creation stories

[jewscout]

I was just thinking about this in another thread and thought i wouldn't get OT on that one so i thought i'd start a new one. I think most of us are familiar with the Judeo-christian creation story. I'm curious about other creation stories out there from different cultures and religions. Feel free to share!:jiggy:

 

[HelpMe]

bang.



but that wasn't the beginning either, so i may be wrong.

 

[Circle_One]

This is a story my mother used to tell me, and now I tell my son Justyce. It's about the Goddess Luonnotar.
Imagine a time when there was no air, no water, no earth. No life, no birth, no music. In all the universe, only three things existed. There was a river, in which flowed a swirling mix of possibility. There was space, blank and black and without even a single star. And there was a girl.
The river was the power of movement in the universe. Space was the power of stillness. And the girl was their daughter.

Her name was Luonnotar, child of nature. She lived alone, with no sisters, no friends, no companions. There was nowhere for her to walk, so she did not walk. Nowhere for her to run, so she did not run. She did nothing but rest on the stillness of space, watching the river glide into endlessness.

There is no name for what Luonnotar did. You cannot say that she was sleeping. To sleep means to dream, and to dream means to dream about something. But nothing had ever happened in all the endlessness that Luonnotar remembered, and dreams cannot be spun of nothingness. But she was not truly awake. That would mean movement, and talk, and song, and pain. Luonnotar had nothing to say, nothing to sing, because nothing had ever happened to speak or sing about. Luonnotar felt no pain. But she felt no joy either. She simply floated, and watched, and waited.

Then one day—if there can be days where there is no time—something changed.

Something tightened in Luonnotar's chest. It felt as though her heart were bruised and hurting. She lay, floating on space near the endless river, wondering at this sensation. In the eternity of timelessness, she realized—more slowly than you can imagine—that she was feeling something.

She felt desire. She felt emptiness. Into that emptiness flowed a river of yearning, want, longing. What did she desire? Nothing had ever happened in the universe, so Luonnotar could not recognize that she yearned for action. Nothing had ever changed, so she could not know that she yearned for change.

But, after that moment, as Luonnotar rested in cold space watching the black river flowing around her, she did so differently.

Slowly—more slowly than you can imagine—an idea came to Luonnotar. There had never been an idea in the universe before, so it took a long time to grow. After that immeasurable time, when her idea was full and ready, Luonnotar felt it rise like the first sun of thought. When it shone bright and strong in her mind, she acted. Luonnotar dived from space into the great river.

It took but a moment. Then she was on the surface of the river. It was endlessly deep, but Luonnotar did not sink. Floating on her back, she looked up at the space from which she had leapt. There was no light there, no brilliant star nor radiant moon nor beaming sun. There was only emptiness and perfect stillness.

Luonnotar rested again, drifting through the universe on the waves of the river that flowed beneath space. She traveled vast distances, but it was as though she remained still. For everywhere, everything looked the same.

There was still only a river, space, and a girl.

But no action, however small, is without effect. Everything in the universe is connected. Luonnotar's plunge had changed everything, forever. It took endless time for the change to reveal itself, but finally, something happened.

A duck swam up to Luonnotar.
A duck. In the whole empty universe where there had been only one being. How had this come to be, that there were now two?

It happened because Luonnotar moved. When she did, she shifted the axis of the universe. In her yearning for change, the girl had created a new world, a world in which a duck could exist.

Luonnotar lay very still. The tiny duck swam around and around, looking at the floating girl. Then she climbed onto Luonnotar's knee and sat down.

The duck sat there calmly, out of the cold of the great river, upon the warm knee of the girl.

Then something else happened, something so beautiful that Luonnotar could not believe her eyes. The duck laid three little eggs on her knee.

Luonnotar's knee was the only warm, dry spot in all the universe. It was the only place where the future could hatch.

Luonnotar lay very, very still.
She willed herself not to move in even the slightest way. The duck sat on her clutch of eggs, and the eggs grew warmer and warmer. The future, in all its sparkling variety, drew nearer and nearer.

Luonnotar yearned for that future. She yearned so much that the dull pain returned to her heart. But she ignored it. Her skin prickled from the heat, the feathers, and the tiny scratches of the duck's webbed feet. But she ignored that, too. The future was at stake, and she wanted to protect it. So day after day she floated, perfectly still. The duck sat upon the eggs, the eggs sat upon the girl's knee, and the girl floated upon the river of heaven.

