In world mythology, the cosmic mountain as the axis of the world is just as common as the world tree. As a rule, both images coexist peacefully, not displacing each other, but superimposing one on top of the other.
A world tree stretching into the heavens is often placed on top of a giant mountain in the center of the universe. Both are the expression of one concept - the sacred axis of the universe.
In my opinion, the concept of the World Mountain is most fully disclosed in the book by Anastasia Novykh “Sensei 4”, and we will start with it:
- And what is "World Mountain"? - Slavik asked Sensei.
“Yes, in general, this is a fairly well-known concept, often found in the folklore of different peoples of the world,” Sensei began to explain in detail to our surprise. - The concept of the World Mountain, or as it is also called "cosmic mountain", is rooted in antiquity. According to mythology, the World Mountain is located in an inaccessible place, in the center of the world, or rather, where the World axis passes - axis mundi - the axis of the universe, on which all the worlds are strung, including non-intersecting ones, located in the same space. It is believed that the World Mountain reflects all the elements and parameters of the space device. Legends say that immortal gods gather on it and everything that is happening in the Universe is revealed from it.
“The immortal gods gather there,” Kostya repeated dreamily after Sensei, fixing his admiring gaze at the image of the “World Mountain” gradually dissolving in the clouds.
Sensei shrugged his shoulders:
- Well, in what sense are the gods … As the legends say - Sages from all over the Universe, in general, are spiritual beings who have Knowledge and have reached certain stages of spiritual development, like our Imhotep, Buddha, who could leave their bodies in a state of meditation and manifest themselves during their lifetime on the World Mountain, to be there, to communicate, to share experience with the same enlightened representatives of other worlds. And immortality is not meant here in the sense of the body, but the immortality of the spiritual essence of those who are there.
Promotional video:
- Wow, this is a mountain for the elite! - made his conclusion admiring Kostik.
- Well, again, what does “for the elite” mean? - Sensei objected. - Every person is chosen, since he already exists. But not every person makes a life choice towards the Spiritual path, not to mention the march along it in the direction of God. Although everything is in the hands of the person himself! Anyone can, if he wants, develop to such a spiritual level to get the opportunity to participate in one of such high communions.
Stas, obviously barely waiting for Sensei to answer Kostin's questions, impatiently uttered:
- So, the World Mountain is not like this mountain? - he nodded in the direction of the vanishing celestial image of a mountain with a melting snow cap on a pointed peak.
“Oh, what a mountain there is,” Sensei slightly waved his hand, lighting a cigarette, “so, a bald hillock, with a large clearing at the top. Or rather, not completely bald. It is covered with small grass like our dark green moss, a kind of such a plant not from our world. The only interesting thing is that if there is an atmosphere, there is no wind there. What is meant there by "air" stands motionless …
- So the World Mountain really exists ?! - Andrey said incredulously, who before that, like us, even seemed to hold his breath in order to better hear Sensei's answer to Stas.
To which Sensei, as a matter of course, as a matter of course, said:
- The World Mountain is in the Universe as if at the same time at the intersection of the layers of this world. But its material location is not in any of the separately inhabited worlds of the Universe. At the same time, it closes all the worlds on itself. It is absolutely real, even to the touch …
Since ancient times, many references and legends have been preserved about the World Mountain almost throughout East and Central Asia, where it is called nothing other than the great Mount Meru and is considered the center of the world, located in an inaccessible place. In later ideas, in attempts to independently interpret the primordial legends about this mountain, some "interpreters" placed it already in the center of the earth under the North Star and surrounded by the world ocean, others placed it in the inaccessible Himalayas, linking it with Shambhala …
- What, they even associate her with Shambhala? - Volodya was amazed.
Sensei chuckled.
- But how. There are many such interweaving legends about the World Mountain with the legends about Shambhala. But this is understandable. For people who do not really know about Shambhala or the cosmic mountain Meru, located “somewhere there,” it is not known where, naturally, all these concepts will merge into one and the same idea. Although, in fact, the difference between them is huge. Shambhala is located between the real eternal world of God and, in fact, the temporarily existing material Universe. This is the abode of the Bodhisattvas. And the World Mountain is located in the center of the worlds of the material Universe. And it is a place for visiting wise beings, like our enlightened people, or as the ancient people called them - demigods, that is, those who have reached a high spiritual level. That is why this mountain was associated in ancient ideas with the acquisition of real human happiness and immortality.
In the mythology of Ancient India, there are a number of myths associated with Meru. According to these ancient ideas, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and other great gods are located on the World Mountain, located in the center of the Universe, around which the stars, planets, many suns revolve. Thirty-three gods are also mentioned who communicate there. It also tells about their activities. For example, Vishnu gives advice to other gods on this mountain how to get the drink of immortality Amrutu.
“Amrita, how beautiful it sounds,” Tatiana said. - Is this name accidentally associated with a female name?
