Multiple Migrations into the Americas from North Asia, bringing different DNA, Languages, Cultural thinking, and Religious Ideas

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To me, Animism starts in Southern Africa, then to West Europe, and becomes Totemism. Another split goes near the Russia and Siberia border becoming Shamanism, which heads into Central Europe meeting up with Totemism, which also had moved there, mixing the two which then heads to Lake Baikal in Siberia. From there this Shamanism-Totemism heads to Turkey where it becomes Paganism.

My thoughts on the Evolution of Religion: from Animism to Paganism

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1. Cosmic Hunt and Earth Diver mythology, no Turtle; Shamanism, no paganism, and no gods

2. Cosmic Hunt and Earth Diver mythology, with a Turtle; Shamanistic paganism with High gods

3. Cosmic Hunt and Earth Diver mythology, no Turtle; Shamanistic paganism with High gods

4. Cosmic Hunt and Earth Diver mythology, no Turtle; Paganism with High gods

These are just a rough outline, simplified, to help in understanding my main thinking involved.

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“The earth-diver is a common character in various traditional creation myths. In these stories, a supreme being usually sends an animal (most often a type of bird, but also crustaceans, insects, and fish in some narratives) into the primal waters to find bits of sand or mud with which to build habitable land.” ref 

Axis Mundi Mythology– cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, center of the world, mound/mountain of creation, or “World/Cosmic tree,” or “Eagle and Serpent tree.” ref, ref

“The World Turtle, also called the Cosmic Turtle or the World-bearing Turtle, is a mytheme of a giant turtle (or tortoise) supporting or containing the world. It occurs in Hindu mythology, Chinese mythology, and the mythologies of some of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.” ref

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For instance, the mytheme of an ancient belief that is seemingly shared though changed and adapted, a fundamental generic unit of narrative structure seems to be shared a common relation with mountains/ancestors/gods or sacred animals with Sacred Mounds, Mountains, Kurgans, and Pyramids.

Sacred Mounds, Mountains, Kurgans, and Pyramids may hold deep Mythology connections?

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My Speculations are in Comparative Mythologies?

For instance, the mytheme of an ancient belief that is seemingly shared though changed and adapted, a fundamental generic unit of narrative structure seems to be shared a common relation with mountains/ancestors/gods or sacred animals with Sacred Mounds, Mountains, Kurgans, and Pyramids. 

Sacred Mounds, Mountains, Kurgans, and Pyramids may hold deep Mythology connections?

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Seeming Evolution of the Mountain/Mound of Creation in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt

https://damienmarieathope.com/2025/10/seeming-evolution-of-the-mountain-mound-of-creation-in-mesopotamia-and-ancient-egypt/ 

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Khoi-san and Hadza peoples of southern Africa: The Khoekhoen people have an “Indigenous nomadic pastoralist culture,” and the San people have an “Indigenous hunter-gatherer culture,” which is one of the oldest surviving cultures of the region. The Hadza people, who have an “indigenous hunter-gatherer culture,” were a pre-Bantu expansion culture not closely related to Khoisan speakers.

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Main African Language families, shown above:

• Afroasiatic languages are spread throughout Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel.
• Saharan, Nilotic, and Sudanic languages (previously grouped under the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan macro-family), are present in East Africa and Sahel.
• Niger–Congo, which includes the large Atlantic-Congo and Bantu branches in West, Central, Southeast, or Southern Africa.
• The Khoisan languages are a number of African languages that have click consonants but do not belong to other African language families and are now held to comprise three distinct language families and two language isolates. ref, ref

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“The genetic prehistory of humans in Asia, based on research using sequence data from humans who lived in Asia as early as 45,000 years ago. Genetic studies comparing present-day Australasians and Asians show that they likely derived from a single dispersal out of Africa, rapidly differentiating into three main lineages: one that persists partially in South Asia, one that is primarily found today in Australasia, and one that is widely represented across Siberia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Studies of ancient DNA from human remains in Asia dating from as far back as 45,000 years have greatly increased our understanding of the population dynamics leading to the current Asian populations.” ref

Ust’-Ishim man: Y-DNA haplogroupK2 and mt-DNA haplogroupR*

Tianyuan man: Y-DNA haplogroup K2b and mt-DNA haplogroup B

Yana Rhinoceros Horn Site: Y-DNA haplogroup P1 and mt-DNA haplogroup U

Sungir/Gravettian burials: Y-DNA haplogroup C1 and mt-DNA haplogroups U8c & U2

Ancient North Eurasians: Y-chromosome haplogroups P and its subclades R and Q and mt-DNA haplogroups U and R

Mal’ta–Buret’ culture: basalY-DNA haplogroup R* and mt-DNA haplogroup U

“MA-1 is the only known example of basal Y-DNA R* (R-M207*) – that is, the only member of haplogroup R* that did not belong to haplogroups R1, R2 or secondary subclades of these. The mitochondrial DNA of MA-1 belonged to an unresolved subclade of haplogroup U.” ref

“ANE ancestry has spread throughout Eurasia and the Americas in various migrations since the Upper Paleolithic, and more than half of the world’s population today derives between 5 and 42% of their genomes from the Ancient North Eurasians. Significant ANE ancestry can be found in Native Americans, as well as in Europe, South Asia, Central Asia, and Siberia. It has been suggested that their mythology may have featured narratives shared by both Indo-European and some Native American cultures, such as the existence of a metaphysical world tree and a fable in which a dog guards the path to the afterlife.” ref

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“Haplogroup U is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup (mtDNA). The clade arose from haplogroup R, likely during the early Upper Paleolithic. Its various subclades (labeled U1–U9, diverging over the course of the Upper Paleolithic) are found widely distributed across Northern and Eastern Europe, Central, Western, and South Asia, as well as North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Canary Islands. Basal U was found in the 26,000-year-old remains of Ancient North Eurasian, Mal’ta boy (MA1). The age of U5 is estimated at between 25,000 and 35,000 years old, roughly corresponding to the Gravettian culture. and is the DNA associated with the seeming first Gravettian shaman burial seen in the Pavlovian culture, around Dolní Věstonice in southern Moravia. One of the Dolní Věstonice burials, located near the huts, revealed a human female skeleton aged to 40+ years old, ritualistically placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the other. Surprisingly, the left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as the aforementioned carved ivory figure, indicating that the figure was an intentional depiction of this specific individual. The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red ocher, a flint spearhead had been placed near the skull, and one hand held the body of a fox. This evidence suggests that this was the burial site of a shaman. This is the oldest site not only of ceramic figurines and artistic portraiture, but also of evidence of female shamans.” ref, ref, ref, ref

“Approximately 11% of Europeans (10% of European-Americans) have some variant of haplogroup U5. U5 was the predominant mtDNA of mesolithic Western Hunter Gatherers (WHG). U5 has been found in human remains dating from the Mesolithic in England, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, France, and Spain. Neolithic skeletons (~7,000 years old) that were excavated from the Avellaner cave in Catalonia, northeastern Spain included a specimen carrying haplogroup U5. Haplogroup U5 and its subclades U5a and U5b today form the highest population concentrations in the far north, among Sami, Finns, and Estonians. However, it is spread widely at lower levels throughout Europe. This distribution, and the age of the haplogroup, indicate individuals belonging to this clade were part of the initial expansion tracking the retreat of ice sheets from Europe around 10,000 years ago. The modern Basques and Cantabrians possess almost exclusively U5b lineages (U5b1f, U5b1c1, U5b2).” ref

6 Ice Age Humans (30,000 Years Ago)

“Abstract: Starting about 35,000 years ago, humans seem to have made a great leap forward culturally. The authors argue that this wasn’t because of genetic changes that caused the human brain to have increased capacity. It was because some groups culturally evolved the “social tools” that allowed them to maintain connections and share information over long distances. The groups with the most effective social tools managed to stay connected and to survive, and their descendants inherited this culture of connectedness. It’s likely that forming greater connectedness and more complex culture was necessary in order to survive the periods of high climate variability that were a feature of the last ice age.” ref

“Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known mainly from cave sites in France, Spain, and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians, which include the Pavlovian culture, were specialized mammoth hunters, whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open air sites. Gravettian culture thrived on their ability to hunt animals. They utilized a variety of tools and hunting strategies. Compared to theorized hunting techniques of Neanderthals and earlier human groups, Gravettian hunting culture appears much more mobile and complex. They lived in caves or semi-subterranean or rounded dwellings which were typically arranged in small “villages”. Gravettians are thought to have been innovative in the development of tools such as blunted-back knives, tanged arrowheads, and boomerangs. Other innovations include the use of woven nets and oil lamps made of stone. Blades and bladelets were used to make decorations and bone tools from animal remains.” ref

“Gravettian culture extends across a large geographic region, as far as Estremadura in Portugal. but is relatively homogeneous until about 27,000 years ago. They developed burial rites, which included simple, purpose-built offerings and/or personal ornaments owned by the deceased, placed within the grave or tomb. Surviving Gravettian art includes numerous cave paintings and small, portable Venus figurines made from clay or ivory, as well as jewelry objects. The fertility deities mostly date from the early period; there are over 100 known surviving examples. They conform to a very specific physical type, with large breasts, broad hips and prominent posteriors. The statuettes tend to lack facial details, and their limbs are often broken off. During the post glacial period, evidence of the culture begins to disappear from northern Europe but was continued in areas around the Mediterranean. The Mal’ta Culture (c. 24,000 years ago) in Siberia is often considered as belonging to the Gravettian, due to its similar characteristics, particularly its Venus figurines, but any hypothetical connection would have to be cultural and not genetic: a 2016 genomic study showed that the Mal’ta people have no genetic connections with the people of the European Gravettian culture (the Vestonice Cluster).” ref

“Fu et al. (2016) examined the remains of fourteen Gravettians. The eight males included three samples of Y-chromosomal haplogroup CT, one of I, one IJK, one BT, one C1a2, and one sample of F. Of the fourteen samples of mtDNA, there were thirteen samples of U and one sample of M. The majority of the sample of U belonged to the U5 and U2. Teschler et al. (2020) examined the remains of one adult male and two twin boys from a Gravettian site in Austria. All belonged to haplogroup Y-Haplogroup I. and all had the same mtDNA, U5. According to Scorrano et al. (2022), “the genome of an early European individual from Kostenki 14, dated to around 37,000 years ago, demonstrated that the ancestral European gene pool was already established by that time.” ref

32,000-21,000 years ago, Yana Culture, at the Yana Woolly Rhinoceros Horn Site in Siberia, with genetic proximity to Ancient North Eurasian populations (Mal’ta, Afontova Gora), but also Ust-Ishim, Sunghir, and to a lesser extent Tianyuan, as well as similarities with the Clovis culture

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32,000-21,000 years ago Yana Culture, at the Yana Woolly Rhinoceros Horn Site in Siberia, with genetic proximity to Ancient North Eurasian populations (Mal’ta and Afontova Gora), but also Ust-Ishim, Sunghir, and to a lesser extent Tianyuan, as well as similarities with the Clovis culture

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Formation and expansion of people having the Y Chromosome haplogroup K as well as of its descendants

“One of the descendants of the Y Chromosome haplogroup F, namely the haplogroup K, Map 6, was very productive as well. It is now very rare, as well, but its descendants we find all over the world. The Y Chromosome haplogroup K seems to had expanded east. From it there formed the haplogroup LT (45,400 years ago), which expanded south, whereas in Siberia there formed the haplogroup P (45,400 years ago). From the haplogroup LT there formed the haplogroup T (42,600 years ago), which members live from Ethiopia to Estonia, then haplogroup L (42,600), which members live in India and Middle East, and the haplogroup NO (41,500 years ago), which migrated to the South East Asia. There formed from the haplogroup NO the haplogroups N (36,800 years ago) and O (36,800 years ago). The haplogroup O is now the main haplogroup there (China, Tibet, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan), whereas part of the members of haplogroup N migrated north. From the haplogroup P there formed the haplogroup Q (31,900 years ago), which descendants live now in North East Asia and in Americas, as well as the haplogroup R (31,900 years ago), which members remained mainly in the Altai region, and there formed from the haplogroup R the haplogroup R1 (28,200 years ago), and from it the haplogroup R1a M420 (22,800 years ago) and R1b M 343 (22,800 years ago).” ref

 

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A 35,000-year-old “Turtle” Totem-Rock from Manot Cave in Israel, could relate to the later Turtle burials in the area and beyond and may relate to other Turtle artifacts as well as Turtle Mythology worldwide?

