...Creation Myths Kimberly L. Moore HUM/105 World Mythology Diana Bernstein February 1, 2016 Creation Myths * I have chosen the “Greek Creation Myth,” and the “Mayan Creation Myth.” * In the “Mayan Creation Myth,” the heavens and the earth are both represented. The elements of earth are: day, moon and stars, mountains and hills, streams and rivers, animals, and human beings. The heavens are represented by Veracocha’s retreat to Lake Titcaca, from which he emerges in the beginning of the myth. It also describes a sea world as the god and his companions retreat to the coast of the sea, in the end of the myth, never to be seen again (Rosenberg p. 599) In the “Greek Creation myth,” earth, the sky world, and underworld are all represented. The earth is made from the earth Goddess, Gaia. The sky, and its starry mantle are Uranus, Gaia’s husband. The underworld is a place that contains the deepest, darkest depths of the earth, but also the “Blessed Isles,” a beautiful place where the heroes go when they die (University of Phoenix, 2015). * The creator in the Mayan creation myth is Lord Con Ticci Viracocha, “prince of the heavens and the earth” (Rosenburg p.599). Viracocha created the heavens and the earth first. Then, he created the animals and a race of “gigantic human beings” (Rosenburg p.571). He was displeased with the behaviors of the animals and humans, turned them into stone, and flooded the earth killing all of its inhabitants. He began again by creating day...
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...Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures Charlie Warren HUM/105 02/29/15 Jennifer Meunir Introduction The two creation myths that I chose to compare and contrast are The Creation of the Universe and Ife. Each myth has its story, and they all included a world with a sky, earth, and the underworld. There is also the creator of humans both male and female. Both genders have their significances including what they created and the steps they took. Both myths have a different cycle of creation that is similar and different in many ways, which is important to its culture. Creation Myths The sky was represented as a place of greatness in both myths. They symbolize the heavens where the Gods and creator lived. In both myths, the greatest or most powerful God ruled over the sky. In each myth the elements of each world and how they came to be may vary, for example, in the story of Yin and Yang the two Gods created the heaven and the earth out of nothing. In the Yoruba myth the heavens and the earth were already created and ruled by Gods. Yin and Yang were the creators in the Chinese myth,”And Yang gathered into himself all that was bright and light. And, like a mist, Yang drifted upward into Heaven and become one with it. And Heaven became round. Then Yin gathered into herself all that was dark and heavy. And, like a thick, plodding mass, Yin sank downward into the earth and became one with it. And earth became square.” (Rosenberg 345) Yang gave birth to fire, when her breath became...
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...each culture has their own perception of creation, that perception is told through the cultures myths. The two myths that will be discussed in this paper are Egyptian creation and Zulu creation. The paper will discuss how the different creations are characterized along with the legends and the components of those myths. Egyptian Creation Egyptian creation signifies earth, sky, dark and waters. They believed that in the beginning the only thing that existed was dark watery abyss of chaos that was called nun or nu. As the waters of the great Nile gave birth to life through the muddy Earth, Bebben came out of the num. Benben is a mound that is shaped like a pyramid. Once the pyramid emerged it was the first place where the sun rose for the first time and produced light. It was also said that the pyramid was the place where the first god, Atum stood. Atum was not male or female but he created life by using the female part in him to create Shu, which is the god of air and his sister Tefnut, which is the goddess of moisture and fertility. Some people believe that they were created by sneezing and spitting. Shu is the sound of sneezing and Tef is the sound of spitting. Tef and Shu had two children the Sky Goddess Nut and Earth God Geb. While Geb layed down to form the Earth Nut the Sky Goddess was forming the sky. Zulu Creation The Zulu culture myth is from South Africa, which is considered to be the biggest group in Africa. The Zulu creation myth signifies Earth, sun, moon as gods...
