.261.xml Argonautica]''. Translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Book V. Lines 228ff.</ref> In the same passage of Valerius Flaccus' work, King Aeetes prays to Ares for a sign and suddenly a "serpent gliding from the Caucasus mountains" appears and coils around the grove as to protect it.<ref>Valerius Flaccus. ''[https://www.loebclassics.com/view/valerius_flaccus-argonautica/1934/pb_LCL286.263.xml Argonautica]''. Translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Book V. Lines 241 and 253ff.</ref>

===Roman mythology===
In [[Roman mythology]] the world tree was the [[Olive branch#Ancient Greece and Rome|olive tree]], that was associated with [[Pax (goddess)|Pax]]. The Greek equivalent of ''Pax'' is [[Eirene (goddess)|Eirene]], one of the [[Horae]]. The Sacred tree of the Roman [[Sky father]] [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] was the [[oak]], the [[Laurus nobilis|laurel]] was the Sacred tree of [[Apollo]]. The ancient [[Ficus Ruminalis|fig-tree]] in the [[Comitium]] at Rome, was considered as a descendant of the very tree under which [[Romulus and Remus]] were found.<ref name="Philpot"/>

===Norse mythology===
In [[Norse mythology]], [[Yggdrasil]] is the world tree.<ref name=Kuperjanov2002/> 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 [[Fraxinus excelsior|ash tree]] that 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 [[Deer|hart]]s [[Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór]], the giant in eagle-shape [[Hræsvelgr]], the squirrel [[Ratatoskr]] and the [[Norse dragon|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]].

===Circumbaltic mythology===

In [[Baltic mythology|Baltic]], [[Slavic paganism|Slavic]] and [[Finnish mythology|Finnish]] mythology, the world tree is usually an [[oak]].<ref name=Kuperjanov2002/>{{efn|Lithuanian scholar Libertas Klimka ([[:lt:Libertas Klimka|lt]]) indicated that the oak was considered a sacred tree to pre-Christian Baltic religion, including being a tree associated to thunder god Perkunas.<ref>Klimka, Libertas. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/37316 Medžių mitologizavimas tradicinėje lietuvių kultūroje]" [Mythicization of the tree in Lithuanian folk culture]. In: ''Acta humanitarica universitatis Saulensis'' [Acta humanit. univ. Saulensis (Online)]. 2011, t. 13, pp. 22–25. {{ISSN|1822-7309}}.</ref>}} Most of the images of the world tree are preserved on ancient ornaments. Often on the Baltic and Slavic patterns there was an image of an inverted tree, "growing with its roots up, and branches going into the ground".

{{anchor|Aušros medis|Austras koks}}

====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>

====Slavic beliefs====

[[File:Dolmatov World tree.png|thumb|Old Russian ornament of the world tree]]

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.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Šmitek|first1=Zmago|title=The Image of the Real World and the World Beyond in the Slovene Folk TraditionPodoba sveta in onstranstva v slovenskem ljudskem izročilu|journal=Studia mythologica Slavica|date=5 May 2015|volume=2|pages=161|doi=10.3986/sms.v2i0.1848|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Scholars Ivanov and Toporov offered a reconstructed Slavic variant of the Indo-European myth about a [[Proto-Indo-European mythology#Serpent-slaying myth|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 (god)|Veles]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eckert|first1=Rainer|title=On the Cult of the Snake in Ancient Baltic and Slavic Tradition (based on language material from the Latvian folksongs)|journal=Zeitschrift für Slawistik|date=January 1998|volume=43|issue=1|doi=10.1524/slaw.1998.43.1.94|s2cid=171032008}}</ref>

Further studies show that the usual tree that appears in Slavic folklore is an oak: for instance, in [[Czech language|Czech]], it is known as ''Veledub'' ('The Great Oak').<ref>Hudec, Ivan. ''Mýty a báje starých Slovanů''. [s.l.]: Slovart, 2004. S. 1994. {{ISBN|80-7145-111-8}}. (in Czech)</ref>