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Earth diver mythology or something similar??? Could be. In a way, snails are a kind of mound shape, thus similar to turtle shells, both may represent a mound of creation in the earth-diver myth. In Peru, there were snail shells, and snail shells are also used in the earth diver.

My thoughts on Dolmen origins and migrations, as well as Snail Shell Middens or Snail Burials/Turtle Shell Burials, and links from “Y-DNA R (R1a, R1b, and R2a)” migrations, maybe R2a leading to Proto-Indo-European, transferring it to R1b, taking it to the steppe 7,500 years ago.

Religion is a cultural product. So, it has been part of the human experience, similar to languages, from before we left Africa, spreading humanity across the world.

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Turtles were eaten in Northern Israel 60,000 years ago and were subsequently consumed 50,000 to 45,000 years ago in Europe by people who had migrated from the Middle East around 55,000 years ago. European DNA and ideas return to Northern Israel, as seen in the Aurignacian culture that emerged around 35,000 years ago. It is then that the Totemistic Turtle shell rock, 35,000 years old in North Israel, was carved and placed in a ritualized manner. In northwest Jordan, approximately 15,000 to 17,000 years ago, near northern Israel, there were burials associated with turtles. Then, a Turtle burial in Northern Israel dates back 12,000 years. Thus, Turtle “ritual use” starts in Israel and moves to Nevali Cori by 10,500 ? or so when we see a turtle (world turtle: mound of creation/world mountain/Mashu mountain “Shamash (the Sun) between Mashu’s Twin Peaks, Akkadian, 3rd millennium BCE,” which I see as relating back to Olkhon Island’s Twin Peaks, in Lake Baikal, Siberia/ as well as Belukha mountain’s Twin Peaks, the highest mountain in Altai) in seeming story form related to sky woman and her daughter earth woman that is pregnant with the divine twins. Then, 9,000 years ago in Germany and China, and by 7,000 years ago in Africa. Copper use originated in Mesopotamia, specifically in Northern Iraq and Southeastern Turkey, and then spread west, east, and south from there.

It seems that in Israel, at 9,000 to 8,000 years ago, there were at least 7 deities. In Romania and Ukraine, around 8,000 to 7,000 years ago, there were at least two special groups of 9 and 7 deities. It was possibly the 7 with two added, like is the possibility with the proto-Indo-European deity pantheon. Egypt also has a special group of 9.

“Norse cosmology is the account of the universe and its laws by the ancient North Germanic peoples, Níu Heimar, translated by scholars as “Nine Worlds.” “Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree, nine worlds, nine wood-witches, that renowned tree of fate below the earth.” Yggdrasil is a tree central to the Norse concept of the cosmos. The tree’s branches extend into various realms, and various creatures dwell on and around it. The gods go to Yggdrasil daily, Axis Mundi of Earth/(Center of the world/World tree/Tree of life/Milky Way/Mound of Creation/World Turtle/sacred Mountain/Step pyramid/Kurgan) between the celestial poles. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir, and another to the well Mímisbrunnr. Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the dragon Níðhöggr, an unnamed eagle, and the stags Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr, and Duraþrór. In Norse mythology, four stags or harts (male red deer) eat among the branches of the world tree Yggdrasill. According to the Poetic Edda, the stags crane their necks upward to chomp at the branches. The morning dew gathers in their horns and forms the rivers of the world.”
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NE = Proto-North Eurasian/Ancient North Eurasian/Mal’ta–Buret’ culture/Mal’ta Boy “MA-1” 24,000 years old burial

A = Proto-Afroasiatic/Afroasiatic

Y= Proto-Yeniseian/Yeniseian

S = Samara culture

ST = Proto-Sino-Tibetan/Sino-Tibetan

T = Proto-Transeurasian/Altaic

C = Proto-Northwest Caucasus language/Northwest Caucasian/Languages of the Caucasus

I = Proto-Indo-European/Indo-European

IB = Iberomaurusian Culture/Capsian culture

Natufian culture (15,000–11,500 years ago, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Negev desert)

Proto-Uralic/Uralic languages

Nganasan people/Nganasan language

Na-Dene languages/Dené–Yeniseian, Dené–Caucasian

Tlingit language

Proto-Semitic/Semitic languages

Sumerian language

Proto-Basque/Basque language

24,000 years ago, Proto-North Eurasian Language (Ancient North Eurasian) migrations?

My thoughts:

Proto-North Eurasian Language (Ancient North Eurasian) With related Y-DNA R1a, R1b, R2a, and Q Haplogroups.

R1b 22,0000-15,000 years ago in the Middle east creates Proto-Afroasiatic languages moving into Africa around 15,000-10,000 years ago connecting with the Iberomaurusian Culture/Taforalt near the coasts of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

R2a 10,000 years ago in Iran brings/creates Proto-Indo-European language and also a possibility is R1a in Russia around 9,000 years ago may have had a version of Proto-Indo-European language.

Around 14,000-10,000 years ago??? Proto-North Eurasian Language goes to the Yellow River basin (eventually relating with the Yangshao culture) in China creates Proto-Sino-Tibetan language.

Proto-Sino-Tibetan language then moves to the West Liao River valley (eventually relating with the Hongshan culture) in China creating Proto-Transeurasian (Altaic) language around 9,000 years ago. 

N Haplogroups 9,000 years ago with Proto-Transeurasian language possibly moves north to Lake Baikal. Then after living with Proto-North Eurasian Language 24,000-9,000 years ago?/Pre-Proto-Yeniseian language 9,000-7,000 years ago Q Haplogroups (eventually relating with the Ket language and the Ket people) until around 5,500 years ago, then N Haplogroups move north to the Taymyr Peninsula in North Siberia (Nganasan homeland) brings/creates the Proto-Uralic language.

Q Haplogroups with Proto-Yeniseian language /Proto-Na-Dene language likely emerge 8,000/7,000 years ago or so and migrates to the Middle East (either following R2a to Iraq or R1a to Russia (Samara culture) then south to Iraq creates the Sumerian language. It may have also created the Proto-Caucasian languages along the way. And Q Haplogroups with Proto-Yeniseian language to a migration to North America that relates to Na-Dené (and maybe including Haida) languages, of which the first branch was Proto-Tlingit language 5,000 years ago, in the Pacific Northwest.

Sino-Tibetan language then moves more east in China to the Hemudu culture pre-Austronesian culture, next moved to Taiwan creating the Proto-Austronesian language around 6,000-5,500 years ago. “Ancient DNA in Yunnan reveals 7,100-year-old ‘ghost lineage’ tied to Tibetan and Austroasiatic origins. A distinctive genetic profile emerged in the center of Yunnan around 5,500 years ago, contributing to the ancestry of modern Austroasiatic speakers.” ref

R1b comes to Russia from the Middle East around 7,500 years ago, bringing a version of Proto-Indo-European languages to the (Samara culture), then Q Y-DNA with Proto-Yeniseian language moves south from the (Samara culture) and may have been the language that created the Proto-Caucasian language. And R1b from the (Samara culture) becomes the 4,200 years or so R1b associated with the Basques and Basque language it was taken with R1b, but language similarities with the Proto-Caucasian language implies language ties to Proto-Yeniseian language.

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“The first languages of North America are traced back to two very different language groups from Siberia, going back 24,000 years.” ref

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Ancient North Eurasian

“A 2016 study found that the global maximum of Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) ancestry occurs in modern-day Kets, Mansi, Native Americans, and Selkups. ANE ancestry has spread throughout Eurasia and the Americas in various migrations since the Upper Paleolithic, and more than half of the world’s population today derives between 5 and 42% of their genomes from the Ancient North Eurasians. Significant ANE ancestry can be found in Native Americans, as well as in regions of northern Europe, South Asia, Central Asia, and Siberia. It has been suggested that their mythology may have featured narratives shared by both Indo-European and some Native American cultures, such as the existence of a metaphysical world tree and a fable in which a dog guards the path to the afterlife.” ref

Ancient Northern East Asian/ later became Ancient Northeast Asian
Ancient Paleo-Siberian
Mal’ta–Buret’ culture (Mal’ta boy MA-1)

Ancestral Native American, Ancient Beringian

14,000-year-old Ust-Kyakhta-3 (UKY) individual found near Lake Baikal

Amur River Region

Chertovy Vorota Cave/Devil’s Gate Cave

Afanasievo culture

Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex

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People may have first seen the Shaman Rock with the natural brown rock formation resembling a dragon between 30,000 to 25,000 years ago.

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People reached Lake Baikal Siberia around 25,000 years ago. They (to Damien) were likely Animistic Shamanists who were also heavily totemistic as well. Being animistic thinkers they likely viewed amazing things in nature as a part of or related to something supernatural/spiritual (not just natural as explained by science): spirit-filled, a sprit-being relates to or with it, it is a sprit-being, it is a supernatural/spiritual creature, or it is a great spirit/tutelary deity/goddess-god. From there comes mythology and faith in things not seen but are believed to somehow relate or interact with this “real world” we know exists.

Both areas of Lake Baikal, one on the west side with Ancient North Eurasian culture and one on the east side with Ancient Northern East Asian culture (later to become: Ancient Northeast Asian culture) areas are the connected areas that (to Damien) are the origin ancestry religion area for many mythologies and religious ideas of the world by means of a few main migrations and many smaller ones leading to a distribution of religious ideas that even though are vast in distance are commonly related to and centering on Lake Baikal and its surrounding areas like the Amur region and Altai Mountains region.

“Lakes are often mysterious bodies of water, especially if they are very deep or surrounded by mountains. No wonder legends and mysteries thrive about them, including monsters that supposedly lurk in their bottomless depths.” ref

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Based on the seeming evidence, I speculate that around 14,000 years ago, it could be possible Siberian Shamanism (along with dogs and a bird carving, different but yet possibly related to the bird carvings in Siberia dating from 24,000 to 15,000 years ago) was transferred to China, after “N” DNA reached Siberia bringing them pottery. Bird sculptures through ethnographic comparison at 24,000–15,000 years old Mal’ta with objects used by Siberian shamans, suggest a fully developed shamanism.

Investigating Asian Shamanism: “Wu” (Chinese shaman) and (Chinese shamanism) “Wuism” or “Wu” religion as well as Others to Understand

Pre-contact: distribution of North, Central, and South American language families and their Deities/Paganism or Religious/Spiritual beliefs like Shamanism/or “medicine people”

C-M217 Na-Dene and Yeniseian Languages and Religion relatedness from Asia connecting to the Americas

Dené–Yeniseian language, Old Copper Complex, and Pre-Columbian Mound Builders?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

*Animistic religious beliefs (Originating in Africa: 100,000 to 50,000 years ago): We die and go to the Sun/Heaven (by the Milky Way path), no life after Death. There is a sun spirit female and a moon spirit male. The new moon is favored for “sneaking hunting” (hunters are unseen) in the darkest night. All people are equal and dual-spirited, and animals also go to heaven, just like humans; they have a spirit while alive.

