Post on 09-Aug-2015
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Asia- China, India, JapanMiddle East- Christian, Islam, SumerianEuropean- Greece, Rome, NorwayAfrica- EgyptThe Americas- Iroquois, Maya
CREATION STORIES
China, India and Japan
ASIA
Taoist Religion
CHINESE CREATION
Chinese Creation• In the beginning, the
universe was a black egg where heaven and earth were mixed together, and in this egg was contained Pangu. • He felt suffocated, so he
cracked the egg with a broadax, and the light, clear part of the egg floated up to form Heaven while the cold, heavy part stayed down and formed Earth.
Chinese Creation• Pangu stood in the middle,
and he and the egg's two parts grew and grew until he was nine million li in height. • When Pangu died, his breath
became the wind and clouds, his voice the rolling thunder, and his eyes the sun and the moon.
Chinese Creation• His hair and beard became
the stars in the sky, the flowers and trees from his skin, the marrow in his bones became jade and pearls, and his sweat the good rain that nurtured the Earth.
Chinese Creation• After Pan Gu split the sky and
earth, Nu Wa was there. • She loved everything there.
There were birds and beasts, fish and insects already, but on the whole it still appeared lifeless to the deity (f). • One day, the lonely deity (f)
saw her own beautiful shadow in the waters of the Yellow River, and she decided to create some company.
Chinese Creation• With her dexterous hands, she
turned the yellow mud in the Yellow River bed into little figures in the shape of herself; only she made legs for them instead of tails. • She blew a breath into them,
and these little figures immediately became alive. And they walk with their back upward and speak intelligently. Nu Wa called them human beings. • The deity (f) also put male and
female elements to them and there come men and women.
Chinese Creation• Nu Wa was happy to see them and
wanted to make as many human beings as possible so they could live on each corner of the earth. • However, she was too tired so she
came up with an idea to stir the mud on to bottom of the riverbed with a rope and throw the rope in the air. • The little mud dots became human
beings too. Thus, man was seen everywhere in the world.• Since humans would eventually die,
to continue the generation of mankind, Nu Wa made men and women couples. The • This way they were able to create
their own children. That is the explanation of the existence of mankind.
Hindu Religion
INDIAN CREATION
Indian (Hindu) Creation• Before time began there was
no heaven, no earth and no space between.• A giant cobra floated on the
nothingness and asleep in its coils was the deity Vishnu. • A sound (‘om’) began to fill
the nothingness and woke Vishnu.
Indian (Hindu) Creation• As Vishnu woke, a
magnificent lotus flower grew from his navel.• In the middle of the lotus
flower sat Brahma.• Vishnu commanded Brahma
to create the world. Then a wind swept the waters and Vishnu and the serpent vanished.
Indian (Hindu) Creation• Brahma split the lotus flower
into three. He made one part in to the heavens. He made another part in to the earth. With the third part he created the sky.
Indian (Hindu) Creation• The earth was bare. Brahma
created grass, flowers, trees and plants. Next he created the animals and insects, birds and fish. To all these creatures he gave the sense of touch and smell. He gave them the power to see, hear and move.
• In the stillness that was left, Brahma had only one thing more to do.
• The world needed a master, someone to enjoy it and take care of it, so that it would last forever, as Lord Vishnu had commanded.
• Brahma sat quiet, and thought.
Indian (Hindu) Creation• After a long time his thoughts
took shape.
• First, a wisp of shadow in the white air….a glowing, shimmering cloud that grew thicker and denser, changing into a living, breathing shape.
• A new being, made from the thought of Brahma, in the form of a deity (m).
• Brahma looked at him in delight: surely this creature made in the deity’s (m) image, would take charge of the world and keep it forever as the Lord Vishnu wished.
Indian (Hindu) Creation• But the creature did not move.
• Its eyes were shut, unheeding the new world around it.
• Because it was made of the thoughts of Brahma, all it wanted to do was to sit thinking deeply about the deity (m).
• Brahma saw that this creature was too simple, too flawless to look after the world.
• If he was to create a being to carry out Lord Vishnu’s will, he would need another power.
Indian (Hindu) Creation• Thought was not enough: he
would need to use action too.
• Not only his mind, but his whole body, his whole self, would be required if the new creature was to open his eyes to the world, be happy and fulfilled by creation as well as the creator.
• There was only one certain way. Filled with happiness that he was carrying out Lord Vishnu’s orders, Brahma divided his body in two.
Indian (Hindu) Creation• One moment there was one,
the next there were two: equal, unblemished, whole, the image of one another. Out of one, Brahma shaped man; out of the other, woman.
• The man was called Manu, wise; and the woman Shatarupa mysterious.
