The center of the world for the ancient Slavs was the World Tree ( World Tree, World Tree). It is the central axis of the entire universe, including the Earth, and connects the World of people with the World of Gods and the Underworld. The crown of the tree reaches the World of the Gods in heaven - Iriy, the roots of the tree go underground and connect the World of the Gods and the World of people with the underworld or the world of the Dead, ruled by Chernobog, Marena. Somewhere in the sky, behind the clouds (heavenly abysses; over the seventh sky), the crown of a sprawling tree forms an island, here is Iriy (Slavic paradise), where not only Gods and human ancestors live, but also the ancestors of all birds and animals . Thus, the Tree of the World was fundamental in the worldview of the Slavs, its main integral part. At the same time, it is also a staircase, a road through which you can get to any of the worlds. In Slavic folklore, the Tree of the World is called differently. It can be oak, sycamore, willow, linden, viburnum, cherry, apple or pine.

In the views of the ancient Slavs, the World Tree is located on Buyan Island on Alatyr-stone, which is also the center of the universe (the center of the Earth). Judging by some legends, light gods live on its branches, and dark gods live in its roots. The image of this tree has come down to us, as in the number various fairy tales, legends, epics, conspiracies, songs, riddles, and in the form of ritual embroidery on clothes, patterns, ceramic decorations, painting dishes, chests, etc. Here is an example of how the World Tree is described in one of the Slavic folk tales, which existed in Rus' and tells about the extraction of a horse by a hero-hero: "... a copper pillar stands, and a horse is tied to it, pure stars on the sides, a moon shines on the tail, a red sun in the forehead ...". This horse is a mythological symbol of the entire universe, which is still attached to the center-pillar or tree.

Image of the World Tree imitated in funeral rites. In ancient times, people were buried in the branches of trees. Later, this rite was modified and now, after cremation, the ashes of people were left on the so-called pillars with huts, which are also a prototype of the World Tree and help the deceased both ascend to the World of the Gods and descend this tree to the World of People to visit their descendants.

The ancient tribes built huts and temples in such a way that a living tree was inside, that is, they built a dwelling around a tree - oak, ash, birch and others. Like the idols that represented the gods, the tree inside the house was the embodiment of the World Tree, which could also connect all three worlds and be the main place for some kind of domestic rituals. This tradition was alive until the beginning of the 20th century practically throughout Russia, and beyond, but in a simplified form. Before the construction of the house, a young tree was dug out and planted in the center or the red corner of the future log house of the building, while saying: “Here you are, my dear friend, a warm house and a shaggy cedar!” There it grew until the very end of construction. Then he was taken out and planted in another place. In ancient times, it grew together with people and towered with its crown above the roof, as if above the firmament.

In ritual songs and in general traditional folklore, such descriptions of the World Tree have come down to us: a nightingale (as well as other sacred birds - Gamayun, Sirin, Alkonost, Duck, Firebird, etc.) they bring honey, an ermine lives at the roots, a snake (Shkurupeya) lives in a hole (nest), a demon is chained on a chain, the fruits of the World Tree are the seeds of all existing herbs, flowers, trees. Traditional in folklore are the squabbles of the very snake that lives in the roots, and the bird that lives in the crown. At the same time, the serpent constantly threatens to burn the tree, and the bird each time defends itself or goes to the trick. The sun and moon are often placed in the crown of this tree. In Belarusian folklore, beavers live at the roots of a tree, and a falcon lives in the crown, the leaves are covered with beads, the flowers are like silver, the fruits are pure gold. Since this is the World Tree, the Slavic tradition in its folklore placed here all the most amazing creatures, from mythological birds to half-humans, half-horses, half-bulls, half-dogs, as well as all possible deities and creatures. Here their place is near the center of the world.

The World Tree was so revered by the Slavs that it participated in many celebrations. In particular, the tradition of setting up a Christmas tree for the New Year has come down to us to this day. Now no one thinks why this is done, but the main and sacred meaning of the New Year tree is precisely the image of the Center or the Axis of the Universe. In a sense, it is an idol of the Sacred World Tree. Also, a ritual tree was installed just before the construction of a new house in the very center of the planned construction, thus attracting power to this place and making it sacred, with a powerful energy base. The builder of a new dwelling makes his house, as it were, a projection of the center of the universe, the same mystical modeling of the center occurs when a tree is brought into the house, placed in the middle of it, or in a red corner. Another rite can be a round dance on sunny holidays around a tree, which often chooses a birch or oak. In ancient times, there were entire sacred groves, sacred forests, where it was strictly forbidden to cut down or damage trees. This directly applies to the very figure of the World Tree, since, by analogy with it, the sacred trees were the habitat of spirits, creatures, and a kind of stairs (portals) to other worlds. In such groves, holidays, rituals, rituals for curing diseases were held.