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...A creation story or a creation myth can be defined as a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how humans adapted to it. Some creation stories, such as African creation stories existed for years. These stories has been told and passed down by many. With creation stories many people can interpret in many different ways. One of the most common creation stories that have been told was the creation of the world. In this paper I chose to write about The Planet of Life. I chose to write about this creation paper because the story itself is really interesting to me and this story reminds me of stories from the bible. This creation story, The Plant of Life, comes from a Nyamwezi story. The alternate name for Nyamwezi is Wanyamwezi. It is located in Unyamwezi. Tanzania’s national language is Kinyamwezi. The religion they believe in is spirituality shaped by traditional beliefs; Islam and Christianity. They have much respect for the living dead. The Nyamwezi people were called Wanyamwezi. They lived in East African country of Tanzaina. Their home area was called Unyamwezi, “the place of the Wanyamwezi”. As years passed the Nyamwezi culture has both influenced the cultures of neighnoring African societies as well as the national Tanzanian culture. Their religion has also had great impact on modern Nyamwezi customs. The Nyamwezi tribe “people of the moon” is the second largest in Tanzaina. The family lives together and the villages are not necessarily based on kinship relationships...
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...The creation of our world has been the topic of debate for quite a while now. Some people believe in evolution while others believe in creationism. Others fall somewhere in the middle accepting that both can co-exist. Creation stories have been used since the beginning of time to explain and provide meaning to the complex nature of our existence. Different cultures and religions have creation stories on how life came to be. The creation stories from the perspective of the Kono people of Guinea and The Hebrew share some commonalities but differ in other areas as they explain the origin of the Earth, its life, and its peoples. The creation story of the Kono people explains that in the beginning there was nothing. That neither matter nor light existed. The story then explains that the God Alatangana created earth followed by plants and animals. He then took death’s daughter as a wife to populate the world. The story explains the creation of light and also talks about humans being cursed. The Hebrew story is similar in that it also explains how the earth was created first and then the plants and animals. The Hebrew story also explains the creation of light and humans became cursed. The Kono story of creation begins with the existence of death. This story also includes the family unit as already being in existence by including Sa and his wife and daughter. Since Sa had the power to make a world of mud and then create light, he had god-like powers as...
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...Josh Bennion Ms. Keith Honors English 3 2 March 2014 Creation Stories A Creation Story is a creative story that elucidates how the world became to be and how mankind first inhabited the earth. Biblical and Indian Creation stories immensely resemble each other. Both of these stories have a Greater/Divine power, also they have personified animals. In the Biblical stories the Divine Power is God, and in the Indian stories there are spirits that live in the sky. Additionally, they both in some sense have a heaven with Bible having heaven and the spirits living in the sky among the clouds. Indian stories have personified animals that are generally portrayed as helping the humans unlike the Indian stories the Biblical stories have a talking serpent that tries and successfully harms the human race. He does this by manipulating them and tricks them into disobeying God. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis Chapter 3 verse 4-5). . Even though the animals are have different personalities, it is to take note of that they both had personified animals. Some may argue that these two types of stories are not related because they describe different events such as the ground of earth. “When it seemed like all had tried and failed, tiny muskrat vowed to bring up earth or die trying. She went down, deep, deep, deep, until...
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...Creation story “God created man in his own image” can be considered to be one of the fundamental statements of the Holly Scripture. At the same time, this statement can represent certain difficulties for understanding so it is important to look into its meaning and into its philosophical and religious interpretations. For centuries biblical scholars have been trying to interpret the idea of “God’s image” or “imago Dei” in the Latin version and still haven’t reached an agreement. One of the main ideas which can be obtained from this statement is that creating man God bestowed on him some of his own qualities, such as intelligence, freedom of choice, the ability to create, spirituality, morality, etc. He put man over animals and other creatures by endowing him with all these abilities and qualities. But he also made man similar to animals in his carnal desires. And it is for man to choose if he will follow the path of spiritual development and refrain from sin. If he chooses this way, gradually he will be able to achieve perfection and to unite with God. This is the main purpose of man’s life. Creating man in his own image God let man know how much he loves man and what a great importance he places in his creation. So by fulfilling his purpose in life man participates in realization of God’s plan. But if man rejects the way of God, he will no longer be the God’s image or, in other words, he will not be man. The free will and the freedom of choice are two essential concepts...