- Not. This word is derived from "amrta" meaning "immortal." This is akin to the late ancient Greek myth of the Ambrosia drink, which supports the immortality of the Olympic gods and their eternal youth. Amrita, Ambrosia is the same as the Vedic juice of Soma. In the Rig Veda, it is presented as a drink of the gods, causing an ecstatic state and bestowing immortality and supernatural strength. In ancient Indian religious practice, the preparation of juice itself was a special ritual. In "Avesta" this juice was called Haoma, whose cult dates back to the ancient Iranian period. He was also revered by the Sarmatians and Scythians. This juice was also called “death averting”. He not only changed space-time perception, but also bestowed tremendous power, enlightenment and knowledge. And as the ancient Iranians believed, it best prepares the way for the soul. But actually this juice of immortality has always been called "lotus juice". In almost all legends, this sacred juice is described as the juice of an unusual heavenly plant associated with the earth, beautifully and correctly created, white-yellow and even golden …
***
… Buddha himself was able to visit the World Mountain. Thanks to Buddha and some of his followers, who possessed this knowledge, information about Mount Meru became known throughout the East. Buddhists, by the way, just like the Hindus, described this mountain as a pistil of a lotus flower - a flower sacred to both religions. And this image is more connected not so much with the mountain itself, but with the main elements of dynamic meditation in preparation for visiting Meru.
Even take our Slavic "paganism". Indeed, in it, which is noteworthy, knowledge and practices about the World Mountain were available to the common people, in contrast to the “grabbing” of this knowledge by the priests of other nations. In the Slavic territories, for a long time, ancient rituals of magical "flights" to the cosmic mountain were carried out, which were carried out on a sacred hill, similar in shape to the outlines of the World Mountain.
By the way, in the past, great holidays were not appointed because people wanted to have fun. From time immemorial, they were carried out precisely on those days that coincided with certain cosmic cycles. And they began to celebrate them not in the morning, as is now customary, but in the evening, with the rise of the first star.
Over time, when "paganism" began to eradicate with fire and sword among the Slavic peoples, implanting the Christian faith, the ministers of "pagan" cults began to be severely persecuted. They were declared nothing other than "demonic offspring", "servants of the devil", and "pagan" ancient rituals - sabbaths, gulbis of "satanic forces" hostile to man.
And in general, with the physical destruction of most of the Magi, the knowledge about the World Mountain as such was lost, and what was left was distorted beyond recognition in the negative direction. The holidays were renamed. Although from the renaming of some holidays to others, the passage of certain cosmic cycles, of course, has not changed, and the sanctity of the places too. So, on the same places of the former temples of the main pagan gods, Christian temples began to be built. But this, as they say, is history.
Altaians knew a similar image of the World Mountain in the center of the Universe. Only they called her Altyntu. In their view, this golden cosmic mountain was attached precisely by its base to the sky (that is, the widest part was at the top, and the narrowest was at the bottom) and hung with its top above the ground at a distance "equal to the length of a human leg." In addition, they had other names for the World Mountain, such as Mount Sumeru, around which the stars revolve, also known to the Kalmyks and many other peoples of Central Asia. According to the myths of the Altai people, there are 33 tengri, that is, 33 gods.
The Chinese call the World Mountain Kunlun, through which, according to their beliefs, one can penetrate into the higher spheres of the universe. She was considered something like "paradise". In one of the ancient works there is such a record: “Whoever rises from Kunlun to twice the height, reaches the Cool Wind Mountain and gains immortality; who will rise twice as high, reach the Hanging Platform and acquire miraculous abilities by learning to control the wind and rain; whoever ascends twice more, reaches the sky, the abode of Taydi - the supreme rulers, and becomes a spirit. For the ignorant it is a beautiful fairy tale, for the knowledgeable it is just a hint.
By the way, this associative likeness of the World Mountain with Paradise is also mentioned in the Bible. In the text, you can find scattered evidence pointing to the echoes of knowledge about the World Mountain: that is, that it is located in the center of the Universe, God descends on it, a semblance of paradise is located on it, the mountain is surrounded by rivers, which symbolize the pristine ocean. And also the fact that only a righteous person with "innocent hands and a pure heart" can ascend there. It was associated with Mount Zion, and even with Mount Ararat, to which, according to legend, Noah's ark moored.
For Muslims, the World Mountain is covered in the texts in a rather interesting way, although in a somewhat camouflaged form, but still. Firstly, in Islamic myths it is mentioned that Allah created a huge mountain Kaf, which surrounded the inhabited world and firmly supported the Universe. Behind this mountain, the creator created another land, seven times larger in size, which is inhabited by angels, and so densely that even a needle cannot fall between them.
The concept of the cosmic mountain, as well as of the world tree, is rooted in antiquity. These cosmological images have already been recorded in the rock art of the Upper Paleolithic era, that is, they have a history of several tens of thousands of years. In any case, the existence of the idea of the axis of the world in the Stone Age can be said with a fair amount of confidence. It is in this sense that the numerous images found by archaeologists on Neolithic ceramics and spread from Western Asia to China can be interpreted. Appearing in murals at a stage preceding the emergence of the first great civilizations, the motive of the pillar of the universe has retained its popularity in the visual arts in subsequent eras.
For example, in the Scythian beliefs, Meru was located in the north, in the area of darkness and snow, “where the stars, the moon and the sun revolve. A common plot in many myths and legends was the description of a fabulous abode behind the sacred mountains, the so-called "land of the blessed", which was located on the northern slope of Meru, on the coast of the Milk Sea - the Arctic Ocean.
