A
creation myth (or creation story) is a cultural, religious or traditional
myth which describes the earliest beginnings of the present world. Creation myths are the most common form of myth, usually developing first in
oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...
s, 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
Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe.
Overview
Scientific theories
In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...
myths'', that is, they describe the ordering of the
cosmos
The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity.
The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...
from a state of
chaos
Chaos or CHAOS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements
* Chaos (''Kinnikuman'')
* Chaos (''Sailor Moon'')
* Chaos (''Sesame Park'')
* Chaos (''Warhammer'')
* Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy''
* Cha ...
or amorphousness.
Basic type
Creation from chaos
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Enûma Eliš (
Babylonian creation myth)
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Greek cosmogonical myth
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Jamshid
*
Korean creation narratives
Korean creation narratives are Korean shamanic narratives which recount the mythological beginnings of the universe. They are grouped into two categories: the eight narratives of mainland Korea, which were transcribed by scholars between the 1 ...
*
Kumulipo
In Hawaiian religion, the Kumulipo is the creation chant, first recorded by Westerners in the 18th century. It also includes a genealogy of the members of Hawaiian royalty and was created in honor of Kalaninuiamamao and passed down orally to his ...
*
Leviathan
Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...
(
Book of Job 38–41 creation myth)
*
Mandé creation myth
*
Pangu
Pangu (, ) is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology who separated heaven and earth and became geographic features such as mountains and rivers.
Legends
The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during t ...
*
Raven in Creation
Raven Tales are the traditional human and animal creation stories of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. They are also found among Athabaskan-speaking peoples and others. Raven stories exist in nearly all of the First Nations ...
*
Serer creation myth
The Serer creation myth is the traditional creation myth of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. Many Serers who adhere to the tenets of the Serer religion believe these narratives to be sacred. Some aspects of Serer religious a ...
*
Sumerian creation myth
The earliest record of a Sumerian creation myth, called The Eridu Genesis by historian Thorkild Jacobsen, is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur by the Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania in 1893, and first recognized ...
*
Tungusic creation myth
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Unkulunkulu
*
Väinämöinen
Väinämöinen () is a demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, m ...
*
Viracocha
Viracocha is the great creator deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. Full name and some spelling alternatives are Wiracocha, Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqutra, and Con-Tici (also spelled Kon-Tiki, the source of t ...
Earth diver
*
Ainu creation myth
The Ainu creation myths are the traditional creation accounts of the Ainu peoples of Japan. Their stories share common characteristics with Japanese creation myths and earth diver creation stories commonly found in Central Asian and Native Amer ...
*
Cherokee creation myth
*
Iroquois creation myth
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Väinämöinen
Väinämöinen () is a demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, m ...
*
Yoruba creation myth
*
Ob-Ugric creation myth
Emergence
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Hopi creation myth
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Maya creation of the world myth
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Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo)
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Zuni creation myth
''Ex nihilo'' (out of nothing)
*
Debate between sheep and grain
The "Debate between sheep and grain" or "Myth of cattle and grain" is a Sumerian creation myth, written on clay tablets in the mid to late 3rd millennium BC.
Disputations
Seven "debate" topics are known from the Sumerian literature, falling in ...
*
Barton cylinder
*
Ancient Egyptian creation myths
Ancient Egyptian creation myths are the ancient Egyptian accounts of the creation of the world. The Pyramid Texts, tomb wall decorations, and writings, dating back to the Old Kingdom (c. 2700–2200 BCE) have provided the majority of information ...
*
Genesis creation myth (Judaism, Christianity and
Islam)
*
Kabezya-Mpungu
*
Māori myths
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Mbombo
Mbombo, also called Bumba, is the creator god in the religion and mythology of the Kuba people of Central Africa in the area that is now known as Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the Mbombo creation myth, Mbombo was a giant in form and white i ...
*
Ngai
Ngai (also called Múrungu or Enkai) is the monolithic Supreme God in the spirituality of the Kikuyu (or Gikuyu) and the closely related Embu, Meru and Kamba groups of Kenya, and the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania. Ngai is creator of the universe ...
*
Popol Vuh
''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popol Wuj'' or ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people, one of the Maya peoples, who inhabit Guatemala and the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and ...