*Totemistic religious beliefs (Originating in Western Europe: 50,000 to 28,000 years ago): We die and go to the Stars/Heaven (by the Milky Way path), no life after Death. There is a sun spirit female and a moon spirit male. The new moon is favored for “sneaking hunting” (hunters are unseen) in the darkest night. The Third/First Quarter Moon was likely also favored as it related to the first ancestor clan, pseudo twin being that he-she/they were seen as duality: intersex, trans, bisexual, half-male and half-female, in “One Great” dual-spirit being.

*Shamanistic religious beliefs (Originating in Western Siberia: 34,000 to 9,000 years ago): We may die and go to the Stars/Heaven (by the Milky Way path) or have rebirth/reincarnation, Life after Death/afterlife (ancestors can interact to help or hurt). There is a sun spirit male and a moon spirit female. The new moon is favored for “sneaking hunting” (hunters are unseen) in the darkest night. Additionally, the Waning/Waxing Crescent Moon is favored in relation to the boy twins’ mythology, which explains why these twins can have different fathers. And these moons are the darkest nights after the new moon, thus also aiding in hiding in “ambush” hunting.

*Paganistic religious beliefs (Originating in Upper Mesopotamia (Turkey): 12,000/11,000 years ago): We may die and go to the Stars/Heaven (by the Milky Way path) or have rebirth/reincarnation, Life after Death/afterlife (ancestors can interact to help or hurt). There is a sun spirit male and a moon spirit female. The full moon is favored for “more safety for herders” (also: there is a higher number of births around the full moon for dairy cows) on the brightest night. Additionally, the Waning/Waxing Crescent Moon is favored in relation to the boy twins’ mythology, or the duality of bull horns and twin-peaked mountains, which explains why these twins can have different fathers. And these moons are associated with the Star of Venus, also known as the Morning Star or Dawn goddess.

Hunting cult: Animism, Totemism, and Shamanism

“Hunting Cult” (Cosmic Hunt) becomes “Herding Cult” Paganism in the Middle East 12,000 to 11,000 years ago

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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“The Galactic Center is the barycenter of the Milky Way and a corresponding point on the rotational axis of the galaxy. The Galactic Center is approximately 8 kiloparsecs (26,000 ly) away from Earth in the direction of the constellations Sagittarius, Ophiuchus, and Scorpius, where the Milky Way appears brightest, visually close to the Butterfly Cluster (M6) or the star Shaula, south to the Pipe Nebula.” ref

“The sun or other source of light is usually behind the person seeing the rainbow. In fact, the center of a primary rainbow is the antisolar point, the imaginary point exactly opposite the sun. Rainbows are actually full circles. The antisolar point is the center of the circle. Because each person’s horizon is a little different, no one actually sees a full rainbow from the ground. In fact, no one sees the same rainbow—each person has a different antisolar point, each person has a different horizon. A fogbow is formed in much the same way as a primary rainbow. A moonbow, also called a lunar rainbow, is a rainbow produced by light reflected by the moon. Rainbows are part of the myths of many cultures around the world. Rainbows are often portrayed as bridges between people and supernatural beings. In the ancient beliefs of Japan and Gabon, rainbows were the bridges that human ancestors took to descend to the planet. The shape of a rainbow also resembles the bow of an archer. Hindu culture teaches that the god Indra uses his rainbow bow to shoot arrows of lightning. Rainbows are usually positive symbols in myths and legends. In the Epic of Gilgamesh and, later, the Christian Bible, the rainbow is a symbol from a deity (the goddess Ishtar and the Hebrew God) to never again destroy Earth with floods. Sometimes, however, rainbows are negative symbols. In parts of Burma, for instance, rainbows are considered demons that threaten children. Tribes throughout the Amazon Basin associate rainbows with disease.” ref

Milky Way is related to Dogs/dog-like: Wolf

“A Cherokee folktale tells of a dog who stole some cornmeal and was chased away. He ran away to the north, spilling the cornmeal along the way. The Milky Way is thus called ᎩᎵ ᎤᎵᏒᏍᏓᏅᏱ (Gili Ulisvsdanvyi) “Where the dog ran.” ref

“Most American Indian tribes used the stars as indicators of the time for seasonal ceremonies and their position when they were traveling across the land, but only one tribe was called the Star People. These were the Pawnee, they became part of the Caddoan tribes, who called them ‘Awahi,’ the Star People. The term ‘Caddo’ meant ‘true chiefs,’ and these people were descendents of the Mound Builders, who worshipped the Serpent and the Star. The Star that fell to earth was represented by a secret fire. The Caddo, as well as the early Pawnee, may have been influenced in their stellar cosmology by the more southern tribes, including the Maya. The Skiri (Wolf band) became so dominant among the Pawnee that other tribes called the Pawnee the Wolf People and the sign for ‘wolf’ came to mean ‘Pawnee.’ The Pawnee differ from other tribes in not following the positions of the Sun or the phases of the Moon; instead, they follow the Stars. Next to the Great Chief Star (Polaris, the North Star), three stars form an arc, representing the Medicine Man, his wife and their errand man. Pawnee Chiefs use the smoke hole in their lodges to sight the Stars known as the Council of Chiefs (Corona Borealis) passing overhead at dawn. The Stars announce the cycle of rebirth and renewal. Festivals are held at night, when the people can see the Stars, and planting ceremonies are held around midnight, when the seven stars of the Chaka (the Women) or Pleiades are directly overhead. The most important Stars are called the Swimming Ducks. These are the two bright Stars in the tail and stinger of the constellation of Scorpio, Lambda Scorpii and Upsilon Scorpii. When they are seen in the twilight of the southeastern sky before sunrise, the Pawnee know it is time to begin the ceremonies of spring, as soon as the first rolling thunder of spring is heard. The Milky Way is the ghost pathway of departed spirits. Just above the Milky Way is a spot devoid of any stars, and this is where the spirits of the dead return to the place beyond the Stars. The Milky Way is divided into two parts, one for those who died of natural causes and the other for people who died prematurely, as in battle. The Stars of the east are male Stars, and the greatest among them is a red Star known as Morning Star. Stars considered to be stationed in the west are female, and the most important one is a bright white Star called the Evening Star. The Morning Star is the planet Mars, and the Evening Star is the planet Venus. The appearance of the Wolf Star (Sirius) signifies the Wolf coming and going from the spirit world, running down the bright white trail of the Milky Way, which is also called the Wolf Road.” ref

“Canis Major is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. In the second century, it was included in Ptolemy‘s 48 constellations, and is counted among the 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for “greater dog” in contrast to Canis Minor, the “lesser dog”; both figures are commonly represented as following the constellation of Orion the hunter through the sky. The Milky Way passes through Canis Major and several open clusters lie within its borders, most notably M41. Canis Major contains Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, known as the “dog star”. It is bright because of its proximity to the Solar System and its intrinsic brightness. In ancient Mesopotamia, Sirius, named KAK.SI.SA₂ by the Babylonians, was seen as an arrow aiming towards Orion, while the southern stars of Canis Major and a part of Puppis were viewed as a bow, named BAN in the Three Stars Each tablets, dating to around 1100 BCE. In the later compendium of Babylonian astronomy and astrology titled MUL.APIN, the arrow, Sirius, was also linked with the warrior Ninurta, and the bow with Ishtar, daughter of Enlil. Ninurta was linked to the later deity Marduk, who was said to have slain the ocean goddess Tiamat (whose severed tail was the Milky way) with a great bow, and worshipped as the principal deity in Babylon. The Ancient Greeks replaced the bow and arrow depiction with that of a dog.” ref, ref

“The mischievous deity Coyote grew annoyed with the slowness of their process and exasperatedly threw the bag of unplaced stars up over his head and into the sky. This scattering formed the Milky Way, the stars of which cannot be named because they were not properly placed.” ref

“One day Black God was busy making the constellations by carefully ordering the stars in the sky when Coyote became impatient and tossed the remaining stars from a bag, or occasionally a blanket, into the sky, forming the Milky Way. This story explains the reason some stars are dimmer than others, because Black God did not light the ones Coyote blew into the sky on fire. In another version of the story, Black God made the Milky Way on purpose. The Navajo believe it provides a pathway for the spirits traveling between heaven and earth, each little star being one footprint. The general view of Coyote in folk belief is generally negative and related to witchcraft. Witches called skin-walkers are believed to be able to adopt the form of a coyote.” ref

Rainbow related to Dogs/dog-like: Silver Gray Fox/Coyote

“An Achomawi Myth, of the First Rainbow, indigenous tribal people from northeastern California. The animals held a great feast to honor the rainbow, Silver Gray Fox, Spider Woman, the Spider Twins, Coyote, and the hard work everyone had done together.” ref

“There is an old legend in Japan that states when the sun is shining through the rain, the kitsune (foxes) have their weddings. In this first dream, a boy defies the wish of a woman, possibly his mother, to remain at home during a day with such weather. From behind a large tree in the nearby forest, he witnesses the slow wedding procession of the kitsune. Unfortunately, he is spotted by the foxes and runs. When he tries to return home, the same woman says that a fox had come by the house, leaving behind a tantō knife. The woman gives the knife to the boy, implying that he must commit suicide. The woman asks the boy to go and beg forgiveness from the foxes, although they are known to be unforgiving, refusing to let him in unless he does so. The boy sets off into the mountains, towards the place under the rainbow in search for the kitsune’s home.” ref

Milky Way as a Path

“Birds’ Path” is used in several Uralic and Turkic languages and in the Baltic languages. Northern peoples observed that migratory birds follow the course of the galaxy while migrating at the Northern Hemisphere. The name “Birds’ Path” (in Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Bashkir and Kazakh) has some variations in other languages, e.g. “Way of the grey (wild) goose” in Chuvash, Mari and Tatar and “Way of the Crane” in Erzya and Moksha.” ref

“Among the Finns, Estonians and related peoples, the Milky Way was and is called “The Pathway of the Birds” (Finnish: Linnunrata, Estonian: Linnutee). The Finns observed that migratory birds used the galaxy as a guideline to travel south, where they believed Lintukoto (bird home) was. The name in the Indo-European Baltic languages has the same meaning (Lithuanian: Paukščių Takas, Latvian: Putnu Ceļš).” ref

“In Estonian folklore it is believed that the birds are led by a white bird with the head of a maiden who chases birds of prey away. The maiden, the goddess Lindu, was the Queen of the Birds and the daughter of Ukko, the King of the Sky. After refusing the suits of the Sun and Moon for being too predictable in their routes and the Pole Star for being fixed, she fell in love with the Light of North for its beauty. They became engaged, but the inconstant Light of North left her soon afterward. The tears of the broken-hearted Lindu fell on her wedding veil, which became the Milky Way when her father brought her to heaven so she could reign by his side and guide the migrating birds, who followed the trail of stars in her veil. Only later did scientists indeed confirm this observation; the migratory birds use the Milky Way as a guide to travel to warmer, southern lands during the winter.” ref

“Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinized to Alpha Ursae Minoris) and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. The position of the star lies less than 1° away from the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star. The stable position of the star in the Northern Sky makes it useful for navigation. The ancient name of the constellation Ursa Minor, Cynosura (from the Greek κυνόσουρα “the dog’s tail”), became associated with the pole star in particular by the early modern period. Its name in traditional pre-Islamic Arab astronomy was al-Judayy الجدي (“the kid”, in the sense of a juvenile goat [“le Chevreau”] in Description des Etoiles fixes), and that name was used in medieval Islamic astronomy as well. In traditional Lakota star knowledge, Polaris is named “Wičháȟpi Owáŋžila”. This translates to “The Star that Sits Still”. This name comes from a Lakota story in which he married Tȟapȟúŋ Šá Wíŋ, “Red Cheeked Woman”. However, she fell from the heavens, and in his grief Wičháȟpi Owáŋžila stared down from “waŋkátu” (the above land) forever. In the ancient Finnish worldview, the North Star has also been called taivaannapa and naulatähti (“the nailstar”) because it seems to be attached to the firmament or even to act as a fastener for the sky when other stars orbit it. Since the starry sky seemed to rotate around it, the firmament is thought of as a wheel, with the star as the pivot on its axis. The names derived from it were sky pin and world pin.” ref