Then, suddenly, the duck shifted her position. Her tail feathers tickled Luonnotar's skin. Luonnotar's knee twitched. She did not mean to. It happened beyond her control. And it was not much: just a tiny twitch. But it was enough.

Luonnotar watched in horror as the precious eggs rolled off her knee into the cosmic river.

What had she done? The only task of her entire existence, and she had failed! Had she ruined everything? Luonnotar watched the eggs crash into the waves. She feared they would sink forever out of sight. She feared that the future would be lost in the black river of time.

Instead, the eggs broke open.
Marvels poured forth. The yolks joined together, forming a yellow ball, and rose shining into the sky. The whites joined together and formed the silver moon. The bits of shell sparkled and drifted upwards, until they shone down as the countless stars. In the blankness of space, where Luonnotar had seen nothing but emptiness for so long, light appeared.

It was magic. And Luonnotar, from whose yearning these marvels were born, was transformed. She dived beneath the surface of the heavenly river. Down, down she dived. Something was there. She could feel it calling to her.

There it was! Luonnotar spied a bit of mud in the darkness beneath the river. She grabbed some in her hand and swam to the surface. There she floated on her back, forming the mud into a cone upon her belly. When she placed it carefully on the river's surface, it rose up into a mountain. She dived again, and again, and again. Each time she returned with a handful of mud, she created something new. One time it was an island, another time a forest-swept valley. Furiously, joyously, Luonnotar worked.

She built peninsulas and continents, high peaks and fertile plains. She gouged rivers into the land and scooped out lakes. Overhead, inspired by Luonnotar's creativity, the little stars assembled themselves into signs and designs. The moon learned how to show its changeful face to the new earth. The bright beaming sun learned to rise and set, dividing endless time into days.

As Luonnotar built the land, it burst into bloom. Red flowers trumpeted from vines. Grasses waved softly in the new wind. Great forests rose, and tiny flowers sprang from hard gray rocks.

And then the animals appeared, children of the new earth. Birds filled the forest with song. Horses ran upon the waving grasses. In mountain caves, bears made their cold dens. Monkeys chattered in the huge trees of the jungles. Whales plunged down, deep, deep, into the chilly ocean waters.

Over great snowy peaks, eagles wheeled and soared.
Tired at last, the creator sat down upon a high mountain. Luonnotar looked up at the brilliant sky. She looked around at the green earth. She looked at the dark blue waters sparkling in the new sun.

She looked at all that she had made, and she knew that it was good.

 

[Jaymes]

I'm fond (for obvious reasons) of the Norse creation story

In the beginning there was the void. And the void was called Ginnungagap. What does Ginnungagap mean? Yawning gap, beginning gap, gap with magical potential, mighty gap; these are a few of the educated guesses. Along with the void existed Niflheim the land of fog and ice in the north and Muspelheim the land of fire in the south. There seems to be a bit of confusion as to whether or not these existed after Ginnungagap or along side of it from the beginning.

In Niflheim was a spring called Hvergelmir from which the Elivagar (eleven rivers - Svol, Gunnthra, Fiorm, Fimbulthul, Slidr, Hrid, Sylg, Ylg, Vid, Leiptr, and Gioll) flowed. The Elivargar froze layer upon layer until it filled in the northerly portion of the gap. Concurrently the southern portion was being filled by sparks and molten material from Muspelheim.

The mix of fire and ice caused part of the Elivagar to melt forming the figures Ymir the primeval giant and the cow Audhumla. The cow's milk was Ymir's food. While Ymir slept his under arm sweat begat two frost giants, one male one female, while his two legs begat another male.

While Ymir was busy procreating Audhumla was busy eating. Her nourishment came from licking the salty ice. Her incessant licking formed the god Buri. He had a son named Bor who was the father of Odin, Vili, and Ve.

For some reason the sons of Bor decided to kill poor Ymir. His blood caused a flood which killed all of the frost giants except for two, Bergelmir and his wife, who escaped the deluge in their boat.

Odin, Vili, and Ve put Ymir's corpse into the middle of ginnungagap and created the earth and sky from it. They also created the stars, sun, and moon from sparks coming out of Muspelheim.

Finally, the brothers happened upon two logs lying on the beach and created the first two humans Ask [Ash] and Embla [vine?] from them.

 

[Circle_One]

I really enjoy that story Jensa.

 

[lilithu]

According to a Chinese myth, at the beginning of time only Chaos existed. The chaotic universe had the shape of an egg, when the giant Pan Ku appeared out of nowhere. While he slept, he began to grow. His head became a huge globe, and his limbs legs grew broad and elongated until they reached unimaginable dimensions. Then, one day, Pan Ku awoke and his enormous eyes blinked open, but all he could see was darkness and disorder. In a fit of annoyance, he lifted his mountain of a fist and smashed the egg of chaos into a myriad of countless pieces.

