The two men searched for the statue and when the three people met for the first time, they argued. The woman would not turn the girl over to the two men. Then the Creator intervened.
He ordained that the first man, who had made the statue, was the father of the girl. The woman who had taken it home was the mother. The man who had clothed the statue and fallen in love with it was to be the girl’s husband. All human beings are descended from these two couples.
Madagascar
MOTHER EARTH AND THE CREATOR
The Creator was watching his daughter, Mother Earth, making little dolls out of clay and he became interested. He spoke to his daughter about them and breathed life into them, creating living human beings.
As time passed, however, the humans multiplied and prospered. They gave thanks to Mother Earth but forgot all about the Creator. He told his daughter that it was wrong for her to accept all of the sacrifices of the humans without sharing them. Thenceforth, he would take the souls of half the humans as tribute and leave the other half alive. The reason most of the souls he takes are from old people is that he is patient. As the Creator gave humans their souls, that is all that he can take; Mother Earth made their bodies and that is the part of humans that goes to her at their death.
CREATION MYTHS OF EGYPT
THE WATERY ABYSS
Before the existence of Great Ra, the sun-god, was his father, the Watery Abyss. Ra emerged from the Watery Abyss and then all things came into being out of the words of his mouth. First, he blew out the first air (Shu), then he spat out the first moisture (Tefnut). These became the god of the air, Shu, who is the life force, and his wife, Tefnut, the organizing world order. Also out of the air and moisture, Ra created the Eye of Ra, the goddess Hathor, in order to see what he was making. When he had his eye, Ra began to weep. Human beings were created from his tears.
Hathor, the Eye of Ra, was angered that she was not attached to his body. So Ra found a spot for her on his forehead. Then Ra created the serpents, and other creatures came from them.
The Memphite Theology of Creation
THE ENNEAD
NOTE: Memphis was the religious and theological center of ancient Egypt. The following myth is a product of the discourse that took place there. This text has been dated to about 2700 B.C. and is a translation by John A. Wilson in The Ancient Near East.
There came into being as the heart and there came into being as the tongue [something] as the form of Atum. The mighty one is Ptah, who transmitted [life to all the gods] as well as to their kas [souls], through the heart, by which Horus became Ptah, and through the tongue by which Thoth [god of wisdom] became Ptah.
Thus it happened that the heart and tongue gained control over [every other] member of the body, by teaching that he is in every body and in every mouth of all gods, all men, cattle, all creeping things, and [everything] that lives, by thinking and commanding everything that he wishes.
His Ennead [the nine chief gods] is before him [in the form of] teeth and lips. That is [the equivalent of] the semen and hands of Atum. Whereas the Ennead of Ptah, however, is in the teeth and lips in this mouth, which pronounced the name of everything, from which Shu and Tefnut came forth, and which was the fashioner of the Ennead.
The sight of the eyes, the hearing of the ears, and the smelling the air by the nose, they report to the heart. It is this which causes every completed [concept] to come forth, and it is the tongue which announces what the heart thinks.
Thus all the gods were formed and his Ennead was completed. Indeed, all the divine order really came into being through what the heart thought and the tongue commanded. Thus the ka-spirits were made and the hemsut-spirits were appointed, they who make all provisions and all nourishment, by this speech. [Thus justice was given to] him who does what is liked, [and injustice to] him who does what is disliked. Thus life was given to him who has peace and death was given to him who has sin. Thus were made all work and all crafts, the action of the arms, the movement of the legs, and the activity of every member, in conformance with [this] command which the heart thought, which came forth through the tongue, and which gives value to everything.
