Page 177

[Alexandr Korol]

Here is another section, “Spaces.” “Mythological space represents the space of social life, a part of the world in which a given society emerged and functions, sometimes with its own specific totem or progenitor, which could be an object – an animal, a plant, or an inorganic item. In this space, one can move from the past to the present and vice versa. The forces that gave birth to this society have not disappeared; they continue to exist. A person believes that they can transition from the space of the profane things surrounding them to the space of those totemic forces that once created humanity and its society, specifically – from death to life and from life to death.” There is nothing to add here. Everything is clear, specific, and understandable.

Next is the section “Structure.” “The sacred center of the world is considered the central part of the mythological universe. Its most common representation is the world tree. The center of the world may also be depicted as a hearth and fire in general, a well, an altar, a sacrificial pillar, a royal throne, the sun, or another astronomical body revered as a deity, as well as sacred objects associated with the idea of the center, such as the omphalos of the Delphic temple – the navel of the earth. The center of the world plays a harmonizing role. Mythological objects associated with it (the tree, hearth, altar, throne, etc.) and the corresponding mythological figures (Hestia, Apollo of Delphi, Odin, who sacrificed himself on the world tree, etc.) or priests (the Pythia in Delphi, the shaman performing rituals at the tree) serve social, ritual, informational, and other regulatory functions for the collective. According to ancient Chinese beliefs, the emperor of the ‘Middle Kingdom’ rules over all tribes and peoples, which is partly why it is called that. At the same time, the center is the embryo of the universe, the seed of the world. The center as a generating element is seen as a bearer of order and purity. Hence, the idea of the original paradise being in the middle, the gradual corruption of the universe as it moves away from the center, the identification of the periphery with chaos, and the idealization of ‘middle’ categories, which is widespread in archaic and often even modern moral philosophy. A striking example of such idealization is the ancient concept of the ‘golden mean,’ as well as certain ethical theories of ancient China about the ‘middle path.’”

“The center of the world is connected both with the inhabited world and with the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods, and the underworld. Thus, the world tree, as a representation of the center of the world, unites all spheres and levels of the universe