The axis mundi (world axis), in religion or mythology, is the center of the world and/or the connection between heaven and earth. It is common to virtually all cultures on Earth, although it plays a much more explicit role among indigenous peoples. It is thought that the idea of the Proto-Indo-European religion axis mundi, spread throughout Eurasia, in particular the concept of the world tree. It is familiar today as the caduceus, the symbol of medicine; the staff is the axis itself, and the serpents are the guardians or guides ...

Read more here: » Axis mundi: Encyclopedia - Axis mundi

Including:

• Yggdrasil - Etymology and alternative names
• Yggdrasil - Yggdrasil in the Edda
• Yggdrasil - Popular culture

Read more here: » Yggdrasil: Encyclopedia - Yggdrasil

The most commonly accepted etymology of the name is ygg "terrible" + drasil "steed". Yggr is taken to be an epithet of Odin, giving a meaning of "Odin's steed", taken to refer to the nine nights Odin is said to have spent hanging from the tree in order find the runes. The gallows are sometimes described in Old Norse poetry as the "horse of the hanged." Another interpretation of the name is "terrible horse", i. e. the association with Odin may be secondary. A third interpretation, with etymological difficulties, is "yew-c ...

See also:

Yggdrasil, Yggdrasil - Etymology and alternative names, Yggdrasil - Yggdrasil in the Edda, Yggdrasil - Popular culture

Read more here: » Yggdrasil: Encyclopedia II - Yggdrasil - Etymology and alternative names

For the mountain in Tanzania, see Mount Meru, Tanzania. Mount Meru or Mount Sumeru is a sacred mountain in Hindu and Buddhist mythology considered to be the center of the universe. It is believed to be the abode of Brahma and other deities of both religions. The mountain is said to be 80,000 leagues (450,000 km) high and located in Jambudvipa, one of the continents on earth in Hindu mythology. Angkor Wat, the principal temple of Angkor in Cambodia, was built as a symbolic representation of Mount Meru. Including:

• Mount Meru Mythology - Legends
• Mount Meru Mythology - Meru Vayu and Lanka
• Mount Meru Mythology - Meru Agastya and the Vindhya mountains
• Mount Meru Mythology - Beliefs

Read more here: » Mount Meru Mythology: Encyclopedia - Mount Meru Mythology

In certain Indo-European religions there was a belief in a world tree, such as Yggdrasil, in Norse mythology, an Oak in Slavic mythology and in Hinduism, a banyan tree. Although the concept is absent from the Greek mythology, medieval Greek folk traditions and more recent ones claim that the Tree that holds the Earth is shewn by goblins (Kallikantzaroi). A World Tree (Wacah Chan) also appears in the Maya religion as the axis mundi. It connects the Middleworld of man, with Xibalba (Otherwor ...

Including:

• World tree - In popular culture

Read more here: » World tree: Encyclopedia - World tree

Shamanism refers to the traditional healing and religious practices of Northern Asia (Siberia) and Mongolia. By extension, the concept of shamanism has been extended in common language to a range of traditional beliefs and practices that involve the ability to diagnose, cure, and sometimes cause human suffering by traversing the axis mundi and forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits. Shamans have been credited with the ability to control the weather, divination, the interpretation of dreams, astral projection, and traveling to upper and lower worlds. Shamanistic traditions have exist ...

Including:

• Shamanism - Etymology
• Shamanism - History
• Shamanism - Asia
• Shamanism - Americas
• Shamanism - Aspects of the practice
• Shamanism - Initiation and learning
• Shamanism - Shamanic illness
• Shamanism - Practice and method
• Shamanism - Shamanic technology
• Shamanism - Gender and sexuality
• Shamanism - Shamanism and New Age

Read more here: » Shamanism: Encyclopedia - Shamanism

This article is about the place in South Dakota. For the place in Washington, see Black Hills (Washington). The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is somewhat of a geological anomaly. The region is considered sacred by many of the Plains Native Americans. It is accurately described as an "island of trees in a sea of grass." The Black Hill ...

Including:

• Black Hills - History
• Black Hills - Geology
• Black Hills - Biosystems
• Black Hills - Tourism and economy
• Black Hills - Black Hills in film
• Black Hills - Sources

Read more here: » Black Hills: Encyclopedia - Black Hills

China listen ▶ (help·info) (Traditional: 中國; Simplified: 中国; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōngguó; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) refers to a number of states and cultures that have existed and are viewed as having succeeded one another in continental East Asia, dating back nearly 5,000 years. Modern China has been described as both a single civilization and multiple civilizations, as a single state or multiple states, ...

