Tag: Buddha
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Further Adventures of the Serpent in the Tree
The motif of the serpent in the tree probably originates in ancient Mesopotamia. We find a possible allusion to it in The Myth of Etana. Tablet II tells of ‘A shrine for Hadad, the god. In the shade of that shrine a poplar was growing. In its crown an eagle settled, a serpent settled at…
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The World Tree and Holy Mountain
In religion, many symbols have been used to represent the world axis and the pole. These include the tree, column, ladder, cross, swastika, mountain, mill, whirlpool and hearth. Of these many motifs, the tree has probably been the most historically important, and it’s a simple metaphor to visualize. The trunk represented the central axis of…
World Axis 