are divided into two antagonistic series, one wild and demonic, the other social and divine. The only entities or substances that are truly real are those of the upper world of Zeskneli and the lower world of Kveskneli. The middle world inhabited by humans is thus only a place of passage and meeting, and the beings who people it have no essence in themselves, being only emanations of the divine or subterranean worlds, or else their unions. Cosmology In pre-Christian Georgian mythology, the universe is perceived as a sphere. It comprises three worlds or levels, known as skneli (სკნელი): Zeskneli (ზესკნელი) – the highest world, and the home of the gods. White is the color of Zeskneli. The Earth – the middle world, home of mortals. Its center is divided into two regions, anterior (tsina samkaro, წინა სამყარო; or tsinaskneli, წინასკნელი) and posterior (ukana samkaro, უკანა სამყარო; or ukana skneli, უკანასკნელი); – beyond which the lands of Earth are divided by seven or nine mountains (or seas), which a hero can traverse only by first undergoing a spiritual transformation (known as gardatsvaleba (გარდაცვალება) – which is also the word for "death") and seeking the help of magical animals, such as the Paskunji, the Rashi and others. Red is the colour of this world. Kveskneli (ქვესკნელი) – the lowest world or underworld, inhabited by the ogres, serpents, and demons. Black is the colour of Kveskneli. Practices of Shamanic Type The mountain Georgian equivalent of the shaman is the Kadagi, a person (of either gender) who has become permanently possessed by one of the class of minor (i.e. local / specialised) divinities known most often by the name of Hat'i (= 'sign' ), but also by those of Dzhuar (= 'cross') and Saghmto (= 'divinity'). The Hat'i numbered several hundred at the turn of the nineteenth century and the word Hat'i could designate not only a divinity of this class but also its manifestation ( as image, object or real or imaginary animal ) and the place (temple / sanctuary) where it was worshipped. The Kadag would go into trance, both at religious rituals and at events important in individual or collective life, and his or her indwelling Hat'i would foretell the future in a special secret or sacred 'language of the Hat'i ' (see also Spirit possession). A second type of practitioner of shamanic type (exclusively female) was the Mesultane –