In addition, 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.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gerasimenko|first1=I. A.|last2=Dmutrieva|first2=J. L.|title=The Image of the World Tree in the Aspect of Russian Linguistic Culture|journal=Russian Language Studies|date=15 December 2015|issue=4|pages=16–22|url=https://journals.rudn.ru/russian-language-studies/article/view/13509}}</ref>

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).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Goshchytska|first=Tеtyana|title=The tree symbol in world mythologies and the mythology of the world tree (іllustrated by the example of the ukrainian Carpathians traditional culture)|journal=The Ethnology Notebooks|date=21 June 2019|volume=147|issue=3|pages=622–640|doi=10.15407/nz2019.03.622|s2cid=197854947}}</ref><ref>Szyjewski, Andrzej (2003). ''Religia Słowian''. Krakow: Wydawnictwo WAM. pp. 36-37. {{ISBN|83-7318-205-5}}. (in Polish)</ref>

The imagery of the world tree also appears in folk medicine of the [[Don Cossacks]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Karpun|first1=Mariia|title=Representations of the World Tree in traditional culture of Don Cossacks|journal=Przegląd Wschodnioeuropejski|date=30 November 2018|volume=9|issue=2|pages=115–122|doi=10.31648/pw.3088|s2cid=216841139|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Finnic mythology====

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.<ref name=Kuperjanov2002/>

===Judeo-Christian mythology===

[[File:Lucas Cranach (I) - Adam and Eve-Paradise - Kunsthistorisches Museum - Detail Tree of Knowledge.jpg|thumb|upright|The Tree of Knowledge depicted, with [[Adam and Eve]], where the [[Tree of life (biblical)|Tree of life]] is described as part of the [[Garden of Eden]] in the Hebrew bible.]]

The [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil]] and the [[Tree of life (biblical)|Tree of life]] are both components of 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''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9dRi8v-j7OMC&pg=PA153|title=Origins of the Kabbalah|via=Google Books|access-date=2014-05-01|df=dmy-all|isbn=0691020477|year=1990|last1=Scholem|first1=Gershom Gerhard|publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref> 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 the embryo until it is born.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/95135842/224/THE-TREASURY-OF-SOULS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030044612/http://www.scribd.com/doc/95135842/224/THE-TREASURY-OF-SOULS|archive-date=2012-10-30|df=dmy-all|title=The Treasury of Souls for Tree of Souls|series=The Mythology of Judaism|website=Scribd|url-status=dead|access-date=15 June 2015}}</ref>

===Islam===
A tree that is grown in the depth of hell is mentioned in the Quran, Surrat As-Saffat (64), called Zaqqum tree, zaqqum literllary means "poisnous food" or "poisnous nourishment".

"Is this bliss a better accommodation or the tree of Zaqqum (62) We have surely made it a test for the wrongdoers (63) Indeed, it is a tree that grows in the depths of Hell (64) bearing fruit like devils’ heads (65)"

===Gnosticism===
According to the [[Gnosticism|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 the innocent during the [[Eschatology|consummation of the age]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=[[Marvin Meyer]]|author2=[[Willis Barnstone]]|title=The Gnostic Bible|publisher=[[Shambhala Publications|Shambhala]]|chapter=On the Origin of the World|url=http://gnosis.org/naghamm/origin-Barnstone.html|date=2009|access-date=2022-02-03}}</ref>

[[List of Mandaean texts|Mandaean scrolls]] often include abstract illustrations of world trees that represent the living, interconnected nature of the cosmos.<ref name="Nasoraia 2021">{{cite book|last=Nasoraia|first=Brikha H.S.|author-link=Brikha Nasoraia|title=The Mandaean gnostic religion: worship practice and deep thought|publisher=Sterling|publication-place=New Delhi|year=2021|isbn=978-81-950824-1-4|oclc=1272858968}}</ref> In [[Mandaeism]], the [[date palm]] ([[Mandaic language|Mandaic]]: {{Transliteration|myz|sindirka}}) symbolizes the cosmic tree and is often associated with the cosmic wellspring ([[Mandaic language|Mandaic]]: {{Transliteration|myz|aina}}). The date palm and wellspring are often mentioned together as heavenly symbols in [[Mandaean texts]]. The date palm takes on masculine symbolism, while the wellspring takes on feminine symbolism.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nasoraia|first=Brikha|title=The Mandaean Rivers Scroll (Diwan Nahrawatha): an analysis|publisher=Routledge|publication-place=London|year=2022|isbn=978-0-367-33544-1|oclc=1295213206|url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Mandaean-Rivers-Scroll-Diwan-Nahrawatha-An-Analysis/Nasoraia/p/book/9780367335441}}</ref>

