Alexandr Korol

and embodies the universal concept of the world. It brings together the fundamental binary semantic oppositions used to describe the primary parameters of the world. Vertically, the world tree is divided into three parts: the lower (roots), the middle (trunk), and the upper (branches). Through the world tree, the main spatial zones of the universe are distinguished – the upper (heavenly realm), the middle (earth), and the lower (underworld). The temporal sphere is also delineated – past, present, and future (day and night, favorable and unfavorable times of the year), particularly in a genealogical sense: ancestors, the current generation, and descendants.”

“The horizontal structure of the world tree is formed by the tree itself and objects positioned on either side of it. Typically, on both sides of the trunk, there are often symmetrical depictions of hoofed animals and/or human figures (gods, mythological characters, saints, priests, people)... If the vertical structure of the world tree is associated with the sphere of mythology, primarily cosmology, then the horizontal structure corresponds to ritual. The object of the ritual or its representation is at the center, while the participants of the ritual are positioned to the right and left. In the scheme of the world tree, two horizontal axes are reconstructed – the horizontal plane. In the case of a square, each of its four sides (or corners) indicates directions (cardinal points). On the sides or at the corners, there may be individual world trees or mythological figures representing the cardinal directions, particularly the winds.” This is what appears everywhere in the matrix.