World trees are a prevalent motif occurring in the mythical cosmologies,
creation accounts, and
iconographies of the
pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...
cultures of
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...
. In the Mesoamerican context,
world trees embodied the four
cardinal direction
The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths ( clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°.
The ...
s, which also serve to represent the fourfold nature of a central world tree, a symbolic ''
axis mundi
In astronomy, 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 is the axis of ...
'' that connects the planes of the Underworld and the sky with that of the terrestrial realm.
Depictions of world trees, both in their directional and central aspects, are found in the art and mythological traditions of cultures such as the
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (East Africa), a p ...
,
Aztec
The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...
,
Izapan,
Mixtec
The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica of Guerrero, Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerre ...
,
Olmec
The Olmecs () or Olmec were an early known major Mesoamerican civilization, flourishing in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco from roughly 1200 to 400 Before the Common Era, BCE during Mesoamerica's Mesoamerican chronolog ...
, and others, dating to at least the Mid/Late Formative periods of
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian, prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BC ...
. Among the Maya, the central world tree was conceived as or represented by a
ceiba
''Ceiba'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to northern Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall ...
tree and is known variously as a ''wacah chan'' or ''yax imix che'', depending on the
Mayan language. The trunk of the tree could also be represented by an upright
caiman
A caiman ( (also spelled cayman) from Taíno language, Taíno ''kaiman'') is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family (biology), family, the other being alligators. ...
, whose skin evokes the tree's spiny trunk.
Directional world trees are also associated with the four Yearbearers in
Mesoamerican calendars
The calendar, calendrical systems devised and used by the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica, primarily a 260-day year, were used in religious observances and social rituals, such as divination.
These calendars have been dated to early as ca. ...
, and the directional colors and deities.
Mesoamerican codices
Mesoamerican codices are manuscripts that present traits of the Mesoamerican indigenous pictoric tradition, either in content, style, or in regards to their symbolic conventions. The unambiguous presence of Mesoamerican writing systems in some of ...
which have this association outlined include the
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
,
Borgia, and
Fejérváry-Mayer codices
The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...
. It is supposed that Mesoamerican sites and ceremonial centers frequently had actual trees planted at each of the four cardinal directions, representing the quadripartite concept.
Izapa Stela 5 is considered a possible representation of a World Tree, as is the tree on
Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal's sarcophagus at Palenque.
World trees are frequently depicted with birds in their branches, and their roots extending into earth or water (sometimes atop a "water-monster", symbolic of the underworld).
The central world tree has also been interpreted as a representation of the band of the
Milky Way
The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...
.
While the cosmic tree symbolism has deep roots in Mesoamerican cultures,
the precise botanical identification and underlying meaning of the motif remain poorly understood. Attempts have been made to identify the tree as a kapok, maize, or water lily, with the latter being a particularly prominent interpretation based on archaeological evidence from sites like San Bartolo.The frequent personification of gods and rulers as manifestations of the world tree underscores its crucial symbolic and ritualistic significance in Mayan religion and kingship.
See also
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
Art 347L Mesoamerican Art Syllabus: West Mexico, accessed April 2008.
* McDonald, J. Andrew. "Deciphering the Symbols and Symbolic Meaning of the Maya World Tree". In: ''Ancient Mesoamerica'' vol. 27, no. 2 (2016): 333–59. doi:10.1017/S0956536116000249.
* {{cite book , author=Miller, Mary , author-link=Mary Miller (art historian) , author2=Karl Taube , author2-link=Karl Taube , date=1993 , title=The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya , publisher=Thames and Hudson , location=London , isbn=0-500-05068-6 , url-access=registration , url=https://archive.org/details/godssymbolsofa00mill
Trees in mythology
World tree
Religious cosmologies