World parent
*
Coatlicue
*
Enûma Eliš
*
Greek cosmogonical myth
*
Heliopolis creation myth
*
Hiranyagarbha creation myth
*
Kumulipo
In Hawaiian religion, the Kumulipo is the creation chant, first recorded by Westerners in the 18th century. It also includes a genealogy of the members of Hawaiian royalty and was created in honor of Kalaninuiamamao and passed down orally to his ...
*
Rangi and Papa
*
Völuspá
''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and ...
Divine twins
*
Proto-Indo-European creation myths
Regional
Africa
*
Ancient Egyptian creation myths
Ancient Egyptian creation myths are the ancient Egyptian accounts of the creation of the world. The Pyramid Texts, tomb wall decorations, and writings, dating back to the Old Kingdom (c. 2700–2200 BCE) have provided the majority of information ...
*
Fon creation myth
*
Kaang creation story (Bushmen)
*
Kintu myth (Bugandan)
*
Mandé creation myth
*
Mbombo
Mbombo, also called Bumba, is the creator god in the religion and mythology of the Kuba people of Central Africa in the area that is now known as Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the Mbombo creation myth, Mbombo was a giant in form and white i ...
(Kuba, Bakuba or Bushongo/Boshongo)
*
Ngai
Ngai (also called Múrungu or Enkai) is the monolithic Supreme God in the spirituality of the Kikuyu (or Gikuyu) and the closely related Embu, Meru and Kamba groups of Kenya, and the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania. Ngai is creator of the universe ...
(Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai )
*
Serer creation myth
The Serer creation myth is the traditional creation myth of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. Many Serers who adhere to the tenets of the Serer religion believe these narratives to be sacred. Some aspects of Serer religious a ...
(cosmogony of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania)
*
Unkulunkulu (Zulu)
*
Yoruba creation
Americas
Caribbean
*
Taíno creation myths
Mesoamerica
*
Coatlicue (Aztec)
*
Maya creation of the world myth
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Popol Vuh
''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popol Wuj'' or ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people, one of the Maya peoples, who inhabit Guatemala and the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and ...
(Quiché Mayan)
Mid North America
*
Anishinaabeg creation stories
*
Cherokee creation myth
*
Choctaw creation myth
*
Creek creation myth
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Hopi creation myth
*
Kuterastan (Plains Apache)
*
Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo)
*
Raven in Creation
Raven Tales are the traditional human and animal creation stories of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. They are also found among Athabaskan-speaking peoples and others. Raven stories exist in nearly all of the First Nations ...
(Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian)
*
Zuni creation myth
South America
*
Legend of Trentren Vilu and Caicai Vilu (Chilean)
*
Viracocha
Viracocha is the great creator deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. Full name and some spelling alternatives are Wiracocha, Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqutra, and Con-Tici (also spelled Kon-Tiki, the source of t ...
(Incan)
*
Xolas (Chilean)
Asia
Central Asia
*
Ergenekon
Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.
*
Mongol mythology, Mongolian creation myth
*
Tungusic creation myth
East Asia
*
Ainu creation myth
The Ainu creation myths are the traditional creation accounts of the Ainu peoples of Japan. Their stories share common characteristics with Japanese creation myths and earth diver creation stories commonly found in Central Asian and Native Amer ...
(Japan)
*
Au Co (Vietnamese)
*
Chinese creation myth Chinese creation myths are symbolic narratives about the origins of the universe, earth, and life. In Chinese mythology, the term "cosmogonic myth" or "origin myth" is more accurate than "creation myth", since very few stories involve a creator deit ...
*
Japanese creation myth
*
Korean creation narratives
Korean creation narratives are Korean shamanic narratives which recount the mythological beginnings of the universe. They are grouped into two categories: the eight narratives of mainland Korea, which were transcribed by scholars between the 1 ...
*
Nüwa
Nüwa, also read Nügua, is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven.
As creator of mankind, she molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay.
In the Huainanzi ...
(Chinese)
*
Pangu
Pangu (, ) is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology who separated heaven and earth and became geographic features such as mountains and rivers.
Legends
The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during t ...