Indian (Hindu) Creation• Manu and Shatarupa, created
out of Brahma himself, looked into each other’s hearts.
• They smiled. Gently, they touched hands. Then they walked out together into the world Brahma had given them; their charge, their responsibility, the joy and duty laid on them by Lord Vishnu at the start of time.
Shinto Religion
JAPANESE CREATION
Shinto (Japan) Creation• At the beginning of time, the
heavens and the earths were mixed together in a great cloud. • Slowly, the clearer, lighter
parts of the cloud rose up and became heaven.• The heavier parts of the
cloud descended and became an ocean of muddy water.
Shinto (Japan) Creation• Between the heavens and
the earth, a pale green sprout began to grow. • It grew swiftly and was
extremely strong. • When the plant’s flower burst
open, the first detiy (m) emerged.
Shinto (Japan) Creation• This first deity (m) then
created Izanagi, is the deity (m) of all that is light and heavenly. • Izanagi, whose name means
"the male who invites", and his wife and sister Izanami, whose name means "the female who invites". • The first deity (m) gave
Izanagi the task of finishing the creation of the world.
Shinto (Japan) Creation• Standing on rainbow called
Ama-no-ukihashi (the floating bridge of the heavens), they plunged a jewel crested spear into the ocean. • When they pulled it free, the
water that dripped from the spear coagulated and formed the first island of the Japanese archipelago. • Izanagi and Izanami went
down to this island and settled down on it.
Shinto (Japan) Creation• Together, on this island, they
made the islands of Japan. • When Izanami died giving birth
to the fire deity (m), Izanagi went to the underworld to retrieve her.• She said she would follow him,
provided that he did not turn around to look at her.• He looked at her, and she said
she would kill 1000 humans every day.• He said he would create 1500
humans a day. • When Izanagi returned from the
underworld, he started the first cleaning rites.
Shinto (Japan) Creation• He washed his left eye and
thus created the sun deity (f) Amaterasu. • When he washed his right
eye, the moon deity (f) Tsuki-Yumi came forth.• From his nose he created
Susanowo, the deity (m) of the seas and the storms.• Later, he created the first
people and animals of the island.
Christian, Islam, Judaism, and Sumerian
THE MIDDLE EAST
Christian, Islamic, Jewish, and Sumerian Religions
MONOTHEISTIC CREATION
Jewish, Christian and Islamic Creation• In the beginning, there was
only God. God looked upon the emptiness that surrounded him and said “Let there be light!” And there was light. God called the light ‘Day’ and the darkness ‘Night’. This was the first day and night of the world.
Jewish, Christian and Islamic Creation• On the second day, God
created a great expanse above the dark waters that surrounded the world. He called this expanse “sky”.
Jewish, Christian and Islamic Creation• On the third day, God
created dry earth between the waters. He called this dry earth “land” and called the waters “seas.” He sculpted the land into mountains and valleys. God then commanded the land to sprout grass, plants, and trees. The earth overflowed with flowering vegetation.
Jewish, Christian and Islamic Creation• On the fourth day, God
created the celestial bodies. He called the stars, suns, and moons into existence. He set them in the sky to separate the day from the night.
Jewish, Christian and Islamic Creation• On the fifth day, God created
all of the creatures that swam in the seas. He made the skies teem with birds and other flying animals.
Jewish, Christian and Islamic Creation• On the sixth day, God made
all of the land-dwelling animals. Finally, God created a man to look after these animals. In order to provide a companion and helper to the Man, God created Woman out of one of Man’s ribs. He declared Man and Woman rulers of the earth and assigned to them the responsibility of looking after all of the creatures that resided on it.
Jewish, Christian and Islamic Creation• And on the seventh and final
day, God looked upon the earth and saw that it was good. So, on that seventh day, God rested.
Enuma Elish
MESOPOTAMIAN CREATION
• Surviving tablets from the 1st millineum• Origins in Babylon
The Epic of Creation- Enuma Elish
• In the beginning, there was only Apsu (fresh water) and Tiamat (Salt water)• They gave birth to a line of
deities ending in Ea.
The Epic of Creation- Summary
• The younger deities make too much noise. • Apsu gets angry, and plots
to kill them.• Ea kills Apsu, and
imprisons his vizier (advisor) Mummu
The Epic of Creation- Summary
• Ea has a son named Marduk• Marduk has power over
the winds, and his playing with the wind disturbs Tiamat.
The Epic of Creation- Summary
• The elder deities persuade Tiamat to attack the younger deities.• Tiamat remarries, giving
her new husband the supreme being title.• Quingu, her new husband,
is given the Tablet of Destinies by Tiamet
The Epic of Creation- Summary
• Many try to face Tiamat, but she defeats them all.• Ea calls on Marduk to face
Tiamat• Marduk accepts on the
condition that the deities make him their ruler.