Including:

• China - Terminology
• China - Zhongguo
• China - China
• China - History
• China - Chinese Pre-history
• China - Political history
• China - Territory
• China - Historical overview
• China - Historical political divisions
• China - Geography and climate
• China - Society
• China - Demographics
• China - Culture
• China - Religion
• China - Arts scholarship and literature
• China - Science and technology
• China - Miscellaneous topics

Read more here: » China: Encyclopedia - China

The Capitoline Museums (Italian Musei Capitolini) are a group of art and archeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the famous Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The museums are contained in three palazzos surrounding a central trapezoidal piazza in a plan conceived by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1536 and executed over a period of over 400 years. The history of the museums can be traced to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated a collection of important ancient bronzes to the people of Rome and located them on Cap ...

Including:

• Capitoline Museums and Piazza del Campidoglio - Museums and collections
• Capitoline Museums and Piazza del Campidoglio - Capitoline Museum
• Capitoline Museums and Piazza del Campidoglio - Palazzo dei Conservatori Museum
• Capitoline Museums and Piazza del Campidoglio - Galleria Congiunzione
• Capitoline Museums and Piazza del Campidoglio - Tabularium
• Capitoline Museums and Piazza del Campidoglio - Architecture and design

Read more here: » Capitoline Museums and Piazza del Campidoglio: Encyclopedia - Capitoline Museums and Piazza del Campidoglio

Three roots supported the trunk, with one passing through Asgard, one through Jotunheim and one through Helheim. Beneath the Asgard root lay the sacred Well of Urd (Urðabrunnr), and there dwelt the three Nornir, over whom even the gods had no power, and who, every day, watered the tree from the primeval fountain, so that its boughs remained green. Beneath the Jotunheim root lay the spring or well of Mimir (Mímisbrunnr); and beneath the Helheim root t ...

See also:

Yggdrasil, Yggdrasil - Etymology and alternative names, Yggdrasil - Yggdrasil in the Edda, Yggdrasil - Popular culture

Read more here: » Yggdrasil: Encyclopedia II - Yggdrasil - Yggdrasil in the Edda

The most commonly accepted etymology of the name is ygg "terrible" + drasil "steed". Yggr is taken to be an epithet of Odin, giving a meaning of "Odin's steed", taken to refer to the nine nights Odin is said to have spent hanging from the tree in order find the runes. The gallows are sometimes described in Old Norse poetry as the "horse of the hanged." Another interpretation of the name is "terrible horse", i. e. the association with Odin may be secondary. A third interpretation, with etymological difficulties, is "yew-c ...

See also:

Yggdrasil, Yggdrasil - Etymology and alternative names, Yggdrasil - Yggdrasil in the Edda

Read more here: » Yggdrasil: Encyclopedia II - Yggdrasil - Etymology and alternative names

Three roots supported the trunk, with one passing through Asgard, one through Jotunheim and one through Helheim. Beneath the Asgard root lay the sacred Well of Urd (Urðabrunnr), and there dwelt the three Nornir, over whom even the gods had no power, and who, every day, watered the tree from the primeval fountain, so that its boughs remained green. Beneath the Jotunheim root lay the spring or well of Mimir (Mímisbrunnr); and beneath the Helheim root t ...

See also:

Yggdrasil, Yggdrasil - Etymology and alternative names, Yggdrasil - Yggdrasil in the Edda

Read more here: » Yggdrasil: Encyclopedia II - Yggdrasil - Yggdrasil in the Edda

The legends, puranas and Hindu epics frequently state that Surya, the sun-God, circumnambulates Mount Meru every day. This, coupled with evidence indicating that the early Aryans resided in the arctic regions, has led many to infer that Mount Meru actually refers to the north pole. Some beliefs, local to that area of the Himalayas, associate mythical Mount Meru with a mountain along the bank of ...

See also:

Mount Meru Mythology, Mount Meru Mythology - Legends, Mount Meru Mythology - Meru Vayu and Lanka, Mount Meru Mythology - Meru Agastya and the Vindhya mountains, Mount Meru Mythology - Beliefs

Read more here: » Mount Meru Mythology: Encyclopedia II - Mount Meru Mythology - Beliefs

Mount Meru finds mention innumerable times in Hindu mythology. Some of the better-known legends are recounted here. Mount Meru Mythology - Meru Vayu and Lanka. Legends say that Mount Meru and the wind god Vayu were good friends. However, the sage Narada approached Vayu and incited him to humble the mountain. Vayu blew with full force for one full year, but Meru did not submit. However, after a year Meru took respite for some time. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Vayu increased its force. Thus the apex of the mountain was broken and it fell i ...

See also:

Mount Meru Mythology, Mount Meru Mythology - Legends, Mount Meru Mythology - Meru Vayu and Lanka, Mount Meru Mythology - Meru Agastya and the Vindhya mountains, Mount Meru Mythology - Beliefs

Read more here: » Mount Meru Mythology: Encyclopedia II - Mount Meru Mythology - Legends

After the public discovery of gold in the 1870s, the conflict over control of the region sparked the last major Indian War on the Great Plains, the Black Hills War. The Black Hills are considered by the Lakota (Teton Sioux) to be the axis mundi, or center of the world; the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) had previously confirmed their ownership of the mountain range. Although rumors of gold in the Black Hills had circulated in North America for decades (See Thoen Stone and Father DeSmet), Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer of ...