===Armenian mythology===
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.<ref>Martirosyan, Hrach (2018). "[https://www.academia.edu/37814326/Armenian_Andndayin_%C5%8Dj_and_Vedic_%C3%81hi_Budhny%C3%A0_Abyssal_Serpent_In_Farnah_Indo_Iranian_and_Indo_European_studies_in_honor_of_Sasha_Lubotsky_ed_by_L_van_Beek_A_Kloekhorst_G_Kroonen_M_Peyrot_T_Pronk_M_de_Vaan_Ann_Arbor_New_York_Beech_Stave_Press_191_197 Armenian Andndayin ōj and Vedic Áhi- Budhnyà- "Abyssal Serpent""]. In: ''Farnah: Indo-Iranian and Indo-European Studies''. pp. 191–197.</ref>

===Georgian mythology===
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 a snake that menaces its nestlings.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1515/9783112320860-018|chapter=Religious Beliefs of the Caucasian Society of the Early Iron Age (According to Archaeological Evidence)|title=Gesellschaft und Kultur im alten Vorderasien|year=1982|pages=127–136|isbn=9783112309674}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.14428/babelao.vol2.2013.19913|title=About Georgian Fairytales|year=2013|last1=Gogiashvili|first1=Elene|journal=Bulletin de l'Académie Belge pour l'Étude des Langues Anciennes et Orientales|pages=159–171|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>Gogiashvili, Elene (2009). ფრინველისა და გველის ბრძოლის მითოლოგემა უძველეს გრაფიკულ გამოსახულებასა და ზეპირსიტყვიერებაში [The Myth about a Conflict Between a Bird and a Snake on the Old Graphics and in Folklore]. In: სჯანი [Sjani] nr. 10, pp. 146–156. (in Georgian)</ref>

=== Hittite culture ===
A similar imagery is attested in [[Hittite mythology and religion|Hittite literature]]: a snake encircles the base of a tree, an eagle perches atop it, and a bee occupies its middle,<ref>Ünal, Ahmet. "[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/216415011.pdf Parts of Trees in Hittite According to a Medical Incantation Text (KUB 43, 62)]". In: ''Hittite and Other Anatolian and Near Eastern Studies in Honour of Sedat Alp [Sedat Alp Festschrift]''. Heinrich Otten, Ekrem Akurgal, Hayri Ertem, Aygül Süel (eds.). Ankara: TÜRK TARlH KURUMU BASIMEVl, 1992. p. 496.</ref><ref>Collins, B. J. (2002). "Animals in Hittite Literature". In: ''A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 244–245. {{doi|10.1163/9789047400912_008}}</ref> which [[Craig Melchert]] considers to be a version of the "world tree" or "tree of life" motif.<ref>Melchert, H. Craig. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=RtMSrGe8MY0C&dq=%22world+tree%22+hittite&pg=PA285 Hittite antaka- "loins" and an Overlooked Myth about Fire]". In: ''Hittite Studies in Honor of Harry A. Hoffner Jr. on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday''. Edited by Gary Beckman, Richard H. Beal and Gregory McMahon. University Park, US: Penn State University Press, 2003. pp. 284–285. {{doi|10.1515/9781575065434-025}}.</ref>

=== Mesopotamian traditions ===
==== Sumerian culture ====
Professor Amar Annus states that, although the motif seems to originate much earlier, its first attestation in world culture occurred in [[Sumerian literature]], with the tale of "[[Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld]]".<ref name=Annus2009/> According to this tale, goddess Innana transplants the [[Inanna#The huluppu tree|''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 [[Lilu (mythology)|another character]] associated with darkness) and the legendary [[Anzû]]-bird make their residence on the tree, until Gilgamesh kills the serpent and the other residents escape.<ref name=Annus2009/><ref name=Lintrop2001/>