“The celestial pole also marked the place where the heavens were upheld by the world tree which had its branches in the sky, and its roots in the underworld below the land where people lived, and up which the shaman could climb to intervene with the gods. the pole star has been called the Nail Star, or northern nail. The celestial pole also marked the place where the heavens were upheld by the world tree which had its branches in the sky, and its roots in the underworld below the land where people lived, and up which the shaman could climb to intervene with the gods. This central axis of the world, about which the rest appears to revolve, has also been visualized as a mountain or a pillar. The celestial pole is not always marked by a star, or by the same star, for the Earth’s poles swing round in a circle during called precession. Polaris (in the tail of the Little Bear) which is nearly at the North Pole today was 3.5 degrees away in the 16th century, seven degrees away at the time of the Vikings. Four to five thousand years ago α-Draconis was the pole star. 8,000 years ago, it was τ-Hercules. 13,000 years ago, the nearest star to the pole was bright Vega, and this will be the Pole Star in thirteen thousand years’ time.” ref

“In a Khanti story from Western Siberia: “There is a mill which grinds by itself, swings of itself, and scatters the dust a hundred versts away. And there is a golden pole with a golden eagle on top which is also the Nail of the North. And there is a very wise tomcat which climbs up and down this pole. When he climbs down, he sings songs, and when he climbs up, he tells tales.” Before it was known that the Earth was spherical, in the Chinese Kai Tian (Heavenly Cover) theory of the universe, the heavens were like a bowl covering a square Earth (the Chinese Earth was symbolically square) which was domed in the center. The Great Bear constellation was in the middle of the heavens, people lived on the middle of the Earth. Rain filled a great ditch around the square Earth. The heavens were round and “rotated like a mill” from right to left, carrying with them the Sun and Moon which also had their own separate slower motions in the opposite direction. The Sun was seen as travelling round the celestial pole lighting first one then another part of the Earth’s surface, its distance from the pole varying according to the season. The changing seasons were also explained by the heavens sliding up and down the celestial pole as they rotated round so the North pole was further from the Earth in summer than in winter.” ref

Rainbow as a Path

“In Greek mythology, the goddess Iris personifies the rainbow. In many stories, such as the Iliad, she carries messages from the gods to the human world, thus forming a link between heaven and earth. Iris’s messages often concerned war and retribution. In some myths, the rainbow merely represents the path made by Iris as she flies.” In Navajo tradition, the rainbow is the path of the holy spirits, and is frequently depicted in sacred sandpaintings.” ref

Milky Way is related to a bridge

“Before the invention of the telescope, the Milky Way was observed only as a hazy band of light in which no individual stars could be distinguished. This mythical band is the source of many myths around the world, and different in various cultures.” ref

“There are many myths and legends about the origin of the Milky Way, the crowd of stars that makes a distinctive bright streak across the night sky. Milky Way (mythology) in Eastern Asian and Chinese mythology, the hazy band of stars of the Milky Way was referred to as the “River of Heaven” or the “Silvery River”. The Silvery River of Heaven is part of a Chinese folk tale, The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, of the romance between Zhinü, the weaver girl, symbolizing the star Vega, and Niulang, the cowherd, symbolizing the star Altair. Their love was not allowed, and they were banished to opposite sides of the heavenly river. Once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, a flock of crows and magpies would form a bridge over the heavenly river to reunite the lovers for a single day. That day is celebrated as Qixi, literally meaning ‘Seventh.” ref

“In Hungarian mythology, Csaba, the mythical son of Attila the Hun and ancestor of the Hungarians, is supposed to ride down the Milky Way when the Székelys (ethnic Hungarians living in Transylvania) are threatened. Thus the Milky Way is called “The Road of the Warriors” (lit. “Road of Armies”) Hungarian: Hadak Útja. The stars are sparks from their horseshoes.” ref

Rainbow is related to a bridge

“Bifröst, a burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard (Earth) and Asgard (the realm of the gods) is described in 13th century Norse mythology in both the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. Scholars have proposed that the bridge may have originally represented the Milky Way.” ref

“Shamans among Siberia‘s Buryats speak of ascending to the sky-spirit world by way of the rainbow.” ref

“Among the Chachi or Cayapa of Ecuador the rainbow is said by some to be a bridge used by cave and hill spirits, as well as river spirits (Neil Wiebe, p.c. from Alfredo Salazar, 1982). Here the rainbow itself is not said to live in a cave, but it connects with caves to allow nature spirits that live there to travel to other locations.” ref

Milky Way is related to a river

“The Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains in South Australia see the band of the Milky Way as a river in the sky world. They called it Wodliparri (wodli = hut, house, parri = river) and believe that positioned along the river are a number of campfires. In addition, the dark patches mark the dwelling place of a dangerous creature known as a yura; the Kaurna call these patches Yurakauwe, which literally means “monster water.” The Aranda or Arrernte people, who come from Central Australia, see the band of the Milky Way as a river or creek in the sky world. This stellar river separates the two great camps of the Aranda and Luritja people. The stars to the east of this river represent the camps of the Aranda and the stars to the west represent Luritja encampments and some stars closer to the band represent a mixture of both. A group of Yolngu people from the Ramingining area in central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory have a Dreaming story known as “Milky Way Dreaming”. In this story, which relates to the land, two spirit beings in the form of female quolls attacked their husband. The husband becomes a glider possum, gathers his warriors, and returns to kill them with spears. The spirits of the quolls transform into a type of freshwater fish, but they are caught in the creek nearby by the husband’s tribesmen and eaten. Their bones are collected by their brother, Wäk, aka the crow man, and put into a hollow log coffin. The Badurru Ceremony is performed and the coffin carried into the sky by the crow and his kin. The bones are then dispersed and form the Milky Way.” ref

“In Eastern Asian and Chinese mythology, the hazy band of stars of the Milky Way was referred to as the “River of Heaven” or the “Silvery River” (simplified Chinese: 银河; traditional Chinese: 銀河; pinyin: yínhé; Korean: 은하; RR: eunha; Vietnamese: ngân hà; Japanese: 銀河, romanized: ginga). In the Hindu collection of stories called Bhagavata Purana, all the visible stars and planets moving through space are likened to a dolphin that swims through the water, and the heavens are called śiśumãra cakra, the dolphin disc. The Milky Way forms the abdomen of the dolphin and is called Akasaganga which means “The Ganges River of the Sky.” ref

“In Irish mythology, the main name of the Milky Way was Bealach na Bó Finne — Way of the White Cow. It was regarded as a heavenly reflection of the sacred River Boyne, which is described as “the Great Silver Yoke” and the “White Marrow of Fedlimid,” names which could equally apply to the Milky Way. (Mór-Chuing Argait, Smir Find Fedlimthi).” ref

“To the Māori the Milky Way is the waka (canoe) of Tama-rereti. The front and back of the canoe are Orion and Scorpius, while the Southern Cross and the Pointers are the anchor and rope. According to legend, when Tama-rereti took his canoe out onto a lake, he found himself far from home as night was falling. There were no stars at this time and in the darkness the Taniwha would attack and eat people. So Tama-rereti sailed his canoe along the river that emptied into the heavens (to cause rain) and scattered shiny pebbles from the lakeshore into the sky. The sky god, Ranginui, was pleased by this action and placed the canoe into the sky as well as a reminder of how the stars were made.” ref

“In the Babylonian epic poem Enûma Eliš, the Milky Way is created from the severed tail of the primeval salt water dragoness Tiamat, set in the sky by Marduk, the Babylonian national god, after slaying her. This story was once thought to have been based on an older Sumerian version in which Tiamat is instead slain by Enlil of Nippur, but is now thought to be purely an invention of Babylonian propagandists with the intention to show Marduk as superior to the Sumerian deities. Another myth about Labbu is similarly interpreted.” ref

Rainbow related to a river

“The Mayans similarly saw rainbows as a sign that the gods were no longer angry with them, after their world was destroyed by fire-rain. Other myths talk of rainbows drinking water from streams and rivers (along with occasional sheep or people), then redistributing the water as rain.” ref

“In Latvian legends it was believed that the rainbow drank from river or lake like a living creature and thus released rain from its body. It was forbidden to approach the water source if there was a rainbow, or they would risk being accidentally swallowed by the rainbow, and later fall down during rainfall as nothing but bones.” ref

“In Nepal, one traditional view of the rainbow is that “it has come to bring the river to the land, to water it, and more rain will come.”  The Tolowa of northwest California consider the rainbow a sign of coming rain. The Panare of Venezuela believe that the rainbow causes it to rain. Insular Southeast Asia: Some speakers of Tagalog say that “when a rainbow appears it means rain is coming. The Bare’e of central Sulawesi in Indonesia say the rainbow calls up rain. The Kwamera people of Tanna Island in southern Vanuatu say that the rainbow is a sign that it will rain.” ref

“The Sabaot or Mt. Elgon Maasai say that “A rainbow ends in a river, and then it is very dangerous to come near the river. If you do, you will be eaten by the rainbow, or become sick. One person said he tried it once, but the rainbow moved away. The direction of the moving rainbow is significant—it follows the direction of the rain.” ref

Milky Way is related to a Snake/Serpent/Dragon

“The most well-known version of this is the Aegyptian-Greek ourobouros. It is believed to have been inspired by the Milky Way, as some ancient texts refer to a serpent of light residing in the heavens. The Ancient Egyptians associated it with Wadjet, one of their oldest deities, as well as another aspect, Hathor. In pre-Columbian Central America Quetzalcoatl was sometimes depicted as biting its own tail. The mother of Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec goddess Coatlicue (“the one with the skirt of serpents”), also known as Cihuacoatl (“The Lady of the serpent”). Quetzalcoatl’s father was Mixcoatl (“Cloud Serpent”). He was identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures.” ref

“A Serpent’s Tale: the Milky Way, Before light pollution robbed us of its celestial glow, the Milky Way was the backbone of the night and became part of ancient people’s myths and beliefs based on their perception of it as a serpent. In North America, whether as a giant form on the ground or pictured on a rock, the snake has a story to tell of the road for souls, one which goes back well over 4000 years and can be found in caves, on hilltops or as a pathway for the living to traverse, all reflections of the serpent stretching overhead.” ref

“Samal NagaA gigantic, trapped dragon in the milky way. It is said that it will be freed and devour all those not faithful to their respective deities in Samal mythology.” ref

Rainbow related to a Snake/Worm/Chameleon/Serpent/Dragon/Demon

“Rainbows and Serpents: Sacred cows are kept by many tribes for supplying milk to giant snakes.” ref

“From attested words for the rainbow in modern Japonic (Japanese-Ryukyuan) languages Martin (1987:498) reconstructed Proto-Japonic *ni-m(u)si ‘red/beautiful snake’. However, Alexander Vovin points out that –musi is ‘insect’, not ‘snake’. This may be similar to the ‘worm’ or ‘insect’ radical in the Chinese character for ‘rainbow’. In any case, the color ‘red’ appears to be unambiguous in this word. Among the Arecuna of northeast South America, dragon and rainbow cannot easily be separated. However, in describing the rainbow in its serpent form, we are told that “Keyeme, the rainbow, when it appears is thought of as a large multi-colored snake that lives in the high waterfalls. Among the Maumere of the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia, the rainbow is a spirit snake that lives in the earth and comes out in heavy rains; it is said to be “striped yellow/green/blue, but its basic color is red. Given its identity with the rainbow, the Rainbow Serpent of Australia must be a multi-colored creature. This is indicated explicitly in some cases, as where Mountford states that in the western deserts of central Australia “The snake (wonambi) is a huge, many-colored creature with a mane and beard.” ref