See also:

Black Hills, Black Hills - History, Black Hills - Geology, Black Hills - Biosystems, Black Hills - Tourism and economy, Black Hills - Black Hills in film, Black Hills - Sources

Read more here: » Black Hills: Encyclopedia II - Black Hills - History

Different forms of shamanism are found around the world, and practitioners are also known as medicine men or women, as well as witch doctors. Shamanism - Initiation and learning. In Shamanic cultures, the shaman plays a priest-like role; however, there is an essential difference between the two, as Joseph Campbell describes: "The priest is the socially initiated, ceremonially inducted member of a recognized religious organization, where he holds a certain rank and functions as the tenant of an ...

See also:

Shamanism, Shamanism - Etymology, Shamanism - History, Shamanism - Asia, Shamanism - Americas, Shamanism - Aspects of the practice, Shamanism - Initiation and learning, Shamanism - Shamanic illness, Shamanism - Practice and method, Shamanism - Shamanic technology, Shamanism - Gender and sexuality, Shamanism - Shamanism and New Age

Read more here: » Shamanism: Encyclopedia II - Shamanism - Aspects of the practice

About five years have passed since the end of episode four, and begins in July 1874. Gold is discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, the U.S. Army moves in to take possession of the land, and the conflict over control of the region sparks the Black Hills War, the last major Indian War on the Great Plains. The Black Hills are considered by the Lakota to be the axis mundi, or center of the world and a treaty (the Treaty of Fort Larami ...

See also:

Into the West miniseries, Into the West miniseries - Episode 1 - Wheel to the Stars, Into the West miniseries - Episode 2 - Manifest Destiny, Into the West miniseries - Episode 3 - Dreams and Schemes, Into the West miniseries - Episode 4 - Hell on Wheels, Into the West miniseries - Episode 5 - Casualties of War, Into the West miniseries - Episode 6 - Ghost Dance, Into the West miniseries - DVD

Read more here: » Into the West miniseries: Encyclopedia II - Into the West miniseries - Episode 5 - Casualties of War

A: Agnus Dei - Alchemical symbols - Allah - Ankh - Astrological signs - Astrology and alchemy - Aum/Om - Axis mundi B: Bagua - Bahá'í symbols - Bindi C: Caduceus - Celtic cross - Chai - Christian cross - Conch shell - Crescent - Cross of Lorraine - Cross of Sacrifice - Cross of St. Peter - Cross - Crucifix - Crux Gemmata D: Dharma wheel - Divided line of Plato - Eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism E: Ek Onkar - Endless knot - Enneagram - Eye of God - E ...

See also:

List of symbols, List of symbols - Religious esoteric metaphysical and mystical symbols, List of symbols - Political symbols, List of symbols - Scientific and engineering symbols, List of symbols - Other symbols

Read more here: » List of symbols: Encyclopedia II - List of symbols - Religious esoteric metaphysical and mystical symbols

The word "shaman" probably originated among the Siberian Tungus (Evenks) and literally means "he (or she) who knows"; the belief that the word may be derived from Sanskrit is perhaps due to the relation between the words "shamanism" and "shramanism", from the sanskrit "shramana", Pali and Prakrit "samana"; the samanas were ascetics, not shamans, however. However, in Sanskrit, the word "shamana" also exists, and it means the act of calming, tranquilizing, soothing or destroying - this, through Buddhism, could have led to the formation of the modern word Shamanism. ( ...

See also:

Shamanism, Shamanism - Etymology, Shamanism - History, Shamanism - Asia, Shamanism - Americas, Shamanism - Aspects of the practice, Shamanism - Initiation and learning, Shamanism - Shamanic illness, Shamanism - Practice and method, Shamanism - Shamanic technology, Shamanism - Gender and sexuality, Shamanism - Shamanism and New Age

Read more here: » Shamanism: Encyclopedia II - Shamanism - Etymology

The region is home to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Harney Peak (the highest point in South Dakota), Custer State Park (the largest state park in the US), Bear Butte State Park, Devils Tower National Monument, and the Crazy Horse Memorial (the largest sculpture in the world). The Black Hills also hosts the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally each August. Started in 1940, the 65th Rally in 2005 saw more than 550,000 bikers visit the Black Hill ...

See also:

Black Hills, Black Hills - History, Black Hills - Geology, Black Hills - Biosystems, Black Hills - Tourism and economy, Black Hills - Black Hills in film, Black Hills - Sources

Read more here: » Black Hills: Encyclopedia II - Black Hills - Tourism and economy