%0 Journal Article
%T On a Grave Symbol from Northwest Belarus
%A Andrei Prokhorov
%J Folklore : Electronic Journal of Folklore
%D 2009
%I Estonian Literary Museum, Estonian Folklore Institute
%X The article focuses on an interpretation of a funeral symbol found onthe gravestones in Northwest Belarus ¨C an engraved image of a pole with a semicircle at its top. The gravestones are connected to the archaeological culture of stone tombs of Yotvingian origin. Possibly, this symbol has been given a wider perspective in the world of late paganism of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its neighboring territories. This symbol represents an idea of ¡®the world axis¡¯, and its main mythological meaning has been to create a communication between the souls of the dead and the upper celestial world which has been imagined as ¡®the celestial mountain¡¯.
%K ¡®celestial mountain¡¯
%K cosmological symbol
%K funerary ritual
%K gravestone
%K North Star (polestar)
%K Slavic and Baltic mythology
%K ¡®world axis¡¯
%U http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol42/prokhorov.pdf