It must be said that the Tree of the World, in one form or another, existed in almost all ancient beliefs, ranging from Scandinavian (evergreen tree Yggdrasil or Great Ash) to Indian (Ashvattha). In Erzya beliefs, the tree is called Echke Tumo, where the nest of the sacred duck Ine Narmun is located, which gives birth to the very egg from which the whole world is born. In Turkic mythology, the tree is called Baiterek - with its roots it holds the earth in place, and with its branches supports the sky so that it does not fall down. In Kabbalah, it is the Mekabtziel Tree. In the Qur'an it is Sidrat al-muntaha. In China, this is Kien-Mu, along which the Sun and Moon descend to earth, lords, sages, Gods, spirits, and so on.

The symbol of the World Tree is depicted in different ways. It can be either a fairly accurate image with roots, branches, leaves and other attributes of an ordinary tree, or a schematic image in the form of a vertical stick and three branches that rush upwards. Also, the Tree of the World is depicted as a woman with raised hands. In embroidery and painting, there are often elements such as a green tree with leaves and flowers, as a symbol of life, and a dry tree, as a symbol of death. There are such images where spirits and deities are placed on one side of the tree, and glorious warriors, heroes, priests on the other.

World Tree, tree of life - in Slavic mythology the world axis, the center of the world and the embodiment of the universe as a whole. The crown of the WORLD TREE reaches the heavens, the roots - the underworld (cf. in the article Slavic mythology). The image of the WORLD TREE is typical for Russian riddles and conspiracies. Wed a riddle about the road: “When the light was born, then the oak fell down, and now it lies”; this image combines different - vertical (tree from earth to heaven) and horizontal (road) - coordinates of the world. The WORLD TREE embodies not only spatial, but also temporal coordinates; cf. riddle: “There is an oak, there are 12 branches on the oak, 4 nests on each branch”, etc. - about a year, 12 months, 4 weeks, etc. In conspiracies, the WORLD TREE is placed in the center of the world, on an island in the middle of the ocean (“the umbilical cord of the sea”), where on the stone Alatyr there is a “damask oak” or a sacred tree of cypress, birch, apple tree, sycamore, etc. Gods and saints live in conspiracies on the WORLD TREE - the Mother of God, Paraskeva, etc. trees are demonic and chthonic creatures, a demon is chained, a snake (Shkurupeya) lives in a nest (“rune”), etc.

In wedding folklore and “vine” songs (performed for young people - “vines”), the image of the WORLD TREE embodied the fertility of wildlife, the tree of life: a nightingale builds a nest in the crown, bees bring honey in the trunk, and an ermine brings out small children at the roots , or the young themselves, matrimonial bed; near the “three-year-old” tree there is a tower, where a feast takes place and “honey dishes” are prepared (honey is the food of immortality in many traditions). In Belarusian folklore, the image of the WORLD TREE is directly associated with wedding ceremony: the groom should not put horses at the “unlucky tree” of viburnum, but should put them at the happy sycamore, where bees bring honey flowing down to the roots so that the horses get drunk, beavers live at the roots, a falcon lives in the crown, etc.

In traditional culture, the success of any rite was made dependent on how the ritual performed corresponded to the general picture of the world: hence the importance of the image of the WORLD TREE embodying this picture, both in folklore (whether it be a charm or a wedding song), and in the rite itself. Wed the use of ritual trees, symbols of the world axis, during a wedding (see also in Art. Tree), building a house (when a ritual tree was placed in the center of the planned building), etc. up to the latest customs to establish a Christmas (New Year) tree, etc. Among the Serbs, the sacred tree “record” was considered a symbol of the well-being of the entire village - with a cross carved on it; in the old days, sacrifices were made near this tree (see Sacrifice). the roots, trunk and carved cross were sprinkled with blood.

