Myths on Cosmic Creation

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.

Rangi, the sky, and Papa, the Earth, were finally separated. They became the sky above and the Earth below as we known them today. The blood from Rangi became the red of the sunset, the blood from Papa became the red, clay land. At last, the light came into the world and the child moved to the four corners. Tawhirimatea was very angry with what was done and the anger grew in him until he couldn’t bear it anymore. Therefore, he ripped out his eyes and threw them into the heavens, here they turned into the first two stars. However, he turned his blind fury on all of his brothers. He blew hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, he made tsunamis and huge storms. Tawhirimatea anger had no end. Papa and Rangi were unhappy, they missed each other so much that they cried and cried and cried. The tears from Rangi become rivers, oceans, and dew. Papa’s sighing with loneliness is the mists that rise from the ground. This is why the Maori creation myth had a bloody struggle.

In the beginning of the myth, the gods Plumed Serpent and Hurricane created the first plant life and the mountains on Earth. As time went by, the gods felt there was something missing because there was no noise on the planet. They then created animals to live in the forests. Once the animals were created, the gods had the intention of having the animals speak. Without language, the animals could not worship the gods properly. This left the gods unsatisfied. With this, the gods decided to create humans. The humans would be able to worship the gods and the animals would stay in the forests to serve the needs of man.

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.

Creation myths play an important role in our culture and even modern day society. They give us something to believe in when the unknown seems daunting. Ontological yearning is the need to know why, and not just accept what is. This is why we not only need creation myths, and myths in general, but actually seek them out. We find every possible reason to believe in them so that we are not faced with the unknown. This is the beauty of myths, we know that they are not true, they cannot be proven scientifically, or even logically, but they explain the unknown to us. It is because of this that we are so quick to believe them as if they are fact.

Leonard, S., & McClure, M. (2004). Myth & knowing: An introduction to world mythology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

(Sacred Texts of the World: A Universal Anthology) The Cheyenne myth also created man last, but unlike the Greek myth, the Cheyenne story’s god, Maheo, took a piece of himself, his right rib bone, to make the first man to give

A technique that is used in many creation myths can be referred to as "creation from above." In this method of narration, the creator often creates a replica of earth within the heavens, and somehow recreates this image in the abyss below. An example of this can originally be found in Kund Rasmussen's collection of Eskimo myths. In this story a being called Tulungersaq, or Father Raven is born in the heavens. He initially takes the form of a human being and is entirely unaware of how he came into existence. He is in complete darkness and it is through his sense of touch that he becomes aware of his surroundings. Through his exploration, he discovers a sparrow, and realizes that this is the only form of life that had been in existence before him. He goes on to bury something beneath the earth and soon after he discovers that the earth is no longer sterile, it is now covered in bushes and grass. Tulungersaq is still

This myth is centered on the origin of humans and merely lacks the creation of other aspects of life. Unlike the African creation tale, nature and all its values were already in existence prior to the creation of humans. Nature exists with humans in this creation myth, instead of for humans like the African Creation Tale. The addition of humans was the Good Spirit’s cherry on top. The Good Spirit believed there was a right skin color.

Although there are a great number of creation myths that are propagated by people of Chinese descent, virtually all of them acknowledge Pan Gu. Those that due generally state that Pan Gu was the first being and that all existence in the universe especially the earth and the heavens is comprised of this being. The general story of Pan Gu begins with his conception inside of an egg. In that egg is the yin and the yang, the notion of duality which brings an eternal harmony and balance to life. The egg is a cosmic egg, one of the very first things in existence. Most tradition regarding Pan Gu contends that he matures within his egg for 18,000 years prior to bursting out of it (some traditions say he utilizes an ax for this purpose).

“Who am I?” this simple question leaves almost everyone in a stump. When myths were first created not only did it answer that question, but also, “How do I relate to the universe?” or “ What must I do in order to survive?”. Myths teach us that we have flaws and unknown personalities that we never knew. Read a myth and find out who you are. Creation myths from different cultures are similar because everyone is afraid of similar problems and they believe in something bigger than themselves.

The mystical, cosmological, and sociological details of creation myths serve an informative purpose for early mankind. In the myth, “Zulu Creation” each mystical, cosmological, and sociological detail served a purpose to the people. Early humans believed in these forces and held them so sacred. It informs others how Unkulunkulu created such powerful mystical, cosmological, and sociological forces.

There are numerous motifs in creation myths found throughout the world. The first motif I chose to write about is rules for humans to follow. The second motif I chose is that of a great flood that wiped out entire an entire civilization. Finally, I chose the motif of humans being made out of organic material. I chose these motifs to write about because, in my opinion, they are the most important of all the motifs that I have learned about.

What creation myth do you believe in? There are many different creation myths, each culture has their own because they believe the world was created different. Even though cultures have different myths some of them have something in common, which is a motif. The motifs that I think are the most important are the following; Most myths start with chaos, Men are always created before women, and Humans are made for organic material. Without these motifs the creation myths would be silly and would not make sense.