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The axis mundi (also cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, center of the world, world tree), in certain beliefs and philosophies, is the world center, or the connection between Heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet. At this point travel and correspondence is made between higher and lower realms.〔Mircea Eliade (tr. Philip Mairet). 'Symbolism of the Centre' in ''Images and Symbols. Princeton, 1991. ISBN 069102068X. p.48-51〕 Communication from lower realms may ascend to higher ones and blessings from higher realms may descend to lower ones and be disseminated to all.〔Mircea Eliade (tr. Philip Mairet). 'Symbolism of the Centre' in ''Images and Symbols. Princeton, 1991. ISBN 069102068X. p.40〕 The spot functions as the ''omphalos'' (navel), the world's point of beginning.〔J. C. Cooper. ''An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols.'' Thames and Hudson: New York, 1978. ISBN 0500271259.〕〔Mircea Eliade (tr. Willard Trask). 'Archetypes and Repetition' in ''The Myth of the Eternal Return. Princeton, 1971. ISBN 0691017778. p.16〕〔Winther, Rasmus Grønfeldt (2014) World Navels. ''Cartouche'' 89: 15-21 http://philpapers.org/archive/WINWN.pdf 〕 The image is mostly viewed as feminine, as it relates to the center of the earth (perhaps like an umbilical providing nourishment). It may have the form of a natural object (a mountain, a tree, a vine, a stalk, a column of smoke or fire) or a product of human manufacture (a staff, a tower, a ladder, a staircase, a maypole, a cross, a steeple, a rope, a totem pole, a pillar, a spire). Its proximity to heaven may carry implications that are chiefly religious (pagoda, temple mount, minaret, church) or secular (obelisk, lighthouse, rocket, skyscraper). The image appears in religious and secular contexts.〔Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrandt. ''A Dictionary of Symbols.'' Penguin Books: London, 1996. ISBN 0140512543. pp.61-63, 173-175〕 The ''axis mundi'' symbol may be found in cultures utilizing shamanic practices or animist belief systems, in major world religions, and in technologically advanced "urban centers". In Mircea Eliade's opinion, "Every Microcosm, every inhabited region, has a Centre; that is to say, a place that is sacred above all."〔Mircea Eliade (tr. Philip Mairet). 'Symbolism of the Centre' in ''Images and Symbols. Princeton, 1991. ISBN 069102068X. p.39〕 The axis mundi is often associated with mandalas. ==Background== The symbol originates in a natural and universal psychological perception: that the spot one occupies stands at "the center of the world". This space serves as a microcosm of order because it is known and settled. Outside the boundaries of the microcosm lie foreign realms that, because they are unfamiliar or not ordered, represent chaos, death or night.〔Mircea Eliade (tr. Philip Mairet). 'Symbolism of the Centre' in ''Images and Symbols. Princeton, 1991. ISBN 069102068X. p.37-39〕 From the center one may still venture in any of the four cardinal directions, make discoveries, and establish new centers as new realms become known and settled. The name of China, meaning "Middle Nation" ( pinyin: '), is often interpreted as an expression of an ancient perception that the Chinese polity (or group of polities) occupied the center of the world, with other lands lying in various directions relative to it.〔 Within the central known universe a specific locale-often a mountain or other elevated place, a spot where earth and sky come closest gains status as center of the center, the axis mundi. High mountains are typically regarded as sacred by peoples living near them. Shrines are often erected at the summit or base.〔Mircea Eliade (tr. Philip Mairet). 'Symbolism of the Centre' in ''Images and Symbols. Princeton, 1991. ISBN 069102068X. p.41-43〕 Mount Kunlun fills a similar role in China.〔Wang, Chong. ''Lunheng Part I: Philosophical Essays of Wang Ch'ung''. Trans. Alfred Forke. London: Luzac & Co., 1907. p.337.