World Mountain (image on Neolithic pottery. Mediterranean)
World Mountain (image on Neolithic pottery. Mediterranean)
Altai Tatars imagine Bai Ulgen sitting in the middle of the Sky on a golden mountain. Abakan Tatars call it "Iron Mountain"; Mongols, Buryats and Kalmyks know it under the names Sumbur, Sumur or Sumer. The world Mountain, which has its source in the image of Meru, in Central Asian traditions and among a number of Altai peoples (Sumer, Sumur, Sumbur, etc.) is often represented as an iron pillar (iron Mountain), which is located in the middle of the earth's disk and connects heaven and earth, with a top its touching the North Star. Sometimes the Mountain (Confusion) stands on the navel of a sea turtle inverted by the god, on each paw of which a special continent rests. In other versions, the Pole Star itself is the tip of the god's palace, built on the top of the Mountain. According to the Kalmyks, the stars revolve around Sumeru. According to the myths of some Altai peoples,33 tengri live on the top of this Mountain.
In the myth, the god three times encircles Sumeru with a huge serpent Losun.
Mongols and Kalmyks imagine it as three - or four-tiered; among the Siberian Tatars, the World Mountain has seven tiers; the Yakut shaman also climbs a seven-tiered mountain on his mystical journey. Its top rests on the Pole Star, the "navel of Heaven." The Buryats say that the Pole Star is attached to its top.
Description of the World Mountain in the mythology of ancient Egypt
This is how it is described in the book by Anastasia Novykh “Sensei 4”:
- Earlier, Ra in the same Heliopolis was revered as the god of the "mature" daytime sun. Before the priests from the Archons put the name of the god of the midday sun Ra in their service, the god of the evening sun and the creator of the world, Atum, was worshiped in Heliopolis. But the most interesting thing is that Atum is a later alteration of the name of the goddess Atam, who, according to ancient beliefs, manifested itself in the form of a hill that arose from the pristine waters of Nun (the water chaos from which everything came). A lotus flower blossomed on this hill and a bright light poured out into the darkness. And it was the goddess Atama who was assigned the main role in maintaining world order. On her crown, consisting of lotus petals, shone the all-seeing Eye, knowing about everything that was happening in the world …
Description of Meru in the "Mahabharata"
The most classic type of World Mountain is the greatest Mount Meru in Hindu mythology and cosmography. It is located in the center of the earth under the North Star and is surrounded by the world's oceans. On its three peaks - gold, silver and iron - live Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva or (in other versions) 33 gods that make up the pantheon; below is the kingdom of the asuras. On each of the four Mountains surrounding Meru, there is a huge tree (among them - ashvattha and pippala, acting as a world tree), indicating the corresponding side of the world. In Buddhist texts, along with Meru, there is also Himavat (called "King Mountain"), which served as a pillow for the Tathagata.
Himavat, called "Mount King".
In the Mahabharabhata, Meru is a mountainous country with peaks up to the sky, where the main peak is Mount Mandara. The Mahabharata describes the lands lying beyond the Himalayas: the ranges of Tibet and the Pamirs, the deserts of Central Asia, impenetrable forests, polar regions and such arctic phenomena as the stationary North Star, stars that do not rise or set, but rotate in a horizontal plane, completing each of its circles in 24 hours, the high constellation Ursa Major, the sun that rises only once a year, day and night, lasting six months, the aurora, an area of long darkness, etc. It is said that at the edge of this area rises Mount Meru, the northern slope of which is the coast of the Milk Sea. The Mahabharata says:
On the northern side, shining, stands the mighty Meru, who participates in the great share; on it is the abode of Brahma, here the soul of all beings dwells, Prajapati, who created everything mobile and motionless … Great Meru, immaculate, good abode. Here the Seven Divine Rishis, headed by Vasishta (the constellation Ursa Major), enter and rise again (over the mountain).
All the stars revolve around Meru. Above it the polar star hangs motionless, and around it they make a circle with the Big Dipper, Cassiopeia and Bootes, here half a day, half a night, one night and one day together are equal to a year. In the north of the Sea of Milk, there is a large island known as Shveta-dvipa ("Glorious White Island")
***
This country is described as “the country of eternal happiness”, “the tribe knows neither disease nor weakness of age”, “there are herds of antelopes and flocks of birds everywhere”, “having gone there, they do not come back to this world”. This is the “Land of the Chosen”, “The Land of Saints”, “The Land of the Blessed”.
The devas used the peak of Mandara as a whorl for churning the ocean, resulting in amrita:
… and began to churn water to obtain amrita. While the devas and asuras churned the ocean through the Mandara, a great noise arose there, like the thundering of monstrous clouds. There, various aquatic inhabitants, crushed by the great mountain, hundreds of them found their death in salt water. The most varied creatures from the world of Varuna. And also the inhabitants of the lower regions of the world, that mountain, the support of the earth, led to the destruction. As it revolved, the mighty trees, inhabited by birds, collided with each other and fell from the top of the mountain. And the fire that arose from their friction, blazing every minute with a flame, like a blue cloud - with lightning, enveloped the Mandara Mountain. He burned the elephants and lions that were there. All sorts of other beings also parted with life. Then Indra, the best of the immortals, extinguished everywhere that burning fire with water born from clouds. After that, various secretions from the mighty trees, as well as many herbal juices, flowed into the ocean waters. It was from drinking those juices endowed with immortal strength, as well as from the outflow of gold, that the devas achieved immortality.
