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Write your own creation myth

Frozenwolf150

Formerly SilentKnight
Frozenwolf150
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
4,134
This is something I've always wanted to do. After spending some time getting caught up in the latest DOC thread, I had posed the question as to why it's so important for Christians to believe in the literal details of the flood. Isn't heeding the moral lesson of the story more important than grasping at straws to prove a global flood? Don't all cultures have a story of the creation of the world? Doesn't this suggest that these stories can be written by anyone?

I have wondered what would happen if I posed this question to the talented minds at JREF. What kind of creation myth would you write? What lessons would there be? Would the Biblical story even measure up, given what we know about the universe today?
 
I'm actually writing a creation narrative myself by using allegory to symbolize scientific concepts.

The names are the same words used, sometimes slightly altered, but turned into personal pronouns.

For instance, "Time birthed from his mother who is the sacred name of Nothing..."

Essentially; it's a way of writing a narrative of our current understanding of how things came to be via science, but poetically retelling in an allegorical narrative.

It'll be interesting to see where it goes over time.
It'll also take a considerable amount of time to finish, as I'm not hitting the work regularly, but more periodically and on the side.

For me, the reason that I wanted to do this was because (as someone strongly interested in anthropology) I wanted to try to understand the mindset of ancient mindsets which produced the narratives we have today.
I considered that one way to help sympathize with their way of thinking would be to attempt to convey what we know in the same kind of poetic language ancient cultures used to communicate their understandings.
 
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Frozenwolf150 said:
I had posed the question as to why it's so important for Christians to believe in the literal details of the flood. Isn't heeding the moral lesson of the story more important than grasping at straws to prove a global flood?
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This reminded me of something I read which I think was attributed to Jesus, which went along the lines of believing in his words and doing them rather than believing in his magic tricks. (Miracles)

Frozenwolf150 said:
Don't all cultures have a story of the creation of the world? Doesn't this suggest that these stories can be written by anyone?

I have wondered what would happen if I posed this question to the talented minds at JREF. What kind of creation myth would you write? What lessons would there be? Would the Biblical story even measure up, given what we know about the universe today?
Click to expand...

Isn't it more practical though to focus on the actuality rather than create myths to 'explain' the 'before the beginning'?
 
Its late, can't do a detailed work up. Just the basic premise.

The Great and Eternal Oz sat down and wept at his failure to create a world devoid of suffering.
One of his tears floated off into the great void. Within it were the seeds of all that we mortals know of as the universe.
 
Been there, done that.

Any roleplaying gamer is likely to be familiar with world building. One of the best settings I created, I started with the creation narrative. From there you can build a self-consistent setting from the ground up.

I once wrote an article for a roleplaying tips newsletter describing how and why.
 
The Book of Lachis


For it was at the place of the beginning that there was naught but emptiness. Even so, the emptiness was not balanced for there was nothing its equal. And, being not balanced, it began to tilt. It tilted slowly as time passed; but, there being nothing to measure time, it passed unnoticed. The emptiness tilted until it began to curl for there was naught to stop it. It curled until it folded upon itself but still it did not stop. And, curling it stretched but still it did not stop. It stretched until it tore violently apart in a tremendous burst of light. As the light died away, there remained two flames in the darkness, one brighter and one dimmer.

And the bright flame spoke saying, “I am God for I am fierce.”

And the lesser flame replied saying, “I am Goddess for I am warm.”

After a moment, the two flames departed the place of the beginning, each going its own way. And, the place of the beginning was again in darkness. And, time passed and passed again with no change. But, after a time, the lesser flame returned to the place of the beginning. And, after a longer time, the fiercer flame returned as well.

Goddess spoke saying, “I wandered far but found nothing so I returned to the place of the beginning and waited.”

God answered saying, “I wandered far as well but when I found nothing I searched farther still and found only nothing. And, so I too returned to the place of the beginning.”