The shattered fragments of chaos floated gently apart. The pieces that were "yang" (those which were light and bright and hot) flew upward and became the sky. The pieces that were "yin" (those which were hard and dark and cold and heavy) dropped downward to form the earth. Pan Ku drew himself to his fullest height and stood between them. His feet were planted firmly on the ground and his immense head supported the dome which was the heavens. Between the two, the giant Pan-Ku continued to grow about three meters (ten feet) each day, increasing the distance between the sky and the Earth. He stood there holding the sky and earth apart for eighteen thousand years and, all the time, the sky rose up higher and higher and the earth became thicker and heavier, until finally they set in their places.

During this time, Pan Ku carved the universe into a pleasing shape. When Pan Ku was finally satisfied with the appearance of the earth and was comfortable that the celestial spheres were fixed and firm, he set a massive sky-supporting mountain at each of the four corners of the world. (which is why China has four holy mountains)

After 18,000 years Pan-Ku died. His breath became the white, fluffy clouds that sailed across the sky and also became the winds that swept the earth, keeping it fresh and sweet. His booming voice turned into the thunder. His eyes lived on as the moon and the sun, and his blood flowed into all the waters of the world--the oceans, the seas, the lakes, and the rivers. Pan Ku's skin and hair became the plants and the trees, while his bones and teeth dissolved into metals, minerals and precious stones...gold and cinnabar, jade and diamonds, pearls and rubies, iron and salt.

So glorious did Pan Ku's world become, that the gods deigned to leave paradise and visit the earth. One visitor, the dragon goddess Nu Kua, was dissatisfied. The earth was certainly beautiful but there was something missing. It seemed lonely. Nu Kua knelt upon the ground and scooped up a lump of yellow clay. She toyed with it for a long while, tapping it with her curved dragon's claws, rubbing it into a ball in the palms of her hands, squeezing it...and pressing it...and molding it. She shaped a head with a broad brow, two eyes, a straight nose and a smiling mouth--much like her own. But, instead of bestowing a replica of her own sinuous, serpentine body upon the tiny figure, she sculpted a torso, two arms and a pair of legs. She put the little clay doll carefully on the ground and breathed a cloud of warm, heavenly incense over it. Suddenly, the small arms flexed, the minuscule head swiveled, the tiny legs kicked out and the figure began to dance. Gathering more clay, Nu Kua made another figure...and then another...until the earth was full of people.

For a while, she sat entranced as she watched her creations explore the world around them, but soon it was time for Nu Kua to return to her own universe. She was reluctant to leave, but had one final task to perform before she was compelled to go. Although Nu Kua might be immortal, her small artifacts were not. They were made of clay and would eventually age, wear out and then die. So, she lifted them up, two by two, and whispered into their ears, instructing them, very delicately, in the art and purpose of marriage. Then, confident that the human race would now be able to perpetuate itself, she flew home to her magnificent palace in the sky.

 

[Green Gaia]

I love any of the Native American creation myths. Here's a few I found online: http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/loreindx.html

 

[Feathers in Hair]

I loved both Circle One's and Jensa's stories!

I'm with Terry Pratchett, though. The Listening Monks, those who train their ears to tell the type of playing card from the sound it makes as it falls, learned that everything makes waves as it makes a sound, and thus one could concievably hear the very first words that were ever spoken.

The most highly trained of monks claim that the first sounds in the universe was a voice counting "Three, four!"

Those that are even more highly trained and skilled, the ones that could tell you the sound that yellow makes, say there are words that come even before that, and those were "One, two. One Two..."

And the world swung into its' dance.

(I should note that this was a book about sex, drugs and rock and roll... No, wait, it was only about the last one, but, as they said, one out of three isn't bad.)

 

[Circle_One]

Before reading that last part, Feathers,

(I should note that this was a book about sex, drugs and rock and roll... No, wait, it was only about the last one, but, as they said, one out of three isn't bad.)

I was just about to say it sounds like a drum roll count off in most rock songs. "One, Two. One, Two, Three, Four.." lol

 

[Jaymes]

That's a beautiful story, lilithu.

 

[painted wolf]

Maize, you beat me to it!

here is a brief (and ad lib) take on the crow creation story where Old Man Coyote makes the world.