“The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as the creator God, known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages by the many different Aboriginal peoples. It is a common motif in the art and religion of many Aboriginal Australian peoples. Much like the archetypal mother goddess, the Rainbow Serpent creates land and diversity for the Aboriginal people, but when disturbed can bring great chaos. There are many names and stories associated with the serpent, all of which communicate the significance and power of this being within Aboriginal mythology, which includes the worldview commonly referred to as The Dreaming. The serpent is viewed as a giver of life through its association with water, but can be a destructive force if angry. The Rainbow Serpent is one of the most common and well-known Aboriginal stories and is of great importance to Aboriginal society. Not all of the myths in this family describe the ancestral being as a snake. Of those that do, not all of them draw a connection with a rainbow. However, a link with water or rain is typical. When the rainbow is seen in the sky, it is said to be the Rainbow Serpent moving from one waterhole to another, and this divine concept explained why some waterholes never dried up when drought struck. The Rainbow Serpent is known by different names by the many different Aboriginal cultures. Yurlunggur is the name of the “rainbow serpent” according to the Murngin (Yolngu) in north-eastern Arnhemland, also styled Yurlungur, Yulunggur, Jurlungur, Julunggur, or Julunggul. The Yurlunggur was considered “the great father”. The serpent is called Witij/Wititj by the Galpu clan of the Dhangu people, one of Yolngu peoples. Kanmare is the name of the great water serpent in Queensland among the Pitapita people of the Boulia District; it is apparently a giant carpet snake, and recorded under the name Cunmurra further south. The same snake is called Tulloun among the Mitakoodi (Maithakari).” ref

“Two mythical Kooremah of the Mycoolon (Maikulan) tribe of Queensland, are cosmic carpet snakes 40 miles long, residing in watery realm of the dead, or on the pathway leading to it; this is probably equivalent to the rainbow snake also. In some cultures, the Rainbow Serpent is male; in others, female; in yet others, the gender is ambiguous or the Rainbow Serpent is hermaphroditic or bigender, thus an androgynous entity. Some commentators have suggested that the Rainbow Serpent is a phallic symbol, which fits its connection with fertility myths and rituals. When the Serpent is characterized as female or bigender, it is sometimes depicted with breasts, as in the case of the Kunmanggur serpent. Other times, the Serpent has no particular gender. The serpent is sometimes ascribed with a having crest or a mane or on its head, or being bearded as well. While it is single-headed, the Yurlunggur of Arnhem land may possess a double-body. In some stories, the Serpent is associated with a large fruit bat, sometimes called a “flying fox” in Australian English, engaged in a rivalry over a woman. Some scholars have identified other creatures, such as a bird, crocodile, dingo (dog), or lizard, as taking the role of the Serpent in stories. In all cases, these animals are also associated with water. The Rainbow Serpent has also been identified with, or considered to be related to, the bunyip, a fearful, water-hole dwelling creature in Australian mythology. Unlike many other deities, the Rainbow Serpent does not have a human form and remains in the form of animal. While each culture has a different interpretation on gender and which animal the deity is, it is nonetheless, always an animal.” ref

“Globally distributed beliefs about the rainbow that closely parallel similarly distributed beliefs about the dragon. Among many Bantu-speaking groups across central and west Africa the rainbow is thought to be formed from male and female intertwining snakes which “stop rain from falling; according to others they cause rain to fall. The Nyabwa of the Ivory Coast explicitly say of the rainbow that “when it disappears the rain comes (so it precedes the rain). Among several names given to the rainbow, the Galla or Oromo of Ethiopia call it ‘a sign of rain’. In some ways this interpretation is hard to process, since rain clearly is needed before a rainbow can appear, which makes it difficult to see it as a sign that rain will come, unless it is a sign that more rain will come. Nonetheless, this view is reported for a number of indigenous peoples. The dragon is conceived as bisexual in at least European alchemy, Taoist metaphysics in China, and classic and contemporary Mesoamerica. The Karen of peninsular Burma and Thailand regard Hkü Te as the lord of the region of death. He is occasionally to be seen as a rainbow in the west, and his wife Teu Kweh as a rainbow in the east. “When two rainbows appear in the east, the upper and larger one is her husband, who is visiting with her. Among the people of Palau in western Micronesia “the clear arc in a double rainbow is female; the indistinct one is male. To the Mortlockese of Pakin atoll in the eastern Caroline islands, Micronesia, a double rainbow consists of a female inner band and a male outer band.” ref

“While this is startling enough for those who have not examined the ethnology of the dragon in detail, initially it seems absurd to consider the possibility that the rainbow could also have a double-gendered identity. In Chinese folk belief a double rainbow is both male and female, the more colorful inner arc being male, and the fainter outer arc female. The Totonac Indians of the Mexican states of Vera Cruz and Puebla describe the rainbow as simultaneously male and female. The Chontal Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico say that “The full rainbow is a man, whereas a half rainbow is a woman, and very evil. If you show a red cloth to this female rainbow, as to a bull, she comes close to you. To the Cuna Indians of the San Blas islands off the east coast of Panama, “When there are two rainbows the brighter one is looked upon as a man and the other one as a woman. Among the Inga of southwest Colombia, the two bows of a double rainbow are called the male bow and the female bow. In Malay a single rainbow is called pelangi, but a double rainbow is pelangi sekelamin, where se– is a prefix meaning ‘one’ and kelamin is ‘family’ (etymologically meaning husband, wife and any children residing in a single house). To traditional Malays, then, the double rainbow was a married pair, male and female.” ref

“The Muria of Andhra Pradesh state in eastern India, say that “The rainbow is the great snake, Bhumtaras, that rises from its ant-hill to stop the rain.” In Okinawa the rainbow was traditionally believed to be a snake or dragon, and because this snake drank water in the sky, there was no rain. To the Muskogee or Creek Indians, who were located at the time of first European contact in what is now Georgia, the rainbow “was believed … to be a great snake called Oskin-tatcå (“the cutter off of the rain”), The Tzotzil of southern Mexico say the rainbow is “a cold Chamula female devil that steals corn’s soul … prevents rain from passing by it, and causes stomach ache. To prevent the rainbow from following a person it is considered effective to spread chewing tobacco around, urinate or exhibit oneself to it. The Kikuyu of East Africa say the rainbow “is a ‘wicked animal’ which lives in the water, comes out at night, eats goats and cattle, and has even been known to eat people.” ref

“According to the Piapoco on tributaries of the upper Orinoco River along the Colombia-Venezuela border, “A jungle demon makes the rainbow from smoke; it moves unseen, as the wind moves. The rainbow can take the rain prisoner so that it won’t rain, and in some cases this activity can be initiated by the intervention of a shaman.” The Eastern Timbira in east-central Brazil say that “The rainbow (‘person of the rain’) has its two ends resting in the open mouths of sucuriju snakes, which themselves yield rain. It appears as a sign that the rain has ceased. As already noted, to the Kakadu/Gaagudju of Arnhem Land in northern Australia, “The rainbow is supposed … to be the Iwaiyu (spirit) of a Numereji snake. When the latter spits he makes rain and says … “up above, Iwaiyu, go spittle, my Iwaiyu.” It does so in the form of a rainbow which is supposed to stop the rain.” ref

“The natives of the Pennefeather River, North Queensland, regard the rainbow as a very brightly coloured snake that comes up to stop the rain that has been wilfully made by their enemies; the name both of the rainbow and the snake is Andrénjinyi. To the Yoruba of southern Nigeria “the ‘great snake of the underneath’ is the rainbow god. It comes up at times to drink water from the sky. A variety of the python is the messenger of this god.” Among the Kulere of the northern Nigerian plateau it is said that “the rainbow is the tongue of a great serpent; when the serpent puts out its tongue the rain stops.” Among the Uduk of the Sudan, the python is “associated ambivalently with the Rainbow; the python is an earth-creature in its movement and its normal habit, until in the guise of a Rainbow it leaps into the air, or sleeps like a swamp-snake in the watery pools.” ref

“Among the Zande of Zaire: Ngambue is a big snake. Its skin is covered with white powdery substance, and it possesses a beard. This creature, which has a poisonous bite, may live in any waters. The well at Yambio is said to harbor such a snake. The rainbow wangu lives in bogs, or in cracks and holes near to streams. It is like a snake. In the hills near Lake Victoria the local (presumably Bantu-speaking) people believed there were “snakes guarding the wells. Human beings might approach only after making offerings to these guardian snakes.” Similarly, the Bagesu of Uganda “say that there is a snake living in springs where he will attack anyone who goes to draw water.” Among the Murle of the Sudan “The rainbow is a large dragon-like snake which sleeps in a cave when not flying in the sky.” Among the Mang’anja of southern Malawi, a mythical animal called ‘Mbona’ appears to be a water serpent, but one of a special character that links it to a mythic cycle found over much of Bantu-speaking central Africa: “What makes Mbona different from other Bantu deities symbolized by a water serpent? This mythical animal forms one of the great themes of Bantu mythology, namely the eternal conflict of the lightning and the rainbow.” ref

“The Mündü of the southern Sudan, say that the rainbow is “a giant snake which lives in a hole in the ground, and comes out to chase heavy rain away (drink the rain?).” The Kusaasi of Ghana connect the rainbow with a chameleon, and “believe that the chameleon is driving the rain away, and it will not rain.” These parallels between attributes of the dragon and attributes of the rainbow can hardly be accidental. Various sources report that the dragon is a giver of rain in India, East Asia, North America, and Central America, while the same trait is attributed to the rainbow in Europe, Mexico, Insular Southeast Asia and Africa. Likewise, various reports state that the dragon withholds rain in Europe, the ancient Near East, East Asia and Central America, while the same trait is attributed to the rainbow in India, Okinawa, North America and Mexico, South America, insular Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Africa. In both cases there is a marked ambivalence, some societies seeing the dragon/rainbow as producing rain, while others believe that it obstructs rainfall. Occasionally, closely-related peoples differ in whether they adopt one of these perspectives or the other, where the rain-giver is generally seen as positive and the rain-blocker as negative. Attitudes toward the rainbow are thus inescapably contradictory, since either position regarding its role in rainfall can be adopted with equally persuasive arguments.” ref

“In parts of the world where the dragon and rainbow are clearly separated, as Europe, India, China, or North America, water sources such as springs or wells are guarded by a dragon. In parts of the world where this separation is more tenuous, statements in the literature are relatively indifferent as to whether a spring is said to be guarded by a water snake or a rainbow, as these are regarded as different expressions of the same thing. In each of the above cases a water source is said to be guarded by a snake which is the rainbow, so it seems best to treat them as part of the ethnology of the rainbow. The important point in this survey, of course, is that springs and other water sources are guarded by both dragons and rainbows in different cultural traditions, and that this would be absurd if the rainbow were not conceived as an animate being capable of harming humans. This takes us back to the logic of an animistic view of nature. The rainbow is a transient thing, which may remain for seconds, minutes, or sometimes longer as a visible arc in the sky, but it is not a permanent fixture of the heavens. Preliterate peoples may not have understood the physical basis for the appearance of rainbows, but once they conceived of them as spirit snakes it became necessary to explain where they were when not in the sky, and the most straightforward explanation is that they reside in the pools, lakes or rivers from which they drink water to create the rain. There they stay during the dry season, and for much of their time during the wet season, and while there they guard the precious water from human intruders.” ref

