Creation Accounts

[Rival]

Question for folks who belong to religions with creation accounts!

What is that account, how literally or mythically do you take it, and what kind of wisdom or otherwise does it impart? When was it written? Is there more than one? Just a thread to discuss creation texts and what you believe about them.

Not a thread to discuss evolution vs creation, please

 

[Magical Wand]

Question for folks who belong to religions with creation accounts!

What is that account, how literally or mythically do you take it

That's a great question. I take the Christian account of creation to be symbolical given that the first chapters of Genesis seem to fail as accurate historical documents.ㅤ:）

 

[Brickjectivity]

Question for folks who belong to religions with creation accounts!

I must be tired. For a moment I was wondering what kind of financial account a creation account was. "What's a Creation Account?"

 

[VoidCat]

I see it as not to be taken literally.
But there is the story of Ymir

That's the tale. Here's a song about it

 

[sun rise]

Meher Baba's works contains an account of creation. Creation 1 has various excerpts to this. Here's part of one:

The Ocean of Everything and the Ocean of Nothing were lying still as one in the bosom of the Beyond-Beyond Ocean. Then, without reason, without warning, without substance of any kind, a whim arose in the Ocean of Nothing. That whim gave rise to a question, 'Who am I?' And as Nothing asked itself that question over and over again, 'Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?' movement began in the Ocean of Nothing.
...
When the Whim surged, surf formed in the Ocean of Nothing, and every drop in that ocean began asking, 'Who am I? Who am I?' With the advent of this surf, there was friction between Space and Energy, and a most powerful clash occurred, creating movement, which affected the Everything. This effect was that every drop of the Ocean of Everything began asking 'Who am I?' This movement caused ripples in the Ocean of Everything, and on account of the Whim, the evolution of consciousness and unconsciousness simultaneously took place from the Om point. Thus the two states, infinite consciousness (Paramatma) and infinite unconsciousness (Ishwar) were established.
...
It is of this interim time that I now speak, the ages and ages, the aeons after the Whim, and before Everything awakened fully to tell itself 'I am God' (therefore, knowing itself), and established the states of infinite consciousness and infinite unconsciousness, Paramatma and Ishwar. In this time before creation began, original Fire (Tej), in infinitely finite form, manifested in the Ocean of Nothing, and this original Fire manifested before that time.

The Whim gave rise to this Fire, and this infinitely finite original Fire gave rise to infinitely finite Energy (Pran). Energy, even in such incredibly finite form, required Space (Akash) to manifest. Simultaneously, Space manifested with Energy, and instantly there arose conflict between these two.

The conflict between Space (Akash) and Energy (Pran) created movement, and over aeons of time this movement in the Ocean of Nothing, created by the powerful clash between Space and Energy, awakened the Ocean of Everything from its oceanic deep sound sleep.
...

 

[SigurdReginson]

I see it as not to be taken literally.
But there is the story of Ymir

That's the tale. Here's a song about it

The interesting thing about Ymir is that his story is related to other creation myths from other cultures descended from proto-indo-european speaking peoples. Here are some examples...

The Proto-Indo-European Creation Myth | The *Bʰlog

This puts the roots of the story squarely in prehistory. I wonder what events inspired it's original creation?

 

[crossfire]

I've really enjoyed having this book on my bookshelf over the years:

 

[Rival]

Kemetic creation accounts vary by nome (province), but all have the concept of the waters of Nun, and a self-created or perhaps ever present Creator God. In one account, Ptah speaks creation into being; in another, Atum masturbates and this results in a kind of asexual creation; in another Amun creates everything. There's also the concept of the First Mound. The Atum story is the one likely given in Kemetic books and things. Given the differing accounts all managing to co-exist peacefully and being poetically altered over time, it's hard to take them as ever being meant totally literally.

 

[Kenny]

Question for folks who belong to religions with creation accounts!

What is that account, how literally or mythically do you take it, and what kind of wisdom or otherwise does it impart? When was it written? Is there more than one? Just a thread to discuss creation texts and what you believe about them.

Not a thread to discuss evolution vs creation, please

Interesting thread

1. Written: It is unknown because it was first handed down family to family
2. More than one literal: I take it literally, but the interpretation of its literal statement can vary because there is not enough information - so there are more than one interpretation - Some can take it mythically.
3. Wisdom: Words can create or destroy - watch your words.
4. Dominon: Man has dominion and the power thereof can create or destroy, depending on his/her humility towards God and connectivity with the same.

added PS

Power is for service and not self-service.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Question for folks who belong to religions with creation accounts!

What is that account, how literally or mythically do you take it, and what kind of wisdom or otherwise does it impart? When was it written? Is there more than one? Just a thread to discuss creation texts and what you believe about them.

Not a thread to discuss evolution vs creation, please

Of course, Jews do disagree on this. I am of the opinion that the two stories of creation in Genesis are both myth. To me that is not an insult. Its a compliment. Myth is one of the most powerful forms of literature, using non-historical stories to inculcate the primary values of a culture.

 

[pearl]

Question for folks who belong to religions with creation accounts!

The power of a religion lies in its stories, not simply as stories, but as vehicles of truth and, sometimes, profound truth. That's what myth is. I once heard a Rabbi's explanation; 'to accept only the literal interpretation of the Torah is to see only her outer garments,'