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List of creation myths

Creation myths of various cultures

Summary

Creation myths of various cultures

A creation myth (or creation story) is a cultural, religious or traditional myth which attempts to describe the earliest beginnings of the present world. Creation myths are the most common form of myth, usually developing first in oral traditions, and are found throughout human culture. A creation myth is usually regarded by those who subscribe to it as conveying profound truths, though not necessarily in a historical or literal sense. They are commonly, though not always, considered cosmogonical myths, that is, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.

Basic type

Creation from chaos

Main article: Chaos (cosmogony)

  • Enûma Eliš (Babylonian creation myth)
  • Eridu Genesis
  • Greek cosmogonical myth
  • Jamshid
  • Korean creation narratives
  • Kumulipo
  • Mandé creation myth
  • Pangu
  • Raven in Creation
  • Serer creation myth
  • Tungusic creation myth
  • Unkulunkulu
  • Väinämöinen
  • Viracocha

Earth diver

Main article: Earth-diver

  • Ainu creation myth
  • Cherokee creation myth
  • Iroquois creation myth
  • Väinämöinen
  • Yoruba creation myth (Nigeria, Africa)
  • Ob-Ugric creation myth

Emergence

Main article: Emergence

  • Hopi creation myth
  • Maya creation of the world myth
  • Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo)
  • Zuni creation myth

''Ex nihilo'' (out of nothing)

Main article: Ex nihilo

  • Debate between sheep and grain
  • Barton cylinder
  • Ancient Egyptian creation myths
  • Genesis creation (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Rastafari)
  • Kabezya-Mpungu
  • Māori myths
  • Mbombo
  • Ngai
  • Popol Vuh

Raven Tales

Main article: Raven Tales

World parent

Main article: World parent

  • Coatlicue
  • Enûma Eliš
  • Greek cosmogonical myth
  • Heliopolis creation myth
  • Hiranyagarbha creation myth
  • Kumulipo
  • Rangi and Papa
  • Völuspá

Divine twins

Main article: Divine twins

  • Proto-Indo-European creation myths

Regional

Africa

  • Ancient Egyptian creation myths
  • Fon creation myth
  • Kaang creation myth (San)
  • Kintu myth (Bugandan)
  • Mandé creation myth
  • Mbombo (Kuba, Bakuba or Bushongo/Boshongo)
  • Ngai (Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai )
  • Serer creation myth (cosmogony of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania)
  • Unkulunkulu (Zulu)
  • Yoruba creation (Nigeria, Africa)

Americas

Caribbean

  • Taíno creation myths

Mesoamerica

  • Coatlicue (Aztec)
  • Maya creation of the world myth
  • Popol Vuh (Quiché Mayan)

Mid North America

  • Anishinaabeg creation stories
  • Cherokee creation myth
  • Choctaw creation myth
  • Creek creation myth
  • Hopi creation myth
  • Iroquois creation myth
  • Kuterastan (Plains Apache)
  • Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo)
  • Raven in Creation (Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian)
  • Zuni creation myth

South America

  • Legend of Trentren Vilu and Caicai Vilu (Chilean)
  • Viracocha (Incan)
  • Xolas (Chilean)

Asia

Central Asia

  • Ergenekon
  • Mongolian creation myth
  • Tungusic creation myth

East Asia

  • Ainu creation myth (Japan)
  • Au Co (Vietnamese)
  • Chinese creation myth
  • Japanese creation myth
  • Korean creation narratives
  • Vietnamese creation myth
  • Nüwa (Chinese)
  • Pangu (Chinese)

Indian subcontinent

  • Ajativada
  • Buddhist cosmology
  • Folk Hindu creation myth
  • Hiranyagarbha creation (India)
  • Jainism and non-creationism (India)
  • Meitei mythology (India)
  • Mimamsa eternalism (India)
  • Nyaya-Vaisheshika atomic theory (India)
  • Samkhya-yoga theory (India)
  • Sanamahi creation myth (India)

Europe

  • Slavic creation myth
  • Theogony (Greek)
  • Book of Invasions (Celtic, specifically Irish)
  • Väinämöinen (Finnish)
  • Völuspá (Norse)

Middle East

  • Debate between sheep and grain
  • Enûma Eliš (Babylonian)
  • Eridu Genesis (Sumerian)
  • Genesis creation (Hebrew)
  • Islamic creation myth (Arabic)
  • Leviathan (Book of Job 38-41 creation myth)
  • Mashya and Mashyana (Persian)

Pacific Islands/Oceanic

  • Areop-Enap (Nauruan)
  • Kumulipo (Hawaiian)
  • Lafaek Diak (Timorese)
  • Māori myths (Māori)
  • Rangi and Papa (Māori)
  • Sureq Galigo (Buginese)

Australian

The Australian Aboriginal concepts of "The Dreaming" or "Dreamtime".

In mythopoeia

In mythopoeia, an artificial mythology created by writers of prose or other fiction, traditional mythological themes and archetypes are integrated into fiction. Some works of mythopoeia also feature creation myths:

  • Ainulindalë from Tolkien's The Silmarillion

References

References

  1. "The Dreaming | Indigenous Beliefs, Creation Stories & Spirit Beings | Britannica".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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