How the universe was created

Creation Account Is Focused on Country

It is fascinating to note that creation narratives from all over the world possess certain commonalties. They almost all precede from the core point of one deity who stirred Himself to create a world and who involved humans in creation of that world. Another striking commonality is that all have creation emanating from their perspective as though they were the sole country in the world and the world was created for them. To illustrate this point, the essay takes five different narrative accounts -- Hopi, Japanese, Hebrew, Indian, and Chinese -- and compares and contrasts their similarities and differences. In each, creation culminated in forming that particular nation. In the Hebrew account, the narrative focuses around a mystical land called Garden of Eden; creation ended in forming the Hopis; the deities created Japan; the Indian god created animals (Bulls, cows etc. most primary to the Indian people) and most famously the Ganges; whilst the Chinese tale also has symbols of China (specifically the turtle). For people in those days, the world was their country. It was all they knew. Creation myths, therefore, centered on their nation.

Creation Myths

The amount of creation myths that exist in the world are fascinating. Fascinating still is the number of similarities that exist between many if not all of the nations. The five examples brought here center on the Hopi, Japanese, Hebrew, Indian, and Chinese narratives. A short account of each follows:

Hebrew

God -- an omnipotent Creator created creation in six days with each day possessing its own typology. One the sixth day, God created man and from man's rib was woman created. Creation was created by God's metaphysical Spirit "blowing over the surface of the water" when the atmosphere was all that existed and it was an inchoate desolate world.

Hopi

The Creator chose Sotuknang, His agent, to help him create the world in a series of four acts. Sotuknang got the Spider woman (first woman) to help him. She also made four men and four women in her image by taking earth with saliva and mixing it singing the Creation song, she made all creation on the earth. The acts of creation culminated in the birth of the Hopi people

Japan:

The reeds of the world produced various deities the last of whom were Izanagi and Izanami who created Japan by procreation. They gave birth to various more deities one of which -- the fire deity burned Izanami who died. After a series of incidents, tribulations, stories of revenge, and continuous birth of deities and mating, all of these gave form to the royal family of Japan.

Indian

The Indian God made creation from His mind wanting to have a self. From His luminance came fire and resting He divided into three parts: fire, sun, air. Feeling alone, He spread Himself and this divided into male and female. They mated: there were humans. Disgusted with this mating, the female changed to a cow, the male to a bull and he mated her. In a series of different metamorphoses and different mating, different species were created

China:

Pan GU was a giant who dwelt in the vast chaos of the sky. With his death, the sky ruptured and the parts of Pan GU became different geographical elements of the earth (mountains, sea etc.). A goddess called Nu Wa created humans for company. Later the heavens collapsed and earth cracked producing beasts. Nu Wa healed the earth and sky and used a giant turtle to support the sky. She died and features of the earth arose from her too.

a. Differences between Myths

There are a number of differences between the tales.

Firstly, the amount of time taken to create the world differs in all with only the BIBLE stating the world to be completed in six days. The other accounts give it a longer span of time although the Hopi act, not saying how long creation actually took, descries that it occurred in four stages.

The Hopi tale has man and woman created first whilst the Chinese tale has man and woman created before animals (a goddess called Nu Wa created humans for company. Later the heavens collapsed and earth cracked producing beasts.).

The way creation came into being also differs in the various tales with the Indian narrative for instance talking about a God who mates with Himself to produce creation whilst the Japanese narrative has creating deities spring from reeds; the Hebrew Bible has God create with His spirit (similar to the Indian God) whilst the Chinese tale springs from the death of the giant living in the sky.

b. Similarities between myths

There is distinct number of similarities between the myths. Each has a creator forming the universe; the universe didn't emerge coincidentally by itself. The Creator too was a powerful being and most times was later helped by others.

The creation pattern, too, frequently follows the same order with water, fire, constellations, and vegetation preceding animate creation and with creation of sea world differing from that of creation of animals. Creation of man too occupies a realm of its own.

The creation in all narratives strikingly proceeds in stages rather than in one penultimate gasp.

Finally, it is striking to note that creation of the world focuses on creation of the nation. Each and every one of these accounts has creation proceeding from a distinct part of Earth -- usually their own country. In the case of the Bible, it was Eden (and later as the account develops with wandering of the Hebrews, progresses to Israel). Rather than, in other words, preferring a global account of focus on creation of the world as a whole, narrative accounts center on creation of that specific country.

The focus of the country

In the Hebrew account, the narrative focuses around a mystical land called the Garden of Eden. Even though this was not the ultimate land of the Hebrews, we still have creation zoning in on a segment of the Earth and having description center around a specific plot of land and its maintenance (the account has God urging Adam to abstain from eating trees in that land). The creation account too segues into the forming of the Hebrew nation and into their being promised the Land of Israel. Much of the original book of creation is taken up with the land of Israel. The Hopi account has creation ended in forming the Hopis. After a series of events where the people are scattered around the globe and fight amongst themselves, Sotuknang, the creating agent, gathered them in one group:

[Sotuknang] sent them on their way to migrate across the wild new land in search of the homes for their respective clans. The clans were to migrate across the land to learn its ways, although some grew weak and stopped in the warm climates or rich lands along the way. The Hopi trekked and far and wide, and went through the cold and icy country to the north before finally settling in the arid lands between the Colorado River and Rio Grande River. They chose that place so that the hardship of their life would always remind them of their dependence on, and link to, their Creator. (the Four Creations)

The deities created Japan: "The first five deities commanded Izanagi and Izanami to make and solidify the land of Japan" (Philippi, 1969). The Indian god created animals (Bulls, cows etc. most primary to the Indian people):

The female reflected on having mated with someone of whom she was once a part, and she resolved that she should hide so that it would not happen again. She changed to a cow to disguise herself, but he changed to a bull and mated with her, and from their union cows arose. (Radhakrishnan, 1953)

The Indian deity also preoccupied himself with creating most famously the Ganges.

The Chinese tale too has symbols of China (specifically the turtle) ("She used the molten rock to patch the holes in the sky, and she used the four legs of a giant turtle to support the sky again" (Walls & Walls, 1984) Aside from which, note that all names of gods are typically Chinese.