Thus it happened that it was said of Ptah: “He who made all and brought the gods into being.” He is indeed Ta-tanen, who brought forth all the gods, for everything came from him, nourishment and provisions, the offerings of the gods, and every good thing. Thus it was discovered and understood that his strength is greater than [that of the other] gods. And so Ptah was satisfied, after he had made everything, as well as all the divine order. He had formed the gods, he had made cities … he had put the gods in their shrines, he had established their offerings … he had made their bodies like that [with which] their hearts were satisfied. So the gods entered into their bodies of every [kind of] wood, of every [kind of] stone, of every [kind of] clay, or anything which might grow upon him, in which they had taken form. So all gods, as well as their kas gathered themselves to him, content and associated with the Lord of the Two Lands [Upper and Lower Egypt].
THE CREATION MYTH OF FINLAND
NOTE: The source of this story is the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic.
Ilma was the goddess of the air. She had a virgin daughter named Luonnatar who lived in the stars. Luonnatar became lonely and came down to the great primordial sea, where she found no place to rest, floating for seven hundred years.
Then she met a male duck who flew about looking for a place to nest.* Finding nothing on the great sea, he landed on Luonnatar’s knee and built a nest. The male duck laid eggs in the nest and sat on them for three days.
Luonnatar was in great pain; the duck’s nest burned the skin on her knee, so she turned over and the eggs fell into the sea. However, in the fertile primordial sea the eggs changed form. The yolk of the egg became the sun, and the white, the moon. The spots on the shell became the stars and the black flecks became clouds.
THE CHINESE CREATION MYTH
Chaos was like a hen’s egg. The parts of the egg separated into the Yin and the Yang, the male and female essences of all living things. The lighter parts rose to the top, becoming sky and heaven, while the heavier parts sank to become the earth and sea. Out of this egg also came the giant Pangu.
Pangu grew at the rate of ten feet per day for eighteen thousand years until his height spanned the distance between earth and heaven. Then Pangu died.
Upon his death, his body decomposed and his stomach formed the central mountains; his eyes, the sun and the moon; his tears, rivers; his breath, the wind; and his bones, metals and stones. His semen became pearls, and his bone marrow, jade.
THE CREATION MYTH OF JAPAN
NOTE: The source of this story is the Kojiki, the mythical history of Japan and the genealogy of the first emperors.
In the beginning there was nothing but a vast oily sea of Chaos that contained a mix of all the elements. There were three spirits or “kami” in heaven who looked out over this sea and decided that a world ought to be created. The spirits produced many gods and goddesses, including Izanagi (“male who invites”) and Izanami (“female who invites”). Izanagi was entrusted with a magic jeweled spear for this work.
Izanagi and Izanami descended from heaven and Izanagi stirred the spear around in the sea. When he pulled it out of the Chaos, some drops congealed on the tip of the spear. Then the drops fell back into the sea, where they formed an island.
Izanagi then asked Izanami what her body was like. She replied that it was very beautiful, but that there was a curious spot between her legs where the skin had not grown together. Izanagi found that interesting, as there was a place between his legs where the flesh protruded. They decided to join these parts together and when they did Izanami began to conceive many wonderful things.
The first thing they conceived was a disappointment—the leech. They placed it in a reed basket and cast it adrift. To this day, the leech still likes to live among the reeds. Then Izanami gave birth to an island—the Foam Island, which was useless. Bu
t, with a little practice, the couple produced the islands of Japan, waterfalls, mountains, and other natural wonders. Then Izanami gave birth to the Fire Spirit, which burned her body very badly, causing her to become seriously ill. While she was ill, her vomit became the Metal Mountain prince and princess, the source of all mines. Her feces became the clay, and her urine, the Fresh Water spirit.
But Izanami was dying. Izanagi wept bitter tears as she descended into the Land of Night. He begged her not to stay there, but she replied that she could not leave as she had eaten some of the food there. Izanagi then went into the Land of Night to fetch his wife. But when he arrived, he was horrified—she had begun to decay. When Izanagi finally took a good look at her, he was so horrified that he began to run away. Izanami sent the Ugly Night Spirit to retrieve him.