〕 For the ancient Hebrews Mount Zion expressed the symbol. Sioux beliefs take the Black Hills as the axis mundi. Mount Kailash is holy to Hinduism and several religions in Tibet. The Pitjantjatjara people in central Australia consider Uluru to be central to both their world and culture. In ancient Mesopotamia the cultures of ancient Sumer and Babylon erected artificial mountains, or ziggurats, on the flat river plain. These supported staircases leading to temples at the top. The Hindu temples in India are often situated on high mountains. E.g. Amarnath, Tirupati, Vaishno Devi etc. The pre-Columbian residents of Teotihuacán in Mexico erected huge pyramids featuring staircases leading to heaven. Jacob's Ladder is an axis mundi image, as is the Temple Mount. For Christians the Cross on Mount Calvary expresses the symbol.〔Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrandt. ''A Dictionary of Symbols.'' Penguin Books: London, 1996. ISBN 0140512543. pp.680-685〕 The Middle Kingdom, China, had a central mountain, Kunlun, known in Taoist literature as "the mountain at the middle of the world." To "go into the mountains" meant to dedicate oneself to a spiritual life.〔Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrandt. ''A Dictionary of Symbols.'' Penguin Books: London, 1996. ISBN 0140512543. pp.681〕 Monasteries of all faiths tend, like shrines, to be placed at elevated spots. Wise religious teachers are typically depicted in literature and art as bringing their revelations at world centers: mountains, trees, temples. Because the axis mundi is an idea that unites a number of concrete images, no contradiction exists in regarding multiple spots as "the center of the world". The symbol can operate in a number of locales at once.〔 Mount Hermon was regarded as the axis mundi in Caananite tradition, from where the sons of God are introduced descending in 1 Enoch (1En6:6). The ancient Greeks regarded several sites as places of earth's ''omphalos'' (navel) stone, notably the oracle at Delphi, while still maintaining a belief in a cosmic world tree and in Mount Olympus as the abode of the gods. Judaism has the Temple Mount and Mount Sinai, Christianity has the Mount of Olives and Calvary, Islam has Ka'aba, said to be the first building on earth, and the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock). In Hinduism, Mount Kailash is identified with the mythical Mount Meru and regarded as the home of Shiva; in Vajrayana Buddhism, Mount Kailash is recognized as the most sacred place where all the dragon currents converge and is regarded as the gateway to Shambhala. In Shinto, the Ise Shrine is the omphalos. In addition to the Kunlun Mountains, where it is believed the peach tree of immortality is located, the Chinese folk religion recognizes four other specific mountains as pillars of the world. Sacred places constitute world centers (omphalos) with the altar or place of prayer as the axis. Altars, incense sticks, candles and torches form the axis by sending a column of smoke, and prayer, toward heaven. The architecture of sacred places often reflects this role. "Every temple or palace--and by extension, every sacred city or royal residence--is a Sacred Mountain, thus becoming a Centre."〔Mircea Eliade (tr. Willard Trask). 'Archetypes and Repetition' in ''The Myth of the Eternal Return. Princeton, 1971. ISBN 0691017778. p.12〕 The stupa of Hinduism, and later Buddhism, reflects Mount Meru. Cathedrals are laid out in the form of a cross, with the vertical bar representing the union of earth and heaven as the horizontal bars represent union of people to one another, with the altar at the intersection. Pagoda structures in Asian temples take the form of a stairway linking earth and heaven. A steeple in a church or a minaret in a mosque also serve as connections of earth and heaven. Structures such as the maypole, derived from the Saxons' Irminsul, and the totem pole among indigenous peoples of the Americas also represent world axes. The calumet, or sacred pipe, represents a column of smoke (the soul) rising form a world center.〔Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrandt. ''A Dictionary of Symbols.'' Penguin Books: London, 1996. ISBN 0140512543. pp.148-149〕 A mandala creates a world center within the boundaries of its two-dimensional space analogous to that created in three-dimensional space by a shrine.〔Mircea Eliade (tr. Philip Mairet). 'Symbolism of the Centre' in ''Images and Symbols. Princeton, 1991. ISBN 069102068X. p.52-54〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Axis mundi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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