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The Concept of the World-Tree
Along with myths describing the origin of the world, its schematic symbolic representation appears. many nations, especially Indo-Europeans, have the notion of the World-Tree. Some nations call it the Cosmic Tree or the Life-Tree.
The World-Tree usually is shown as a powerful tree with wide spread branches, with its top reaching heaven and its roots going deep into the earth. The tree-top is the dwelling place of heavenly bodies and eagles, while in its branches other birds live; under the tree are men and animals and, still lower, is the dwelling place of snakes and other reptiles. From under the roots spurt springs of life and wisdom. Thus, the World-Tree represents the world as an indivisible entity, uniting the three spheres: the heaven, the earth and the underground. The mythical imagery of the Baltic World-Tree is probably a reflection of the holly oaks and ash-trees, as it may be concluded from the falk-tales [22].
The World-Tree is a widely spread image in the Lithuanian folk painting, and some hint of it is also found in the Lithuanian and Latvian folklore. It is frequently engraved or painted on the objects of daily use among peasants: dowry chests, cupboards, towel holders, distaffs, laundry beaters, crochet works, etc. (Fig. 5). Wood engravings of the World-Tree sometimes contain two segmental symbols of the Sun, surrounded by a circle of stroked squares, triangles and rhombs. The latter are symbolic imagery of tilled earth and sowed fields. The upper Sun shines in the daytime and gives warmths, while the lower one was believed to cross the underground lagoon from the west to the east in a small boat, bringing dew to grass and crops [23].
The oldest grave monuments in Lithuania are wooden krik¨tai, made from a board incised in the form of a tree. They used to be erected at the dead man's feet, perhaps in a hope to make his access to the heaven easier. To the World-Tree imagery belong Lithuanian memorial crosses and wooden roofed poles (chapels), also. Such roofed poles used to be (and still are to our day) erected at farm-steads, roadsides and cemeteries. They may have originated from the ancient ritual poles at which sacrifices were offered to gods [24]. The idea of such sacral objects is to direct the path of the prayer towards the dwellings of gods. Very common are three-storied roofed poles, where each storey represents a separate sphere of the World-Tree [25].
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COSMOLOGY OF THE ANCIENT BALTS
Vytautas Strai¸ys and Libertas Klimka
Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Gostauto 12, Vilnius 2600, Lithuania
Vilnius Pedagogical University Studentu 39, Vilnius 2600, Lithuania |
