Wäinämöinen • Eternal Sage (@w41n4m01n3n)

स्तम्भ / stambha means pillar in Sanskrit, and स्कम्भ / skambha means prop, pillar, support. Stam means trunk (of a tree) in Swedish. Stamm in German. The words sammas and sampas mean pillar in Finnish. The mythical #Sampo, which famously features in the Kalevala, was in fact the axis mundi, the world pillar, which supports the firmament. The Fly Agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria) has been seen as a representation of the Sampo, and as such it was of particular shamanic significance. The word for firmament in Finnish, kirjokansi ('decorated lid'), describes the mushroom perfectly. The underground bulge at the base of the mushroom's stipe represents the mythical mountain on which the pillar stands.