Nature Myth

1. Nature Myth Creation

2. Roman Creation Story • Before there was earth or sea or heaven, there existed only chaos: shapeless, unorganized, lifeless matter. There was opposition in all things: hot conflicted with cold, wet with dry, heavy with light, and hard with soft.

3. Roman Creation Story • Finally a god, a natural higher force, resolved this conflict, separating earth from heaven, parting the dry land from the waters, and dividing the clear air from the clouds

4. Roman Creation Story • Thus organizing all things into a balanced union. Thus did the god, whichever god it was, set order to the chaotic mass by separating it into its components, then organizing them into a harmonious whole.

5. Roman Creation Story • Then the god shaped the earth into a great ball and caused the seas to spread in one direction and the other. The earth he organized into five zones, the same number that exist in heaven,

6. Roman Creation Story • Which is divided into two regions on the right, two on the left, and one in the center. Beneath the ether and above the earth hangs the air, where the god formed mist and clouds, placing thunderbolts within the clouds.

7. Roman Creation Story • To each of the four winds he assigned limits and purpose. He caused the stars, which heretofore had been veiled in darkness, to shine forth across the sky.

8. Roman Creation Story • Then man was born. Either the god who had created this better earth made man from divine seed, or Prometheus, molded an image of the gods from a clump of earth that had been newly separated from the ether and thus still retained some divine qualities

9. Roman Creation Story • Whoever created man, this new being was made to stand erect with his eyes directed toward heaven and the stars, unlike other animals who hang their heads and gaze toward the ground.

10. Maya Myth • The myth of Maya creation as recorded in the PopulVuh 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.

11. Maya Myth • 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. Naturally 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.

12. Maya Myth • 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

13. Maya Myth • 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.

14. Maya Myth • 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.

15. Mesopotamia Myth • The stage is set for the story. The various gods represent aspects of the physical world. Apsu is the god of fresh water and thus male fertility. Tiamat, wife of Apsu, is the goddess of the sea and thus chaos and threat

16. Mesopotamia Myth • Tiamat gives birth to Anshar and Kishar, gods who represented the boundary between the earth and sky (the horizon). To Anshar and Kishar is born Anu, god of sky, who in turn bears Ea.

17. Mesopotamia Myth • These "sons of the gods" make so much commotion and are so ill-behaved that Apsu decides to destroy them. When Ea learns of the plan, he kills Apsu and with his wife Damkina establishes their dwelling above his body

18. Mesopotamia Myth • Damkina then gives birth to Marduk, the god of spring symbolized both by the light of the sun and the lightning in storm and rain. He was also the patron god of the city of Babylon.

19. Mesopotamia Myth • Meanwhile Tiamat is enraged at the murder of her husband Apsu, and vows revenge. She creates eleven monsters to help her carry out her vengeance. Tiamat takes a new husband, Kingu, in place of the slain Apsu and puts him in charge of her newly assembled army.

20. Mesopotamia Myth • to avenge the murder of her husband Tiamat prepares to unleash on the other gods the destructive forces that she has assembled. Ea learns of her plan and attempts to confront Tiamat.

21. Mesopotamia Myth • Ea fails to stop Tiamat. Then Anu attempts to challenge her but fails as well. The gods become afraid that no one will be able to stop Taimat’s vengeful rampage.

22. Mesopotamia Myth • Anshar’s minister Gaga is dispatched to the other gods to report the activities of Tiamat and to tell them of Marduk’s willingness to face her.

23. Mesopotamia Myth • The council of the gods tests Marduk’s powers by having him make a garment disappear and then reappear. After passing the test, the council enthrones Marduk as high king and commissions him to fight Tiamat

24. Mesopotamia Myth • With the authority and power of the council, Marduk assembles his weapons, the four winds as well as the seven winds of destruction. He rides in his chariot of clouds with the weapons of the storm to confront Tiamat.

25. Mesopotamia Myth • After entangling her in a net, Marduk unleashes the Evil Wind to inflate Tiamat. When she is incapacitated by the wind, Marduk kills her with an arrow through her heart and takes captive the other gods and monsters who were her allies.

26. Mesopotamia Myth • He also captured her husband Kingu. After smashing Tiamat’s head with a club, Marduk divided her corpse, using half to create the earth and the other half to create the sky complete with bars to keep the chaotic waters from escaping

27. Mesopotamia Myth • Marduk builds dwelling places for the other gods. As they take their place, they establish the days and months and seasons of the year. Since this is a myth about the natural world, the "stations" that Marduk establishes for the gods correspond to the celestial luminaries that figured in Babylonian astrology.

28. Mesopotamia Myth • The phases (horns) of the Moon determine the cycles of the months. From the spittle of TiamatMarduk creates rain for the earth. The city of Babylon is established as the audience room of King Marduk.

29. Mesopotamia Myth • Marduk decides to create human beings, but needs blood and bone from which to fashion them. Ea advises that only one of the gods should die to provide the materials for creation, the one who was guilty of plotting evil against the gods.

30. Mesopotamia Myth • Marduk inquires of the assembly of the gods about who incited Tiamat’s rebellion, and was told that it was her husband Kingu. Ea kills Kingu and uses his blood to fashion mankind so they can perform menial tasks for the gods.

31. Mesopotamia Myth • To honor Marduk, the gods construct a house for him in Babylon. After its completion, Marduk gives a great feast for the gods in his new house who all praise Marduk for his greatness in subduing Tiamat.

32. Chinas Creation Myth • 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. Pangu stood in the middle, and he and the egg's two parts grew and grew until he was nine million li in height.

33. Chinas Creation Myth • When Pangu died, his breath became the wind and clouds, his voice the rolling thunder, and his eyes the sun and the moon. 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.

34. Chinas Creation Myth • There are several versions of the Pangu legend, but one that is common in southern China is that of King Fang and King GaoXin. Pangu was King GaoXin's dog, and King GaoXin had a great enmity with King Fang. He proclaimed, "Anyone who can bring me King Fang's head will have my daughter's hand in marriage," but no one would try because of King Fang's fearsome army.

35. Chinas Creation Myth • One day Pangu slipped away and went to King Fang's court. King Fang was happy to see that he had deserted King GaoXin, and welcomed him with a banquet. However, that night, Pangu sneaked into the king's chambers and bit off his head, returning back to King GaoXin with it.

36. Chinas Creation Myth • King GaoXin was overjoyed to see that Pangu had brought King Fang's head, but did not think to marry his daughter to a dog. Pangu would not eat for three days, and the king asked, "Why do you not eat? Are you angry that I would not marry my daughter to you?"

37. Chinas Creation Myth • Pangu said, "No, just cover me with your golden bell for seven days and I'll turn into a man." The king did so, but the princess peeked under on the sixth day. She found that Pangu already had man's body but retained a dog's head.

38. Chinas Creation Myth • However, once the bell had been raised the magic change stopped, and he remained a man with a dog's head. The princess married him and the settled in southern China, where they had four children, who became the ancestors of mankind.