| Revision as of 07:51, 10 July 2011 editWtmitchell (talk | contribs)Administrators146,799 edits Extend quoted snippet as is relevant to the second ref of this cite.← Previous edit | Revision as of 03:33, 18 July 2011 edit undoMusicalcrossbow (talk | contribs)27 edits ←Replaced content with 'thumb|300px|''] Some people wish to call the Biblical Account of Creation a myth,...'Tag: blankingNext edit → | ||
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| Some people wish to call the Biblical Account of Creation a myth, but in reality it is intended to not be taken symbolicly, but literaly. | |||
| A '''creation myth''' or '''creation story''' is a symbolic narrative of a culture, tradition or people that describes their earliest beginnings, how the world they know began and how they first came into it.<ref name="britannica">{{harvnb|Encyclopædia Britannica|2009}}</ref><ref name="womack">{{harvnb|Womack|2005|page=}}, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and therefore typically have multiple versions."</ref><ref name="Leeming 2005">{{harvnb|Leeming|2005}}</ref> Creation myths develop in ]s,<ref name="womack"/> and are the most common form of ], found throughout human ].<ref name="kimball">{{harvnb|Kimball|2008}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Braziller|1963}}</ref> In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound ], although not necessarily in a ] or literal sense.<ref name="kimball"/> They are commonly, although not always, considered ''] myths''—that is they describe the ordering of the ] from a state of ] or amorphousness.<ref>''See:'' | |||
| *{{harvnb|Leeming|2010}} | |||
| *{{harvnb|Weigle|1987}} | |||
| *{{harvnb|Leonard|McClure|2004}} | |||
| *{{harvnb|Honko|1984|page=50}}</ref> They often are considered ] accounts and can be found in nearly all known ].<ref name="britannica"/><ref name="johnston">{{harvnb|Johnston|2009}}</ref> | |||
| Several features are found in all creation myths. They are all stories with a ] and ] who are either ], human-like figures, or animals, who often speak and transform easily.<ref>''See:'' | |||
| *{{harvnb|Johnston|2009}} | |||
| *{{harvnb|Encyclopædia Britannica|2009}} | |||
| *{{harvnb|Leeming|2005}} | |||
| *{{harvnb|Braziller|1963}}</ref> They are often set in a dim and nonspecific past, what historian of religion ] termed ''in illo tempore''.<ref name="johnston"/><ref>{{harvnb|Eliade|1963|page=429}}</ref> Also, all creation myths speak to deeply meaningful questions held by the society that shares them, revealing of their central ] and the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context.<ref>''See:'' | |||
| *{{harvnb|Johnston|2009}} | |||
| *{{harvnb|Braziller|1963}} | |||
| *{{harvnb|Encyclopædia Britannica|2009}} | |||
| *{{harvnb|Leeming|2010}} | |||
| </ref> | |||
| ==Classification== | |||
| ] from a ].]] | |||
| ]s have applied various schemes to classify creation myths found throughout human cultures. Eliade and his student, Charles H. Long, developed a classification based on some common ] that reappear in stories the world over. The classification identifies five basic types:<ref name="lm3233">{{harvnb|Leonard|McClure|2004|page=32–33}}</ref> | |||
| * Creation '']'' in which the creation is through the thought, word, dream or bodily secretions of a divine being | |||
| * ] creation in which a diver, usually a bird or amphibian sent by a creator, plunges to the seabed through a ] to bring up sand or mud which develops into a terrestrial world | |||
| * Emergence myths in which progenitors pass through a series of worlds and metamorphoses until reaching the present world | |||
| * Creation by the dismemberment of a primordial being | |||
| * Creation by the splitting or ordering of a primordial unity such as the cracking of a ] or a bringing into form from ] | |||
| Marta Weigle further developed and refined this typology to highlight nine themes, adding elements such as ''deus faber'', a creation crafted by a deity, creation from the work of two creators working together or against each other, creation from sacrifice and creation from division/conjugation, accretion/conjunction, or secretion.<ref name="lm3233"/> | |||
| An alternative system based on six recurring narrative themes was designed by Raymond Van Over:<ref name="lm3233"/> | |||
| *a primeval ], an infinite expanse of waters or space | |||
| *an originator deity which is awakened or an eternal entity within the abyss | |||
| *an originator deity poised above the abyss | |||
| *a ] or ] | |||
| *an originator deity creating life through sound or word | |||
| *life generating from the corpse or dismembered parts of an originator deity | |||
| ==Meaning and function== | |||
| All creation myths are in one sense ] because they attempt to explain how the world was formed and where humanity came from.<ref name="Leeming 2005"/> While in popular usage the term "myth" is often thought to refer to false or fanciful stories, creation myths are by definition those stories which a culture accepts as both a true and foundational account of their human identity. Ethnologists and anthropologists who study these myths point out that in the modern context theologians try to discern humanity's meaning from ]s and scientists investigate ] with the tools of ] and ], but creation myths define human reality in very different terms. In the past historians of religion and other students of myth thought of them as forms of ] or early-stage science or religion and analyzed them in a literal or logical sense. However they are today seen as symbolic narratives which must be understood in terms of their own cultural context. Charles H. Long writes, "The beings referred to in the myth -- gods, animals, plants -- are forms of power grasped existentially. The myths should not be understood as attempts to work out a rational explanation of deity."<ref>{{harvnb|Long|1963|page=12}}</ref> | |||