(Chinese)
Indian subcontinent
*
Ajativada
*
Buddhist cosmology
* Folk
Hindu creation myth
*
Hiranyagarbha creation (India)
*
Jainism and non-creationism
According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents—soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion—have always existed. Jainism does not support belief in a creator deity. All the constituents and actions are governed by univ ...
(India)
*
Meitei mythology
Meitei mythology or Manipuri mythology ( mni, Meitei Mi Lai Tingi Wari) is a collection of myths, belonging to the religious and cultural traditions of the Meitei people, the predominant ethnic group of Manipur. It is associated with tradi ...
(India)
*
Mimamsa eternalism (India)
*
Nyaya-
Vaisheshika
Vaisheshika or Vaiśeṣika ( sa, वैशेषिक) is one of the six schools of Indian philosophy (Vedic systems) from ancient India. In its early stages, the Vaiśeṣika was an independent philosophy with its own metaphysics, epistemolog ...
atomic theory (India)
*
Samkhya-
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...
theory (India)
*
Sanamahi creation myth
The Sanamahi creation myth is the traditional creation myth of Sanamahism, a religion of the Meitei, Chothe, Komhreng, Kabui, Anāl, and, before their conversion to Christianity, Tangkhul people in Manipur, India.
Koubru, the first pla ...
(India)
Europe
*
Slavic creation myth
The Slavic creation myth is a cosmogonic myth in Slavic mythology that explains how the world was created, who created it, and what principles guide it. This myth, in its Christianized form, survived until the nineteenth and twentieth century in v ...
* ''
Theogony
The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...
'' (Classical Greco-Roman)
*
Book of Invasions (Celtic, specifically Irish)
*
Väinämöinen
Väinämöinen () is a demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, m ...
(Finnish)
*
Völuspá
''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and ...
(Norse)
Middle East
*
Debate between sheep and grain
The "Debate between sheep and grain" or "Myth of cattle and grain" is a Sumerian creation myth, written on clay tablets in the mid to late 3rd millennium BC.
Disputations
Seven "debate" topics are known from the Sumerian literature, falling in ...
* ''
Enûma Eliš'' (Babylonian)
*
Genesis creation myth (Hebrew)
*
Islamic creation myth (Arabic)
*
Leviathan
Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...
(
Book of Job 38-41 creation myth)
*
Mashya and Mashyana
According to the Zoroastrian cosmogony, Mashya and Mashyana were the first man and woman whose procreation gave rise to the human race.
Etymology
The names are from Avestan, nominally transliterated as ' and ', but like other Avestan words also, ...
(Persian)
*
Sumerian creation myth
The earliest record of a Sumerian creation myth, called The Eridu Genesis by historian Thorkild Jacobsen, is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur by the Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania in 1893, and first recognized ...
Pacific Islands/Oceanic
*
Areop-Enap (Nauruan)
*
Kumulipo
In Hawaiian religion, the Kumulipo is the creation chant, first recorded by Westerners in the 18th century. It also includes a genealogy of the members of Hawaiian royalty and was created in honor of Kalaninuiamamao and passed down orally to his ...
(Hawaiian)
*
Māori myths (Māori)
*
Rangi and Papa (Māori)
*
Sureq Galigo (Buginese)
In mythopoeia
In
mythopoeia
Mythopoeia ( grc, , , myth-making), or mythopoesis, is a narrative genre in modern literature and film where an artificial or fictionalized mythology is created by the writer of prose, poetry, or other literary forms. This meaning of the word f ...
, an artificial mythology created by writers of
prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...
or other fiction, traditional
mythological themes and
archetypes
The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...
are integrated into fiction. Some works of mythopoeia also feature creation myths:
*
Ainulindalë
The ''Ainulindalë'' (; "Music of the Ainur") is the creation account in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, published posthumously as the first part of '' The Silmarillion'' in 1977. The "''Ainulindalë''" sets out a central part of the cosmolog ...
from
Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawl ...
's ''
The Silmarillion
''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavri ...
''
References
*
* {{cite book , title=A Dictionary of Creation Myths , first1=David Adams , last1=Leeming , first2=Margaret Adams , last2=Leeming , publisher=Oxford University Press , year=2009 , edition=Oxford Reference Online , isbn=978-0-19-510275-8 , url-access=registration , url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcrea00leem
*
Creation