And I say the sacred hoop of my people
was one of the many hoops that made one circle,
wide as daylight and as starlight,
and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree
to shelter all the children of one mother and one father.
Black Elk
According to Greek mythology, Zeus wanted to locate the exact center of the world. To do this, he released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth. The eagles met at Delphi. Zeus marked the spot with a large, egg-shaped stone called the omphalos, meaning “navel.”
The temple at Delphi once belonged to Gaia, but when the Olympians came into power, Apollo took the temple. The temple was guarded by a great serpent, Pytho. Apollo killed Pytho and excised Gaia. In honor of his heroic deed, the priestess of Delphi was called Pythia. The temple was located at what was believed to be the center of world. And at the center of the temple was the omphalos, the stone Kronos swallowed in place of Zeus.
To consult the oracle, you approached with a question. Asking it of the Pythia, she would breathe in the intoxicating fumes from a fissure in the earth. She would, in this drug-induced state answer your question with what seemed to the patron to be nonsense. The real power laid with the priest who would interpret the Pythia’s words. The outcome often depended on how much tribute the patron had given.
The Pythia Greek: Πυθία , commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi, was the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. The Pythia was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by Apollo.
The Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle among the Greeks. The oracle is one of the best-documented religious institutions of the classical Greeks. Authors who mention the oracle include Aeschylus, Aristotle, Clement of Alexandria, Diodorus, Diogenes, Euripides, Herodotus, Julian, Justin, Livy, Lucan, Ovid, Pausanias, Pindar, Plato, Plutarch, Sophocles, Strabo, Thucydides, and Xenophon.
The name ‘Pythia’ derived from Pytho, which in myth was the original name of Delphi. The Greeks derived this place name from the verb, pythein (πύθειν, “to rot”), which refers to the decomposition of the body of the monstrous Python after she was slain by Apollo. The usual theory has been that the Pythia delivered oracles in a frenzied state induced by vapors rising from a chasm in the rock, and that she spoke gibberish which priests interpreted as the enigmatic prophecies preserved in Greek literature.
Consulting the Oracle. No one knows for certain how the process of consulting the Delphic oracle worked. However, over the years, a traditional account has been widely accepted. According to this description, a visitor who wanted to submit a question to the oracle would first make an appropriate offering and sacrifice a goat. Then a priestess known as the Pythia would take the visitor’s question into the inner part of Apollo’s temple, which contained the omphalos and a golden statue of Apollo. Seated on a three-legged stool, the priestess would fall into a trance.
After some time, the priestess would start to writhe around and foam at the mouth. In a frenzy, she would begin to voice strange words and sounds. Priests and interpreters would listen carefully and record her words in verse or in prose. The message was then passed on to the visitor who had posed the question. Some modern scholars believe that the priestess did not become delirious but rather sat quietly as she delivered her divine message.
Anyone could approach the oracle, whether king, public official, or private citizen. At first, a person could consult the oracle only once a year, but this restriction was later changed to once a month.
The ancient Greeks had complete faith in the oracle’s words, even though the meaning of the message was often unclear. As the oracle’s fame spread, people came from all over the Mediterranean region seeking advice. Numerous well-known figures of history and mythology visited Delphi, including Socrates and Oedipus.
Visitors would ask not only about private matters but also about affairs of state. As a result, the oracle at Delphi had great influence on political, economic, and religious events. Moreover, Delphi itself became rich from the gifts sent by many believers.
Axis Mundi
The axis mundi (also cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, columna cerului, center of the world), in religion or mythology, is the world center and/or the connection between Heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet. At this point travel and correspondence is made between higher and lower realms.Communication from lower realms may ascend to higher ones and blessings from higher realms may descend to lower ones and be disseminated to all. The spot functions as the omphalos (navel), the world’s point of beginning.
The image is mostly viewed as feminine, as it relates to center of the earth (perhaps like an umbilical providing nourishment). It may have the form of a natural object (a mountain, a tree, a vine, a stalk, a column of smoke or fire) or a product of human manufacture (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 a Centre; that is to say, a place that is sacred above all.”
SACRED MOUNTAINS
Kailash is a mountain located in Ngari prefecture in Tibet . The mountain is sacred to the four Asian religions, Buddhism , Hinduism , Bön (Local Shamanistic Religion of Tibet before Buddhism) and Jainism . It was here that the god Shiva descended to earth. Manasarovar called a sacred lake just beyond. The four rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra , Sutlej and Indus have their sources around the mountain. Some believe that Kailash is the mountain Meru from where the Aryans came. In Sultejdalen near Kailash low silver palace with Bönpo -religion’s holy kingdom. This was destroyed by the nykonverterade Buddhists in Lhasa as before spared this country in their conquests.