Milky Way is related to Milk

“In Egyptian mythology, the Milky Way was considered a pool of cow’s milk. The Milky Way was deified as a fertility cow-goddess by the name of Bat (later on syncretized with the sky goddess Hathor). The astronomer Or Graur has suggested that the Egyptians may have seen the Milky Way as a celestial depiction of the sky goddess Nut.” ref

“The Greek name for the Milky Way (Γαλαξίας Galaxias) is derived from the Greek word for milk (γάλα, gala). One legend explains how the Milky Way was created by Heracles (Roman Hercules) when he was a baby. His father, Zeus, was fond of his son, who was born of the mortal woman Alcmene. He decided to let the infant Heracles suckle on his divine wife Hera‘s milk when she was asleep, an act which would endow the baby with godlike qualities. When Hera woke and realized that she was breastfeeding an unknown infant, she pushed him away and the spurting milk became the Milky Way. Another version of the myth is that Heracles was abandoned in the woods by his mortal parents, Amphitryon and Alcmene. Heracles, son of Zeus and Alcmene, was naturally favored by his father, who sent Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, to retrieve him. Athena, not being so motherly, decided to take him to Hera to suckle. Hera agreed to suckle Heracles. As Heracles drinks the milk, he bites down, and Hera pushes him away in pain. The milk that squirts out forms the Milky Way.” ref

“A story told by the Roman Hyginus in the Poeticon astronomicon (ultimately based on Greek myth) says that the milk came from the goddess Ops (Greek Rhea), the wife of Saturn (Greek Cronus). Saturn swallowed his children to ensure his position as head of the Pantheon and sky god, and so Ops conceived a plan to save her newborn son Jupiter (Greek Zeus): She wrapped a stone in infant’s clothes and gave it to Saturn to swallow. Saturn asked her to nurse the child once more before he swallowed it, and the milk that spurted when she pressed her nipple against the rock eventually became the Milky Way. According to Hindu mythology, Vishnu lies meditating on Shesha with his consort Lakshmi, in the Kshira Sagara (Sea of Milk), which is a representation of Milky Way. This “Sea of Milk” is also the (cosmic) ocean referenced in the Samudra Manthana episode of Vishnu Purana, a major text in Indian mythology. The Samudra Manthana explains the origin of the elixir of eternal life, amrita.” ref

Rainbow is related to Milk

“Latvian Lauma or Lithuanian Laumė, or Yotvingian Łauma is a fairy-like woodland spirit, and guardian spirit of orphans in Eastern Baltic mythology or Yotvingian mythology. Originally a sky spirit, her compassion for human suffering brought her to earth to share our fate. Laumės are the very oldest goddesses of Lithuanian mythology. The image of these goddesses may have formed during the historical Mesolithic period, just after the Ice Age. Laumės could appear in the form of animals, as mares or as female goats, bears and dogs. Later, Laumės had an anthropomorphic appearance: they usually had birds’ claws for feet and appeared as women with the head or lower body of a female goat. Other forms included half-human/half dog or half mare, similar to centaurs. Like cyclops, Laumės often had only one eye. They also had large breasts with stone nipples; pieces of belemnitida found on the ground were called “Laumės nipples.” ref

“Laumės were dangerous, especially to men. They could tickle or tweak them to death and then eat their bodies, and in this way, they were similar to Lamia of Greek mythology. The Lithuanian myth also claimed Laumės kept huge cows which could be milked by all people. However, after very cold weathers, the cows died; pieces of belemnitida were considered to be the remains of their udders. Laumės were afraid of tools made from iron. Laumės can be considered as atmospheric goddesses. It is said that Laumė was a beautiful goddess, who lived in clouds and had a diamond throne. Some myths claimed Laumė was a bride of thunder god Perkūnas; however, they did not marry because Laumė fell in love with the Moon, who was considered a male god in Lithuania. In other stories, the bride was stolen by the devil Velnias, named Tuolius. That’s why Laumė liked moonshine. In other myth, the bride of Perkūnas was a Laumė called Vaiva. The rainbow was called the ribbon of Vaiva. Despite her marriage, she had a beloved singer named Straublys. Straublys had stolen the ribbon of Vaiva. During the rain, Straublys stretches the ribbon of Vaiva across the sky, while Perkūnas is angry and shouts in thunder. It was believed it is the rainbow that causes the rain, while Lithuanian shepherds had a prayer or curse by which the rainbow had to turn to pieces and make the rain go away. The other myth claimed Laumė fell in love with a beautiful young man down to earth. They had a son named Meilius (name derived from word ‘Meilė’ – love). Laumė descended to the sky to breastfeed her son from time to time. However, the highest God found out about the son of sacrilegious love, smashed him into the highest place of the sky and gave him a place between stars. After that he cut Laumės breasts, and so, stone pieces of it can be found on Earth.” ref

“Laumės descended from the sky to Earth. They lived nearby lakes, abandoned bath-houses, in islands of lakes or dense forests. Many names of water pools in Lithuania are named after the word Laumė. Laumės liked to gather near rivers, lakes, swamps, in meadows, there dew fell in the night in New Moon or Full Moon. They danced and enjoyed themselves, leaving circles (like Fairy Ring) in the grass. Usually, Laumės were most powerful at Friday of New Moon, at the rainiest days of the month in Lithuania. Laumės could cause hail, storm or rain by singing, dancing or by curses. Laumės song was traditionally performed during weddings up until the 19th century. The song was performed by girls dancing in a circle, with one in the middle. The dance and song was also said to cause rain. The Rainbow was often called a ribbon lost by Laumės. That’s how they were associated with weaving. Laumės usually appeared in groups of three. They were able to do women’s work perfectly, as are especially skilled in weaving and spinning. They love children, respect industriousness and help those in need. They punish those who ridicule them, and those who are lazy.” ref

“The fair Rainbow-maiden, Louhi’s daughter, sat upon a rainbow in the heavens, and was clad in the most splendid dress of gold and silver. She was busy weaving golden webs of wonderful beauty, using a shuttle of gold and a silver weaving-comb. As Wainamoinen came swiftly along the way which led from the dark and dismal Northland to the plains of Kalevala, before he had gone far on his way he heard in the sky above him the humming of the Rainbow-maiden’s loom. Without thinking of old Louhi’s warning, he looked up and beheld the maiden seated on the gorgeous rainbow weaving beauteous cloths. No sooner had he seen the lovely maiden than he stopped, and calling to her asked her to come to his sledge. Then the Rainbow-maiden promised to be his wife if he would split a golden hair with a knife that had no edge, and take a bird’s egg from the nest with a snare that no one could see. Wainamoinen did both these things, and then begged her to come to his sledge, for he had done what she asked. Wainamoinen related the following story of how iron was first made: Long ago after there were air and water, fire was born, and after the fire came iron. Ukko (Finnish for ‘male grandparent’, ‘grandfather’, ‘old man’), parallel to Uku in Estonian mythology, is the god of the sky, weather, harvest, and thunder), the creator, rubbed his hands upon his left knee, and there arose thence three lovely maidens, who were the mothers of iron and steel. These three maidens walked forth on the clouds, and from their bosoms ran the milk of iron, down unto the clouds and thence down upon the earth. Ukko’s eldest daughter cast black milk over the river-beds, and the second cast white milk over the hills and mountains, and the third red milk over the lakes and oceans; and from the black milk grew the soft black iron-ore; from the white milk the lighter-colored ore; and from the red milk the brittle red iron-ore.” ref, ref

“Neolithic stone carvings have been found in Russian Karelia which have features of both snakes and lightning. It is, however, uncertain whether these are directly connected to the figure of Ukko. Evidence for worship of snakes is found among different cultures around the Baltic, including the Estonians and Finns. There is evidence that the rowan tree was held sacred to Ukko. Rauni, a vaguely defined being has been hypothesised to be cognate to Germanic words for the rowan tree through Old Norse: *raunir. The ladybird was also considered sacred to Ukko and called ukonlehmä (Ukko’s cow). The Finnish name of the great mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is ukontulikukka (Ukko’s fire flower), also linked to worship of Ukko.” ref

Mythological Symbolism

“Of course, our ancestors have noticed that the stars are revolving. That is, except from the point in the heaven where no movement seems to take place. The seemingly rotating figure on the northern hemisphere symbolizes the Greatest male deity in the Mythological Story from all over the World. This figure symbolizes, for instance, Chronos, Zeus, Odin, Saturn (not the planet), and several other names. One of the most important holy figures for our ancestors was that of the white Milky Way, especially when symbolized as the great white God or spirit in the sky. Ancestors all over the World have had their story of creation connected to this white God-figure in the sky. But the figures are also symbolized with several other phenomenon’s, of which the Heavenly Ship and a White Horse or Bull are the most common.” ref

If the World Tree resembles the Earth celestial axis, (and the Earth magnetic field as well) one must conclude that some kind of celestial imagery depicts such a story. The Norse Worlds have Midgaard as the home of the humans, the Earth and Asgaard belongs to the celestial day- and nighttime realms with the Sun at day and Moon; the wandering stars = planets; stars and star constellations at nighttime. Lastly the Norse Udgaard belongs to the Giants and first creators in the Norse story of creation, which specifically is connected to the Milky Way whitish contours. On the northern hemisphere a great male-like Milky Way figure (Odin) can be observed at night on a favorable season. This figure seemingly revolves around the Earth celestial pole = the World Tree, and it is said in the myth that “Odin is hanging in the Tree” for “nine days and nights.” ref

“When interpreting such a myth, it is of course very important to recognize which mythical figure/archetype belongs to which cosmological observation and when not having discovered the connection, all kind of false interpretations and distorted explanations can occur. “Odin hanging on a tree” shall be “Odin hanging besides the tree” which resembles the Earth celestial pole. And “Odin hanging for nine days and nights” should be “being observed besides and connected to the Tree in about 9 month of the year” simply because this Milky Way figure cannot be observed in the lightest season of the year, a mytho-cosmological fact which also is described with the myth of “the deity in the Sky who disappears and the promise of his return”. OK, there he is: Odin hanging in the northern hemisphere night Sky, seemingly revolving around the celestial pole, thus being omnipresent and omnipotent and overlooking the whole Midgaard and the humans below. A male figure all made in the human imagination and still a part of the creation of humans because we all are made in the imageries of the deities above and below. The descent to the underworld is a mytheme of comparative mythology found in the religions of the Ancient Near East up to and including Christianity. The myth involves the death of a youthful god (or goddess: Persephone, Inanna, for instance) who is a life-death-rebirth deity, mourned and then recovered from the underworld by his or her consort, lover or mother.” ref

“The most simple marking of the northern Milky Way figure and the celestial north pole with the White Milky Way God seemingly revolving around the pole center. Navajo sand painting of the Great God revolving around the Earth celestial north pole. The different positions around the cross center gives origin to the cultural mytheme of the dying and rising god. The Star Atlas contours and the celestial north pole of the northern Milky Way. The most simple marking of the northern Milky Way figure and the celestial north pole. In the other horizontal position he might observe and carve a so called ship. Mythological the figure therefore become a mixed story with a great God who can change between human and animal shapes an as a God sailing away on his ship. When first one have discovered our ancestors way of symbolizing and mythologizing the Milky Way figure, it is easy to understand the old stories from almost every indigenous people all over the world. Then you also are able to understand the remarkable symbol- and mythological resemblance all over the World. Simply because all people have noticed the same colossal figure in the night sky. The theme of mythical deities and Heroes “descending to The Underworld” is of course very global since it deals with the the Southern Earth Hemisphere – and NOT with something down under the soil – and especially with the southern Milky Way contours and the Great Mother Goddess and the archetype of the Milky Way center.” ref

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Cosmic Hunt: Variants of Siberian-North American Myth

“The mythological motif of the Cosmic Hunt is peculiar to Northern and Central Eurasia and for the Americas but seems to be absent in other parts of the globe. Two distinct Eurasian versions demonstrate North-American parallels at the level of minor details which could be explained only by particular historical links between corresponding traditions. The first version (three stars of the handle of the Big Dipper are hunters and the dipper itself is an animal; Alcor is a dog or a cooking pot) connects Siberian (especially Western Siberian) traditions with the North-American West (Salish, Chinook) and East (especially with the Iroquois). The second version (the Orion’s Belt represents three deer, antelopes, mountain sheep or buffaloes; the hunter is Rigel or other star below the Orion’s Belt; his arrow has pierced the game and is seen either as Betelgeuze or as the stars of Orion’s Head) connects the South-Siberian – Central-Eurasian mythologies with traditions of North-American West – Southwest. Both variants unknown in Northeast Asia and in Alaska probably date to the time of initial settling of the New World. The circum-Arctic variant(s) (hunter or game are associated with Orion or thePleiades) are represented by neighbouring traditions which form an almost continuous chain from the Lapps to the Polar Inuit. This version could be brought across the American Arctic with the spread of Tule Eskimo.” ref

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Milky Way as tracks of Cosmic Hunt

Many cultures see the Milky Way as related to the Cosmic hunt.