The Epic of Creation- Summary
• Marduk faces Tiamat, and kills her with imhullu wind.• He takes the Tablet of
Destinies• Marduk uses Tiamat’s
body to create the world.
The Epic of Creation- Summary
• Marduk kills Tiamat’s second husband, Quingu, and uses his blood to create humans.• These humans are to be
servants of the deities.
The Epic of Creation- Summary
• Deities build Babylon as a shrine to Marduk and acclaim him with 50 names
The Epic of Creation- Summary
Greek, Roman, Norse
EUROPEAN CREATION
Polytheistic Religion
GREEK AND ROMAN CREATION
Greek and Roman Creation• In the beginning, there was
only Chaos and Eros. • Gaea, the earth, Erebus, the
underworld, and Night emerged from the mixing of these two, and Gaea gave birth to Uranus, the heavens, who then became her mate, and Oceanus, the oceans.
Greek and Roman Creation• Gaea and Uranus together
produced the twelve Titans, three Cyclopes, and three hundred-handed giants, or Hecatoncheires, but Uranus feared his children as a threat to his throne, and bade Gaea take them back into her womb. • Gaea loved her children,
however, and hated Uranus' tyranny.
Greek and Roman Creation• Kronos succeeded Uranus on
the throne and married his sister Rhea.• He freed the Titans and
shared his kingdom among them, but imprisoned the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires in Tartarus, a fiery pit much like Hell.• Kronos and Rhea had six
children, who would become six of the deities of the Greek pantheon.
Greek and Roman Creation• Kronos, however, was
similarly afraid of his children, and decided to swallow him. • Rhea plotted to keep the
youngest, Zeus, out of Kronos' way, and gave her husband a rock swaddled in cloth to swallow instead.• Zeus was raised on the
island of Crete and grew into a handsome youth.
Greek and Roman Creation• Eventually he slipped Kronos
a drink to vomit up his other five siblings, and they and Prometheus, one of the Titans, fought and defeated Kronos and the Titans for power. • Zeus ruled the earth and
married his sister Hera; the deities together created humans to entertain and amuse them as they watched from their home on Mount Olympus.
Greek Family Tree
Roman Family Tree
Polytheistic Religion
NORSE CREATION
Norse Creation• In the beginning there was a
giant void or chasm called Ginnungagap. • On one side of the void was
Niflheim, the land of fog and ice, in the north, and on the other was Muspelheim, the land of fire, to the south.
Norse Creation• Part of the ice of Niflheim
melted, creating the giant Ymir and the cow Audhumla, who nourished him. • Audhumla fed by licking the
salty ice, and her licking formed the deity (m) Buri.• Ymir created the first frost
giants, a male and a female, from under his left arm.
Norse Creation• Odin, the grandson of Buri
and the son of Buri's son Bor, killed Ymir, and Ymir's blood drowned all the frost giants except for one, Bergelmir, who fled to continue the race. • Odin created the earth from
Ymir's body, and Ymir's blood was the sea; his flesh, the earth; his skull, the sky; his bones, the mountains; his hair, the trees.
Norse Creation• From Ymir's body grew an
ash tree named Yggdrasil, whose branches supported the universe. • Yggdrasil had three roots
going to each of the three levels of the world.• Three springs supplied it with
water.
Norse Creation• One root went into Asgard,
the home of the deities, another went to Jotunheim, the land of the giants, and a third went to Niflheim, the primeval land of ice from which Ymir and Audhumla were created. • In Jotunheim's spring, Mimir,
lay wisdom.• Niflheim's spring nourished
the adder Nidhogge who gnawed at the roots of Ygdrasil.
Norse Family Tree
Egypt
AFRICAN CREATION
Polythestic Religion
EGYPTIAN CREATION
The Egyptian Creation• The Egyptians, basing their
mythology on the Nile River that supported their entire civilization, started their creation myth with Nu, or water. • Nu, a fierce chaotic cauldron
of water, gave rise to the Sun (known as Khepra in the dawn, Ra through the day, and Atem at dusk), which became the creator of the rest of the deities and civilization.
The Egyptian Creation• The Sun eventually became known as
simply Ra, then later Amen-Ra.• Ra found himself in s swirling watery
place.• He created a hill, and built a temple on
it.• Then he created the other deities.• He spit, and created his son and
daughter Shu (deity (m) of air) and Tefnut (deities (f) of moisture).
• Shu and Tefnut got separated from Ra. • He had only one eye (removable)
which allowed him to see everywhere.• Using this eye, he sent it to find his
children.• When they returned with it, he wept
tears of joy, and when they hit the ground, men grew from them.
