Derevo potencial’nyh mirov<br>Drevo potencialnih svetov</br>

Abstract

Setting out from the fundamental works of V. N. Toporov on the structure of the mythopoetic thought, the author of the paper focuses on texts where the World Tree represents a “moment” of the cosmogony process, preceding and preparing the apparition of the world in its actual form. To define its cosmogonic function, the author introduces the concept “Tree of Potential Worlds”, for it contains the potential elements realized by a demiurgic intervention. An analogous function to that of the “pre-existent body” containing the potential elements, have the “Cosmic Egg” and the “World Mountain”. This primary cosmogonic function of the World Tree explains, according to the author, its cosmologic function as the structural principle of the world.