The Creation Story In 'Skywoman Falling'

We are first introduced to Adam and Eve as Satan is observing them in the Garden of Eden, acting as the first anthropologist in order to ascertain how to bring about their demise. Satan

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. The Earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep”. There are many stories that talk about how the Earth are created and they all vary depending on the beliefs of the writers. In these stories there are many similarities but there are also a few differences. A good example of these similarities can be found in a few creation stories such as Genesis, Creation by the Hopi, and The World on the Turtle’s Back by the Iroquois. In these three stories there are differences and similarities found when looking at how the Earth was created, where all the evil and good came about from, and how all of the animals got their names.

The Sioux creation story and the book of Genesis in the Bible both mirror an image of how the world along with human life was created. When forming their creations they were dissimilar in the way they produced water and land. In Genesis God created water by just a spoken word and it would appear. However, the Creating Power would form his creations with objects using his hands to form land from mud the story states “He sang all the while that he shaped the mud in his hands and spread it on the water to make a spot of dry land for himself.” Additionally, he completely covers everything with land by a command and using feathers from an eagle by waving them over the spot he had produced. Both of these stories reveal that in a previous time their God was unpleased with what he had created so he destroyed the world because of the people’s acts of immorality and unruliness. Also, this gives reflection on the role of the natural world being impure, failed and contaminated by sin and only the grace of “God” can save them. When God or the “Creating Power” recreated the world in their effort to maintain order people needed to understand how powerful and almighty they were by being able to create life or to end it.

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.

Not only that but that when the chief’s daughter fell ill the Sky People dug up a tree and laid the girl next to the hole that remained. When they laid her next to the hole she fell through the hole where two swans caught her. Then they put her on The Great Turtle’s back and it counseled that she was a symbol of good fortune. The Great Turtle sent all the other animals to bring the Sky World tree back with earth covered roots. Many animals tried but failed, coming back to exhausted and died. Finally an elderly woman toad had just enough energy left to spit a mouthful of earth onto the back of The Great Turtle. The earth was magical therefore it grew and grew enough for the Sky woman to live on. The swans circled enough till it grew in to the land mass it is today. But it was dark so The Great Turtle called the animals to put a great light into the sky. A little turtle climbed into a black cloud collecting lightning as she went. She made a big bright ball called the sun and a smaller ball called the moon. Then The Great Turtle commanded the animals to make holes in the comers in the sky so the sun and moon could go down as one when up as they circled. The Sky woman gave birth to twins, one good called Tharonhiawagon, one evil called Tawiskaron. From her breasts grows the three sisters; corn, beans, and

The book of Genesis records the creation of the world and everything in it, as well the early relationship between God and humanity. God creates man, Adam, “from the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7) and places him in a paradise on Earth called the garden of Eden, where he also places the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From the man, God creates a woman and tells them that they “may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil [they] shall not eat, for in the day that [they] eat of it [they] shall die (Genesis 2:16). Despite this warning, the woman, Eve, is eventually tempted to eat the fruit of the treat and convinces Adam to do the same, causing them to be cast out of the garden. Although Adam and Eve do have free will to do what they

The Drama of Scripture written by Bartholomew and Goheen takes the reader on a journey through the entire Bible in six short “acts.” The first Act discusses creation and the establishment of God’s Kingdom. In the beginning was complete darkness. Then, God created light and divided the heavens and the earth. He then split the waters and the seas, creating dry ground on which the rest of creation could walk. He proceeded to make plants and flowers and the sun, moon, and stars. He created days and seasons and animals of all shapes and sizes. And then, to add the finishing touch, God created men and women, male and female, He created them. The book states that “the Genesis story is given so that we might have a true understanding of the world in which we live, its divine author, and our own place in it” (Bartholomew, 29). Genesis 1-3, the story of Creation, is prevalent because it introduces the author of creation, humanity, and the creation upon which humanity’s drama unfolds.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. After having created everything on Earth, He made man. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”(NIV Genesis 2:15). Thus, He made Eve from the rib of Adam. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge but the evil serpent, who was craftier than them, tricked Eve into eating the fruit. Eve later convinced Adam after having argued with him and he gave in. Both were punished by God for having gone against His word and would suffer the consequences of it. “So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden a cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23-24).

Previously in class, we read the Oneida version of the creation story which was much more focused on the Sky Woman’s sons, the evil and good spirits, and the woman did what she was told by

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

The Aborigine Creation Myth is the story that tells how the Earth and humankind came into creation, told by the indigenous Aboriginal tribe of Australia. Featured in the story are two celestial beings who have no fixed shape, Mother Sun and Father of All Spirits, and the new animal spirits of Earth. At the beginning of the universe, all was quiet and every being was asleep, except for Father of All Spirits. Father Spirit awoke the sleeping Mother Sun and told her she had work to do; she had to go down to Earth, awaken all the spirits, and give them forms. So she obeyed him, and was content with what she had created, not with just the newly formed animals, but with the Earth and how she had embellished it. The animals

The story explained that before the earth was inhabited by humans, they lived forever above the clouds. There was also a wise, but cruel lizard that lived among the people in the sky. The lizard tricked some of the sky people to leave their home to go down to earth by describing the beauties the planet had to offer. However, the lizard did not mention that death was also present on earth and the sky people were affected because they had eaten the food of the earth. The sky people tried to go back home, but the lizard destroyed the means for their return. ( Bilhartz, 2006, p. 423-424). I found that this tale had some similarities to the origins of death according to Genesis. For example, the use of a cunning reptile and food as the means to bring death to humanity can be seen in both accounts. I thought the comparison was

I have been greatly inspired upon reading Sally McFague’s, The Body of God. As one who beliefs deeply that creation is not just about we homo-sapiens, but all creatures/ecosystems, and how we are connected, I find hope in her pragmatic views of potential healing and renewal. As the aforementioned quote will attest, what we communicate in our daily lives has nothing to do with the connectivity of the world around us. Many of us tend to have a very self-centered, myopic view of our world. We do not leave much room to explore the story of the other and their importance. Not to mention, those who are involved in this fight to save creation have tended to be white, upper class intellectuals. That is not to say there are not others of differing cultures at the forefront, but until very,

This shameful sin originated when the earth was still new. God had created all things, living and nonliving, existing in perfect harmony. The wise and powerful angel, Lucifer, rebelled against God out of pride and fell from grace. Having been banished from heaven and sent down into hell, Lucifer decided to share his condemnation with others. Adam and Eve, significantly known as the first humans to ever walk the earth, were the first mortals to succumb to this potent transgression.

On the other side of the argument over whether or not Eve’s supposed lack of intellect was the cause of the Fall or not is the idea that it was a crisis of faith. There is one critic who argues that in the beginning Satan’s temptation is good and that Eve should not be to blame, but is a victim (McColley 188). She argues that Satan used Eve’s good qualities such as, “her openness, her compassion, her good faith, her trust, and her desire to learn, her courage…” and turns them against her in order further his own goals (ibid 193). This argument acknowledges that Eve had a desire for wisdom and therefore must have had some level of high intellect and curiosity. It is a list of good, gender neutral, qualities that are said to be given to Eve instead