***
Through its summit lies the path to Amaravati, the royal city of Indra; the serpent Vasuki girdles Meru.
Bas-relief "Churning of the Milk Ocean" - Mount Mandara, Vishnu, Kurma, Lakshmi.
Mount Mandara, used by the gods and asuras to churn the milk ocean, is an obvious "synonym" for the world Mount Meru. The similarities between these mountains can be clearly seen in the description given by the Mahabharata:
Here is to the great, cloud-like masses
inaccessible peaks decorated on top, Glorious Mandara - the best of the mountains covered
a network of powerful vines, the gods hastened, -
To her, ringing from the singing of all kinds of birds, all kinds of predators teeming
Visited by hosts of Kinnaras, Apsaras, inhabited by many deities.
Eleven thousand yojanas high
its bulk rose above the ground, As many thousand yojanas deep
her stronghold went into the ground.
There is a fire-bearing mountain in the world - Meru, a bowl of fiery power, it has no equal, She reflects the glittering sun
with the tips of their golden-shone peaks.
Wonderfully decorated with gold, holy, only the gods, the Gandharvas, visit her, And its people cannot reach the heights
without great merit in fulfilling the dharma.
Inhabited by many formidable predators, illuminated by the brilliance of wonderful flowers, Stands indestructible, touching the firmament
with his head, that mountain-stronghold.
Unattainable for people even in thoughts, full of turbulent rivers and powerful trees
And a myriad of wonderful birds
filled with delicious singing.
Description of Meru in the Puranas
According to one myth, Shiva used Mandara as an axle for his chariot and as an arch for his bow. As for Meru, it is considered the center of the Earth and the Universe; its summit rises 84,000 leagues above the ground. The sun, moon, planets and stars revolve around Meru; from heaven to this mountain the celestial river Ganges flows down, only then falls into the world of people. At the top of Meru is the city of Brahma, stretching over 14,000 leagues. Near this city are the cities of Indra and other gods.
The Bhagavata Purana describes one of the versions of the appearance of the river Ganges and explains how the Ganges from the highest point of the universe gets to different planets.
Once, when Maharaja Bali was performing a yajna, Vishnu came to him in the form of Vamana and asked him for three steps of land. When his request was granted, Vamana crossed all three planetary systems (lokas) with two steps and pierced the shell of the universe with his left big toe. A few drops of water from the Causal Ocean seeped through the hole in the shell, fell on the head of Shiva and remained there for a thousand yogas.
These drops of water are the sacred river Ganges. It is described that first it flows through the Dhruvaloka (Polar Star) and purifies it, then it washes the planets of the seven great rishis (Marici, Vasishtha, Atri and others) who live on the planets located under Dhruvaloka, and then billions of heavenly spaceships carry it water along the paths of the devas - first to the Moon (Chandraloka) and finally to the abode of Brahma, which is located on the top of Mount Meru. Here it is divided into four branches - Sita, Alakananda, Chaksha and Bhadra - which flow down from the slopes of Meru and reach the mid-level planets, one of which is the Earth. From the Himalayan peaks, they rush down, flow through Haridwar and flow through the plains of India, clearing everything in their path.
The base of Meru rests on the cowl of the world serpent Shesha, reclining on the back of a giant turtle that swims on the primordial waters. In another version of the myth, Meru (and the Earth as a whole) is supported by four elephants.
So the gods from the Kalmyk myth used Sumer as a stick to "whip up" the Ocean and thus create the Sun, Moon and stars. Another Central Asian myth reflects the penetration of Indian elements: in the form of the eagle Garid (Garuda), the god Ochirvani (Indra) attacked the Losun snake in the primary Ocean; he wrapped it around Mount Sumer three times and broke his head. Throughout East and Central Asia, the idea was widespread that the central and most important pillar of the world was the mythical Mount Meru, located in an inaccessible place (usually it was placed somewhere in the Himalayas).
The source of these ideas was the myths of Ancient India, which were later assimilated by Buddhism and gained immense popularity thanks to it. Mount Meru was not only considered the center of the cosmos, it was seen as the sacred abode of the gods. In numerous legends and tales, the most magnificent epithets and definitions were attached to it: it was called golden, shining, brilliant, ideas of happiness, abundance and immortality were associated with it.
The myths describe the appearance of this mountain in different ways. Buddhists often portrayed it as a colossal cylinder heading into the cloudy heights. Sometimes it was described in the form of a lotus pistil - a sacred flower. The likeness of a cosmic mountain to a plant, that is, ultimately to the same world tree, is very interesting. What is unusual is that the base and the top seem to change places, thereby creating the impression that the mountain is growing from the sky.
