Axis mundi

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This article is about the connection. For the album, see Axis Mundi (album).

Skanda with Ganesha
by Shiva's side

In astronomy, axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles.

In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the

axis of rotation of the celestial sphere
. Consequently, in ancient
geocentric model of the cosmos.[2]

In 20th-century comparative mythology, the term axis mundi – also called the cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, center of the world, or world tree – has been greatly extended to refer to any mythological concept representing "the connection between Heaven and Earth" or the "higher and lower realms".[3] Mircea Eliade introduced the concept in the 1950s.[4] Axis mundi closely relates to the mythological concept of the omphalos (navel) of the world or cosmos.[5][6][7] Items adduced as examples of the axis mundi by comparative mythologists include plants (notably a

temple mount, minaret, church) or secular (obelisk, lighthouse, rocket, skyscraper). The image appears in religious and secular contexts.[8] 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."[9]

Background

Mount Kailash (viewed from the south) is holy to Hinduism and several religions in Tibet.

There are multiple interpretations about the origin of the concept of the axis mundi. One psychological and sociological interpretation suggests that the symbol originates in a natural and universal psychological perception – i.e., that the particular spot that one occupies stands at "the center of the world". This space serves as a microcosm of order because it is known and settled. Outside the boundaries of the microcosm lie foreign realms that – because they are unfamiliar or not ordered – represent chaos, death, or night.[10] From the center, one may still venture in any of the four cardinal directions, make discoveries, and establish new centers as new realms become known and settled. The name of China — meaning "Middle Nation" (中国 pinyin: Zhōngguó) – is often interpreted as an expression of an ancient perception that the Chinese polity (or group of polities) occupied the center of the world, with other lands lying in various directions relative to it.[8]

A second interpretation suggests that ancient symbols such as the axis mundi lie in a particular philosophical or metaphysical representation of a common and culturally shared philosophical concept, which is that of a natural reflection of the macrocosm (or existence at grand scale) in the microcosm (which consists of either an individual, community, or local environment that shares the same principles and structures as the macrocosm). In this metaphysical representation of the universe, mankind is placed into an existence that serves as a microcosm of the universe or the entire cosmic existence, and who – in order to achieve higher states of existence or liberation into the macrocosm – must gain necessary insights into universal principles that can be represented by his life or environment in the microcosm.[11] In many religious and philosophical traditions around the world, mankind is seen as a sort of bridge between either: two worlds, the earthly and the heavenly (as in Hindu, and Taoist philosophical and theological systems); or three worlds, namely the earthly, heavenly, and the "sub-earthly" or "infra-earthly" (e.g., the underworld, as in the Ancient Greek, Incan, Mayan, and Ancient Egyptian religious systems). Spanning these philosophical systems is the belief that man traverses a sort of axis, or path, which can lead from man's current central position in the intermediate realms into heavenly or sub-earthly realms. Thus, in this view, symbolic representations of a vertical axis represent a path of "ascent" or "descent" into other spiritual or material realms, and often capture a philosophy that considers human life to be a quest in which one develops insights or perfections in order to move beyond this current microcosmic realm and to engage with the grand macrocosmic order.[12]

In other interpretations, an axis mundi is more broadly defined as a place of connection between heavenly and the earthly realms – often a mountain or other elevated site. Tall mountains are often regarded as sacred and some have shrines erected at the summit or base.

Kunlun, known in Taoist literature as "the mountain at the middle of the world". To "go into the mountains" meant to dedicate oneself to a spiritual life.[17]

As the abstract concept of axis mundi is present in many cultural traditions and religious beliefs, it can be thought to exist in any number of locales at once.

Ise Shrine is the omphalos.[citation needed
]

Sacred places can constitute world centers (omphaloi), with an

calumet, or sacred pipe, represents a column of smoke (the soul) rising from a world center.[21] A mandala creates a world center within the boundaries of its two-dimensional space analogous to that created in three-dimensional space by a shrine.[22]

In the

Pancha Bhoota, the axis mundi corresponds to Aether, the quintessence.[citation needed
]

Yggdrasil, the World Ash in Norse myths

Plants

Plants often serve as images of the axis mundi. The image of the

Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis present two aspects of the same image. Each is said to stand at the center of the paradise garden from which four rivers flow to nourish the whole world. Each tree confers a boon. Bamboo, the plant from which Asian calligraphy pens are made, represents knowledge and is regularly found on Asian college campuses. The Christmas tree, which can be traced in its origins back to pre-Christian European beliefs, represents an axis mundi.[25] In Yoruba religion, oil palm is the axis mundi (though not necessarily a "world tree") that Ọrunmila climbs to alternate between heaven and earth.[26]

Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci (c. 1492)

Human figure

The human body can express the symbol of the world axis.

