History Main / AxisMundi

* Myth/IrishMythology: The Stone of Divisions that sat at the hill of Ushnagh was not only considered the center point of Ireland where the four provinces met, but it represented the exact center of the cosmos and the source of creation that held the mortal world and the Otherworld aloft and where the two met.

* IrishMythology: The Stone of Divisions that sat at the hill of Ushnagh was not only considered the center point of Ireland where the four provinces met, but it represented the exact center of the cosmos and the source of creation that held the mortal world and the Otherworld aloft and where the two met.

%%* Myth/NorseMythology: Yggdrassil.

* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules'': During "Love & War" (issues #121-125), a group of Amazons seek the omphalos (the "Navel of the Earth") to rewrite reality.

* ''Fanfic/ShatteredSkiesTheMorningLights'': In this CrisisCrossover, "the Lighthouse" is the name given to a crystalline sanctuary that sits at the nexus of TheMultiverse. Its five arms, arranged around its central spire in the shape of an immense star, each end in a point that dips into one of the story's five primary universes, or "Vertices".

* ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': Meneltarma, the holy mountain in the center of Númenor, and the highest peak on the island. The Númenóreans viewed it as the most sacred site to Eru Ilúvatar and required absolute silence on it for all except the king during specific holy days. Animals did not approach it either, save for the Great Eagles that circled it as guards.

The Axis Mundi is one of the things that you can find at TheExactCenterOfEverything. See also CosmicKeystone, which covers all instances where a person, place, or thing plays a key role in maintaining the universe.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': The planet's poles have the Chaos Gates, a pair of enormous shattered {{portal|Network}}s built by the {{Precursors}}. Despite their destruction, they're the point by which the [[BackgroundMagicField Winds of Magic]] flow into the world from the Realm of Chaos; unfortunately, they also [[{{Hellgate}} let Chaos and its denizens into the world]], hence why the Arctic and Antarctic are nigh-uninhabitable {{Eldritch Location}}s.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do]] with [[Franchise/StarWars Ki-Adi-Mundi]] joining the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Axis powers]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': At the precise center of Creation, in the heart of the Blessed Isle, stands Mount Meru, the world's largest mountain -- its roots alone are the size of lesser mountain ranges, and it can be seen, distant or looming, from every part of the Isle. It is also the Elemental Pole of Earth and, in addition to pinning Creation in place alongside the other four poles, the metaphysical influence of the stubborn, hard, and unchanging element of Earth serves to stabilize the laws of nature around it; Creation grows increasingly orderly as one approaches Mount Meru while heading away from it gradually breaks down and dissolves into the Wyld. In ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'', one of the key steps of the Ebon Dragon's plan to bring about HellOnEarth is destroying Mount Meru.

The Axis Mundi -- literally "axis of the world" -- is an object or structure that, metaphorically or literally, represents the connection between heaven and earth or serves as a physical or metaphysical support for existence. In some cases, the Axis may very literally support the universe by holding up the sky or the world. Instead of or in addition to this, it may "pin" reality in place and provide it with metaphysical stability. The Axis Mundi also tends to be given spiritual or religious significance, and may be a place of considerable mystical power. As a result, regardless of what precisely it does, the Axis becoming damaged or destroyed is always a ''very bad thing''.

* ''Fanfic/TheRiseOfDarthVulcan'': Vulcan's first reaction to the Tree of Harmony is stark terror, because he feels like he's standing underneath a pillar of the universe and one good shove will send the world off its axis. He resolves that A) none of the other supervillains are getting it, and B) the Elements of Harmony need to be returned to it ''tute suite''. He only barely succeeds in both goals.

* ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' takes place on Planet Freedom, which is divided into the Land of the Sky (a mass of {{Floating Continent}}s where most of the population lives) and the Land of Darkness (the actual surface). An ice cap at the North Pole is the one place where the two Lands connect, and the only thing holding the floating continents in place. If the ice cap were to melt, then the entire Land of the Sky would be flung into space--so naturally, Dr. Robotnik and Metal Sonic try make this happen in the climax.