Every year, thousands make a pilgrimage to Kailash, following a tradition going back thousands of years. Pilgrims of several religions believe that circumambulating Mount Kailash on foot is a holy ritual that will bring good fortune. The peregrination is made in a clockwise direction by Hindus and Buddhists. Followers of the Jain and Bönpo religions circumambulate the mountain in a counterclockwise direction. The path around Mount Kailash is 52 km (32 mi) long.
Some pilgrims believe that the entire walk around Kailash should be made in a single day, which is not considered an easy task. A person in good shape walking fast would take perhaps 15 hours to complete the 52 km trek. Some of the devout do accomplish this feat, little daunted by the uneven terrain,altitude sickness and harsh conditions faced in the process. Indeed, other pilgrims venture a much more demanding regimen, performing body-length prostrations over the entire length of the circumambulation: The pilgrim bends down, kneels, prostrates full-length, makes a mark with his fingers, rises to his knees, prays, and then crawls forward on hands and knees to the mark made by his/her fingers before repeating the process. It requires at least four weeks of physical endurance to perform the circumambulation while following this regimen. The mountain is located in a particularly remote and inhospitable area of the Tibetan Himalayas. A few modern amenities, such as benches, resting places and refreshment kiosks, exist to aid the pilgrims in their devotions. According to all religions that revere the mountain, setting foot on its slopes is a dire sin. It is claimed that many people who ventured to defy the taboo have died in the process. It is a popular belief that the stairways on Mount Kailash lead to heaven.
The Tibetan name for the mountain is Gangs Rin-po-che. Gangs or Kang is the Tibetan word for snow peak analogous to alp or himal; rinpoche is an honorific meaning “precious one” so the combined term can be translated “precious jewel of snows”.
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“Tibetan Buddhists call it Kangri Rinpoche; ‘Precious Snow Mountain’. Bon texts have many names: Water’s Flower, Mountain of Sea Water, Nine Stacked Swastika Mountain. For Hindus, it is the home of the mountain god Shiva and a symbol of his power symbol om; for Jains it is where their first leader was enlightened; for Buddhists, the navel of the universe; and for adherents of Bon, the abode of the sky goddess Sipaimen.”[
Another local name for the mountain is Tisé (Tibetan: ཏི་སེ་) mountain, which derives from ti tse in the Zhang-Zhung language, meaning “water peak” or “river peak”, connoting the mountain’s status as the source of the mythical Lion, Horse, Peacock and Elephant Rivers, and in fact the Indus, Yarlung Tsangpo/Dihang/Brahmaputra, Karnali and Sutlej all begin in the Kailash-Lake Manasarovar region.
Bön
The Bön, a religion which predates Buddhism in Tibet, maintain that the entire mystical region and the nine-story Swastika Mountain are the seat of all spiritual power.
Hinduism
According to Hinduism, Lord Shiva, the destroyer of ignorance and illusion, resides at the summit of a legendary mountain named Kailāsa, where he sits in a state of perpetual meditation along with his wife Pārvatī. In the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that its four faces are made of crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli. It is a pillar of the world and is located at the heart of six mountain ranges symbolizing a lotus.
Jainism
In Jainism, Kailash is also known as Meru Parvat or Sumeru. Ashtapada, the mountain next to Mt.Kailash is the site where the first Jain Tirthankara, Rishabhadeva, attained Nirvana/moksa (liberation).(The authenticity of Mount Kailash being Mount Ashtapada is highly debated.)
Buddhism
Tantric Buddhists believe that Mount Kailash is the home of the Buddha Demchok (also known as Demchog or Chakrasamvara),who represents supreme bliss.
There are numerous sites in the region associated with Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), whose tantric practices in holy sites around Tibet are credited with finally establishing Buddhism as the main religion of the country in the 7th–8th century CE.
It is said that Milarepa (c. 1052-c. 1135 CE), champion of Tantric Buddhism, arrived in Tibet to challenge Naro Bön-chung, champion of the Bön religion of Tibet. The two magicians engaged in a terrifying sorcerers’ battle, but neither was able to gain a decisive advantage. Finally, it was agreed that whoever could reach the summit of Kailash most rapidly would be the victor. While Naro Bön-chung sat on a magic drum and soared up the slope, Milarepa’s followers were dumbfounded to see him sitting still and meditating. Yet when Naro Bön-chung was nearly at the top, Milarepa suddenly moved into action and overtook him by riding on the rays of the sun, thus winning the contest. He did, however, fling a handful of snow on to the top of a nearby mountain, since known as Bönri, bequeathing it to the Bönpo and thereby ensuring continued Bönpo connections with the region.