“The Cosmic Hunt is an ancient and widely distributed family of cognate myths. The story involves a large animal pursued by hunters; the animal is wounded and transformed into a constellation. Variants of the Cosmic Hunt are common in cultures of Northern Eurasia and the Americas, and include the story of Callisto in classical sources. The prey animal is either a bear or an ungulate, and the associated constellation involves the four stars of the bowl in the Big Dipper asterism of Ursa Major. In some variants blood or grease may fall from the wounded animal; in an Iroquois version the blood causes leaves to change color in autumn. Sometimes the hunters are also placed in the firmament, represented by the stars of the Big Dipper’s handle. The original prototype of the myth likely originated over 15,000 years ago, and diffused across the Bering land bridge. It has been suggested to provide evidence for punctuated equilibrium as a system for myth evolution.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Axis Mundi

“In astronomy, axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the axis mundi is the axis of rotation of the planetary spheres within the classical geocentric model of the cosmos. In 20th-century comparative mythology, the term axis mundi – also called the cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, the center of the world, or world tree – has been greatly extended to refer to any mythological concept representing “the connection between Heaven and Earth” or the “higher and lower realms.” ref

“Mircea Eliade introduced the concept in the 1950s. Axis mundi closely relates to the mythological concept of the omphalos (navel) of the world or cosmos. Items adduced as examples of the axis mundi by comparative mythologists include plants (notably a tree but also other types of plants such as a vine or stalk), a mountain, a column of smoke or fire, or a product of human manufacture (such as 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. 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.” ref

“There are multiple interpretations about the origin of the concept of the axis mundi. One psychological and sociological interpretation suggests that the symbol originates in a natural and universal psychological perception – i.e., that the particular spot that 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. 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” (中国 pinyin: Zhōngguó) – 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.” ref

“A second interpretation suggests that ancient symbols such as the axis mundi lie in a particular philosophical or metaphysical representation of a common and culturally shared philosophical concept, which is that of a natural reflection of the macrocosm (or existence at grand scale) in the microcosm (which consists of either an individual, community, or local environment that shares the same principles and structures as the macrocosm). In this metaphysical representation of the universe, mankind is placed into an existence that serves as a microcosm of the universe or the entire cosmic existence, and who – in order to achieve higher states of existence or liberation into the macrocosm – must gain necessary insights into universal principles that can be represented by his life or environment in the microcosm. In many religious and philosophical traditions around the world, mankind is seen as a sort of bridge between either: two worlds, the earthly and the heavenly (as in Hindu, and Taoist philosophical and theological systems); or three worlds, namely the earthly, heavenly, and the “sub-earthly” or “infra-earthly” (e.g., the underworld, as in the Ancient Greek, Incan, Mayan, and Ancient Egyptian religious systems). Spanning these philosophical systems is the belief that man traverses a sort of axis, or path, which can lead from man’s current central position in the intermediate realms into heavenly or sub-earthly realms. Thus, in this view, symbolic representations of a vertical axis represent a path of “ascent” or “descent” into other spiritual or material realms, and often capture a philosophy that considers human life to be a quest in which one develops insights or perfections in order to move beyond this current microcosmic realm and to engage with the grand macrocosmic order.” ref

“In other interpretations, an axis mundi is more broadly defined as a place of connection between heavenly and the earthly realms – often a mountain or other elevated site. Tall mountains are often regarded as sacred and some have shrines erected at the summit or base. Mount Kunlun fills a similar role in China. 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. The Teide volcano was for the Canarian aborigines (Guanches) a kind of axis mundi. In ancient Mesopotamia, the cultures of ancient Sumer and Babylon built tall platforms, or ziggurats, to elevate temples on the flat river plain. 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. These Amerindian temples were often placed on top of caves or subterranean springs, which were thought to be openings to the underworld. Jacob’s Ladder is an axis mundi image, as is the Temple Mount. For Christians, the Cross on Mount Calvary expresses this symbol. 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.” ref

“As the abstract concept of axis mundi is present in many cultural traditions and religious beliefs, it can be thought to exist in any number of locales at once. Mount Hermon was regarded as the axis mundi in Canaanite tradition, from where the sons of God are introduced descending in 1 Enoch 6:6. The ancient Armenians had a number of holy sites, the most important of which was Mount Ararat, which was thought to be the home of the gods as well as the center of the universe. Likewise, 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; Christianity has the Mount of Olives and Calvary; and Islam has the Ka’aba (said to be the first building on Earth), as well as 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.” ref

“Sacred places can constitute world centers (omphaloi), with an 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. It has been suggested by Romanian religious historian Mircea Eliade that 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.” 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 from a world center. 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. In the classical elements and the Vedic Pancha Bhoota, the axis mundi corresponds to Aether, the quintessence.” ref

“A common shamanic concept, and a universally told story, is that of the healer traversing the axis mundi to bring back knowledge from the other world. It may be seen in the stories from Odin and the World Ash Tree to the Garden of Eden and Jacob’s Ladder to Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel. It is the essence of the journey described in The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The epic poem relates its hero’s descent and ascent through a series of spiral structures that take him through the core of the earth, from the depths of hell to celestial paradise. It is also a central tenet in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Anyone or anything suspended on the axis between heaven and earth becomes a repository of potential knowledge. A special status accrues to the thing suspended: a serpent, a rod, a fruit, mistletoe. Derivations of this idea find form in the Rod of Asclepius, an emblem of the medical profession, and in the caduceus, an emblem of correspondence and commercial professions. The staff in these emblems represents the axis mundi, while the serpents act as guardians of, or guides to, knowledge.” ref

“Secular structures can also function as axes mundi. In Navajo culture, the hogan acts as a symbolic cosmic center. In some Asian cultures, houses were traditionally laid out in the form of a square oriented toward the four compass directions. A traditional home was oriented toward the sky through feng shui, a system of geomancy, just as a palace would be. Traditional Arab houses are also laid out as a square surrounding a central fountain that evokes a primordial garden paradise. Mircea Eliade noted that “the symbolism of the pillar in [European] peasant houses likewise derives from the ‘symbolic field’ of the axis mundi. In many archaic dwellings, the central pillar does in fact serve as a means of communication with the heavens, with the sky.” The nomadic peoples of Mongolia and the Americas more often lived in circular structures. The central pole of the tent still operated as an axis, but a fixed reference to the four compass points was avoided.” ref

“Plants often serve as images of the axis mundi. The image of the Cosmic Tree provides an axis symbol that unites three planes: sky (branches), earth (trunk), and underworld (roots). In some Pacific Island cultures, the banyan tree – of which the Bodhi tree is of the Sacred Fig variety – is the abode of ancestor spirits. In the Hindu religion, the banyan tree is considered sacred and is called ashwath vriksha (“Of all trees I am the banyan tree” – Bhagavad Gita). It represents eternal life because of its seemingly ever-expanding branches. The Bodhi tree is also the name given to the tree under which Gautama Siddhartha, the historical Buddha, sat on the night he attained enlightenment.” ref

“The Mesoamerican world tree connects the planes of the underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial realm. The Yggdrasil, or World Ash, functions in much the same way in Norse mythology; it is the site where Odin found enlightenment. Other examples include Jievaras in Lithuanian mythology and Thor’s Oak in the myths of the pre-Christian Germanic peoples. The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis present two aspects of the same image. Each is said to stand at the center of the paradise garden from which four rivers flow to nourish the whole world. Each tree confers a boon. Bamboo, the plant from which Asian calligraphy pens are made, represents knowledge and is regularly found on Asian college campuses. The Christmas tree, which can be traced in its origins back to pre-Christian European beliefs, represents an axis mundi. In Yoruba religion, oil palm is the axis mundi (though not necessarily a “world tree”) that Ọrunmila climbs to alternate between heaven and earth.” ref

“The human body can express the symbol of the world axis. Some of the more abstract Tree of Life representations, such as the sefirot in Kabbalism and the chakra system recognized by Hinduism and Buddhism, merge with the concept of the human body as a pillar between heaven and earth. Disciplines such as yoga and tai chi begin from the premise of the human body as axis mundi. The Buddha represents a world center in human form. Large statues of a meditating figure unite the human form with the symbolism of the temple and tower. Astrology in all its forms assumes a connection between human health and affairs and celestial-body orientation. World religions regard the body itself as a temple and prayer as a column uniting earth and heaven. The ancient Colossus of Rhodes combined the role of the human figure with those of portal and skyscraper. The Renaissance image known as the Vitruvian Man represented a symbolic and mathematical exploration of the human form as world axis.” ref

The Center of the World “Axis Mundi” and/or “Sacred Mountains” Mythology Could Relate to the Altai Mountains, Heart of the Steppe

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Ritual Mound Migrations: Kurgans, Dolmens, and later Pyramids likely all trace back to Siberia, helping show how Yeniseian languages, may have influenced Proto-Indo-European languages

Shell Mounds, Dolmens, Kurgans, Earth Mounds, Ziggurats, Mastabas, Pyramids: their origins, evolutions, and migrations

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Between 7,000-5,000 Years ago, rise of unequal hierarchy elite, leading to a “birth of the State” or worship of power, strong new sexism, oppression of non-elites, and the fall of Women’s equal status 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Religious/Ritual Ideas, including goddesses and gods as well as ritual mounds or pyramids from Northeastern Asia at least 6,000 years old, seemingly filtering to Iran, Iraq, the Mediterranean, Europe, Egypt, and the Americas?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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“Goddess Nammu, who later becomes Tiamat female sea serpent or dragon, Primeval Sea/Cosmic Ocean.” ref, ref

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Ancient Cosmology Shaped Everyone’s Theology

Sacred Flat Earth, often with hills/mountains: “Mound of Creation” or “Axis Mundi.”