Izanagi continued to run in terror and disgust, leaving the horrible Land of Night behind him. As he was running away, he cast down the comb from the right side of his hair, and the comb miraculously became grapevines. Then he cast down the comb from the left side of his hair, and it became bamboo shoots. When the Ugly Night Spirit stopped to eat the grapes and bamboo shoots, Izanagi was able to escape toward the upper world.
Izanami was now more determined than ever to get her husband back. She now sent eight thunder-spirits and all the warriors of the Land of Night after him. But Izanagi outran them all. Out of breath, he stopped to rest beneath a peach tree at the border between the Land of Night and the upper world. When the forces sent by Izanami approached, Izanagi threw peaches at them. To his amazement, they ran in terror; to this day it is known that peaches dispel evil spirits.
Izanami was now furious. She called to her husband, “If you continue to flee, I will strangle one thousand of the people of earth every day.” Izanagi replied that if she did that, he would cause one thousand new people to be born every day. Thus, death entered the world but the human race still survives. Izanagi then took a great rock and sealed off the Land of Night. Izanami’s spirit remains there, ruling over the dead.
Izanagi was tired after his flight from the terrible land and refreshed himself by bathing in a stream. He needed to wash away the defilements of the terrible land of the dead and, as he did, gods and goddesses were produced. As he washed his left eye, Amaterasu Omikami, the sun-goddess and ancestress of the emperor, was born. As he washed his right eye, it became Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto, the moon. When he washed his nose, Susano-O, the storm god, was born.
THE POLYNESIAN CREATION MYTHS
NOTE: The Polynesian cultural area extends from Easter Island, off the coast of Chile, to New Zealand, Tahiti, and Hawaii.
AO AND PO
The entire universe is dual in nature. There is Ao: light, day, sky, the male principle. Its opposite is Po: darkness, night, the earth, the female principle. The darkness of Po should not be confused with the use of the word darkness to mean “evil.” The darkness of Po is warm and nurturing like the earth or the womb.
In the Hawaiian Creation story, the Kumulipo, or “Genealogy of All Things,” there was only a great watery Chaos at the beginning until Ku, the Creator, began to chant, separating Ao from Po.
Hanau ke po i ke po no
Hanau mai a puka i ke ao malamalama.
Things born from po are po;
things born from ao are ao.
Of course this could be translated a number of ways, such as “things of darkness give birth to darkness” and “things of light give birth to light.” But the great act of Creation was the work of separating Ao from Po, making the world possible and separating day from night.
Ku drew out Kanaloa, the squid, later the god of the sea. Then Ku drew out Kane (Tane, in New Zealand). Perhaps Kane was born out of the union of Ku, as Father Sky, with Hina, as Mother Earth. Kane means “man.” Kane had intercourse with a number of beings and thus produced grass, streams, and reptiles. But he wanted a child in his own image. So he took some soft red clay from Hawaiki, the mythical homeland of the Polynesians, and fashioned Hine-hau-ona, or “earth-formed woman.” Their first child was Hine-titama, or “dawn woman,” since dawn is the point when night meets day. But Kane became wicked and took Hine-titama, his own daughter, as a wife, concealing from her that he was her father.
This was a basic violation of the laws of nature, the great kapu, or taboo, against incest. Hina knew that Kane’s desires were wrong. When Hine-titama learned that Kane was also her father, she ran screaming into her mother’s domain, the Po world of the dead. Hine-titama cried, “You have broken the umbilical cord of the world!” So it was decreed that Kane could not touch his daughter. Hine-titama and her mother became co-rulers of the dead in the Po world beneath the earth. Kane was thenceforth confined to the Ao world above ground.
Because of Kane’s crime, his children reside here on earth during their lifetimes. But when they die, they go to live with their mother, who as Mother Earth forms a protective barrier between the wicked Kane and his children below ground in the Po world. We also know Po in life as the creative world of night, a place of dreams, lovemaking, and the appearance of spirits.
