Judeo-Christian Creation Story

• The following are summaries of different creation stories from around the world.

Judeo-Christian Creation Story

• The biblical story is in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament.
• Genesis is the sacred sourcebook of Judaism and Christianity.
• The stories were written in the first millennium BCE.
• They evolved into their current form around 450 BCE.
• God initially created the heavens and the earth, the earth being a formless void with darkness.
• God separated light from darkness, calling them day and night respectively.
• God created a dome to separate water, naming it "sky."
• God gathered the water to one place, revealing dry ground called "land," and the gathered waters became "seas."
• God created vegetation with seed-bearing plants and fruit trees of every kind.
• God created lights in the sky to separate day from night, serving as signs for times, days, and years.
• These included two great lights and the stars to govern day and night.
• God filled the water with living creatures and the sky with birds of every kind.
• God created living creatures on land, including livestock, animals, and wild creatures of every kind.
• God created humankind in His image to rule over all living creatures.
• God blessed humankind to be fruitful, increase, fill the earth, and subdue it.
• He gave them seed-bearing plants and fruit to eat.
• Finally, God rested on the seventh day, hallowing it.

Iroquois Creation Myth - The Great Turtle

• The Iroquois people, who formed a federation in what is now New York State in the 1400s, told this story orally until Europeans wrote it down.
• The first people lived beyond the sky, but there was no earth beneath.
• The chief's daughter became ill, and as she fell through a hole in the sky, two swans supported her.
• They brought her to the Great Turtle, master of all animals, who convened a council.
• The council decided that the tree she carried had earth on its roots, so they tried to retrieve it.
• Otter, Muskrat, and Beaver all failed and died.
• The old lady Toad volunteered and managed to spit out a mouthful of dirt on the back of the Great Turtle.
• This magical earth grew into an island, where the woman was set down.
• The two white swans circled it as it continued to grow into the world it is today, supported by the Turtle.
• Alternate summary: The Sky People lived on a floating island where no one died or was born or experienced sadness.
• A Sky Woman was going to give birth to twins.
• Her husband tore up the tree, which provided light, creating a hole and pushed her through.
• She landed on the backs of two birds and asked other animals to dive into the water to retrieve mud.
• Little Toad succeeded.
• The mud was placed on Big Turtle’s back and grew into North America.
• The Sky Woman stepped onto the land.
• She sprinkled dust, creating stars, the moon, and the sun.
• The Sky Woman have birth to twin sons, Sapling (kind and gentle) and Flint (cold).
• Sapling created what is good and useful to humans.
• Flint destroyed Sapling's work and created all that is bad.
• Sapling gave life to it so it could move to give way to Spring.
• Eventually Sapling and Flint fought until Flint was forced to live on Big Turtle's back, his anger felt as a volcano.
• The Iroquois respected animals which is why they play importatn role in the creation of the world,

Norse Creation Myth - The Creation of the Cosmos

• Norse creation myth or cosmogony is one of the richest.
• Before time, there was a big dark emptiness called Ginungagap.
• Niflheim, to the north, was a dark place.
• Consists of ice, frost, and fog.
• Muspelheim, to the south, was the land of fire.
• Consisting of fire, lava, and smoke.
• The fire giant Surtr will be the ruler and live there.
• In Nilfheim, all the cold rivers originate from Hvergelmir.
• Hvergelmir was the origin of all existence and the place where every living being will go back.
• Elivagar, or ice waves, existed in Niflheim at the start of the world.
• Water from Elivagar flowed to Ginnungagap's plains, solidifying into frost and ice.
• Lava and sparks came into Ginnungagap from Muspelheim.
• The air from Niflheim and Muspelheim met which melted the ice into a humanoid giant named Ymir.
• Ymir's sweat grew two more giants, one male and one female, and a third son called Thrudgelmir.
• These frost giants, called Jotuns, were breastfed by the cow giant Audhumla.
• Audhumla fed herself on a block of salty ice.
• After three days and licking on the salty ice block the rest of the body came out.
• Man who had grown out of the salty rock was Buri, the first of the Gods and had a son Borr, with his wife Bestla, and together had three sons, Odin, Vili, and Ve.
• Odin and his brothers killed Ymir and the blood drowned most of the giants.
• Two giants, Bergelmir and his wife, survived and populated all future giants.
• The world was created from Ymir's remains.
• Ymir’s blood oceans, rivers, and lakes, flesh into land, bones become the mountains, teeth into rocks, hair into grass and trees and eyelashes became Midgard.
• The brain thrown became clouds, and the skull became the sky.
• Sparks from Muspelheim became stars.
• On the plains of Idavoll, they built Asgard and Jotunheim.
• Worms became dwarves.
• The three brothers told four of the dwarves to hold up the sky.
• They sent out ("Nordi"), West ("Vestri”), South (“Sundri”), and East (“Austri”).
• The rest made their homes in Svartalheim where they became crafters and weapons makers.
• Mundilfari had two beautiful children he named Mani (“Moon”) and Sol ("Sun”).
• The Gods made them servants in the sky.
• Sol rides a chariot with shield that is pulled by two horses.
• Mani is pulled by one horse, and stole two children from Earth.
• They are pursued by Sköll ("Treachery") and Hati ("Hate") each day.
• They will eventually eat them at Ragnarök.
• The giant Nörvi had a daughter named Nótt ("Night") and a son Dagr ("Day").
• Both ride chariots pulled by horses.
• Nótt rides Hrimfaxi (“rime mane”) and Dagr rides Skinfaxi ("shining mane").
• Followed by wolves.
• Odin, Vili and Ve found two logs made of ash and wood.
• Odin gave spirit and life, Ve gave movement, mind and intelligence and Vili gave them shape, speech, feelings and the fice senses.
• Those two were the first humans, called Ask and Embla.
• They lived in Midgard.