==== Akkadian literature ====
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 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]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Winitzer|first=Abraham|title=Etana in Eden: New Light on the Mesopotamian and Biblical Tales in Their Semitic Context|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=133|date=2013|pages=444–445|doi=10.7817/JAMERORIESOCI.133.3.0441}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Valk|first=Jonathan|date=2021|title=The Eagle and the Snake, or Anzû and bašmu? Another Mythological Dimension in the Epic of Etana|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=140|issue=4|pages=889–900|doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.140.4.0889|s2cid=230537775}}.</ref>

===Iranian mythology===
[[File:A rhyton from Marlik, Iran, 1000 BC.jpg|thumb|upright|Two winged bulls are guarding a sacred tree, on a rhyton from [[Marlik]], Iran, currently at the [[National Museum of Iran]]]]

A world tree is a common motif in [[Persian mythology]], the legendary bird [[Simurgh]] (alternatively, ''Saēna bird''; ''Sēnmurw'' and ''Senmurv'') perches atop a tree in the center of the sea [[Vourukasha|Vourukasa]]. This tree is described as having all-healing properties and many seeds.<ref>Rose, Jenny (2019). "[https://oxfordre.com/classics/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8150 Near Eastern and Old Iranian myths]". In: ''Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics''. {{doi|10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8150}}</ref> In another account, the tree is the very same ''tree of the White Hōm'' (Haōma).<ref>Schmidt, Hanns-Peter (2002). "[https://iranicaonline.org/articles/simorg Simorgh]". In: ''[[Encyclopedia Iranica]]''.</ref> ''[[Gaokerena]]'' or white [[Haoma]] is a tree whose vivacity ensures continued life in the universe,<ref>Philpot, Mrs. J. H. (1897). ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47215/47215-h/47215-h.htm#c5 The Sacred Tree; or the tree in religion and myth]''. London: MacMillan & Co. pp. 123–124.</ref> and grants immortality to "all who eat from it". In the [[Pahlavi language|Pahlavi]] [[Bundahishn]], it is said that evil god [[Ahriman]] created a lizard to attack the tree.<ref name=Norelius2016/>

''Bas tokhmak'' is another remedial tree; it retains all herbal seeds and destroys sorrow.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://jfava.ut.ac.ir/article_36319.html|title=Plant of life in Ancient Iran, Mesopotamia, and Egypt|date=2013|place=Tehran|journal=Honarhay-e Ziba Journal|volume=18|issue=2|page=15|last=Taheri|first=Sadreddin}}</ref>

===Hinduism and Indian religions===
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 the world
tree in India", upon whose branches the celestial bodies rest.<ref name=Lintrop2001/><ref name=Norelius2016/> Likewise, the Kalpavriksha is also equated with a fig tree and said to possess wish-granting abilities.<ref name="The Tree of Life in Indo-European a"/>

Indologist [[David Dean Shulman]] provided the description of a similar imagery that appears in [[South India]]n [[Dravidian architecture|temples]]: the ''[[Sthala Vriksha|sthalavṛkṣa]]'' tree. The tree is depicted alongside a water source (river, temple tank, sea). The tree may also appear rooted on Earth or reaching 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''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Shulman|first1=David|title=Murukan, the mango and Ekāmbareśvara-Śiva: Fragments of a Tamil creation myth?|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal|date=1 January 1979|volume=21|issue=1|pages=27–40|doi=<!-- gone -->|jstor=24653474|s2cid=189767945}}</ref>

===North Asian and Siberian cultures===
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, the "bird-peaked" tree holds the sun and the moon, and the underworld is "a land of snakes, lizards and frogs".<ref>M. Hoppál. "Shamanism and the Belief System of the Ancient Hungarians". In: ''Ethnographica et folkloristica carpathica'' 11 (1999): 59.</ref>