“Cosmology in the ancient Near East (ANE) refers to the plurality of cosmological beliefs in the Ancient Near East, covering the period from the 4th millennium BCE to the formation of the Macedonian Empire by Alexander the Great in the second half of the 1st millennium BCE. These beliefs include the Mesopotamian cosmologies from Babylonia, Sumer, and Akkad; the Levantine or West Semitic cosmologies from Ugarit and ancient Israel and Judah (the biblical cosmology); the Egyptian cosmology from Ancient Egypt; and the Anatolian cosmologies from the Hittites. This system of cosmology went on to have a profound influence on views in early Greek cosmology, later Jewish cosmology, patristic cosmology, and Islamic cosmology (including Quranic cosmology). Until the modern era, variations of ancient near eastern cosmology survived with Hellenistic cosmology as the main competing system. Ancient near eastern cosmology can be divided into its cosmography, the physical structure and features of the cosmos; and cosmogony, the creation myths that describe the origins of the cosmos in the texts and traditions of the ancient near eastern world. The cosmos and the gods were also related, as cosmic bodies like heaven, earth, the stars were believed to be and/or personified as gods, and the sizes of the gods were frequently described as being of cosmic proportions.” ref

Cosmography

“Ancient Near Eastern civilizations held to a fairly uniform conception of cosmography. This cosmography remained remarkably stable in the context of the expansiveness and longevity of the ancient Near East, but changes were also to occur. Widely held components of ancient near eastern cosmography included:

• a flat earth and a solid heaven (firmament), both of which are disk-shaped
• a primordial cosmic ocean. When the firmament is created, it separates the cosmic ocean into two bodies of water:
• the heavenly upper waters located on top of the firmament, which act as a source of rain
• the lower waters that the earth is above and that the earth rests on; they act as the source of rivers, springs, and other earthly bodies of water
• the region above the upper waters, namely the abode of the gods
• the netherworld, the furthest region in the direction downwards, below the lower waters.” ref

“Keyser, categorizing ancient near eastern cosmology as belonging to a larger and more cross-cultural set of cosmologies he describes as a “cradle cosmology,” offers a longer list of shared features. Some cosmographical features have been misattributed to Mesopotamian cosmologies, including the idea that ziggurats represented cosmic objects reaching up to heaven or the idea of a dome- or vault-shaped (as opposed to a flat) firmament. Another controversy concerns if the ancient near eastern cosmography was purely observational or phenomenological. However, a number of lines of evidence, including descriptions from the cosmological texts themselves, presumptions of this cosmography in non-cosmological texts (like incantations), anthropological studies of contemporary primitive cosmologies, and cognitive expectations that humans construct mental models to explain observation, support that the ancient near eastern cosmography was not phenomenological.” ref

Cosmogony

“Ancient near eastern cosmogony also included a number of common features that are present in most if not all creation myths from the ancient near east. Widespread features included:

• Creatio ex materia from a primordial state of chaos; that is, the organization of the world from pre-existing, unordered and unformed (hence chaotic) elements, represented by a primordial body of water
• the presence of a divine creator
• the Chaoskampf motif: a cosmic battle between the protagonist and a primordial sea monster
• the separation of undifferentiated elements (to create heaven and earth)
• the creation of mankind.” ref

“Lisman uses the broader category of “Beginnings” to encompass three separate though inter-related categories: the beginning of the cosmos (cosmogony), the beginning of the gods (theogony), and the beginning of humankind (anthropogeny). There is evidence that Mesopotamian creation myths reached as far as Pre-Islamic Arabia.” ref

Overview of the whole cosmos

“The Mesopotamian cosmos can be imagined along a vertical axis, with parallel planes of existence layered above each other. The uppermost plane of existence was heaven, being the residence of the god of the sky Anu. Immediately below heaven was the atmosphere. The atmosphere extended from the bottom of heaven (or the lowermost firmament) to the ground. This region was inhabited by Enlil, who was also the king of the gods in Sumerian mythology. The cosmic ocean below the ground was the next plane of existence, and this was the domain of the sibling deities Enki and Ninhursag. The lowest plane of existence was the underworld. Other deities inhabited these planes of existence even if they did not reign over them, such as the sun and moon gods. In later Babylonian accounts, the god Marduk alone ascends to the top rank of the pantheon and rules over all domains of the cosmos. The three-tiered cosmos (sky-earth-underworld) is found in Egyptian artwork on coffin lids and burial chambers.” ref

“A variety of terms or phrases were used to refer to the cosmos as a whole, acting as rough equivalents to contemporary terms like “cosmos” or “universe”. This included phrases like “heaven and earth” or “heaven and underworld”. Terms like “all” or “totality” similarly connoted the entire universe. These motifs are found in temple hymns and royal inscriptions located in temples. The temples symbolized cosmic structures that reached heaven at their height and the underworld at their depths/foundations. Surviving evidence does not specify the exact physical bounds of the cosmos or what lies beyond the region described in the texts.” ref

Three Heavens and Earths

“In Mesopotamian cosmology, heaven and earth both had a tripartite structure: a Lower Heaven/Earth, a Middle Heaven/Earth, and an Upper Heaven/Earth. The Upper Earth was where humans existed. Middle Earth, corresponding to the Abzu (primeval underworldly ocean), was the residence of the god Enki. Lower Earth, the Mesopotamian underworld, was where the 600 Anunnaki gods lived, associated with the land of the dead ruled by Nergal. As for the heavens: the highest level was populated by 300 Igigi (great gods), the middle heaven belonged to the Igigi and also contained Marduk’s throne, and the lower heaven was where the stars and constellations were inscribed into. The extent of the Babylonian universe therefore corresponded to a total of six layers spanning across heaven and Earth. Notions of the plurality of heaven and earth are no later than the 2nd millennium BC and may be elaborations of earlier and simpler cosmographies.” ref

“One text (KAR 307) describes the cosmos in the following manner, with each of the three floors of heaven being made of a different type of stone:

30 “The Upper Heavens are Luludānītu stone. They belong to Anu. He (i.e. Marduk) settled the 300 Igigū (gods) inside. 31 The Middle Heavens are Saggilmud stone. They belong to the Igīgū (gods). Bēl (i.e. Marduk) sat on the high throne within, 32 the lapis lazuli sanctuary. And made a lamp? of electrum shine inside (it). 33 The Lower Heavens are jasper. They belong to the stars. He drew the constellations of the gods on them. 34 In the … …. of the Upper Earth, he lay down the spirits of mankind. 35 [In the …] of the Middle earth, he settled Ea, his father. 36 […..] . He did not let the rebellion be forgotten. 37 [In the … of the Lowe]r earth, he shut inside 600 Anunnaki. 38 […….] … […. in]side jasper.” ref

“Another text (AO 8196) offers a slightly different arrangement, with the Igigi in the upper heaven instead of the middle heaven, and with Bel placed in the middle heaven. Both agree on the placement of the stars in the lower heaven. Exodus 24:9–10 identifies the floor of heaven as being like sapphire, which may correspond to the blue lapis lazuli floor in KAR 307, chosen potentially for its correspondence to the visible color of the sky. One hypothesis holds that the belief that the firmament is made of stone (or a metal, such as iron in Egyptian texts) arises from the observation that meteorites, which are composed of this substance, fall from the firmament.” ref

Seven heavens and earths

“Some texts describe seven heavens and seven earths, but within the Mesopotamian context, this is likely to refer to a totality of the cosmos with some sort of magical or numerological significance, as opposed to a description of the structural number of heavens and Earth. Israelite texts do not mention the notion of seven heavens or earths.” ref

Unity of the cosmos

“Mythical bonds, akin to ropes or cables, played the role of cohesively holding the entire world and all its layers of heaven and Earth together. These are sometimes called the “bonds of heaven and earth”. They can be referred to with terminology like durmāhu (typically referring to a strong rope made of reeds), markaṣu (referring to a rope or cable, of a boat, for example), or ṣerretu (lead-rope passed through an animals nose). A deity can hold these ropes as a symbol of their authority, such as the goddess Ishtar “who holds the connecting link of all heaven and earth (or netherworld)”. This motif extended to descriptions of great cities like Babylon which was called the “bond of [all] the lands,” or Nippur which was “bond of heaven and earth,” and some temples as well.” ref

Center of the cosmos

“The idea of a center to the cosmos played a role in elevating the status of whichever place was chosen as the cosmic center and in reflecting beliefs of the finite and closed nature of the cosmos. Babylon was described as the center of the Babylonian cosmos. In parallel, Jerusalem became “the navel of the earth” (Ezekiel 38:12). The finite nature of the cosmos was also suggested to the ancients by the periodic and regular movements of the heavenly bodies in the visible vicinity of the Earth.” ref

Firmament: Firmament

“The firmament was believed to be a solid boundary above the Earth, separating it from the upper or celestial waters. In the Book of Genesis, it is called the raqia. In ancient Egyptian texts, and from texts across the Near East generally, the firmament was described as having special doors or gateways on the eastern and western horizons to allow for the passage of heavenly bodies during their daily journeys. These were known as the windows of heaven or the gates of heaven. Canaanite text describe Baal as exerting his control over the world by controlling the passage of rainwater through the heavenly windows in the firmament. In Egyptian texts particularly, these gates also served as conduits between the earthly and heavenly realms for which righteous people could ascend. The gateways could be blocked by gates to prevent entry by the deceased as well. As such, funerary texts included prayers enlisting the help of the gods to enable the safe ascent of the dead. Ascent to the celestial realm could also be done by a celestial ladder made by the gods. Multiple stories exist in Mesopotamian texts whereby certain figures ascend to the celestial realm and are given the secrets of the gods.” ref

“Four different Egyptian models of the firmament and/or the heavenly realm are known. One model was that it was the shape of a bird: the firmament above represented the underside of a flying falcon, with the sun and moon representing its eyes, and its flapping causing the wind that humans experience. The second was a cow, as per the Book of the Heavenly Cow. The cosmos is a giant celestial cow represented by the goddess Nut or Hathor. The cow consumed the sun in the evening and rebirthed it in the next morning. The third is a celestial woman, also represented by Nut. The heavenly bodies would travel across her body from east to west. The midriff of Nut was supported by Shu (the air god) and Geb (the earth god) lay outstretched between the arms and feet of Nut. Nut consumes the celestial bodies from the west and gives birth to them again in the following morning. The stars are inscribed across the belly of Nut and one needs to identify with one of them, or a constellation, in order to join them after death. The fourth model was a flat (or slightly convex) celestial plane which, depending on the text, was thought to be supported in various ways: by pillars, staves, scepters, or mountains at the extreme ends of the Earth. The four supports give rise to the motif of the “four corners of the world.” ref

Earth: Flat Earth, Topography of the earth

“The ancient near eastern earth was a single-continent disk resting on a body of water sometimes compared to a raft. An aerial view of the cosmography of the earth is pictorially elucidated by the Babylonian Map of the World. Here, the city Babylon is near the Earth’s center and it is on the Euphrates river. Other kingdoms and cities surround it. The north is covered by an enormous mountain range, akin to a wall. This mountain range was traversed in some hero myths, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh where Gilgamesh travels past it to an area only accessible by gods and other great heroes. The furthest and most remote parts of the earth were believed to be inhabited by fantastic creatures. In the Babylonian Map, the world continent is surrounded by a bitter salt-water Ocean (called marratu, or “salt-sea”) akin to Oceanus described by the poetry of Homer and Hesiod in early Greek cosmology, as well as the statement in the Bilingual Creation of the World by Marduk that Marduk created the first dry land surrounded by a cosmic sea. Egyptian cosmology appears to have also shared this view, as one of the words used for sea, shen-wer, means “great encircler”. World-encircling oceans are also found in the Fara tablet VAT 12772 from the 3rd millennium BC and the Myth of Etana.” ref

Four corners of the earth (Four Mountains)

“A common honorific that many kings and rulers ascribed to themselves was that they were the rulers of the four quarters (or corners) of the Earth. For example, Hammurabi (ca. 1810–1750 BCE or around 3,810 to 3,750 years ago) received the title of “King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the Four Quarters of the World”. Monarchs of the Assyrian empire, like Ashurbanipal, also took on this title. (Although the title implies a square or rectangular shape, in this case, it is taken to refer to the four quadrants of a circle, which is joined at the world’s center.) Likewise, the ‘four corners’ motif would also appear in some biblical texts, such as Isaiah 11:12.” ref