Clues

Across
3. Asherah — Branch, pole, trunk, tree: Hebrew Goddess of the groves.
6. Staff — Made from the trunk of a tree, this neopagan ritual accessory is in fact a sacred tool and symbol of the World Tree.
8. Moon — The Palas, one of the five sacred trees of India, is sacred to this heavenly body.
11. Towel — A common motif in Lithuanian folk painting, the World Tree appears on the objects of daily use among peasants, including this piece of cloth used for cleaning and drying.
13. Butea — Latin name of 38 across.
15. Mayan calendar — This astronomical document describes a World Tree that has been described the crossing point of the ecliptic with the band of the Milky Way, which will happen at Winter Solstice, 2012 CE.
16. Nordic — The World Tree in this mythology is generally considered to be a giant ash.tree.
18. Good and Evil — Found in the Garden of Eden, associated with 34 across.
20. Tree of Life — A variation of the World Tree, found in many cultures. The companion tree to 34 across.
23. Urth — Goddess and first of the Norns, her name was given to the well that nurtures the World Tree.
26. Sun — Heavenly body deified as the Goddess Saule.
27. Totem pole — Sculpture carved from a tree by some native North Americans. Considered by some to represent a World Tree or world axis.
28. Tzolkin — Said to spring from a sacred tree. Native name for 15 across.
29. Gayatri — Goddess associated with the most revered mantra in Hinduism and the sacred tree in 13 and 38 across.
31. Germanic — The Irmensul is a pagan Tree of Life from this culture.
34. Tree of Knowledge — Found in the Garden of Eden, associated with 20 across.
37. Inanna — Sumerian Goddess of "Infinite Variety." The huluppu is her sacred tree.
38. Flame of the forest — "Common" name of the sacred Indian tree, 13 across.
42. Eddas — Poetically narrated folk-tales relating to Norse Mythology.
43. Tongan — Polynesian culture whose World Tree is known as the Tree of Speech, a gathering place of deities growing by a fountain, the Water of Life.
44. Sephirot — The ten enumerations or attributes through which God projects himself to the universe and man, in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life
Down
1. Verthandi — The Norn of the present.
2. Knowledge — In many myths, World Trees are associated with the human acquisition of this.
4. Hamadryads — Tree nymphs; Greek mythology.
5. Baltic — One of the most important features of this culture's mythology, the World Tree grows at the edge of the path of the goddess Saule, the sun herself, who hangs her belt on it as she prepares for her nightly rest.
7. Vedas — In The Bhagavad-Gita, the World Tree grows with its roots in the heavens, its trunk and branches extending downwards to earth. Its leaves are sacred scriptures knowns as these.
9. Odin — God who rode the Norse World Tree in order to learn 35 down.
10. Feather — The sacred Indian tree [13, 38 across] is said to have sprung from one of these, which came from a bird of prey [xxx down] impregnated with Soma, the beverage of the Gods.
12. Lady of the Sycamore — Epithet for Egyptian goddess, 30 down.
13. Bodhi — Buddhist World Tree.
14. Ash — Meliae and Askefruer are the nymphs or maidens associated with this tree.
17. North star — In Finnish folklore, the top of the World Tree or Cosmic Column was attached to this heavenly body.
19. Laundry beaters — A common motif in Lithuanian folk painting, the World Tree appears on the objects of daily use among peasants, including this tool used for cleaning clothes.
21. Oracles — In pagan religions, sacred trees are often associated with these (see 33 and 40 down, for example).
22. Latvian — Northern European Baltic culture whose folk paintings, like that of 24 down, are full of World Tree images.
24. Lithuanian — Culture whose folk paintings are full of World Tree images.
25. Dowry chests — A common motif in Lithuanian folk painting, the World Tree appears on the objects of daily use among peasants, including this bride's marriage treasure.
30. Nut — Egyptian Sky Goddess associated with a sacred tree.See 12 down for her epithet.
32. Eagle — The Goddess Gayatri, in the form of this bird, carried the sacred Soma plant. During her journey, she rested on [13, 38 across], making it one of the sacred trees of Hinduism.
33. Egyptian — According to Herodotus, the sanctuary / oracle at Dodona was founded by a priestess from Thebes this country around 800 BCE. The oracle was centered around a tree (40 down) deemed sacred by the priestess. It endured for more than 1200 years, after which it was replaced by a temple.
35. Runes — Divination tools and alphabet associated with the Norse World Tree.
36. Falcon — The sacred Indian tree [13, 38 across] is said to have sprung from 10 down, which came from this bird of prey.
37. Ise — Both city and sacred shrine to the Shinto Goddess Amaterasu. The shrine is built over and around a sacred central post or pillar, sometimes called a Heaven Tree.
39. Maya — Mesoamerican people for whom the World Tree, called Yaxche, is a Ceiba tree.
40. Oak — Sacred tree in many cultures. The tree around which the priestess in 33 down established the oracle at Dodona.
41. Fiji — South Pacific Ocean Island nation, home of the World Tree described in 43 across.