God examined Goddess more closely saying, “Truly it must be that you are Goddess for you are like me but not as me.”

Goddess answered saying, “Truly, for I have found none other like us. There is none like me but you.”

Goddess considered and then said, “If I have found nothing and you have found nothing even as both searched then perhaps there is nothing but us.”

God answered saying, “It must be so; perhaps it is enough.”

Goddess disagreed saying, “It cannot be so for I feel that there must be more. We two are not enough.”

God considered and then answered, “If we two are all that is and there is nothing more then how can we not be enough?”

Goddess answered saying, “Perhaps it is for us to create more.”

God replied, “But I have tried and could not.”

Goddess was surprised and questioned him asking, “How did you try?”

God answered, “Finding nothing I grew impatient so I seized the emptiness and rent it with my strength. But, it did not remain so and blended back into nothing.”

Goddess spoke, “This I cannot do but I would see you do it if I may.”

And so God seized the emptiness and sparks flew as he rent it with his great strength, tearing the emptiness into substance. God released the tear and it blended back into itself, becoming emptiness again.

God spoke saying, “It is thus; I cannot do more.”

Goddess considered and then answered, “Truly you cannot; but we are two and perhaps it is for both.”

God answered saying, “How can it be so?”

Goddess replied saying, “If you rend the darkness again, I will try to hold it. Let us try.”

And God seized the darkness and pulled again. He pulled with his fierce strength rending the darkness. And sparks flew again from the darkness as it was rent into substance. And Goddess seized the hot and glowing substance and tried to hold it fast. But even so, the substance pulled from her grasp as it pulled from God's, becoming darkness again.

God spoke saying, "Truly the darkness is balanced thus and what can change it?”

But Goddess replied saying, “I feel it must change. I will yet consider.”

God spoke saying, “I will search again.”

And God left the place of the beginning. Goddess remained, considering.

Goddess considered as time passed and passed again. And still Goddess remained. And Goddess yet considered as time passed and passed again. And, after a much longer time, God did return.

Then God spoke saying, “I traveled far and far again but found nothing. And so I moved on traveling farther and farther again yet I found nothing. And once more I traveled farther and farther again yet still I found nothing. And so I returned again to the place of the beginning to find you who are like me but not as me.”

But Goddess replied, “Truly it so but I feel there must be more.”

And God spoke saying, “I have rent the darkness and could not hold it. And, have rent the darkness again and we both could not hold it. The darkness is balanced thus and what can change it?”

Goddess replied saying, “Truly I have considered much and again even as you traveled far and far again. And even as you returned to find the one who is like you but not like you so too I may have an answer.”

God was surprised saying, “What can there be?”

But Goddess did not answer. She clasped God and held him fast. And God was again surprised and tried to push her away. And with his fierce strength God pushed and pushed again but he came not free.

God spoke saying, “Release me for I am held fast.”

But Goddess replied saying, “No. It must be so.” And even as Goddess clasped him God was warmed. And being warmed, God burned hotter and more fierce. And, even as she clasped him Goddess burned hotter. And both burned more brightly until Goddess burned as hot and fierce as God had been and God burned hotter and fiercer still.

Goddess cried out saying, “It is time, for you must rend the darkness now.”

And releasing her, God seized the darkness and rent it with strength beyond strength. And a burning hot piece tore away from the darkness.

Goddess spoke again saying, “We must hold it fast until it cools.”

Both seized the burning piece and held it fast. And as it cooled it became two and two again. The piece that was closest to God became fire and the fourth part farther from him became air. The part closest to Goddess became water and the part farther from her became earth.

And as they looked at the four parts that they had rent from nothing, God spoke saying, "We have substance with which to build."

But Goddess wondered, saying, "Are the four parts all; is there nothing else?"

And God opened his hand and found a small amount of glowing substance still contained therein. And they opened their four hands and each contained a small amount of substance. And Goddess gathered it together into one piece and compared it with the other parts.