New Zealand
MOTHER EARTH AND FATHER SKY
The gods were born of the union of Rangi (Father Sky) and Papatuanuku, Mother Earth. Rangi is Ao, Papa is Po. Earth and sky made love and they produced seventy children, the gods. But there was no space for these children to grow up, as the earth and sky were still pressed together.
One of the gods, Tu-matauenga, father of discord and war, horrified his siblings by suggesting that the gods slay their father. But Tu-matauenga is no different than any other violent being who believes that killing is the answer to everything.
Tane-mahuta, the gentle god of the forests, had a more sensible idea, as befits one who has the patience to watch tiny seeds grow into great trees that touch the sky. He suggested that the younger gods merely make space for themselves by pushing up Father Rangi away from Mother Papa. The other gods thought this idea very sensible, with the exception of Ta-whiri-matea, the wind god, who roared his disapproval. Rongo-matane,* the god of agriculture, tried to separate earth and sky, but he could only make a space as high as a taro plant, not enough room. Tangaroa (Kanaloa, in Hawaiian), the sea god, tried, but only could separate them the space of a high wave, not enough room. Humia-tikitiki, god of the wild food plants, also tried, making a space only as great as a banana tree.
Patient Tane-mahuta observed the futile attempts of his brothers. This time, he decided to push the earth and sky apart by standing on his head and pushing up with his legs, something like the way that a tree grows. His shoulders touched Papa and his feet touched Rangi, and slowly he pushed them apart. Trees still separate the earth and sky in the same way.
The parents of the gods screamed and groaned as they were pushed apart. But as the space between them enlarged, light and dark were separated. Now there was room for the gods, for tall trees to grow, and for humans and animals to flourish.
Rangi is still saddened to be separated from Papa, and his tears form the dew every morning and sometimes even take the form of rain.
CREATION MYTHS OF THE AMERICAS
Sioux
NOTE: The following is taken from Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs and Conditions of the North American Indians, written by George Catlin, early explorer, painter, and writer.
Before the creation of man, the Great Spirit (whose tracks are yet to be seen on the stones, at the Red Pipe, in the form of a large bird) used to slay buffaloes and eat them on the ledge of the Red Rocks, on top of the Coteau des Prairies, and their blood running on to the rocks, turned them red. One day when a large snake had crawled into the nest of the bird to eat his eggs, one of the eggs hatched out in a clap of thunder, and the Great Spirit, catching hold of a piece of the pipestone to throw at the snake, moulded [sic] into a man. This man’s feet grew fast in the ground where he stood for many ages, like a great tree, and therefore he grew very old; he was older than a hundred men at the present day; and at last another t
ree grew up by the side of him, when a large snake ate them both off at the roots, and they wandered off together; from these have sprung all the people that now inhabit the earth.
Pawnee
Tirawa Atius (atius means “lord”) is the great eternal God who created all things and supplies the needs of all creatures. He created the Path of the Departing Spirits, known to the White Man as the Milky Way. East of the Path is the Male Principle—the Morning Star, and to the west is the Female Principle—the Evening Star. All that has happened and will happen has been ordained by Tirawa, and the stars are his servants. From the east the Morning Star began to pursue Evening Star in order to make love to her, but she continued to elude him. She put hindrances in his path, but continued to beckon him all the while. Why? Because it was not yet time to make living things on the earth; and females always tease and flirt with males, as well as demand tests to prove men’s character.
The number ten has always had significance for human beings, and this is because Evening Star placed ten obstacles in the way of her suitor. One of the hindrances was in the chaos beneath them. There was an endless sheet of water presided over by the Great Serpent. The Morning Star threw a ball of fire at the serpent, which caused the serpent to flee beneath the waves. As the fire hit the water, enough of the water dried up to reveal earth and rocks. From these materials, Morning Star threw a pebble into the sea of chaos and it became the earth.
Parallel Myths Page 6