In the mythology of the [[Samoyedic peoples|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 Nature|Mother Earth]] who is said to give the Samoyed [[Shamanism|shaman]] his drum and also help him travel from one world to another. According to scholar Aado Lintrop, the [[larch]] is "often regarded" by [[Siberian peoples]] as the World Tree.<ref name=Lintrop2001/>

Scholar Aado Lintrop also noted the resemblance between an account of the World Tree from the [[Yakuts]] and a [[Mokshas|Moksha-Mordvinic]] folk song (described as a great [[birch]]).<ref name=Lintrop2001/>

The imagery of the world tree, its roots burrowing underground, its branches reaching upward, the luminaries in its branches is also present in the mythology of [[Finno-Ugric peoples]] from Northern Asia, such as the [[Khanty]] and the [[Mansi people|Mansi]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sanjuán|first1=Oscar Abenójar|title=El abedul de hojas doradas: representaciones y funciones del " Axis Mundi" en el folclore finougrio|journal=Liburna|date=2009|issue=2|pages=13–24|url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3643195}}</ref>

===Mongolic and Turkic folk beliefs===
The symbol of the world tree is also common in [[Tengrism]], an ancient religion of [[Mongols]] and [[Turkic peoples]]. The world tree is sometimes a [[beech]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-10-03|title=The Tree Of Life In Turkic Communities With Its Current Effects|url=https://ulukayin.org/the-tree-of-life-in-turkic-communities-with-its-current-effects/|access-date=2022-05-11|website=ULUKAYIN|language=en-US}}</ref> a [[birch]], or a poplar in epic works.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lyailya|first1=Kaliakbarova|title=Spatial Orientations of Nomads' Lifestyle and Culture|journal=Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities|date=6 May 2018|volume=10|issue=2|doi=10.21659/rupkatha.v10n2.03|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Scholarship points out the presence of the motif in Central Asian and North Eurasian epic tradition: a world tree named Bai-Terek in Altai and Kyrgyz epics; a "sacred tree with nine branches" in the Buryat epic.<ref name=Pavlova2018>{{cite journal|last1=Pavlova|first1=Olga Ksenofontovna|title=Mythological Image in Olonkho of the North-Eastern Yakut Tradition: Sacred Tree|journal=Journal of History Culture and Art Research|date=30 September 2018|volume=7|issue=3|pages=79|doi=10.7596/taksad.v7i3.1720|s2cid=135257248|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Turkic cultures====
=====''Bai-Terek''=====
The ''Bai-Terek'' (also known as ''bayterek'', ''beyterek'', ''beğterek'', ''begterek'', ''begtereg''),<ref name=Dochu2017>{{cite journal|last1=Dochu|first1=Alina|title=Turkic etymological background of the English bird name terek ' Tringa cinereus '|journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|date=December 2017|volume=70|issue=4|pages=479–483|doi=10.1556/062.2017.70.4.6|s2cid=134741505|url=http://real.mtak.hu/71283/1/062.2017.70.4.6.pdf}}</ref> found, for instance, in the Altai ''Maadai Kara'' epos, can be translated as "Golden [[Populus|Poplar]]".<ref name="himalayanresearch.org">Zhernosenko, I. A.; Rogozina, I. V. "[http://www.himalayanresearch.org/pdf/Vol18%20Nos3-4.pdf WORLDVIEW AND MENTALITY OF ALTAI'S INDIGENOUS INHABITANTS]". In: ''Himalayan and Central Asian Studies''; New Delhi Vol. 18, Ed. 3/4 (Jul–Dec 2014): 111.</ref> Like the mythological description, each part of tree (top, trunk and root) corresponds to the three layers of reality: heavenly, earthly and underground. In one description, it is considered the ''axis mundi''. It holds at the top "a nest of a double-headed eagle that watches over the different parts of the world" and, in the form of a snake, [[Erlik]], deity of the underworld, tries to slither up the tree to steal an egg from the nest.<ref name=Dochu2017/> In another, the tree holds two gold cuckoos at the topmost branches and two golden eagles just below. At the roots there are two dogs that guard the passage between the underworld and the world of the living.<ref name="himalayanresearch.org"/>