In addition to the ritual tree, numerous ritual objects are associated with the symbolism of the WORLD TREE - a Christmas log - a badnyak among the southern Slavs, ritual bread, a loaf, etc. Each rite, therefore, was performed, as it were, in the center of the universe, at the WORLD TREE, and repeated the act of creation world, space renewal (in New Year and etc. calendar holidays), renewal of social life (wedding and other family ceremonies), etc. In folklore, the image of the WORLD TREE can be replaced by the image of a pillar, a “beam” (cf. the riddle about the road - “a beam lies in all of Rus'”), mountains (cf. the Russian proverb “The world is a golden mountain”), etc.

In the medieval apocrypha, which influenced the formation of the Slavic folk picture of the world, in particular, the myth of the creation of the world is transmitted, where the earth rests on water, water on stone, stone on four whales, whales on a fiery river, that one on universal fire, and fire - on "an iron oak, planted above all else, and all its roots rest on God's power" ("Razumnik", an apocryphal text of the 10th - 11th centuries). In the “Legend of the Cross Tree” by presbyter Jeremiah (Bulgaria, 10th century), Moses plants a tree at the source, “woven” from three trees (spruce, cedar and cypress), a prototype of the Trinity; from this tree, according to many prophecies, a cross should be made for the crucifixion of Christ. Solomon ordered the tree to be cut down to be placed in the Temple, but it did not fit in the Temple and was exposed outside. When the time came for the crucifixion, the tree was sawn into three parts, from the bottom - the root - they made a cross for Christ, setting it on Golgotha, where Adam's head was buried: the blood of the Savior, poured out on the head, saved the soul of the first man. Cypress - a cross tree in Russian folklore, “the father of all trees”, growing on the holy Zion mountains; to this tree, according to spiritual verses, the Pigeon Book falls out, which tells about the foundations of the universe. In the ancient Russian apocrypha about Solomon, in the form of a tree with golden branches, a month at the top, a cornfield at the roots, an ideal state is depicted, where the month is the king, the cornfield is the Orthodox peasantry.

Lit.:

Toporov V.N. On the structure of some archaic texts correlated with the concept of the world tree // Proceedings on sign systems. Issue \ 5. Tartu, 1971;
Ivanov V.V., Toporov V.N. Research in the field of Slavic antiquities. M., 1974 Golden jet spring. Monuments of Bulgarian literature of the IX-XVIII centuries. M., 1990.

World tree (tree)- this is a symbol of the center of the world, the axis around which everything that surrounds us exists. The image of the World Tree is found in many cultures, not only among the Slavs. We meet descriptions of a tree that serves as the axis of the world in Scandinavian myths, in the legends of shamans of all countries, in ancient myths and fairy tales.

What are the features of the image of the World Tree in Slavic mythology?

In Slavic bylichkas and conspiracies, the World Tree is described as a “damask oak” growing on Buyan Island, which is located “on the umbilical cord of the sea” - in the center of the oceans. Sometimes there is a description of a tree growing upside down. Such an image seems to us the closest to the mythology of the Russian North.

The roots of the World Tree go to the world of Navi, the top - to heaven, where the world of Rule is located, the world of bright Slavic Gods. The trunk of a magic tree passes through the world of Reveal - a world where people live, the Gods of the world of Reveal (elemental Gods of water, fire, air, earth), small Gods or spirits (brownies, goblin, mermaids) and animals. The image of the World Tree connects and balances the three Slavic worlds.

In fairy tales, we also meet a description of the nine heavens located at the top of the World Tree. A separate sky for the sun, for the moon, for the stars. In the seventh heaven is the home of the Gods of Rule. Sayings about the "seventh heaven" are still preserved in our language.

Appeal to the World Tree in incantations and Slavic rites

The world tree, which links the three worlds, helps you move between them. We have preserved fairy tales about how a person managed to get into the world of Rule by climbing the trunk of the World Tree.

The image of moving along the trunk of a magic tree has been preserved in Slavic incantations. In many ancient conspiracies, a person enters the "God's World" through the image of a "damask oak" or "an uprooted oak" growing on Alatyr-stone, located in the center of the sea-ocean. Moving along the World Tree during the ceremony, the Wise One got into the world of the Slavic Gods, where he could turn to them with a request.

Images of the World Tree on household items and amulets

We meet the drawing with the World Tree on wooden utensils, spinning wheels, old chests. Often the image of a tree growing in three worlds can be seen in the plots of the Mezen painting.

The image of the World Tree is also found in amulets. In the old days, it was most often embroidery or amulets for the home. There are also images of the World Tree on patterns decorating bracelets and other amulets. Now craftsmen often make amulets in the shape of the World Tree itself.