Where the water came from, no one knows. Where Old Man Coyote came from no one knows. But there he was, alone on the water that covered everything in the begining.
"This sucks," thought Coyote "I'm all alone and there is nothing but water."
Old Man Coyote walked a long way looking to see if there was anything elce. Old Man Coyote could walk on water in those days.
"Nope just water, I wish I had someone to talk with. All this water is boring."
Just then he saw two ducks with red eyes swimming tword him.
"Hello little brothers" Old Man Coyote called. "have you seen anything but water around here?"
"No, not up here but the water must be sitting on something"
"well why don't you go and check." Coyote looked down at the water, he was glad he could walk on the water because he wasn't a good swimmer. One of the Ducks dove down into the water.
"Oh, how sad, your brother must have drowned." Coyote said after a while.
"He's not dead, we can live a long time under water." the second Duck said "Just wait"
Old Man Coyote was just about to say he really thought the first Duck was dead when he appeared.
"well?" asked Old Man Coyote
"There is something down there, I bumped my head on it." The first Duck said.
"let me check" The second Duck dived down and was gone eaven longer than the first. When he came up he had a bit of mud in his beak.
"Well, lets see what we can do with this." Coyote took the mud and spread it out making the land. They all walked over the land.
"Its nice" said the first duck
"Its a bit flat" said the second.
"oh," said Old Man Coyote "it could use some variety" He raised up mountians and pushed down valleys and made lakes and rivers so they could always find a drink. He made trees and other plants so they would have shade and something nice to walk on other than rock.
"hows that?" Old Man Coyote asked.
"very nice" said the second Duck
"needs something" said the first Duck
"right," said Old Man Coyote and picked up some more mud. He made some people and put them down on the land.
"what are those?" asked the first Duck
"they look funny" said the second Duck
"These are people," said Old Man Coyote, "they will be good compainons. They can tell each other how I made the world."
"What about us" asked the ducks.
"oh, yeah... " Old Man Coyote made many types of ducks for his younger brothers.
"thanks" they called and went to join thier new people.
"somethings missing" a voice said beside Old Man Coyote
"who are you? Where did you come from, did I make you?" Old Man Coyote asked.
"My name is Cirape, the coyote. Elder brother, I do not know where I came from, I just was." coyote said. "who are you?"
"Well, what a cool surprize. I'm Old Man Coyote, I made everything you see here."
"Its really impressive, but its still missing something."
"Really, what is it missing." Old Man Coyote asked a bit annoyed.
"You made everyone Men, how can there ever be any more people?"
"oh, I hadn't thought of that." Old Man Coyote said
"I know," said coyote.
So Old Man Coyote made women.
"Also, you should make some other animals besides people and ducks."
So Old Man Coyote made all the animals but then the animals complained that they were bored.
"yeah, but I made women" Old Man Coyote said
"Elder brother, we cant just do that ALL the time."
"well, I guess not." Old Man Coyote didn't think its sounded like a bad way to spend time.
So he made Music and Dancing.
"you know, you forgot something." coyote said.
"What? How could I have forgotten something." Old Man Coyote sighed.
"Remember those people you made, they have no claws or fur, they need some help."
"Oh, right them." Old Man Coyote went to the people and showed them how to make tools and cloths and homes. Then he gave man weapons so they could catch food.
"these are really good things, I should give them to everyone."
"oh no, don't do that." said coyote. "if the animals had weapons the humans would never survive. Animals are much stonger and faster and have horns and claws."
"good point." Old Man Coyote nodded. "well, are you satisfied now?"
"Nope."
"what do you mean Nope?"
"everyone talks the same language... you cant fight someone who talks your language. You should make more languages so people can have wars."
"War, what is that good for."
"Absolutely... something. War lets men be brave and impress the women. It makes them smart because they have to outplan the other men. You get to sing songs about honor and war and you get to keep the loosers stuff."
"well I'll give it a shot."
After a long while coyote and Old Man Coyote were talking together. They talked about war and how well everything was working. Coyote mentioned that his wife had gotten stolen by another man.
"well go steal her back" Old Man Coyote said.
"why would I want to steal her back? I have my honor you know."
"I stole my wife back three times now."
"people laugh at you for it. They say you take what another man thows away."
"you'r clever but not very wise younger brother." Old Man Coyote smiled. "Let me tell you something. Do they ever steal ugly wives?"
"no."
"once your wife has been stolen and you get her back, she knows you will come for her. She does everything she can for you... and she is eaven better under the buffalo robes."
"really?"
"what do I care if people laugh at me during the day, I get to laugh at them all night long."
"Elder brother you really are wise."
"I know."