Sacred Tree of Life
The concept of a tree of life has been used in science, religion, philosophy, and mythology. A tree of life is a common motif in various world theologies, mythologies, and philosophies. A mystical concept alluding to the interconnection of all life on our planet; and a metaphor for common descent in the evolutionary sense. The term tree of life may also be used as a synonym for sacred tree.
The tree of knowledge, connecting to heaven and the underworld, and the tree of life, connecting all forms of creation, are both forms of the world tree or cosmic tree, and according to some , that are portrayed in various religions and philosophies as the same tree.
The Tree of Life is an important symbol in nearly every culture. In Jewish and Christian mythology, a tree sits at the center of both the Heavenly and Earthly Edens. The Norse cosmic World Ash, Ygdrassil, has its roots in the underworld while its branches support the abode of the Gods. The Egyptian’s Holy Sycamore stood on the threshold of life and death, connecting the worlds. To the Mayas, it is Yaxche, whose branches support the heavens.
The Ceiba Tree was the sacred tree of the Mayans, and it had many representations and significances. “The ancient Maya of Central America believed that a great Ceiba tree stood at the center of the earth, connecting the terrestrial world to the spirit-world above. The long thick vines hanging down from its spreading limbs provided a connection to the heavens for the souls that ascended them.”
The Archetypal Symbolism of Trees Trees have long held a literal and symbolic fascination for humanity. Their source as a deep archetype of absorption begins with the earliest epic in the Western World, the story of Gilgamesh and his quest for the plant of life (a symbolic tree) that is snatched away by a serpent, thus illustrating that the use of the tree as a universal religious symbol is incredibly ancient; such utilization can be dated to at least the third millennium B.C.E. as a symbol of a rich cultural mythos, the major archetype being that of the center, the beginning where sacred powers first originated. The tree is the navel of the world, the “cosmic axis” (Axis mundi) standing at the universe’s center where it passes through the middle and unites the three great cosmic domains: the underworld, earth, and sky.
With its branches reaching into the sky, and roots deep in the earth, the Tree of Life dwells in three worlds—a link between heaven, the earth, and the underworld, uniting above and below. It is both a feminine symbol, bearing sustenance, and a masculine, visibly phallic symbol—another union. The tree has other characteristics which easily lend themselves to symbolism. Many trees take on the appearance of death in the winter—losing their leaves, only to sprout new growth with the return of spring. This aspect makes the tree a symbol of resurrection, and a stylized tree is the symbol of many resurrected gods. Most of these gods are believed to have been crucified on trees as well. A tree also bears seeds or fruits, which contain the essence of the tree, and this continuous regeneration is a potent symbol of immortality. Trees seen as givers of gifts and spiritual wisdom are quite common. It was while meditating under a Bodhi tree that Buddha received his enlightenment; the Norse God Odin received the gift of language while suspended upside down in the World Ash.
In Celtic creation stories, trees were the ancestors of mankind, elder beings of wisdom who provided the alphabet, the calendar, and entrance to the realms of the Gods.Trees were also associated in the Shamanic beliefs of the Druids and other Celtic peoples with the supernatural world. Trees were a connection to the world of the spirits and the ancestors, living entities, and doorways into other worlds. The most sacred tree of all was the Oak tree, which represented the axis mundi, the center of the world. The Celtic name for oak, daur or duir, is the origin of the word door; the root of the oak was literally the doorway to the Otherworld; the realm of Fairy.
The tree of life (Heb. עץ החיים Etz haChayim) in the Book of Genesis is a tree planted by the Abrahamic God in midst of the Garden of Eden (Paradise), whose fruit gives everlasting life, i.e. immortality. Together with the tree of life, God planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9). According to some scholars, however, these are in fact two names for the same tree.
In the biblical story, the serpent, who is regarded as Satan in Christianity but not in Judaism, tempted Eve into eating a fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve and Adam both ate the fruit, despite God’s warning to Adam that “in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). As a consequence of their transgression, the land, the Serpent, Adam, and Eve were each cursed by God. To prevent them access to the tree of life, God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden:
And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” (Genesis 3:22)
In the Book of Revelation, a Koine Greek phrase xylon (tēs) zōës, ξύλον (τῆς) ζωής, is mentioned three times. This phrase, which is also used for the Genesis tree of life in the Ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, literally means “wood of (the) life”. It is translated in nearly every English Bible version as “tree of life”, see Revelation 2:7, 22:2, and 22:19.
The tree of life is represented in several examples of sacred geometry and is central in particular to the Kabbalah (the mystic study of the Torah), where it is represented as a diagram of ten points.