According to Puranic mythology, all the luminaries revolve around Meru, and omnipotent devas such as Indra and Brahma reside at its top. Reception Indralok - the abode of the main Vedic deva - Indra is located at the very top of Meru. There is the magnificent palace of Indra, in the garden of which the catfish plant grows, from which the sacred drink of immortality is made. In the Matsya Purana it is said:
It is made of gold and shines like fire without any dimming smoke. Its four sides have four different colors. The color of the eastern side is white, like the color of the brahmanas; the color of the north side is red, like the color of the Kshtarians; the color of the south side is yellow, like the color of the vaisyas; the color of the western side is black, like the color of the sudras. Its height is 86,000 yojanas, of which 16,000 are in the earth. Each rib on its four sides is 34,000 yojanas. On this mountain there are rivers with fresh water and beautiful golden dwellings in which various kinds of spiritual beings live: the devas along with their singers, the Gandharvas and their lovers, the Apsaras, as well as the asuras, daityas and rakshasas. Around the mountain there is a reservoir of Manas, and around this reservoir from four sides live Lokapals, and they are the keepers of the world and its inhabitants. Mount Meru has seven nodes, that is, large mountains,whose names are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Shuktibam, Rikshabam, Vindhya, Pariyatra. And there are so many small mountains that they can hardly be counted; these are the mountains where people live. As for the large mountains around Meru, they include: Himavant, covered with eternal snows, and on which Rakshasas, Pisachas and Yakshas live; Hemakuta - of gold, on which the Gandharvas live.
***
In the Vishnu Purana, one of the most authoritative Puranas of Hinduism, which contains extensive material on philosophy, cosmology and theology, the following is reported about Mount Meru:
The inner shell of the world egg endowed with the great Atman was Mount Meru, and the outer shell was the mountains; amniotic fluid is formed by the oceans. And in this egg, O brahmana, there were mountains, continents, oceans, planets, worlds, devas, asuras and people. From the outside, the egg is shrouded in water, fire, air, space, as well as a source of primary elements, primary elements endowed with ten qualities and the great principle of creation.
***
Such a scheme of the structure of the world egg is common both for the Puranic scriptures and for the epic and Upanishads. However, the number and names of the various worlds vary.
In Buddhist cosmology, the earth appears to be flat, in the center of which is Mount Meru, or Sumeru. On Buddhist mandalas, she is also depicted in the center, surrounded by four large dvipas (islands), and behind them - eight small dvipas.
Mount Sumeru, according to the cosmology of Buddhism, consists of four jewels, namely, its entire eastern side consists of silver, the southern one is lapis lazuli, the western one is yahont, and the northern one is gold. According to this, the lamas on the four sides of the elevation made on the mandala and supposed to depict Mount Sumeru are inserted with separate pieces of silver, lapis, lapis lazuli, yagont and gold.
A similar image was known to the Altaians, who believed that the golden cosmic mountain Altyn-tu was attached to the sky and hung above the ground, not reaching its very smallness - a distance equal to the length of a human leg. However, the most traditional was the idea of Meru as a round or four-sided mountain gradually narrowing towards the top. In this form, she was portrayed on various objects of Buddhist art.
The Altai Golden Mountain Altyn-Tu.
It is not by chance that the four faces were attributed to the mythical support of the universe. On each side of the mountain, one world river flowed down, feeding the universe with its waters. This detail points to another aspect of the cosmic symbolism of Meru: its four rivers in their meaning are equivalent to the four oceans, which, according to ancient Indian myths, wash the world. Thus, Meru herself is a reduced model of the cosmos, according to which he was arranged by the gods.
In Lamaist mythology, Mountains (Sumeru) in the form of a pyramid are surrounded by seven mountain chains, between which there are seas; each side of the pyramid has a color characteristic: south - blue, west - red, north - yellow, east - white. Similar correspondences are known in India, Tibet, China, and even in the traditions of some American Indian tribes. So, the Navajo Indians believed that black (or northern) mountains covered the earth with darkness, blue (or southern) brought dawn, white (or eastern) - day, yellow (or western) - shining sunlight.
An image of Mount Meru and the universe according to Buddhist cosmology. Tongsa Dzong, Tongsa, Bhutan.
Mount Meru cosmology according to the Abhidharmakosha and Kalachakra systems.
The image of the world mountain was very popular in Iranian mythology, genetically related to ancient Indian. In the Zoroastrian composition “Bundahishn” one can read the following: “Everything that is happening in the world is revealed from Mount Harburz. Mount Taera is located in the center of the world, the sun goes around it; like the waters washing the land of Var of Mount Harburz, the sun goes around Mount Taer. " And further: “The first mountain Harburz grew up in 15 years, by the end of 800 years it had grown entirely, it took 200 years to grow to the circle of stars, 200 years - to the circle of the moon, 200 years - to the circle of the sun, 200 years - to primordial light. Mount Harburz, around this earth, is attached to the sky, and Ptirk Harburz is [the place where] the stars, moon and sun set."
Mount Harburz.
The very names of the Babylonian temples and sacred towers prove their identification with the World Mountain: “Mountain of the House”, “House of the Mountain of All Lands”, “Mountain of Storms”, “Connection of Heaven with Earth”, etc. Ziggurat, a cult tower in Babylon, was essentially the World Mountain, a symbolic representation of the Cosmos: its seven floors corresponded to the seven planetary skies (as in Borsippa) or were painted in the colors of the world (as in Ur). The Barabudur temple, the real imago mundi (image of the world), was built in the shape of a mountain.
Temple of Barabudur.