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...Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures Kelly Holliday University of Phoenix HUM/105 Cecelia Weber November 5, 2013 Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures The Inca and Navajo myths represent a world on earth. On earth the elements of sun, moon, water, fire, trees, and animals are all represented within the Inca and Navajo worlds. The creator for the Navajo world is the sun as were the Incan world creator is a derivative of the sun. Each creator provides a world for its people. This is the main concept for each creator, but this process is done in very different ways. The creators are perceived to be male in both worlds. It does not appear women play an important role unless given leadership from the creator. The Incan creator, named Pachacamac, created humans as to where the Navajo creation myth already had the first beings in the world. The Navajo world consisted of the first beings, which they named the first men, first women, salt women, fire god, coyote, and Begochiddy. Navajo’s Begochiddy, who is also the Child of the Sun, is the creator of all elements and other worlds for the first beings. Pachacamac, the creator for the Incas, was lonely at night so he created stars, planets, and the moon. Pachacamac created such a beautiful moon, he then falls in love and marries his moon. The significance of gender is the ability to the produce life to other beings and elements. He goes on to create mankind out of stone. The mankind he creates is pitiful and unable to care for...
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...Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures Carolyn Scott HUM/105 April 28, 2014 Kerry Jones Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures For the assignment this week, I’ve chosen the Hawaiian creation myth and the Navajo creation myth. In the Hawaiian myth, there was only endless darkness with 2 beings, Kumulipo and Po’ele, they created the creatures that live in the pure darkness. They also gave birth to 2 new beings, who created the almost darkness creatures. They gave birth to two more beings who gave birth to two more until the final 5th couple was born. As each couple created animals and plants, the world began to lighten slowly. Soon the first man and first woman were created and they gave birth to more humans. As they were created right before dawn, their skin was very dark. As they had more generations of children, the children became lighter and lighter until they became the color they are now ("The Hawaiian Creation", 2015). In the Navajo myth, there are 4 worlds. There were 6 beings that lived in this dark and small place. As they grew tired of the darkness, they left that world and went to the 2nd world. They lived peacefully in the 2nd world until they were banished and left for the 3rd world. This was the place where the Dine were born and learned how to pray and were taught many rituals. They finally made it to the 4th world where First Man and First Woman built the first hogan and the Wind God carried their people all over. While both creation myths have a higher...
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...Cheonjiwang Bonpuli From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Cheonjiwang Bonpuli (Hangul: 천지왕 본풀이, literally 'Chronicles of Cheonjiwang') is a Korean creation myth, traditionally retold by shamans in the small island ofJeju Island. It is one of the best-known Creation myths in the Korean peninsula, and many key elements in the Cheonjiwang Bonpuli can be found in the creation myths of the mainland.[1] Plot[edit] Unlike its title, the supreme deity Cheonjiwang (Hangul: 천지왕), whose name literally means 'King of the Heavens and the Earth', serves mainly as a secondary character. The protagonists of the myth are instead the two sons of Cheonjiwang, Daebyeol and Sobyeol. The myth starts with the creation of the world, when the sky and the earth were one (This concept can be found in most other creation myths; see Chaos andGinnungagap). As there were no sky nor earth, as a result, there was only an empty void. However, one day, a gap formed in the void. All that was lighter than the gap headed upwards and formed the sky. All that was heavier than the gap fell down to become the earth. From the sky fell a clear blue drop of dew, and from the earth rose a dark black drop of dew. As these two drops mixed, all that existed, except the sun, moon, and the stars, came to be. From these two drops came humans and even the gods.[2][3][4] The leader of the gods, Cheonjiwang, awoke to the cry of the three roosters; the Cheonhwangdag (Hangul: 천황닭, literally 'Rooster Emperor of the Sky'), the...
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...If I was going to tell the story of Mesopotamian Epic of Creation, I would start off by giving them key ideas of what events are going to happen. You have the creators that are named Apsu and Tiamat. They are basically the main people who have power over other Gods. So when Lahmu and Lhamu were born they end up emerging after they began maturing and taking in ideas from previous gods to strength there selves against other Gods they would have to battle. In which more gods were created and more started to battle each other over power which led into bigger battles, which later on in the story EA end up killing and defeating Apsu. Then towards the end Marduk end up throwing together all four winds to capture Tiamat from rebelling against him for...
