[German Version]

The umbilicus or navel and umbilical cord (Gk ὀμφαλός/omphalós, Lat. umbilicus) play only a peripheral role in the religious context of divination (the terms umbilicomancy and omphalomancy and descriptions of techniques first appear in 16th-cent. documents), and the occasionally reported use of the cord can be assigned to the broader context of contagious magic. But the navel as an obvious symbol of centrality plays a not insignificant role in various forms of meditation (Yoga, Śaivism, Tantrism, Taoism, Hesychasm) and in the experience of the world ma…