The World Tree (lat. Arbor mundi) is a mythological archetype, a universal tree that unites all spheres of the universe. As a rule, its branches correspond with the sky, the trunk - with the earthly world, the roots - with the underworld.

In science, there are different views on the universality of this archetype. VN Toporov and his followers interpret the World Tree broadly, identifying it with the World Axis in all its variants. With this approach, any image of a tree in culture (including the Tree of Life) is considered as a reference to the World Tree. With help this image, according to Toporov, "general binary semantic oppositions that serve to describe the main parameters of the world are brought together." A number of prominent researchers (I. M. Dyakonov, Yu. E. Berezkin, V. V. Napolskikh) oppose such an expansive interpretation and note that this archetype does not occur at all among some peoples.

In the view of the Slavs

The center of the world for the ancient Slavs was the World Tree (World Tree, World Tree). It is the central axis of the entire universe, including the Earth, and connects the World of people with the World of Gods and the Underworld. The crown of the tree reaches the World of the Gods in heaven - Iriy, the roots of the tree go underground and connect the World of the Gods and the World of people with the underworld or the world of the Dead, ruled by Chernobog, Marena. Somewhere in the sky, behind the clouds (heavenly abysses; over the seventh sky), the crown of a sprawling tree forms an island, here is Iriy (Slavic paradise), where not only Gods and human ancestors live, but also the ancestors of all birds and animals . Thus, the Tree of the World was fundamental in the worldview of the Slavs, its main component. At the same time, it is also a staircase, a road through which you can get to any of the worlds. In Slavic folklore, the Tree of the World is called differently. It can be oak, sycamore, willow, linden, viburnum, cherry, apple or pine.

In the views of the ancient Slavs, the World Tree is located on Buyan Island on Alatyr-stone, which is also the center of the universe (the center of the Earth). Judging by some legends, light gods live on its branches, and dark gods live in its roots. The image of this tree has come down to us, both in the number of various fairy tales, legends, epics, incantations, songs, riddles, and in the form of ritual embroidery on clothes, patterns, ceramic decorations, painting dishes, chests, etc. Here is an example of how the Tree of the World is described in one of the Slavic folk tales that existed in Rus' and tells about the extraction of a horse by a hero-hero: forehead red sun ... ". This horse is a mythological symbol of the entire universe, which is still attached to the center-pillar or tree.

In traditions and rituals

The image of the world tree is typical for Slavic carols, Russian riddles and conspiracies. Wed a riddle about the road: “When the light was born, then the oak fell down, and now it lies”; this image combines different - vertical (tree from earth to heaven) and horizontal (road) coordinates of the world. The motif of cutting down a tree in Slavic carols is also characteristic in connection with the paving of bridges for the passage of Ovsen, New Year, Christ; in the Bulgarian carol there is a "self-description" of the world tree:

In wedding folklore and “vine” songs (performed for the young - “vines”), the image of the world tree embodied the fertility of wildlife, the tree of life:

• a nightingale nests in the crown
• in the trunk - bees "bringing honey
• at the roots - an ermine, bringing out small children, or the young themselves, a marital bed;
• near the “three-year-old” tree there is a tower, where a feast takes place and “honey dishes” are prepared (honey is the food of immortality in many traditions).

In Belarusian folklore, the image of the world tree is directly related to the wedding ceremony: the groom should not put his horses at the “unlucky tree” of viburnum, but should put them at the happy sycamore, where bees bring honey flowing down to the roots so that the horses get drunk, beavers live at the roots, krone - falcon, etc.

In traditional culture, the success of any rite was made dependent on how the performed ritual corresponded to the general picture of the world: hence the importance of the image of the world tree embodying this picture, both in folklore (whether it be a charm or a wedding song), and in the rite itself. Among the Serbs, the sacred tree “record” was considered a symbol of the well-being of the entire village - with a cross carved on it; in the old days, sacrifices were made near this tree (see Sacrifice). The roots, the trunk and the carved cross were sprinkled with blood.

The influence of the image on the life of the Slavs

It is well known that for the ancient Slavs, trees were not just a building material. Our pagan ancestors saw in them the same as themselves, children of earth and heaven, moreover, having no less right to life. From a tree, according to some legends, the very first people were created - which means that the trees are older and wiser than people. Cutting down a tree is like killing a person. But after all, a hut must be built!