* ''Literature/TheDarkTower'': The titular tower acts as the lynchpin of all realities, holding together the many universes that make up existence. The primary antagonist, the Crimson King, seeks to topple the Dark Tower, end ordered reality and rule in the "Discordia" that follows.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS5E9ThirtyDays Thirty Days]]", Tom Paris is incarcerated in Voyager's brig for an unknown crime, that isn't revealed until the end of the episode. As we see in flashback, Voyager visited a planet, known as "the Waters", that, as one can tell by the name, is completely water; no landmasses or atmosphere. It's being held together by a containment energy field. Unfortunately, the humanoid beings who live there, the Moneans, are in danger of losing their home, because of an unknown crisis that releases water from the planet. When they collaborate on a mission to figure out what is causing the loss, they find a 100,000-year-old computer-driven structure in the center of the water mass that seems to be generating the containment field. Furthermore, the structure is delibrately releasing water to ease pressure, caused by the Monean's oxygen refineries extracting the gas from the water. When the Moneans refuse to do anything to fix their problem, Paris, along with one of the Moneans, attempts to destroy a refinery [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight in violation of the Prime Directive]], only to by stopped by Voyager, whereby Janeway demotes his rank and sentences him to thirty days of solitary confinement in the brig.
* ''Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay'' has "the Blessing", a giant tube-shaped hole through the Earth, running from Buenos Aires to its antipode in Shanghai. It looks organic inside, and supposedly emanates a "morphic field" that influences all life on Earth. The villains of the story tried to make everybody on Earth immortal by introducing the immortal Jack Harkness's blood to it, but only managed to give the human race AgeWithoutYouth. Another infusion of Jack's blood reverses the process.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': At the precise center of Creation, in the heart of the Blessed Isle, stands Mount Meru, the world's largest mountain -- its roots alone are the size of lesser mountain ranges, and it can be seen, distant or looming, from every part of the Isle. It is also the Elemental Pole of Earth and, in addition to pinning Creation in place alongside the other four poles, the metaphysical influence of the stubborn, hard and unchanging element of Earth serves to stabilize the laws of nature around it; Creation grows increasingly orderly as one approaches Mount Meru, while heading away from it gradually breaks down and dissolves into the Wyld. In ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'', one of the key steps of the Ebon Dragon's plan to bring about HellOnEarth is destroying Mount Meru.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Pharasma's Spire is an impossible tall stone tower in the Outer Planes, at whose peak sits the Boneyard when Pharasma holds her court and judges the souls of the dead. It plays an integral part in the settings cosmology -- all mortal souls pass through it on their way to the other Outer Planes and, as they do so, the spire grows infinitesimally taller each day. One day, unguessable far in the future, some prophecies say that it will grow tall enough to reach the far side of the hollow sphere that makes up the outer layer of the cosmos and pierce it, causing the universe to collapse like a bubble pierced by a needle.

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': CreationMyth holds that TheMultiverse radiates outward from [[https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comic/wielder-of-names-3-40-creation/ Throne]], an extradimensional WorldInTheSky with a vast central tower. For aeons it was populated only by angels and [[GodIsDead dead gods]]; since the MultiversalConqueror Zoss made it his base of operations, it became a CityOfAdventure.

Physically, the Axis Mundi is typically something huge and imposing. The WorldTree often serves in this capacity; giant mountains are also common. Artificial, or at least normally artificial, structures also turn up in this role; immense [[WorldPillars pillars]] and towers are the most common variants of this kind.

* Yggdrassil in Myth/NorseMythology

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* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': The centre of the Outer Planes in the Great Wheel cosmology is the Outlands, a realm where Good, Evil, Law, and Chaos are in balance. The centre of the Outlands is an infinitely tall spire with an AntiMagic field powerful enough to keep even visiting gods on their best behaviour.