| While creation myths are not literal ]s they do serve to define an orientation of humanity in the world in terms of a birth story. They are the basis of a worldview that reaffirms and guides how people relate to both the spiritual and natural world as well as to each other. The creation myth acts as a cornerstone for distinguishing primary reality from relative reality, the origin and nature of being from non-being.<ref>{{harvnb|Sproul|1979|page=6}}</ref> In this sense they serve as a ] but one expressed and conveyed through ] rather than systematic reason. And in this sense they go beyond ]s which mean to explain specific features in religious rites, natural phenomena or cultural life. Creation myths also serve as a framework for humanity's sense of self in terms of ultimate origins, shaping concepts of place, time and purpose in the world.<ref name="britannica"/> | |||
| ==Types== | |||
| ===''Ex nihilo''=== | |||
| {{main|Ex nihilo}} | |||
| ], at the ]]] | |||
| Creation ''ex nihilo'' (Latin "out of nothing"), also known as "creation ''de novo''", is a common type of mythical creation.''Ex nihilo'' creation is found in creation stories from ], the ], the ] and the ], and many ] cultures in Africa, Asia, Oceania and North America.<ref>{{harvnb|Leeming|2010|pages=1–3,153}}</ref> The ] is an example of an even earlier form of ''ex nihilo'' creation myth from ancient ].<ref name="Wasilewska2000">{{cite book|author=Ewa Wasilewska|title=Creation stories of the Middle East|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=sMj1tyho3CoC&pg=PA146|accessdate=23 May 2011|year=2000|publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers|isbn=9781853026812|pages=146–}}</ref> The In most of these stories the world is brought into being by the speech, dream, breath, or pure thought of a creator but creation ''ex nihilo'' may also take place through a creator's bodily secretions. The literal translation of the phrase ''ex nihilo'' is "from nothing" but in many creation myths the line is blurred whether the creative act would be better classified as a creation ''ex nihilo'' or creation from chaos. With ''ex nihilo,'' the potential and the substance of creation springs from within the creator. Such a creator may or may not be existing in physical surroundings such as darkness or water, but does not create the world from them. In creation from chaos the substance used for creation is pre-existing within the unformed void.<ref>{{harvnb|Leeming|Leeming|1994|page=60–61}}</ref> | |||
| ] the goddess ] stood at or near the beginning of creation.]] | |||
| ===Creation from chaos=== | |||
| {{main|Chaos (cosmogony)}} | |||
| In creation from chaos myth, initially there is nothing but a formless, shapeless expanse. In these stories the word "chaos" means "disorder", and this formless expanse, which is also sometimes called a void or an abyss, contains the material with which the created world will be made. Chaos may be described as a having the consistency of vapor or water, dimensionless, and sometimes salty or muddy. These myths associate chaos with evil and oblivion, in contrast to "order" (''cosmos'') which is the good. The act of creation is the bringing of order from disorder, and in many of these cultures it is believed that at some point the forces preserving order and form will weaken and the world will once again be engulfed into the abyss.<ref>{{harvnb|Leeming|2010}}</ref> | |||
| ===World parent=== | |||
| There are two types of world parent myths, both describing a separation or splitting of a primeval entity, the world parent or parents. One form describes the primeval state as an eternal union of two parents, and the creation takes place when the two are pulled apart. The two parents are commonly identified as Sky (usually male) and Earth (usually female) who in the primeval state were so tightly bound to each other that no offspring could emerge. These myths often depict creation as the result of a sexual union, and serve as genealogical record of the deities born from it.<ref>{{harvnb|Leeming|2010|page=16}}</ref> | |||
| In the second form of world parent myth, creation itself springs from dismembered parts of the body of the primeval being. Often in these stories the limbs, hair, blood, bones or organs of the primeval being are somehow severed or sacrificed to transform into sky, earth, animal or plant life, and other worldly features. These myths tend to emphasize creative forces as animistic in nature rather than sexual, and depict the sacred as the elemental and integral component of the natural world.<ref>{{harvnb|Leeming|2010|page=18}}</ref> | |||
| ===Emergence=== | |||
| In emergence myths humanity emerges from another world into the one they currently inhabit. The previous world is often considered the womb of the ], and the process of emergence is likened to the act of giving birth. The role of midwife is usually played by a female deity, like the spider woman of Native American mythology. Male characters rarely figure into these stories, and scholars often consider them in counterpoint to male oriented creation myths, like those of the ] variety.<ref name="Leeming 2005"/> | |||