Artificial mountains are attested in India, we also find them among the Mongols and in Southeast Asia. Mount Tabor in Palestine may mean tabbur, that is, "navel", omphalos. Mount Gerizim in the center of Palestine undoubtedly possessed the prestige of the Center, since it is called the "navel of the earth" (tabbur eresh; see: Book of Judges of Israel, IX, 37: "… Here is an army descending from the navel of the world.") According to the tradition recorded by Peter Komestor, during the summer solstice, the sun does not cast a shadow on "Jacob's well" (near Gerizim). In fact, Komestor clarifies, sunt qui dicunt locum illum esse umbilicum terrae nostrae habitabilis (there are those who say that this place is the navel of our earth, convenient for living). Palestine, as the highest-lying country - since it is adjacent to the top of the World Mountain - was not flooded during the flood. One rabbinic text reads: "The land of Israel was not flooded with a flood."
Biblical texts give reason to assert that there was also paradise on the mountain. According to the book of Genesis, the garden of Eden was located simply "in the east", but Ezekiel (ch. 28, v. 13) clarifies, placing it on the mountain. Apparently, the sacred “mountain of the Lord” is also identified with paradise, about which it is said in the psalm (23, v. 3-5) that only a righteous person with “innocent hands and a pure heart” can ascend there. No less interesting is the already mentioned biblical testimony of a paradise river that irrigates the whole earth with its four streams (Genesis, ch. 2, v. 10).
By collecting the scattered testimonies of the Bible together, we get the full set of signs of the mythical world mountain: it is in the center of the universe, God descends on it, there is a Garden of Eden with a wonderful tree in the middle, and the mountain itself is surrounded by rivers that symbolize the pristine ocean. According to the well-known biblical myth, during the world flood, only Mount Ararat remained un-flooded, to which the ark of the righteous Noah moored. Outside of the biblical legends, Mount Zion appears instead of Ararat, which once again emphasizes its special cosmic role as the center of the universe, “the navel of the earth,” the highest point of the universe.
This can be shown even more clearly by the example of the Muslim picture of the world. According to the mythology of Islam, the earth was initially very unstable, constantly shuddered and made complaints to Allah. Having mercy, he created a huge mountain Kaph, a ring surrounding the inhabited world and firmly supporting the universe. Behind this stone ring, the creator created another land, seven times larger in size. That land is inhabited by angels, and so densely that even a thin needle cannot fall between them. Angels ceaselessly praise Allah and pray for the sins of people. If, discarding the details, we isolate the essence, then it turns out that the world inhabited by people is inside the cosmic mountain, that is, it itself is the universe.
REFERENCE IN THE BOOK "ALLATRA" (p. 194):
According to Indian myths, the Universe was a giant world snake biting its tail and wrapping a ring around the universe. Inside the ring, she carried a giant tortoise with four elephants on its back to keep the peace. In the center of the world is the inhabited land of Jambudwipa, shaped like a blossoming lotus flower, in the middle of this flower is Mount Meru.
Ancient Indian symbolic image of the world.
The traditional interpretation of the image in encyclopedias, according to myths:
1) the legendary snake Ananta (translated from Sanskrit - "limitless", "endless"), floating in the waters of the cosmic ocean; his other name is Shesha; in legends it is mentioned that the god Vishnu is reclining on its rings;
2) the triangle over the truncated pyramid personifies the power of the higher over the lower;
3) a conditional image of the similarity of Mount Meru, in this case in the form of a truncated pyramid;
4) a symbol of the visible earthly world in the form of a hemisphere;
5) four elephants (a symbol of the elements) supporting the earthly world (the elephant, personifying the element of air, is not visible);
6) the turtle, reclining on the rings of the snake Ananta, is the embodiment of the ancient Indian god of the guardian Vishnu (the universal revitalizing principle).
***
In Altai mythology, which has experienced the influence of Buddhism, the name of the world mountain is somewhat modified and sounds like Sumeru, under this name it is known to many other peoples of Central Asia. In Altai legends, Buddhist views are bizarrely mixed with ancient local beliefs. It is on the World Mountain that the future shaman climbs during initialization, and later visits it on his astral travels.
Climbing a mountain always means a journey to the Center of the World. As we have seen, this "center" is present in various ways even in the structure of the human dwelling - but only shamans and heroes are able to climb the World Mountain; in the same way, only a shaman, climbing a ritual tree, actually climbs the World Tree, thus reaching the summit of the Universe, the highest Heaven.
In addition to Sumeru and the already mentioned Altyn-tu, the Altai placed the mythical mountain Ak-toshon Altai-sons in the center of the universe. At its top there is a milk lake, in which the souls of shamans bathe on the way to the heavenly world.
The Hungarian storyteller Lajos Ami speaks of the same milk lake in the sky (only angels are washed in it instead of shamans). This is not a coincidence. Once, before moving to Europe, the ancestors of the Hungarians lived in the territory of the modern Urals and maintained close contacts with the tribes of southern Siberia. But back to the Altai legends. A wonderful poplar rises from the lake of milk, through which the shaman enters the kingdom of heavenly spirits. The mountain itself is the first stop on the way to heaven.