The Tree of Life, or Etz haChayim (עץ החיים) in Hebrew, is a mystical symbol used in the Kabbalah of esoteric Judaism to describe the path to God (usually referred to as HaShem, or “The Name”, in kabbalistic texts) and the manner in which he created the world ex nihilo. Kabbalists developed this concept into a full model of reality, using the tree to depict a map of Creation.
Some believe the kabbalistic Tree of Life corresponds to the Tree of Life mentioned in Genesis 2:9. This mystical concept was later adopted by some esoterically inclined Christians as well as some Hermeticists. Among the Christian Kabbalists, the sephirot were called Dignities, and were referred to by their Latin names, instead of their Hebrew names. Christian Kabbalah also places emphasis on Christ as Sustainer and Preserver of the Universe, and the Malkuth of Jewish kabbalah is absent, as it is considered of a different order-of-being.
the Tree of Life can potentially be applied to any area of life, especially the inner world of Man, from the subconscious all the way to what Kabbalists call the higher self.
But the Tree of Life does not only speak of the origins of the physical Universe out of the unimaginable, but also of Man’s place in the Universe. Since Man is invested with Mind, consciousness in the Kabbalah is thought of as the fruit of the physical world, through whom the original infinite energy can experience and express itself as a finite entity. After the energy of Creation has condensed into matter, it is thought to reverse its course back up the Tree until it is once again united with its true nature. Thus, the kabbalist seeks to know himself and the Universe as an expression of God, and to make the journey of Return by stages charted by the Sephiroth, until he has come to the realisation he sought.
The Tree of Life bears many similarities to the Christian Gnostic conception of the Pleroma, emanations from the ineffable and self-originating Divine Parent that offer the best possible means of describing God. Each emanation in thepleroma is born from a more complex emanation before it. Most notably between these two allegories is the final sephira on the Tree, Malkuth, and the last emanation in the Pleroma, Sophia, whose fall resulted in the physical world.
In the Bhagavad Gita there is a mention of Asvattha, tree of Life and Being, whose destruction alone leads to immortality, is said in the Bhagavad Gita to grow with its roots above and its branches below. The roots represent the Supreme Being, or First Cause, the LOGOS; but one has to go beyond those roots to unite oneself with Krishna. The Vedas are its leaves. He only who goes beyond the roots shall never return, i.e., shall reincarnate no more during this “age” of Brahma.
In every old culture the Tree of Life is a given, our ancient ancestors understood the interconnectedness of Life the Microcosm being a reflection of the Macrocosm, the Outer, a reflection of the Inner, the bellow from the above, the Spirit residing in our inner Hearts, wherever we are, there is the center of the World, the Sacred Womb of the Mother, the Axis of the Universe, the Sacred Mountain, a Sacred Realm of Being.
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Cheating on the relative dimensions of your “axis mundi” picture was a really stupid thing to do! (increasing the peak’s height relatively to its breadth, which becomes obvious when you move on to the original picture) This temptation (strengthening your point), to which you succumbed, ruins everything… as in Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” (where he illustrates his point about the quick melting of glaciers by means of a picture of a ‘moulin’, where the people supposed to give you the scale of the phenomenon are situated some ten or twenty metres behind the ‘moulin’, which give the impression that it is huge, which it certainly was, but attempting to make it “huger” than it was casts a veil of doubt upon all the point and all the subsequent points that are made!) Counter-productive is worse than inefficient!
Your comment regarding the size of the picture It’s certainly true, however it has nothing to do with the reasons you adduce, it just fits my computer format better, I had observed different computers have different looks as to the size of the pictures, and total format, however it has noting to do with the content of the post, so your complaint, and rant is of little value, and of no relevance to the merits of this post, that you so audaciously, but inappropriately suggest .
By personal policy I do not accept pingbacks since in the past has proven a source of people trying to use it as advertising of whatever they want to sell, besides drawing people to your blog should be base on the merits of your blog not a piggyback on other people’s merits.
As for your Axis of the world and your El camino truck, or it’s a car?
Who cares!
it’s laughable and of no relevance to this post.
The only reason I didn’t trash your comment it is for fairness sake, and to show I am not above criticism, however I would be the judge of the fairness of it, yours it is not when casting doubt as regarding to the content of my post.
What a great piece and the images are beautiful!
Thank you for your kindness! 🙂
Most uplifting and meticulous work,loved all the photos,but I prticularly liked the Delphi photo!