Hopi Creation Myth

• Emergence myths are common in First Nations cultures.
• Including the Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni
• focus on feminine, maternal energy.
• abstract, omnipresent earth mother figure gives birth to existence.
• Earth mother's womb nourishes souls that are born into their next form.
• There was only Tawa, the Sun God, and Spider Woman, the Earth Goddess.
• The Above belonged to Tawa, and the Below belonged to Spider Woman.
• There was nothing without their will to create.
• The Two willed to make Earth between the Above and Below the endless waters.
• They sang made the First Magic Song.
• Tawa is Light, Life, and Father.
• Spider Woman receives Light, nourishes Life, am the Mother.
• They created women and men to rule and enjoy the lesser creatures.
• Now all is finished and will turn shield upon the waters.
• Created Dry Land, which is the first day on Earth.
• Spider Woman separated them into 5 groups.
• She led them through the Four Great Caverns of the Underworld she led them to an opening, which led above.
• The Puma, the Snake, the Antelope, the Deer, and other Horn creatures led a clan to a place to build their house.
• The woman of the clan is the house builder and maker, molds the jars, grind the grain, and teach the young.
• The man of the clan shall build kivas and altars, weave the clan blankets, and make weapons.

Philippine Creation Myth

• When the world began there was only the Sea and Sky.
• A huge, beautiful Kite tired stirring a quarrel between the Sky and the Sea.
• Sky threw rain, thunder, and lightning and then showered a multitude of massive boudlers down upon the Sea.
• The new islands prevented the waters from rising and creating the tides.
• The Sky had the kite to light on the newly formed islands and build a nest to keep the place in peace.
• The Land Breeze and Sea Breeze were married and had a child which they named Bamboo.
• When Bamboo struck the Kite the bird pecked at the bamboo until it split in half.
• Out of one section came a golden man, named Malakas (Strong One) and from the other came a similar hued woman, named Maganda (Beautiful One).
• The animals decided that they should marry each other.
• Together, had many children, and from them all of the races came to be.
• After a wile the parents were annoyed at all the children and tried beating them on all sides.
• the children all fled in different directions, seeking some place to hide both within and outside the house.
• Eventually, everyone in society had a place.
• Chiefs of the islands (Maharlikas)
• Slaves (Alipins)
• Negritos and the Aetas
• Timawas
• White forestners.

Modern Scientific Creation Myth

• Modern science's origin story according to scientific information and discoveries
• In the beginning was nothing,.
• A single point of all energy burst forth 13.8 billioon years ago.
• The engerdy cooled enough to become matter.
• An electron orbits a proton into a hydrogen atom.
• Clouds of hydrogen gravity pulled them together as stars. Swirled as giant clusers called galaxies.
• After matters burned up each star would exploded.
• Some atoms fused and because complex formed all elemements.
• Our giant star exploded and formed elementes.
• Then gravity formed a new star our sun.
• Planets began to revolt around the sum.
• The third planet was Earth.
• Just the right temperature formed water and membranes and got more complex.
• One-celled living organized appeared able to reproduce.
• For 3 billion year seht changed in response to their enviornment.
• They eventually became larger due to the sun.
• Eventually the cells stick together in the form of many cells, and the plants and animals came out.
• Humans could sing, talk, draw, and corporate more than anyone else.
• Learning to increase the skils to their numbers until their was too many in some laces.
• Humans learned the cooperate to create new types of food.
• expanded into the larger empires.
• Then humans discovered coal and energy.
• Gases that released in the atmosphere began a huge changes
• Now the population Is increasing rapidly leading to fossil fuels, and climate change.