Creation Myth A creation myth is a narrative that says how the world became and how people came to inhabit the earth. A regular myth is known to be fake, but people actually believe creation myths. In the story “How the World Was Made”, it is explained how the Indians believe the earth became. The earth is explained to be an island with four cords attached that hang from the sky vault. If the cords were to ever break, the island would fall into the ocean and never return. The Indians are afraid of this happening. “How the World Was Made” is a creation myth considering that it follows all of the criteria of a creation myth; describes how the universe, earth and life began, explains the workings of the natural world, and supports and validates …show more content…
Because the sun was too close at one time, the Red Crawfish’s shell was scorched and his meat was spoiled. Therefore, the Cherokee did not eat the raw meat. When the animals and plants were first made they were told that they had to stay awake for seven nights. Only the owl, panther and one or two other animals were able to stay awake, therefore, they were given the power to be nocturnal. Only a few trees were able to stay awake and the ones who did not would lose their leaves in the winter. When men came after the plants and animals, the brother hit his sister with a fish and told her to have a child. In seven days she had a child and every seven days she had a child until it got dangerous. “And they increased very fast until there was danger that the world could not keep them.” (“How the World”). Therefore, it was made that a woman could have only one child per year. In conclusion, this story is a creation myth. There are a lot of occasions in this story that would not happen in real life. For example, the buzzard can not make valleys or mountains while flying. It is not possible to have a child in seven days after being hit with a fish or even having a child every seven days. Finally, this story is making the earth sound like it is a seed. If one were to do scientific research or read the bible they would soon know that the earth is not a seed but a home for
Scientists have found that the Earth was formed about 4.6 billion years ago by collisions in the giant disc-shaped cloud of material that also formed the Sun. As gravity slowly gathered this gas and dust together into clumps, it became asteroids and small early planets called planetesimals. These objects collided repeatedly and gradually got bigger, building up the planets in the Solar System. Although scientists are very close to answering the question, they still continue to search for the exact answer to how the Earth was created. With all the evidence presented, it is hard to refute from scientific theories. This becomes cumbersome to many religions because in their eyes God has always been the creator of the Earth.
So far the story is like other creation myths in that there is a world of gods (the Sky-people) similar to Greek/Roman and Egyptian beliefs. Also the world is very plain and empty similar to Christian/Jewish beliefs.
When the modern person ponders the formation of human beings, our mind automatically goes to Adam and Eve, whom were the first man and woman created by God according to the Book of Genesis. Before there was Adam and Eve, diverse cultures came up with myths about the construction of humans. These myths included: “The Song of Creation” from the Rig Veda, An African Creation Tale, From the Popol Vuh, and A Native American Creation Tale “How Man Was Created” Each one of these legends gives a diverse perspective on the creation of human beings.
Today, there are many theories on how the world was created however people have been speculating on how the Earth was created for years. It dates all the way to the Native Americans. The story “The Osage Creation Account” and “The Navajo Creation Myth” have both similarities and differences. First, both stories put strong emphasis on nature. Secondly, The Osage Account focuses on one specific animal whereas the Navajo Myth touches on many different creatures. Thirdly, both stories each have a completely different version on how the world was created.
For thousands of years, scientists have tried to interpret the concept of creation. However, before people had access to modern scientific equipment, they told creations stories. A creation story is a myth that explains how and why the earth was made. A few cultures with differing opinions on creation are Europeans, Cherokee Indians, West Africans, and Hawaiians. Europeans tell the story of Genesis and God creating the earth in seven days and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Cherokee Indians believe that the earth was created by a water beetle. In West African culture, they teach the Golden Chain story, and Hawaiians have the Kumulipo story to explain their beliefs on creation. Although each story follows a basic guideline, they all have distinct disparities.