The Egyptian Creation• Ra then proceeded to call
everything into being, including Hapi, the Nile, and rule over Egypt as the first Pharaoh. • Man was to be led by Ra, deity
(m) among men. • Eventually man began to
mock the aging Ra, who called a meeting of the deities.• Ra’s father, Nu told him to
destroy man by looking upon them from the heavens.• Man hid from the eye of Ra in
the shadows.
The Egyptian Creation• Ra got mad when they tried to
hide.• He held another meeting of the
deities, who told Ra to send his eye down to earth so they couldn’t hide.• Ra sent his eye down in the form
of the deity (f) Hathor.• Hathor spread bloodshed
throughout the world.• Hathor returned to Ra in the
form of Sekhmet, a mighty lioness, so she could continue killing.• Ra didn’t want all of mankind to
be killed. He just wanted to scare them into respecting him.
The Egyptian Creation• In order to stop Sekhemet, Ra
ordered 7,000 jars of beer to be colored red.• He had the beer taken to the
place where Sekhmet would do her next killing. • The beer was poured into a
field there, and when Sekhmet arrived, she saw her reflection and thought the beer was blood.• Appeasing her appetite for
blood, she drank and became drunk.• She then abandoned her
mission to spill more blood.
Egyptian Family Tree
Iroquois and Maya
CREATION IN THE AMERICAS
Iroquois creation• In the beginning there was
no earth to live on, only a watery abyss, but up above, in the Great Blue, there was a community called the Sky World including a woman who dreamed dreams.• One night she dreamed
about the tree that was the source of light. The dream frightened her, so she went and asked the men in the Sky World to pull up the tree.
Iriquois creation• They dug around the trees
roots to make space for more light, and the tree fell through the hole and disappeared. • After that there was only
darkness. • Distraught, they pushed the
woman through the hole as well.• The woman would have been
lost in the abyss had not a fish hawk come to her aid using his feathers to pillow her.
Iriquois creation• The fish hawk could not keep
her up all on his own, so he asked for help to create some firm ground for the woman to rest upon. • A helldiver went down to the
bottom of the sea and brought back mud in his beak. • He found a turtle, smeared
the mud onto its back, and dove down again for more. • Ducks also brought up pieces
of the ocean floor and to spread over the turtle's shell.
Iriquois creation• The beavers helped build
terrain, making the shell bigger. • The birds and the animals
built the continents until they had made the whole round earth, while the woman was safely sitting on the turtle's back.• The turtle continues to hold
the earth on its back.
Iriquois creation• After this, one of the Spirits
of the Sky World came down and looked at the earth. • As he traveled over it, he
found it beautiful, and so he created people to live on it and gave them special skills; each tribe of the Iroquois nation was given special gifts to share with the rest of humanity.
MAYA CREATION
Maya Creation• The myth of Maya creation
as recorded in the Popul Vuh starts with One Ahuapu (the first father) walking past the mouth of a cave.• The gods of the underworld
call out to him and invite him to come down and play a ball game. • He takes the bait and
descends into the darkness, where the gods immediately behead him. • They hang his severed head
in a Calabash tree.
Maya Creation• Shortly thereafter, the
daughter of one of the gods walks by and stops and speaks to the hanging head.• The head spits into her hand. • She becomes pregnant, and
is banished from the underworld. • In due course she gives birth
to twin boys (the Hero Twins). They grow into strong young lads.
Maya Creation• After hearing the story about
their father, the Hero Twins decide to go in search of him. They find the mouth of the cave (Xibalba), challenge the gods to a ball game, and win. • Then thru a series of tricks in
which one brother kills the other and then brings him back to life, followed by the second brother repeating the performance, the gods are dumbfounded.
Maya Creation• Finally, one said "Can you do
that for me?". • "Sure" said the twins, at
which point they dutifully stepped forward to fulfill the god's request, and slayed him. • Then, instead of bringing him
back to life, they resurrect their long dead father and head for the surface. • The father, following the
twins, sees corn along the trail, and takes an ear.
Maya Creation• As they reach the surface,
the Hero Twins pass thru Xibalba and rise into the sky to become the Sun and Moon. • The father emerges from the
cave as the God of Maize, and is greeted by the first sunrise of the Maya world.• All Maya everywhere believe
that they are the descendants of that one ear of corn. • That is the definition of who
is a Maya and who is not.
Maya Creation• Somewhere in the Maya
world tonight an old man will gather young children around a fire and tell them this story, as it has been told for over 5000 years. • Scenes from it are found in
Maya art from the very earliest examples. • It is a fundamental piece of
the Maya culture, mythology, and religion.• It is the most important piece
of literature ever produced in the western hemisphere, and is generally unknown.