Goddess spoke, "This last part is smaller than the other parts but let it be so that we can build all we need from what we have."

And God marveled saying, “You wanted more even as I found naught. You considered even as I searched. You clasped me fast even as I tried to break free. You warmed me until I was fierce beyond fierce. Even as I was alone I could not tear the darkness. Truly it is good that you are like me but not as me for you are wise.”

But Goddess answered saying, “You searched and searched again even as I waited. You searched and searched again even as I considered. And you found naught and thus I felt there must be more. And, you rent the darkness with strength beyond mine own. Truly it is good that you are like me but not as me for you are strong.”

And now having substance to build, they were both pleased.
 
Belz... said:
Same here. Hell, I've done that a few dozen times already in the last 20 years by trying to find just the right recipe.
Click to expand...

In a beginning, in a galaxy far far away (as soon as it gets created of course) there was a massive *clonk* as two timeless yet eternal coconuts cracked together, as coconuts are wont to do. The resulting collision splattered timeless coconut milk into the void and the shattered remains of the coconuts coalesced around the milk just like Cheerios in your cereal bowl.

With time this attracted the ants (they are also timeless but not eternal; god help us all if they were) which gathered the coconut pieces and dragged them back to their queen who was mighty pleased with the gift of coconut pieces. She ate them and porked out some offspring infused with the special-pled quality coconuts. Their powers were limitless yet constrained by their very nature as simple drone ants. Even with all the power of those whacky coconuts the ant children could only continue to be ants.

Eventually a giant magnifying glass blew them up and thus began the Big Bang and here we are. The only testament to these facts are ants and coconuts, both which DEFINITELY exist so there can be no question to the veracity of this myth fact.
 
The Great Creator once spun an elaborate tapestry, depicting many thousands of worlds and species and civilizations. It was a fine tapestry, and he spent millions of years admiring it, studying every detail over and over again.

But alas, the tapestry never changed. After a while he became bored with it, but he wasn't sure where to go from there. Should he create a new tapestry? No, that wasn't a good option. It would be too much like the old one, and he would grow tired of it even faster.

Then he had a brilliant idea. He would cause the tapestry to slowly unravel. Over many eons, he could watch the slow destruction of his handiwork, and see all the interesting things that would happen as it disintegrated. It would eventually be destroyed, but it would no longer be boring.

And the tapestry was the Universe, and it had just got interesting.
 
arthwollipot said:
Been there, done that.

Any roleplaying gamer is likely to be familiar with world building. One of the best settings I created, I started with the creation narrative. From there you can build a self-consistent setting from the ground up.

I once wrote an article for a roleplaying tips newsletter describing how and why.
Click to expand...
As have I and a few people I know. I was interested if there were any you felt like sharing. Nonetheless I'll keep your advice in mind.

barehl said:
The Book of Lachis


For it was at the place of the beginning that there was naught but emptiness. Even so, the emptiness was not balanced for there was nothing its equal. And, being not balanced, it began to tilt. It tilted slowly as time passed; but, there being nothing to measure time, it passed unnoticed. The emptiness tilted until it began to curl for there was naught to stop it. It curled until it folded upon itself but still it did not stop. And, curling it stretched but still it did not stop. It stretched until it tore violently apart in a tremendous burst of light. As the light died away, there remained two flames in the darkness, one brighter and one dimmer. (snipped for space)
Click to expand...
Pretty good, could use more brevity. Is it original?
 
I can't contribute much other than to note some common motifs in existing creation stories. Marta Weigle in Creation and Procreation identifies 9 of them:
  1. Primordial elements meet, mingle, or otherwise get disturbed.
  2. Secretion: something material that comes from a creator's body
  3. Sacrifice: the sacrificed one's body then becomes raw materials
  4. Splitting: the hatching of a cosmic egg or separating earth from sky
  5. Earth diver: a god dives in a primordial ocean for mud that he uses to create land
  6. Emergence from one world into another one
  7. Two creators: they either cooperate or compete
  8. Deus faber (God the builder): a creator forms things out of pre-existing material
  9. Ex nihilo (Out of nothing): a creator creates by commanding or something similar

In barehl's creation story I can recognize (1), (7), and (8). God and Goddess are paired creators, and it looks like they manipulate their environment.

