A List Of Origin Myths

An origin story is an account of how a culture, a people, or a fictional character came to be. Many of these cultures have their own ideas of how the universe was created. For example, it is written in the Jewish bible that God created the heavens and the earth. This is the origin story from the beliefs of the Jewish people. Chinese and Greek Origin stories are very different, but are slightly similar as well.

The Lord God created man in his own image. He used the dust from the ground and molded it to create the first ever human, Adam. The

A myth is a symbolic way of expressing truths and beliefs that are accepted by society. Myths, which are reading literature that is imaginative, teach truths that may not always have a basis for historical fact. Myths, which communicate ideas in story form, are creative stories that explain and teach religious truths of sin and consequence.

Myths – as they are known to most of the world – give insight into the pasts of various countries and religions as the people saw them. They have been used to explain phenomenons in nature or describe the tales of courageous and important men and women throughout history. Creation myths in particular define how the Earth itself was created, along with the universe, heavens, hell, people, and creatures that exist today. Genesis of Christian mythology, for instance, tells the story of how the single deity God spoke and formed everything from day and night to man and woman. Various African creation myths, such as with the Yoruba, explain the creation of the Earth through at least a couple gods working together and all life

Almost every culture on earth has a creation myth. Most if not all of these myths borrow from the core theme of a God-centered creation as contained in the book of Genesis chapter one. According to Van Over (11), a good number of these creation stories show a similarity in the point of their origin. Rumor has it that some of these myths have emanated from actual historical occurrences or events. All creation myths emerge from one ancient source and only diverge when it comes to their timing and the surrounding cultural circumstances. The variations in the myths come as a result of the differences in time and cultural circumstances. Aside from the two causes of variation, in general all creation myths show a basic outline and they also share some basic elements.

2: 19, it says, “Now the Lord had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and birds of

The two creation stories I researched were the Japanese’s and the Irish/Celtic’s creation stories or myths.

Most of the historical events that are taught today are merely fabrications of what really happened many years ago. These fabrications soon turn into myths because they are continually passed on incorrectly, but yet people still believe them to be true. Founding Myths: Stories that Hide Our Patriotic Past is filled with many historical happenings that people believe are true, and the actuality of what really happened as well. Ray Raphael, the author of the book, believes "there are three main reasons [why we cling to these myths], thoroughly intertwined: they give us a collective identity, they make good stories, and we think they are patriotic"5). The fact that

Origin myths deliver stories explaining how the world, humans or objects came to existence. Describing where the nation comes from, they are very important to the culture of given region. Therefore, each nation developed its own stories and beliefs; however, there are many similarities between myths of various religions and cultures. A good example would be Native American stories about origin and their resemblance to Greek mythology or to the Bible. Similarities can be seen in different spheres such as creation of humankind or even in the story about flood.

While the tensions between the early European settlers and Native Americans of North America denotes that the cultures had extreme differences, their writings do not necessarily illustrate that belief. Both the Native Americans and the Puritans wrote about a creator and how that creator related to humans. Native Americans wrote creation myths, which tell us how they described the creation of Earth and how earth’s beings were created. Two specific groups who wrote creation myths were the Inuit and the Mayan Indians. Settlers such as William Bradford, wrote and kept a journal to document the first landing of the Pilgrims. The Puritans, however, wrote poems about their god and how this god interacted with life on Earth. The Puritans wrote about their god in a more hidden way since creativity or other dangerous expressions were frowned upon. Whether the creator was a Raven (Inuits), a Feathered Spirit and a maker (Mayan), or a human-like God (Puritans) all cultures sought this creator for guidance. Each culture had different perceptions of this creator as it related to mankind; Native Americans regarded their

In the evening when being tucked into bed all a kid wants is for their parents to tell them a bedtime story so they can fall asleep with ease. Stories are always more interesting when someone is saying what happened because it feels so real and leaves a lasting impression. Most the stories in the world today are stories that were passed down through oral tradition. During the time period that pertained to Native American tribes they had similar traditions to one’s today. One of the types of stories these natives would recite to their family and friends were creation myths. A creation myth is a story that explains how people thought the world came to be. Although they are referred to as myths, they are actually what people believed in at the

Lastly, God made man. He created them in His own image. However, man was not made from nothing. The first man was made from the dust of the ground and God breathed in him the breath of life. His name was Adam, which means “dirt” or “earth”. Adam was to take care of all the animals. He even got to name them all. A helper was made for Adam so he wouldn’t be alone. She was made from one of Adam’s ribs. Her name was Eve, which means “mother of

Origin stories are explanations of how something came to be. Superheroes have origin stories on how they obtained their powers, but the universe also has many different varying origin stories on how everything started. People made these stories to give others an explanation of how things became what they are. Many cultures have different stories, but were made with the same purpose of explaining creation. Some stories are slightly different from others because before they were written down most origin stories were told orally. No origin story is permanently right or wrong, humans are discovering new things about the universe that can change the modern theory of how the universe was created. The modern scientific origin story uses evidence to

Ethiological myths are stories which provide a mythological explanation for particular things in nature or certain events and customs of which the orgin has long been forgotten. Stories that emply nonordinary agents or circumstances to explain the orgins of something. An example would be why the Ethiopians are brown-colored. They were roasted by the sun when Phaeton lost control of the sun’s chariot. Or the story why rhinoceros have no hairs. It was on fire one and then jumped into the water; since then his long hairs have never grown back. Such myths are primitive stories about the orgin of things, symbolic and often anthropomorphic explanations of some aspect of the natural world that could not be explain scientifically. Thunder is often

In the book of Genesis when it speaks of man being made in the image of God, what is seen is that just as God created the earth, we can give form to the formless. We can make a date with another, and we can plan to do something at a certain time. Humans unlike any other creature can describe an exciting experience, or tell a scary story. Through speech we can say, "I don't know," which is the first step to gaining understanding and knowledge. Humans are more than just mere creatures of nature because of the art of remembering, recalling, and through language either written or spoken.