wa:do

 

[Dr. Nosophoros]

I just made this one up:

"One day a small piece of life hit a rock in space, this small organism grew and changed over the course of millinea. This small piece of life grew and changed as it's inherent will to survive persisted and evolved, the tree of life had been started at it's very roots. In time, the branches became many and one day, after thousands of years of change did a particular branch spawn an organism that would evolve and eventually call themselves "human". These "to be" human organisms drug themselves forth from the primordial ooze to begin their evolution into what they were and eventually ushered in their own particular epoch of madness in natural history in a chapter of their own self destructive "evolution" which was brought about by a combination of their intellect and self serving ego "

Physiwig 5:23

 

[robtex]

I was just thinking about this in another thread and thought i wouldn't get OT on that one so i thought i'd start a new one. I think most of us are familiar with the Judeo-christian creation story. I'm curious about other creation stories out there from different cultures and religions. Feel free to share!:jiggy:

did you just say OT? OT? ok you are so gonna wear the dunce cap at your next synagogue lecture....(ot implies there is a nt or next testiment.....)

 

[lilithu]

Well, if we're sharing our own versions, here is one of mine. (I have several.)


One: unity

In the beginning there was the One.


Two: duality

And the One reflected upon Itself, and in so doing became Two. And there was Male and there was Female. Yin and Yang. Kiether and Malkuth. And the Two united, and from their Union sprung Creation.


Three: time

And Creation had a beginning, has a present, will have an end.


Four: physicality

Then Creation stretched Itself out into the four directions: North, South, East, and West, and hence the Universe came into being.
And Creation separated Itself into the four elements: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth, and from these were formed the many bodies, large and small.

Five: life

And the One, which is the Source of All, moved within Creation, and from the smaller bodies came Life.


Six: consciousness

And the One, which is the Source of All, moved within Creation, and from Life came Consciousness.

Thus, it is said that on the seventh day, God rested.

 

[jewscout]

did you just say OT? OT? ok you are so gonna wear the dunce cap at your next synagogue lecture....(ot implies there is a nt or next testiment.....)

no no no i meant "off topic". i was on another thread and didn't want to get off topic so i built a new thread.
come on robtex have a little faith in me

 

[cardero]

When the earth was still flat
And the clouds made of fire
And mountains stretched up to the sky
Sometimes higher
Folks roamed the earth
Like big rolling kegs
They had two sets of arms
They had two sets of legs
They had two faces peering
Out of one giant head
So they could watch all around them
As they talked while they read
And they never knew nothing of love
It was before...
The origin of love
The origin of love

And there were three sexes then
One that looked like two men
Glued up back to back
Called the children of the sun
And similar in shape and girth
Were the children of the earth
They looked like
Two girls rolled up in one
And the children of the moon
Was like a fork shoved on a spoon
They were part sun, part earth
Part daughter, part son

The origin of love

Now the gods grew quite scared
Of our strength and defiance
And Thor said,
"I'm gonna kill them all with my hammer,
Like I killed the giants"
But Zeus said, "No-
You better let me
Use my lightning like scissors
Like I cut the legs off the whales
Dinosaurs into lizards"
Then he grabbed up some bolts
He let out a laugh
Said, "I'll split them right down the middle
Gonna cut them right up in half"
And then storm clouds gathered above
Into great balls of fire

And then fire shot down
From the sky in bolts
Like shining blades of a knife
And it ripped right through the flesh
Of the children of the sun and the moon and the earth
And some Indian god
Sewed the up into a hole
Pulled it round to our belly
To remind us of the price we pay
And Osiris and the gods of the Nile
Gathered up a big storm
To blow a hurricane
To scatter us away
In a flood of wind and rain
A sea of tidal waves
To wash us all away
And if we don't behave
They'll cut us down again
And we'll be hopping 'round on one foot
And looking through one eye

Last time I saw you
We had just split in two
You were looking at me
I was looking at you
You had a way so familiar
But I could not recognize
'Cause you had blood on your face
I had blood in my eyes
But I could swear by your expression
That the pain down in your soul
Was the same as the one down in mine
That's the pain
That cuts a straight line down through the heart
We call it love
We wrapped our arms around each other
Tried to shove ourselves back together
We were making love
Making love
It was a cold, dark evening
Such a long time ago
When by the mighty hand of Jove
It was the sad story how we became
Lonely two-legged creatures
It's the story of the origin of love
That's the origin of love

The origin of love
The origin of love
The origin of love