on earth, we are positioned halfway up this tree, on one of its branches. Hence many ancient texts often referred to the material world as “middle earth”: midway between heaven and hell. Climbing the tree would lead one to the heaven worlds. Descending the tree to its roots would lead to the nether realms. The shaman was necessarily a master of movement up and down the Great Tree, sometimes moving unaided, and sometimes assisted by (or even mounted upon the back of) an animal spirit guide. In various traditions, this Great Tree was known variously as the axis mundi (the “axis of the worlds”), Ygddrasil (in Norse mythology), Mount Meru (the sacred world mountain of Tibetan tradition), etc. The Christian cosmos, with its heaven, purgatory/earth and hell, is also worth comparing. It is even given a similar topography in Dante’s Divine Comedy: Dante is led on a journey first to hell, at the center of the earth; then upward to Mount Purgatory, which sits on the earth’s surface directly opposite Jerusalem; then farther upward first to Eden, the earthly paradise, at the summit of Mount Purgatory; and then upward at last to heaven.
In the shamanistic tradition, it was understood that the small always reflects the large; the personal always reflects the cosmic. A movement in the greater dimensions of the cosmos also coincides with an internal movement. For example, the axis mundi of the cosmos also corresponds to the spinal column of the individual. Journeys up and down the axis mundi often coincided with the movement of natural and spiritual energies (sometimes called kundalini or shakti) in the spinal column of the shaman or mystic.
En Sarna Pus (The Great Healing Chant)
In this chant, eka (“brother”) would be replaced by “sister,” “father,” “mother,”
depending on the person to be healed.
Ot ekam ainajanak hany, jama.
My brother’s body is a lump of earth, close to death.
Me, ot ekam kuntajanak, piradak ekam, gond es irgalom ture.
We, the clan of my brother, encircle him with our care and compassion.
O pus wakenkek, ot oma sarnank, es ot pus funk, alnak ekam ainajanak,
pitanak ekam ainajanak elava.
Our healing energies, ancient words of magic and healing herbs bless my brother’s body, keep it alive.
Ot ekam sielanak pala. Ot omboce palaja juta alatt o juti, kinta, es szelemek
lamtijaknak.
But my brother’s soul is only half. His other half wanders in the netherworld.
Ot en mekem? ama?: kulkedak otti ot ekam omboce palajanak.
My great deed is this: I travel to find my brother’s other half.
Rekature, saradak, tappadak, odam, ka?a o numa waram, es avaa owe o lewl mahoz.
We dance, we chant, we dream ecstatically, to call my spirit bird, and to open the door to the other world.
Ntak o numa waram, es mozdulak, jomadak.
I mount my spirit bird and we begin to move, we are underway.
Piwtadak ot En Puwe tyvinak, ecidak alatt o juti, kinta, es szelemek lamtijaknak.
Following the trunk of the Great Tree, we fall into the netherworld.
Fazak, fazak no o saro.
It is cold, very cold.
Juttadak ot ekam o akarataban, o sivaban es o sielaban.
My brother and I are linked in mind, heart and soul.
Ot ekam sielanak ka?a engem.
My brother’s soul calls to me.
Kuledak es piwtadak ot ekam.
I hear and follow his track.
Sa?edak es tuledak ot ekam kulyanak.
Encounter I the demon who is devouring my brother’s soul.
Nenam coro, o kuly torodak.
In anger, I fight the demon.
O kuly pel engem.
He is afraid of me.
Lejkkadak o ka?ka salamaval.