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...Cosmic Creation Myths Michelle Faunce-Carroll HUM/105 – WORLD MYTHOLOGY BSDC1K2PN1 CHARLES OSBORNE April 11, 2016 Comparing and Contrasting Creation Myths There are many creations myths from different cultures. Two such myths are the Old Testament creation of the Christian culture and the Norse culture of Iceland. These creation myths are both similar in the sense that they start with an emptiness and darkness in which life eventually develops. The Old Testament creation starts with nothingness and complete emptiness. The Norse creation begins with a darkness, emptiness combined with a fieriness of Muspell, where nothing can grow. In Genesis the first book in the Holy bible, the earth was dark, empty, formless matter. It began when the Spirit of God covered the waters to prepare and perform his most creative work. God spoke and his creation was formed. (Genesis 1979) On the first day, "God created the light and separated the light from the darkness, calling light "day" and darkness "night". On the second day, "God created an expanse to separate the waters and called it "sky". On the third day, "God created the dry ground and gathered the waters, calling the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters, "seas”. God also created the plants, flowers, trees, and grasses on day three. On the fourth day, "God created the sun, moon, and the stars to give light to the earth and to govern and separate the day and the night". These also serve to mark the years, days,...
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...comes to the biblical story of creation, it can be wondered how it was written and told in such detail when there was no people to observe it. There are quite a few possible answers to this question including it being a story passed down through generations, or perhaps God revealed the story to the writer in some way (Schittjer, 2006). One of the theories of how the creation story could have been written is from adaptations of other cosmologies. In this paper, I will look into some of these cosmologies and compare and contrast the similarities and differences between them and the biblical narrative of the creation story. One of the most contrasting cosmology to the bible is the Egyptians. As we know, the Egyptians were the ones to enslave Israel under their power and rule. The Egyptians also are known to have polytheistic views and believe and worship many different gods. This is very contrasting to the monotheistic biblical viewpoint of one God. Though they are two very different viewpoints, a few similarities can be found in their ideas of the creation story. For example, in the Egyptian views each creation aspect is and made by a different deity of their religion. The sky is Nut, the atmosphere is Shu, the earth is Geb, and the sun god is Re (Schnittjer, 2006). Each of these gods work with one another to create a different aspect of the creation such as day and night and the earth and the sky. So in comparison to the biblical story of creation, a specific example of a difference...
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...Egyptian Creation Mythology Myths have emerged from around the world to explain certain phenomena of nature, various traditions & rituals and tales of epic journeys, which pass on, idealised in each telling. Creation myth is found in all cultures and tries to define the origin of the universe, usually based on each peoples understanding and beliefs. The biblical story of creation is well known, the story of one God creating Earth and human life, but one of the less understood creation stories is from the Egyptian Civilisation. Egyptian cosmogonies were distinctly unique and directed more towards explaining the order of the world, also known as Maat, rather than the actual creation of mankind. It focused on more important factors like sun rising each day and annual Nile flooding. It was believed that Egyptian life would continue its orderly progression irrespective of whether humans lived or died. Egyptian kings and queens were regarded as incarnations of the gods and provided order with the help from symbolic rites and rituals. Differing Egyptian cosmogonies can be found where each world was created in diverse means according to their understanding and beliefs of the universe. A similarity of these stories was the world beginning from chaotic, lifeless water, described as Nu or Nun , when for the ‘first occasion’ the sun rose from a mound in a period sometimes called ‘Zep Tepi’. This ‘first occasion’ is referred to as the appearance of sun-god Ra or the god of the newly-risen...
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...Two Creation Myths HUM/105 September 17, 2012 The two creation stories I chose to write about are The Genesis account (Hebrew) and the Iroquois Creation myth (Sky Woman). There are several different worlds represented in the two myths I chose. The worlds covered in the story of the Sky Woman are sky, earth, water, and underworld. In the creation story of the Iroquois (Sky Woman) starts off with two worlds an upper world and a lower world. The divine lived in the upper world; the lower world was covered with water and the only beings on the lower land were ones who knew how to swim (Ray, , 2006). In the creation story of Genesis (Hebrew) it talks about the elements we see and experience today. In the Genesis creation story we learn according to "Bible Gateway" (2011), God in the beginning created the heavens and earth. God first spoke that there be light, He named light “day” and darkness night ("Bible Gateway", 2011). God saw that the earth was formless and void and He created water, land, and the sky ("Bible Gateway", 2011). In this creation story the worlds that are spoken about are Heaven, earth, sky, land and water. The creator in the Genesis creation is God it doesn’t state but it is assumed the He is a man. In the story of the Sky woman the creator is a woman. The significance of gender in the Genesis story is that God created human beings to be in His image, in which the first person was a man. The significance of the Sky woman being a female is that with...
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