According to the book Creation and Procreation: Feminist Reflections on Mythologies of Cosmogony and Parturition by Marta Weigle, there are nine types of creation myths. Some cultures or religions, such as Christianity, take from multiple creation types to explain their beginnings.
- Accretion or Injunction stories are based on the earth, wind, fire or water uniting to form the world. In the Scandinavian creation myth, the cold of Niflheim and the hot of Muspelheim meet in the emptiness of Ginnungagap, where the ice melts to form the father, Ymir.
- Secretion myths state that vomit, sweat, urination, defecation, masturbation, web-spinning, and virgin birth or cloning created the world. Secretion myths do not, however, tell how the Earth and cosmos were created, only how humans came to be. According to the Scandinavian myth, Ymir's sweat created man and woman.
- Sacrifice stories use the idea that the act of killing a god causes creation. In Hindu creation stories, the god, Purusha, is dismembered, so creation can occur. His body becomes different parts of our world, such as the sun, the sky and the wind.
- Division or consummation myths are ones where creation occurred from the splitting of a "cosmic egg" or the consummation of earth and sky. In Finnish culture, Kalevala or Water-Mother, moves her knee causing 6 duck eggs to open and form the earth, sky, sun, moon, and clouds.
- Earth-diver myths believe the cosmos is formed from the sand or mud of a vast primeval sea. Native American creation stories refer to Earth-divers waking to find there is no land upon which to build a home. They dive into the water and retrieve a small piece of mud, thus creating the world.
- Emergence stories state that the first creature, human or race came from another world that is too small to hold them. Again, many Native American tribes believe that man fled a dark, cramped place and found a new world of light.
- Two Creators myths are those where two gods either cooperate or compete to create the world. The Acoma Pueblo believe the world was created by two sisters who rise from the ground and work together to invoke the sun and give life to plants and animals.
- Deus Fabor stories talk of the creation of the world by a god or maker, in his form. Christians believe that God created man in his own image.
- Ex nihilo myths are those where the world was created from nothingness. In the Christian Bible, the Book of Genesis talks of God speaking the universe into existence.
In the end, it is important that while our opinions of how life on Earth began may differ, we are all human beings and we must respect these differences, if we are to grow.
I had no idea there were so many different types of creation myths. I suppose it shows just how diverse the people on each continent are. I will say I think I prefer the myths where humanity is not created from bodily fluids, though. I think I'd feel a bit weird to know I came from someone's sweat.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea either.
ReplyDeleteThank you for compiling such a fantastic list. It's interesting to see how stories were inspired by the lives of the storytellers. Some of these are so bizarre it is hard to understand how these stories even got started. In my opinion, the most logical are the ones who have the "gods" mating to produce the earth and it's beings.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to find out that there're so many different story types out there. When I would think of different kinds, I would just think of the creation stories from the main religions. Learning about the first creation story we studied helped me see that there's so much more than just the ones from the main religions. This list helps to put that into perspective even more.
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