=====''Aal Luuk Mas''=====

Among the [[Yakut people|Yakuts]], the world tree (or sacred tree) is called ''Ál Lúk Mas'' (Aal Luuk Mas) and is attested in their ''[[Olonkho]]'' epic narratives. Furthermore, this sacred tree is described to "connect the three worlds  (Upper, Middle and Lower)", the branches to the sky and the roots to the underworld.<ref name=Pavlova2018/> Further studies show that this sacred tree also shows many alternate names and descriptions in different regional traditions.<ref name=Pavlova2018/> According to scholarship, the prevalent animal at the top of the tree in the Olonkho is the [[eagle]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Satanar|first1=Marianna T.|title=К семиотической интерпретации мифологического образа древа Аал Луук мас в эпосе олонхо|journal=Oriental Studies|date=25 December 2020|volume=13|issue=4|pages=1135–1154|doi=10.22162/2619-0990-2020-50-4-1135-1154|s2cid=241597729|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Researcher Galina Popova emphasizes that the motif of the world tree offers a binary opposition between two different realms (the Upper Realm and the Underworld), and Aal Luuk Mas functions as a link between both.<ref name="ПОПОВА 2019">{{cite journal|last1=ПОПОВА|first1=Г. С.|title=ДРЕВО МИРА ААЛ ЛУУК МАС В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ КУЛЬТУРЕ ЯКУТОВ САХА|date=2019|doi=10.24411/2071-6427-2019-00039}}</ref> A spirit or goddess of the earth, named Aan Alahchin Hotun, is also said to inhabit or live in the trunk of Aal Luuk Mas.<ref name="ПОПОВА 2019"/>

=====Bashkir=====
According to scholarship, in the [[Bashkirs|Bashkir]] epic ''[[Ural-batyr]]'', deity Samrau is described as a celestial being married to female deities of the Sun and the Moon. He is also "The King of the Birds" and is opposed by the "dark forces" of the universe, which live in the underworld. A similarly named creature, the bird Samrigush, appears in Bashkir folktales living atop the tallest tree in the world and its enemy is a snake named Azhdakha.<ref name="cyberleninka.ru">{{cite journal|last1=Хисамитдинова|first1=Ф.г.|title=Божества верхнего мира в мифологии башкир|journal=Oriental Studies|date=2014|issue=4|pages=146–154|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/bozhestva-verhnego-mira-v-mifologii-bashkir}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Батыршин|first1=Ш.ф.|title=Образы мифических животных в русской, башкирской и китайской лингвокультурах|journal=Мир науки, культуры, образования|date=2019|volume=2|issue=75|pages=470–472|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/obrazy-mificheskih-zhivotnyh-v-russkoy-bashkirskoy-i-kitayskoy-lingvokulturah}}</ref> After the human hero kills the serpent Azhdakha, the grateful Samrigush agrees to carry him back to the world of light.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Равиловна|first1=Хусаинова Гульнур|title=Отражение мифологических воззрений в башкирской волшебной сказке|journal=Вестник Челябинского государственного университета|date=2012|volume=32|issue=286|pages=126–129|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/otrazhenie-mifologicheskih-vozzreniy-v-bashkirskoy-volshebnoy-skazke}}</ref>

=====Kazakh=====
Scholarship points to the existence of a bird named Samurik (Samruk) that, according to [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] myth, lives atop the World Tree ''Baiterek''. Likewise, in Kazakh folktales, it is also the hero's carrier out of the underworld, after he defeats a dragon named Aydakhara or Aydarhana.<ref name="cyberleninka.ru"/> In the same vein, Kazakh literary critic and folklorist {{ill|Seyt Kaskabasov|ru|Каскабасов, Сеит Аскарович}} described that the Samruk bird travels between the three spheres of the universe, nests atop the "cosmic tree" (bәyterek) and helps the hero out of the underworld.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kaskabasov|first1=Seit|title=Iranian Folk Motifs And Religious Images In Kazakh Literature And Folklore|journal=Astra Salvensis|date=2018|volume=VI|issue=Sup. 1|pages=423–432|url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=647524}}</ref>

