The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European, Siberian, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots, the underworld. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the tree of life, but it is the source of wisdom of the ages.
From Northern Antiquities, an English translation of the Prose Edda from 1847. Painted by Oluf Olufsen Bagge.
The Tree of Knowledge depicted, with Adam and Eve, where the Tree of life is described as part of the Garden of Eden in the Hebrew bible.
Two winged bulls are guarding a sacred tree, on a rhyton from Marlik, Iran, currently at the National Museum of Iran
Heaven, or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to Earth or incarnate and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in the afterlife or, in exceptional cases, enter Heaven without dying.
Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest heavens; from Gustave Doré's illustrations to the Divine Comedy.
Ruins of the Ekur temple in Nippur, believed by the ancient Mesopotamians to be the "Dur-an-ki", the "mooring rope" of heaven and earth
The Assumption of the Virgin, 1475–1476, by Francesco Botticini (National Gallery London), shows three hierarchies and nine orders of angels, each with different characteristics.
19th century Persian miniature depicting the artist's impression of heaven