Biblical creation story #1 has (9) and (4), while #2 has (8) and (2).

Hesiod's Theogony has (1), (2), and (4), and some (7) and (8). Greek mythology in general has lots of (2).

The Norse creation story has (1), (3), and (8).

There are lots of other ones that I could analyze, but I'll turn to the Universe according to modern science.

Biological evolution is, of course (2), where the secretion is ordinary reproduction.

Abiogenesis and the origin of planets, stars, galaxies, and likely the Universe are all (1).
 
I was born because the Universe knew it couldn't go on without the awesomeness that is Me.













(Sorry, I know this is a serious thread, but I thought of this smart-ass answer and couldn't resist.)
 
Frozenwolf150 said:
Pretty good, could use more brevity. Is it original?
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Brevity? You asked for a creation myth, not a bumper sticker. Yes, it's original. I needed to figure out the setting for a novel so I wrote what the world was like before the novel begins. That is only part of it.
 
I rather like the Tolkein version that involves the head god dude creating lesser gods to sing as a chorus, with many voices, some sometimes discordant, harmonies ebbing and flowing, etc... What they sung was the universe.

I think I need to go re-read that... its been a while.
 
lpetrich said:
Biblical creation story #1 has (9) and (4), while #2 has (8) and (2).
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The Garden of Eden (the land of grapes) location has soil that is reddish. So, in the original creation story, man was formed from blood mixed with earth. It was the blood that gave the earth its vital essence. Unfortunately, the story is so old that I don't know what the origin of the blood was supposed to be, whether it was God's blood or the result of slaying something like the Native American myth where the tribes are formed from the body of the slain beaver monster.

Biological evolution is, of course (2), where the secretion is ordinary reproduction.

Abiogenesis and the origin of planets, stars, galaxies, and likely the Universe are all (1).
Click to expand...

I would probably count this as 1, 2, and 3. You have primordial hydrogen that undergoes nuclear fusion to create heavier elements. Unfortunately, most of this is unavailable since it is part of a star. It takes the death of a star in supernova to eject most of the heavier materials into space. I would probably count the secretion as the formation of organic molecules. Once you have organic molecules then you have something to create living things from.
 
I did not write the below creation story, but it is just about as logical as any other creation story, so here goes ...

Once upon a time there was a powerful and great man with three sons that he loved very much.

He asked the first son what he his one wish was and he said "Power".
He asked the second son what his one wish was and said "Happiness".
He asked the third son what his one wish was and said "I want the tools to build an Earth".

So the third son is the one who got his wish granted and that is why we are here.
 
Frozenwolf150 said:
This is something I've always wanted to do. After spending some time getting caught up in the latest DOC thread, I had posed the question as to why it's so important for Christians to believe in the literal details of the flood. Isn't heeding the moral lesson of the story more important than grasping at straws to prove a global flood? Don't all cultures have a story of the creation of the world? Doesn't this suggest that these stories can be written by anyone?

I have wondered what would happen if I posed this question to the talented minds at JREF. What kind of creation myth would you write? What lessons would there be? Would the Biblical story even measure up, given what we know about the universe today?
Click to expand...

I said "Let there be everything".

I looked at everything and told Mankind "Write if you get work and send money".
 
Creation has not yet occurred. What you're looking at here is a focus group. We're spending a few billions years gathering opinions on what a created universe SHOULD be. The developers expect to have a user requirements manual in another 40 billion years. That's when the cost analysis can start.
 
Not very creative

While I am not very creative, I kind of like The Silmarillion and Iluvatar creating the universe through song.
 
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