1.
Define the AXIS MUNDI, then give TWO specific examples from two different Native
American myths we have read. What is the function of the axis mundi in each of your
examples?
Axis mundi is the connection between the Earth and divine/heaven in a tall vertical object.
In most myths an axis mundi can be a tree, a representation of stairs, a rainbow, etc.
In The
Boy who Shot the Star the axis mundi is the boys arrows that allow him to travel to the moon
to rescue his friend.
The arrows become a symbol of stairs, so the boy can travel up towards
the moon.
Without the arrows the boy would not be able to save his friend.
Axis mundi in the Legend of the Sky-Woman is the tree of life because the tree was uplifted
and the chief throws his wife through the hole because she is pregnant and the chief thinks
she was pregnant with another man’s baby.
Because the chief pushes his wife through the
hole of the tree all live things that necessary to survive grow like corn, pants, and animals.
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- Summer '08
- ADAMSFREDCALVIN
- Mythology, English-language films, Culture hero, White Buffalo Calf Woman, White buffalo
-
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