Here a strong shaman takes a break, while a weak one does not dare to move on and comes back. On the flat top of the sacred mountain lives the most important spirit of the earth, and besides him - many other spirits who control the souls of cattle and wild animals. These spirits are very frivolous and love gambling. It often happens that one of them loses the animal souls belonging to him to another spirit at cards or dice. Then the livestock on the ground perishes, and the animals move to another area. Worried, people equip a shaman who, having climbed a space mountain, finds out which of the spirits is the winner now, in order to appease him with victims.
Mountains, real and mythical, were also worshiped by the ancient Chinese. They considered any hill to be a sacred place, because, according to their ideas, the light power of yang was concentrated there, while lowlands and hollows are the lot of the gloomy beginning of yin. Since ancient times, there has been a cult of the five sacred mountains in China, located in the south, west, north, east and center. Mount Taishan (literally Great Mountain), which actually existed and was located in the east of the country, enjoyed special reverence. It was believed that she patronized the imperial house, and the Sons of Heaven personally brought sacrifices to her. As in the case of the Indian Meru, the numerical symbolism of the Chinese world mountains has its own deep meaning: the five points in space along which they were located were the most sacred, determined the structure of the mythological cosmos.
But most of all, the Chinese revered the mythical mountain Kunlun - the center of the earth. They believed that it was possible to penetrate through it into the higher spheres of the universe. One of the ancient writings says: “Whoever rises to twice the height from Kunlun, reaches the Cool Wind Mountain and gains immortality; who will rise twice as high, reach the Hanging Platform and acquire miraculous abilities by learning to control the wind and rain; whoever ascends twice more, reaches the sky, the abode of Tai-di - the supreme rulers, and becomes a spirit. A real description of a shamanic journey to another world! By the way, shamanism also existed in ancient China. In favor of this, besides many other data, there are frequent references to the sacred mountains and trees, through which the priests and gods of Ancient China ascended to heaven and descended to earth. Mount Kunlun itself was thought of as something like an earthly paradise:rivers of five colors flowed from it (including the largest river in China - the Yellow River), all kinds of cereals grew in abundance there. The Chinese tradition of venerating mountains, an attempt to combine them into a classification system, is attested in the "Book of Mountains and Seas" ("Shan Hai Jing"). The very appearance of the mountains and their location was associated with the activities of the mythical conqueror of the flood and the organizer of the earth, the great Yul, who not only cut and moved mountains in order to get rid of the consequences of the flood, but also gave names to three hundred mountains. The very appearance of the mountains and their location was associated with the activities of the mythical conqueror of the flood and the organizer of the earth, the great Yul, who not only cut and moved mountains in order to get rid of the consequences of the flood, but also gave names to three hundred mountains. The very appearance of the mountains and their location was associated with the activities of the mythical conqueror of the flood and the organizer of the earth, the great Yul, who not only cut and moved mountains in order to get rid of the consequences of the flood, but also gave names to three hundred mountains.
In the myths of the ancient Greeks - the Gods lived on Mount Olympus - the thunderer Zeus lived on it - Etna (Zeus piled this mountain on Typhon; it housed the forge of Hephaestus; with the fire obtained in Etna, Demeter was looking for Persephone), Ida where Zeus was hiding from Kronos, Caucasus Mountains the place where Prometheus was chained.
Meru and Arctic theory
One of the main creators of the "Arctic theory of the origin of the Aryans" was the famous Indian politician Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920). A hypothesis suggesting the location of the ancestral home of the Indo-Europeans (or Aryans) in the northern regions of Eurasia (Kola Peninsula, Karelia, Belomorye, Taimyr).
(Arctic (from the Greek ἄρκτος - "bear", ἀρκτικός - "located under the constellation Ursa Major", "northern")
The book by B. G. Tilaka “The Arctic Homeland in the Vedas” remains a frequently quoted one to this day. According to his theory, in the preglacial period, the climate of the Arctic regions was warm and favorable for human life. With the onset of unfavorable changes in the climate of this region, the Aryans migrated south to India. BG Tilak in his book "The Arctic homeland in the Vedas" (1903) tries to prove that the texts of the Vedas and Upanishads testify to the Arctic ancestral home of the Aryans. He's writing:
In the Rig Veda (X.89.2-4), the god Indra "supports heaven and earth, like the wheel of a cart are supported by an axle" and rotates "a distant sphere like the wheels of a cart." If we combine these two indications that the sky is supported on an axis and moves like a wheel, then we will clearly see that the described movement relates only to that celestial hemisphere that can be observed only at the North Pole. In the Rig Veda (I.24.10), the constellation Ursa Major is described as high, which indicates a position visible only in the circumpolar region.
The statement that the day and night of the gods last for 6 months is extremely widespread in ancient Indian literature.
"On Meru, the gods see the sun after its one-time ascent along its path equal to half of its revolution around the earth."
In "Taittiriya-brahmana" (III, 9, 22.1) and Avesta (Vendidad, Fargard II), the year is compared to one day, since the sun sets and rises only once a year.
A large number of Rigveda hymns are dedicated to the goddess of the morning dawn - Ushas. Moreover, it is said that the dawn lasts a very long time, that there is a lot of dawn and they move along the horizon, which may indicate the polar regions. The weak point of this hypothesis is the almost complete absence of the possibility to associate it with any archaeological culture.
In the Divine Avesta there is a description of not even a separate peak, but the whole mountain range of Khara Berezaiti - perhaps these are the Ural Mountains, although the Avesta gives us another supporting element that is not mentioned in the Vedas and Puranas - this ridge is stretched out in latitudinal direction "from sunset to sunrise", that is, from west to east.