Russian peasants preferred to cut huts from pine, spruce, larch. These trees with long, even trunks fit well into the frame, tightly adjoining each other, retained the internal heat well, and did not rot for a long time. However, the choice of trees in the forest was regulated by many rules, the violation of which could lead to the transformation of a built house from a house for people into a house against people, bringing misfortune.

Of course, there could not even be a question of raising a hand on a tree that was revered, “sacred”. There were entire sacred groves in which all trees were considered divine, and it was a sin to pluck even a branch from them.

Individual trees could also be considered sacred if they attracted attention by their unusual size, age, or developmental features. As a rule, local legends were associated with such trees. Legends have come down to us about righteous old men, at the end of their days turned into trees by the gods.

I would never dare ancient man cut down the tree that grew on the grave. Even at the end of the XIX century. the peasants showed the ethnographers a large pine tree, supposedly grown from the braid of a ruined girl; But what if a human soul settled in a tree? A sure sign this was considered in Belarus to be the creak emitted by the tree: in the creaky trees, according to beliefs, the souls of tortured people wept. Whoever deprives them of their shelter will surely be punished: they will pay with their health, and even with their lives.

In some places in Russia, a strict ban on cutting down all old trees in general was kept for a very long time. According to the peasants, it was a sin to deprive the forest patriarchs of the right to natural, “spontaneous” death from a windfall or simply from old age. Whoever encroached on such a tree would inevitably go mad, be injured or die. The felling of the "young" - a young, immature forest - was also revered as a sin. In this case, the mythological view was based on a completely natural desire to preserve young trees that have not reached the best conditions. In relation to the “forest elders”, the law of mythological thinking acted: the elder means the main, revered, sacred.

Trees with developmental anomalies - a large hollow, a stone or some other object grown into the trunk, with unusual shape trunk, with an amazing interlacing of roots - also not subject to felling: "not like everyone else" - you never know what strength could lurk in them!

In different areas, there were also bans on felling certain species. First of all, of course, this applied to the "cursed" trees, such as aspen and spruce. These rocks are energetically unfavorable for a person, “pump out” vital energy from him, and even objects made from their wood retain this property. So the reluctance of our ancestors to live in a spruce or aspen house was, again, not without reason. On the other hand, a person who cut down a completely “benevolent” linden was bound to get lost in the forest. Apparently, the gods sternly stood up for the tree, which for centuries has been shoeing, and even dressing the people ...

Dead, dry trees were not suitable for construction. It is understandable: such trees do not have vitality in themselves, they bear the seal of death - which is good, they will bring it into the house. And even if no one dies in the house, the “dry coat” will definitely become attached. In a number of places, for this reason, they avoided cutting down trees in winter, when they are devoid of juices and "temporarily dead."

The notion of death and the afterlife is also associated with the prohibition imposed on trees that fell during cutting with their tops to the north side, “at midnight”: our ancestors associated this side of the world with eternal darkness, winter, lifeless cold - in a word, the other world. Insert such a tree into a log house, and people in the house will not live long!

A special and very dangerous variety of forbidden trees are “violent”, “evil”, “sucky”. Such a tree seems to seek revenge on a person for its death: it can crush a lumberjack, and they will knock out a log for a hut from it - just look, it will bring down the whole house on the head of the residents. Even a chip from such a tree, deliberately planted by an evil carpenter, was capable, according to Russian peasants, of destroying new house or a mill. If the "violent" forest was cut down for firewood, one should have been wary of a fire!

There was also a ban on the use of trees planted by man in construction. First of all - garden trees, moreover, located inside the fence of the estate. Scientists believe that the point here is in the mythological understanding of such opposites as "ours" - "foreign", "natural" - "cultural", "wild" - "home". A tree taken from the forest and used for the construction of human habitation, certainly had to undergo a "change of quality": from "alien" to become "one's own". With a garden tree, such a transformation obviously could not happen, and besides, garden apple trees and cherries were for our pagan ancestors almost family members ... If the first three trees scheduled for felling turned out to be unsuitable for any reason, then on this day it is better not to get down to business at all - there will be no good.

World tree in different cultures

The world tree, the tree of life - in Slavic mythology, the world axis and a symbol of the universe as a whole. The crown of the world tree reaches the heavens, the roots (from which the sacred spring flows) reach the underworld, the trunk and branches organize the earthly space. The sacred tree was a mighty oak.

