Ulukayın (World Tree) — Ancient Turkic Spiritual Music

A musical journey through the sacred World Tree of Turkic mythology. Driven by the pulse of the shaman's drum and the melodies of the steppe, this piece is inspired by Ulukayın, the Tree of Life that connects the heavens, the earth, and the underworld. In ancient Turkic beliefs, the World Tree stood at the center of existence. Its roots reached the depths below, its trunk belonged to the world of humankind, and its branches climbed toward the realms of the sky. Music inspired by Turkic mythology, Tengrism, Altai shamanism, and the endless steppes of Central Asia. --- THE WORLD TREE — ULUKAYIN Among many Turkic peoples, the Tree of Life was known as Ulukayın, the Great Beech Tree. According to Turkic mythological traditions, this sacred tree stands at the center of the world. Its roots descend into the underworld, its trunk rises through the realm of humankind, and its branches reach the heavens. The tree connects all three worlds and serves as the cosmic axis of existence. In Yakut traditions, a great tree rises from the center of the earth toward the Pole Star. In Altai and Kyrgyz epics, the World Tree is known as Bai-Terek, whose roots, trunk, and crown belong to different layers of reality: the underworld, the earth, and the sky. (Küre Encyclopedia) Some traditions describe the tree as having nine branches. From these branches came the ancestors of humankind or the nine great tribes. Other legends tell of children being born from a luminous sacred tree, making the World Tree both the pillar of the cosmos and the mother of life itself. From beneath its roots flows Bengüsu, the Water of Life. Eagles nest among its highest branches, while the deepest roots reach the dark realms below. Thus the World Tree unites sky, earth, and underworld into a single living whole.