The highest peak of the Hara Berezaiti ridge is Mount Hukarya (the Avestan name for the Vedic Mandara):
We honor Mithra …
To whom he prayed
Radiant, domineering Haoma
Healing, golden-headed, At the highest peak
High Harati Mountains, Called Hukarya, Uncontaminated - clean
Barsman impeccable
And we will drink pure
With words without mistakes. ("Avesta", Hymn to Miter, XXIII).
As the greatest rivers originate on Meru, so on Khara Berezaiti are the sources of the sacred Avestan rivers Ra (Ranhi), Rusiya, Ardvi-Sura:
3. Pray to the great, glorious, Equal to
To all waters taken together
Flowing on the ground
Pray current powerfully
From the height of Hukarya
To the Vorukash sea.
4. From edge to edge worries
The whole sea of Vorukash, And the waves in the middle
Uplifting when
Pours in his water
Falling into it, Ardvi
With all a thousand ducts
And a thousand lakes
Any of which
Drive around in forty days
Only the rider will be in time
On a good steed.
5. One duct of Ardvi
Flows into seven karshvars, Flowing down evenly
In summer and winter, And sanctifies the seed
Husbands and the bosom of women
And gives milk. ("Avesta", Hymn to Ardvi-sura).
For the Slavs, the Mountain (as well as a hill, a mound, etc.) is a vertical that connects the top and them, which determines the duality of ideas about the mountain, on the one hand, as pure, on the other, as a demonic locus. The connection of the mountain with the sky is reflected in the vocabulary (Ts.-Slavic mountain - "top", the mountain - "heavenly") and in ritual practice. Russian chronicles report the worship of the Slavs pagan deities on the mountains. Wed correlation with the mountain of Perun and other gods. Spring rituals were performed on the mountains (Russian hill - “a gathering of young people in spring and summer for a round dance”). In Russian conspiracies, the mountain, on the one hand, is the place where God, Christ, the Mother of God are, and on the other, a place associated with evil spirits.
The mountain is associated with the idea of the other world (compare the Russian expression to go up the hill - "to die"; the kingdom of the dead is a country with golden mountains; paradise is located on an iron mountain or beyond the mountains.
Usually collections of epics of the so-called "heroic cycle" begin with Svyatogor. Svyatogor is an extremely archaic image. It comes from Slavic pagan beliefs, and therefore is extremely difficult for traditionalist interpretations, stupidly dating the time of the epics of the heroic cycle to the 10th century only on the basis of the mention of Prince Vladimir in them.
Svyatogor is notable for the fact that in none of the epics that have come down to us is he shown fighting with some other hero. Among mortals, he simply has no adequate rivals. For example, he can easily put Ilya Muromets together with a horse in his pocket and pulls Svyatogor with Mother-Raw Earth herself or begins to build a stone pillar to the sky.
In Greek mythology, Svyatogor has an analogue - the giant Atlas. He also performs the function of maintaining the world order - he holds the firmament on his shoulders. The earth cannot withstand its mass, and therefore it stands on the mountains, which are called Atlas. Those mountains are located at the edge of the earth, on the shore of the outer ocean. In front of them, for many days' journey, the boundless deserts, scorched by the sun, stretch (just like in front of Meru and in front of the Ripean mountains!). The only property of the heaven of the holder is a wonderful garden in which a tree with golden apples grows - in order to get them, Hercules had to perform the eleventh feat. The titans ended their earthly lives in the same way - they both turned to stone.
The Pigeon Book calls the Alatyr-stone “the father of all stones”. This is a sacred rock that crowns the top of the Alatyr Mountain and closes the entrance to the underworld - it is Svyatogor who guards it.
The laws of Svarog are carved on the Alatyr-stone, and he himself has magical properties, which is why it is so often mentioned in conspiracies: “On the sea, on the okiyan, on the island of Buyan there is a white-combustible Alatyr stone, unknown to anyone, under that stone is hidden a mighty force, and there is no end to that force. " Ilya Muromets also often went to Mount Alatyrskaya. In the epic "Ilya Muromets and Sokolnik":
And besides, it was to the sea, the blue sea, And to the blue as the sea, like the frozen sea, To that it was to Latyr's pebble, And to the one like women and to Zlatigorka, And a daring, good fellow, walked to her, And by the name of the old Cossack Ilya Muromets.
He walked, walked Ilyushka to her for twelve years, After all, he gave her a child, her beloved …
Maya Zlatogorka, according to Slavic genealogy, she was the daughter of Svyatogor and the first wife of Dazhbog, from whom she gave birth to a son - the god of the calendar cycle, Kolyada (from him came the "calendar" - the gift of Kolyada and "carols" - festive chants, now performed, as a rule, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ). Maya Zlatogorka herself was the goddess of summer - she was depicted with golden braids, symbolizing ripe ears.
More than one book can be written about the World Mountain, and the fact that knowledge about it is present in all cultures and on all continents is a new confirmation that Spiritual knowledge, firstly, is one, and secondly, it was given to people from ancient times. But today for someone it is a fairy tale, as they say, but for the knowledgeable, a hint!