I keep visiting it quite often,it’s a very inspirational place,the ambiance all over mysteriously magnetises you …
Yes, there is places on this Sacred Earth where it’s easier to feel Spirit, thank you! 🙂
Dear Mr. Brigido, I guess all the sacred Mountains keep some kind of special energy able to awake & cure our Spirit. Certainly the Tree of Being is far more complicated than our forests, but the last ones give us force. The hi-tech epoch destroys this connection that is so important for every human being on Earth.
Maria, yes Mountains, Trees , Forest, Rivers, etc. They are Archetypes, Axis Mundi on our Spirits, and more Real than the Mountains, yes Men are a pain in the neck, when they act so selfishly in relation to our environment, I talk about all these things in May 2014, and October of the same year.
As always thank you for your comment and the trouble you take to read my posts! 🙂
Thank you for your profound explanation, dear Mr. Brigido! Oh! It’s always a pleasure to read your considerations. Besides what spiritual education it’s! I guess those who don’t respect the nature are not men. Moreover it’s disrespect to Creator Himself.
Thank you Maria for being so kind to me.
About Men, well we are all in the same boat, and we are not perfect,
And with a lot of need for improvement! 🙂
Extremely informative and equally interesting! 🙂 How could I knot like this?
I know, you know, as everyone knows, for now and for all times sake.
To be, or knot to be, is unquestionably a tree’s prerogative.
Cheerz to existence! Peace, luvz, and hugz, UT
Thank you for your witty comment, and your nice wishes, we appreciate it! 🙂
Thank you for the information. 🙂
Are you familiar with the Essene version of the Tree of Life ( 7 branches reaching up to Heaven and 7 Roots penetrating the Earth and the mental practices associated with each and their days ( and nights) of dedication? 🙂
Well, I am familiar with Edmond Bordeaux Szekely:
The Teachings of the Essenes
From Enoch to the Dead Sea Scrolls.
And the many teachings derived from it as you read above, I particularly practiced some of the methods that are quite similar to the ones described, by Bordeaux Szekely, but by other practices, from the study of Yoga, like Surya Namaskar, to meditations on the elements, and Solar contemplation, from all things a Bulgarian school from the late Peter Deunov July 11, 1864 – December 27, 1944), also known by his spiritual name Beinsa Douno, and one of his disciples known as Aivainhoff, never met them just practiced their methods.
I do not believe the teachings are passed from one culture to another one, this may be true when they have contact with each other like the Zoroastrians, the Jews, and the Brahmans, but what about the Toltecs, and the Maya in Mezo Amreirica, and the Aymaras in South America?
And what about the Peyote communities in Mexico, and the Ayahuasca in the Amazons, or the Bwiti with Iboga in Africa, just to mention a few, even where you are the Australian Aboriginal Wisdom?
In my view since the beginning of time Men practiced Animism, and it was spread all over with their own particular methods, recently they found a temple in Turkey Gobekli Tepe were the ancients build a temple, when they did not have a city yet, and were hunter gatherers yet, the Religious impulse its common to all of us, and the methods are many.
Thank you fro your comment, and blessings! 🙂
I could have expected Mr Szekely (and also Mr Deunov) would have been known to you! 🙂
Our Aboriginals certainly have a strongly animistic culture with the Rainbow serpent being high in their Creation stories, although i am not aware of much of a ‘tree of life’ aspect to their beliefs.
If we consider that ‘Thinking’ man evolved from a single more primitive source and then spread all across the globe it would make sense that in each area where they settled and expanded there might be similar ‘connecting’ theories developed as to their origins based upon the local plant and wildlife that were the most familiar to them.
Trees are a pretty universal aspect of our environment, serpents perhaps less so (or maybe not??)
All of us have the opposing aspects of our physical and mental/spiritual being and share a need (to greater or lesser degrees in each individual) to find a resolution to or explanation of the inner conflicts.
Thanks again for your wisdom and blessings. 🙂
Well, according to the Peyote, and Ayahausca, Mushrooms, or any Entheogenic plants practioners, its the plants who teach people, on our Western culture we frequently, lose sight of the World, and the Universe as a living thing, even the way we use to refer to objects on our language, like things, and its, were as the Animist cultures, even the word Animist show us as:
“The attribution of a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena.”
or
“The belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe.”
And therefore the quandary we are in right now as an environmental crisis, we use resources, not living beings, and we exploit them without regards to Nature.
Serpents are also part of Nature, and a Symbol of Transformation, and Wisdom.
In Animist cultures you learn from the Spirit inherent to everything, in their singularity on the Material plane they may no talk directly at you, but on the Spiritual realm they do, and guide you.
Ignoring this by the dominant culture for centuries, its the major problem we have today, most people are disconnected from the Axis Mundis, or the Omphalos, our core, and center of our Universe the Heart.
Thank you for answering us, blessings. 🙂