The three worlds of the Siberian shaman. It is impossible to identify the origin of this image because meny elements seem to indicate a Buryat or Mongol origin, but it may also possibly be Evenk or Altai Turk. The stump, the fire, the nine fiery roots, and the serge posts all symbolize the World tree and are reflections of the tree in all three worlds. The Lower world contains realms with the souls of humans and animals between incarnations and at the lowest level a giant fish. Smith’s tools are found in the humans’ realm, perhaps because the artist had been a smith shaman. The rainbow, the top of the world tree in the upper world, and the serge with the heavenly horse tied to it all suggest routes of the shaman to the upper world.