Axis Mundi and the Omphalos

 In Ancient astronomical systems the universe rotates on a great axis called the Axis Mundi which houses at its center the omphalos, the navel of the universe.  Several locations throughout history have been considered the Axis Mundi or it's center the Omphalos.  These locations are the many holy mountains in the multitude of theologies growing upon our planet. 

Mount Herman was considered the Axis Mundi in Canaanite tradition, where the Sons of God descended in 1 Enoch (1En6:6).  The ancient Greeks considered the Omphalos' location, the Oracle at Delphi, the roots to the Cosmic tree, and at Mount Olympus, the Home of the Gods.  Judaism has the Temple Mount, and Mount Sinai, Christianity has the Mount of Olives, and Cavalry, Islam has Mecca, and the Temple Mount, (Dome of the Rock).  Shinto has the Ise Shrine, in addition the Kun Lun Mountains are supposed to house the Peach Tree of Immortality, and Chinese mythology locates 4 pillars that hold the world.  Southeast Asia considers the Four Pillars as the Great White Elephants that hold up the heavens.  These are all accepted examples of the Axis Mundi, and it's center the Omphalos.  That was quite a list I know, However non of these cultures, at the time of their collective discoveries had any contact with each other, yet they all hold a common belief in the Center of the Universe, the House of Heaven. 

My Native American Ancestors, and the other side of my family, the Celts, had similar beliefs in the center axis that connects all things. The Plains Indians collectively has a belief that connects them culturally together regardless of the tribal affiliations or languages.  This is the Sacred Circle, or Sacred Wheel.  It is a common thread from the tip Argentina in the South to the Innu of the Great North, and across the Big Pond to the Misty Isle.  The Sacred Wheel represents the universe from the center, the Omphalos through the Four Spokes, the directions or Four Winds, with the Great outer Wheel connecting all things.  Each Cardinal direction in the Wheel is represented by the colors of the races of men.  Yellow in the East, Red in the South, Black in the West, and White in the Far North.  Each direction binds all people together in our Universe as we reside on the Back of our Mother the Earth, Ina Mahka.  The four spokes, the Four Directions, also called the Four Winds are the Axis Mundi spoken about by the other cultures of the Earth, and it's center is the Omphalos, the Navel of the Universe, Heaven.

The Zen parable that says, "To see the universe is to look inwardly."   is a simple instruction on getting to the Center of All Things, the Emerald Palace, the House of the Buddha from which we all reside.

Heaven anyone?

Peace and Balance,

John