Kabbalism and the chakra system recognized by Hinduism and Buddhism, merge with the concept of the human body as a pillar between heaven and earth. Disciplines such as yoga and tai chi begin from the premise of the human body as axis mundi. The Buddha represents a world center in human form.[28] Large statues of a meditating figure unite the human form with the symbolism of the temple and tower. Astrology in all its forms assumes a connection between human health and affairs and celestial-body orientation. World religions regard the body itself as a temple and prayer as a column uniting earth and heaven. The ancient Colossus of Rhodes combined the role of the human figure with those of portal and skyscraper. The Renaissance image known as the Vitruvian Man represented a symbolic and mathematical exploration of the human form as world axis.[25]

Homes

Secular structures can also function as axes mundi.[20] In Navajo culture, the hogan acts as a symbolic cosmic center.[29] In some Asian cultures, houses were traditionally laid out in the form of a square oriented toward the four compass directions. A traditional home was oriented toward the sky through feng shui, a system of geomancy, just as a palace would be.[citation needed] Traditional Arab houses are also laid out as a square surrounding a central fountain that evokes a primordial garden paradise. Mircea Eliade noted that "the symbolism of the pillar in [European] peasant houses likewise derives from the 'symbolic field' of the axis mundi. In many archaic dwellings the central pillar does in fact serve as a means of communication with the heavens, with the sky."[30] The nomadic peoples of Mongolia and the Americas more often lived in circular structures. The central pole of the tent still operated as an axis, but a fixed reference to the four compass points was avoided.[31]

The caduceus

Shamanic function

A common

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The epic poem relates its hero's descent and ascent through a series of spiral structures that take him through the core of the earth, from the depths of hell to celestial paradise. It is also a central tenet in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex.[32]

Anyone or anything suspended on the axis between heaven and earth becomes a repository of potential knowledge. A special status accrues to the thing suspended: a

serpents act as guardians of, or guides to, knowledge.[33]

Modern expressions

A modern artistic representation of the axis mundi is the Colonne sans fin (

The Endless Column, 1938) an abstract sculpture by Romanian Constantin Brâncuși. The column takes the form of a "sky pillar" (columna cerului) upholding the heavens even as its rhythmically repeating segments invite climb and suggest the possibility of ascension.[34]

See also

References

  1. ^ as a declined form in Latin, plural axes mundorum
  2. ^ The term is used by Geminus in his Elementa, in early modern editions misattributed to Proclus as Commentarius in sphaeram. R. B. Todd, "The Manuscripts of the Pseudo-Proclan Sphaera", Revue d'histoire des textes 23 (1993), 57–71. The term continues to be used in modern astronomical works throughout the 18th century, e.g., Johann Samuel Traugott Gehler, Physikalisches Wörterbuch (1791), p. 688.
  3. ISBN 069102068X
    . p.48–51
  4. ISBN 069102068X
    . p.40
  5. ISBN 0500271259
    .
  6. ISBN 0691017778
    . p.16
  7. ^ Winther, Rasmus Grønfeldt (2014). "World Navels". Cartouche 89: 15–21.
  8. ^
    ISBN 0140512543
    . pp.61–63, 173–175
  9. ^
    ISBN 069102068X
    . p.39
  10. ISBN 069102068X
    . p.37–39
  11. ^ Fritjof Schuon. From the Divine to the Human: Survey of Metaphysics and Epistemology. World Wisdom Books, 1982 p. 23–27.
  12. ^ Fritjof Schuon. From the Divine to the Human: Survey of Metaphysics and Epistemology. World Wisdom Books, 1982 p. 27–31
  13. ISBN 069102068X
    . p.41–43
  14. ^ Wang, Chong. Lunheng Part I: Philosophical Essays of Wang Ch'ung. Trans. Alfred Forke. London: Luzac & Co., 1907. p. 337.
  15. ^ Bailey, Gauvin Alexander (2005). Art of Colonial Latin America. New York: Phaidon Press Limited. pp. 21.
  16. ISBN 0140512543
    . pp. 680–685
  17. ISBN 0140512543
    . pp. 681
  18. ISBN 978-90-04-13103-3
    .
  19. ^ "Noah's ark in the Mountains of Armenia". 11 August 2013.
  20. ^
    ISBN 0691017778
    . p. 12
  21. ISBN 0140512543
    . pp. 148–149
  22. ISBN 069102068X
    . p. 52–54
  23. ISBN 069102068X
    . pp. 42–45
  24. ISBN 0500050686
    .
  25. ^
    ISBN 0140512543
    . pp. 1025–1033.
  26. ^ Ogunnaike, Ayodeji (Spring 2019). "The Tree That Centres The World: The Palm Tree As Yoruba Axis Mundi". Africana Studies Review. 6 (1). Southern University at New Orleans: 43–58.
  27. ISBN 069102068X
    . p. 54
  28. ISBN 069102068X
    . p. 76
  29. ISBN 978-0-19-960809-6
    .
  30. ISBN 0826406181
    . p. 100.
  31. ISBN 0140512543
    . pp. 529–531
  32. ISBN 0-300-10601-7
    .
  33. ISBN 0140512543
    . pp.b142–145
  34. ISBN 0826406181
    . pp. 99-100

33. Wando Bands 2023 Show “Axis Mundi”

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