• In the Erzya traditional religion, on the Echke Tumo world tree, there is a nest of the sacred duck bird Ine Narmun, and from which the Ine al egg laid by her falls out, from which our world subsequently arises: the shell - the Men' Ele sky with stars, the yolk - the earth - the land of Moda-Mastor, the squirrel - the endless ocean of Ineved.
• In ancient Iran, they believed that the sacred tree grows near the springs of Ardvisuri. The king of birds, Senmurv, allegedly lived on it, who scattered the seeds on the ground. Another bird took the seeds to the source from which the star drank, which showered the earth with rain. With the rain, the seeds returned to the ground.
• In Scandinavian myths, we see the evergreen tree of life Yggdrasil, soaked in life-giving sacred honey. This is a huge ash tree, which is the structural basis of all things and connects nine worlds. An eagle sits at the top of the tree, snakes and the dragon Nidhogg gnaw at the root.
• “Roots up, branches down, stands the eternal Ashwattha tree. It is called “immortal”, all worlds rest in it, and no one can overcome it ”(Indian Vedas, Bhagavad Gita). Roots up, branches down, the ashwattha is said to be permanent; hymns (Powers of Sattva, rajas and tamas - what keeps in the illusory world) - its leaves, whoever knows him, that expert in the Vedas. Up and down stretch its branches, which have arisen from the gunas; objects (of the senses) are (his) shoots; its roots also stretch down, binding by karma in the human world.
• In Turkic mythology and later in Kazakh fairy tales, the image of Baiterek appeared. Baiterek, with its location and compositional structure, expresses the cosmogonic ideas of the ancient nomads, according to whose legends the World River flows at the junction of the worlds. On its shore rises the Tree of Life - Baiterek, holding the earth with its roots, and propping up the sky with its crown. The roots of this tree, respectively, are in the underworld, the tree itself, its trunk is earthly, and the crown is in heaven. Every year, in the crown of the Tree, the sacred bird Samruk lays an egg - the Sun, which is swallowed by the dragon Aidakhar, who lives at the foot of the tree of life, which symbolically means the change of summer and winter, day and night, the struggle between Good and Evil.

World tree (tree)- this is a symbol of the center of the world, the axis around which everything that surrounds us exists. The image of the World Tree is found in many cultures, not only among the Slavs. We meet descriptions of a tree that serves as the axis of the world in Scandinavian myths, in the legends of shamans of all countries, in ancient myths and fairy tales.

What are the features of the image of the World Tree in Slavic mythology?

In Slavic bylichkas and conspiracies, the World Tree is described as a “damask oak” growing on Buyan Island, which is located “on the umbilical cord of the sea” - in the center of the oceans. Sometimes there is a description of a tree growing upside down. Such an image seems to us the closest to the mythology of the Russian North.

The roots of the World Tree go to the world of Navi, the top - to heaven, where the world of Rule is located, the world of bright Slavic Gods. The trunk of a magic tree passes through the world of Reveal - a world where people live, the Gods of the world of Reveal (elemental Gods of water, fire, air, earth), small Gods or spirits (brownies, goblin, mermaids) and animals. The image of the World Tree connects and balances the three Slavic worlds.

In fairy tales, we also meet a description of the nine heavens located at the top of the World Tree. A separate sky for the sun, for the moon, for the stars. In the seventh heaven is the home of the Gods of Rule. Sayings about the "seventh heaven" are still preserved in our language.

Appeal to the World Tree in incantations and Slavic rites

The world tree, which links the three worlds, helps you move between them. We have preserved fairy tales about how a person managed to get into the world of Rule by climbing the trunk of the World Tree.

The image of moving along the trunk of a magic tree has been preserved in Slavic incantations. In many ancient conspiracies, a person enters the "God's World" through the image of a "damask oak" or "an uprooted oak" growing on Alatyr-stone, located in the center of the sea-ocean. Moving along the World Tree during the ceremony, the Wise One got into the world of the Slavic Gods, where he could turn to them with a request.

Images of the World Tree on household items and amulets

We meet the drawing with the World Tree on wooden utensils, spinning wheels, old chests. Often the image of a tree growing in three worlds can be seen in the plots of the Mezen painting.

The image of the World Tree is also found in amulets. In the old days, it was most often embroidery or amulets for the home. There are also images of the World Tree on patterns decorating bracelets and other amulets. Now craftsmen often make amulets in the shape of the World Tree itself.