These Native American spiritual stories can be compared to the book of Genesis. Both of the stories and the book of Genesis all start with water at the beginning of the story. In "How the World Was Made" everything was all water and the animals lived above in the sky. "The Sky Tree" starts with the earth covered in water. The book of Genesis claims that the earth began in water. Another common characteristic between all three stories is how land came after water. In all three stories, land
Creation stories are tools used to try to explain the unexplainable. For centuries humans have been searching for answers to the what, when, why, and how questions that encompass life. Genesis and the Iroquois Creation Myth are two different stories that seek to describe the creation of Earth and the universe that surrounds it. Genesis describes a Christian perspective, particularly one of the most popular Western explanations to life on Earth. The Iroquois Creation Myth, on the other hand, takes a less traditional approach, while only mildly alluding to religion. The similarities between the two lie in the timeless battle of good versus evil.
There’s tons of debate between which creation story is true. Some people say that the Adam and Eve creation story is true. Others truly think the Native American one is correct. But nobody alive today, has any idea which one is true, probably no one ever will. However, both Native American and Creation stories are similar in many ways. Both stories are different also.
The general purpose for all myths is to bring an understanding of unknown. The ancient people widely used myths to explain new phenomena and occurrences. The lack of scientific modes of theory formulation caused the people of old to come up with myths to fill the vacuum with the knowledge that existed during their time. The need by man to explain his origin and the origin of the universe led him to the formulation of creation and origin myths. Men of olds came up with myths to explain the mysteries they had no clue about including creation.
Our origin stories and religions today can be phenomenally similar to those of ancient Native American tribes. The Iroquois and Shawnee creation stories each have great similarities to each other and to the creation story found in the Bible. For the Iroquois, the world started as water and sky, filled with birds and fish. The creation story found in the Bible includes a day when the world was only water and sky, only with fish and birds to inhabit the earth. For the Shawnee creation story, “Together [Grandmother and her
Take the Salinan Indian Creation Story for instance. Most creation stories explain the world as being created by a male human-like figure. This is not the case, for the Salinan people. They believe that they were created by a bald eagle. This bald eagle with the help of a coyote gave man life (The American Yawp Reader). The Hebrew creation story that has formed the basis of
All in all creation stories are a load of bull and should only be taken figuratively and read when discussing how they influenced the religion or culture. As in religion in general it is only a moral code to help humans make the right decisions and to have something to look forward to i.e. the afterlife which doesn’t really exist.
What is a myth? When one thinks of a myth perhaps one thinks about a story being told by the fire, or a dramatic tale about an invincible hero, or perhaps a cosmological occurrence that caused everything to be. Personally, when I think of the word myth, I think of the ancient Greeks or Romans with their many gods and goddesses; however, to most, the story being told by a myth is simply that, just a story. To most the term “myth” has been confused for a legend or folklore. The truth of the matter is however, that to religious scholars, a myth is more than just a story; a myth is how a society’s religion came to explain what seemed the inexplicable. With modern science booming and being capable of explaining the events
The cycle of creation in the Zulu myth is as follows in the in-text citation (“Zulu Creation”, 2011): Darkness was in the beginning accompanied by a large seed. The seed fell from heaven and the seed produced reeds that grew called Uthlanga. One seed in particular grew into a man and his named Unkulunkulu. He grew so large and heavy that he broke off and fell to earth. As he fell, he walked earth with a purpose to grow other seeds into male and female. Outside of humans, Unkulunkulu created animals, mountains, lakes, and the sun and moon. He taught female and male how to survive by imparting agriculture to grow things, how to hunt, and make fire. Unkulunkulu sent a chameleon into the world with the message that his people will live forever. As this animal took too long, his impatience grew and a lizard sent out a message of death completing the circle of birth to death.
Since the beginning of time there has been stories of creation. The bible which is studied and followed by the Hebrews, tells that God created the world and all of it's things. However, the Iroquois states that the world was made and created by a different source, such as how they explain in The World on a Turtle’s Back. Both of these cultures explain what happened before and after each and every creation then they try to explain it in their own way. Different cultures describe and explain creation in different ways whether everyone believes it or not we are all the same.