=====Other representations=====
An early 20th-century report on Altaian shamanism by researcher Karunovskaia describes a shamanistic journey, information provided by one Kondratii Tanashev (or Merej Tanas). However, A. A. Znamenski believes this material is not universal to all Altaian peoples, but pertains to the specific worldview of Tanashev's Tangdy clan. Regardless, the material showed a belief in a tripartite division of the world in sky (heavenly sphere), middle world and underworld; in the central part of the world, a mountain (''Ak toson altaj sip''') is located. Upon this mountain there is "a navel of the earth and water  ... which also serves as the root of the 'wonderful tree with golden branches and wide leaves' (''Altyn byrly bai terek'')". Like the iconic imagery, the tree branches out to reach the heavenly sphere.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1007/978-94-017-0277-5_3|chapter=Siberian Shamanism in Soviet Imagination|title=Shamanism in Siberia|year=2003|last1=Znamenski|first1=Andrei A.|pages=131–278|isbn=978-90-481-6484-4}}</ref>

====Mongolic cultures====
Finnish folklorist [[Uno Holmberg]] reported a tale from the [[Kalmuck]] people about a dragon that lies in the sea, at the foot of a Zambu tree. In the [[Buryat language|Buryat]] poems, near the root of the tree a snake named Abyrga dwells.<ref name="Holmberg, Uno 1927 p. 357">Holmberg, Uno (1927). ''Finno-Ugric and Siberian''. The Mythology of All Races Vol. 4. Boston: Marshall Jones Company. 1927. p. 357.</ref> He also reported a "Central Asian" narrative about the fight between the snake Abyrga and a bird named Garide – which he identified as a version of Indian [[Garuda]].<ref name="Holmberg, Uno 1927 p. 357"/>

===East Asia===
====Korea====
The world tree is visible in the designs of the [[Crown of Silla]], [[Silla]] being one of the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]]. This link is used to establish a connection between Siberian peoples and those of [[Korea]].

====China====
In Chinese mythology, a manifestation of the world tree is the ''[[Fusang]]'' or ''Fumu'' tree.<ref>Yang, Lihui; An, Deming. ''Handbook of Chinese Mythology''. ABC-Clio. 2005. pp. 117–118, 262. {{ISBN|1-57607-807-8}}.</ref> In a Chinese cosmogonic myth, solar deity [[Xihe (deity)|Xihe]] gives birth to ten suns. Each of the suns rests upon a tree named ''Fusang'' (possibly a mulberry tree). The ten suns alternate during the day, each carried by a crow (the "[[Three-legged crow|Crow of the Sun]]"): one sun stays on the top branch to wait its turn, while the other nine suns rest on the lower branches.<ref>Yang, Lihui; An, Deming. ''Handbook of Chinese Mythology''. ABC-Clio. 2005. pp. 32, 66, 91, 95, 117–118, 212, 215–216, 231. {{ISBN|1-57607-807-8}}.</ref>

===Tanzania===
An origin myth is recorded from the Wapangwa tribe of [[Tanzania]], wherein the world is created through "a primordial tree and a termite mound".<ref>Penprase, Bryan E. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pQHNDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22wapangwa%22+world+tree&pg=PA146 The Power of Stars]''. Springer, 2017. p. 146. {{ISBN|978-3-319-52597-6}}.</ref> As a continuation of the same tale, the animals wanted to eat the fruits of this Tree of Life, but humans intended to defend it. This led to a war between animals and humans.<ref>[[David Leeming|Leeming, David Adams]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9I62BcuPxfYC&q=%22world+tree%22&pg=PA381 Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia]''. Second Edition. Volume I: Parts I-II. ABC-Clio. 2010. p. 273. {{ISBN|978-1-59884-175-6}}.</ref>

===Kenya===
In the agikuyu community, the "mūgumo" tree is held sacred and it is a taboo to even fetch firewood from it. In the past, the tree served as an altar to offer sacrifices as well as being a place of prayer. If a mùgumo tree falls, it is believed to be an end of an era for a "god"/dynasty and a ritual should be done by elders to cleanse the area and the community because it might be a bad omen.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}