| Emergence myths commonly describe the creation of people and/or supernatural beings as a staged ascent or ] from nascent forms through a series of ] worlds to arrive at their current place and form. Often the passage from one world or stage to the next is impelled by inner forces, a process of germination or gestation from earlier, embryonic forms.<ref>{{harvnb|Leeming|2010|pages=21–24}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Long|1963}}</ref> The genre is most commonly found in Native American cultures where the myths frequently link the final emergence of people from a hole opening to the underworld to stories about their subsequent migrations and eventual settlement in their current homelands.<ref>{{harvnb|Wheeler-Voegelin|Moore|1957|pages=66–73}}</ref> | |||
| ===Earth-diver=== | |||
| The earth-diver is a common character in various traditional creation myths. In these stories a supreme being usually sends an animal into the primal waters to find bits of sand or mud with which to build habitable land. Some scholars interpret these myths psychologically while others interpret them ]. In both cases emphasis is placed on beginnings emanating from the depths.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t279.e87 |title=Earth‐Diver Creation |author=David Adams Leeming and Margaret Adams Leeming |year=2009 |work=A Dictionary of Creation Myths |publisher=Oxford University Press |accessdate=April 30, 2010}}<!-- Oxford Reference Online --></ref> Earth-diver myths are common in ] but can be found among the ] and ], the ] and many ] traditions. The pattern of distribution of these stories suggest they have a common origin in the ] coastal region, spreading as peoples migrated west into ] and east to the North American continent.<ref>{{harvnb|Booth|1984|pages=168–170}}</ref> | |||
| Characteristic of many Native American myths, earth-diver creation stories begin as beings and potential forms linger asleep or suspended in the primordial realm. The earth-diver is among the first of them to awaken and lay the necessary groundwork by building suitable lands where the coming creation will be able to live. In many cases, these stories will describe a series of failed attempts to make land before the solution is found.<ref>{{harvnb|Leonard|McClure|2004|page=38}}</ref> | |||
| ==Comparative aspects== | |||
| {{Empty section|date=December 2010}} | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| {{Portal|Spirituality}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| {{Reflist|2}} | |||
| ==References== | |||
| * {{cite book |first=Michael |last=Ashkenazi |title=Handbook of Japanese mythology |edition=illustrated |year=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=156074684 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{Cite book | last = Barbour| first = Ian G. | year= 1997 | title = Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues | edition = first revised | publisher = HarperSanFrancisco| isbn = 0060609389 | pages=58, 65| ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Bastian |first=Dawn E. |last2=Mitchell |first2=Judy K. |title=Handbook of Native American Mythology |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2004 |location=Santa Barbara |ref=harv |isbn=1851095330 }} | |||
| * {{Cite journal | last=Boas |first=Franz |chapter=Tsimshian Mythology |title=Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnography |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1916 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=3WwqAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA651#v=onepage&q |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |first=Derk |last=Bodde |chapter=Myths of Ancient China |title=Mythologies of the Ancient World'' |editor=Samuel Noah Kramer |publisher=Anchor |year=1961 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Booth |first=Anna Birgitta |editor=Alan Dundes |chapter=Creation myths of the North American Indians |title=Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth |publisher=University of California Press |year=1984 |isbn=978-0520051928 |ref=harv |editor-link = Alan Dundes }} | |||
| * {{cite book |first=Harold |last=Courlander |title=A Treasury of African Folklore: The Oral Literature, Traditions, Myths, Legends, Epics, Tales, Recollections, Wisdom, Sayings, and Humor of Africa |publisher=Marlowe & Company |year=2002 |isbn=9781569245361 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Doty |first=William |title=Myth: A Handbook |publisher=University Alabama Press |year= 2007 |isbn=978-0817354374 |ref=harv }} | |||
| *{{cite book|last1=Frank|first1=|last2=Leaman|first2=Oliver|title=History of Jewish Philosophy|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zLxBQrY6inEC|year=2004|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415324694|ref=harv}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Eliade |first=Mircea |authorlink=Mircea Eliade |title=Patterns in comparative religion |publisher=The New American Library-Meridian Books |year=1963 |isbn=9780529019158 |ref=harv}} | |||
| *{{cite book|last=Sweetman|first=James Windrow |title=Islam and Christian Theology|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=q_Gqxe2ZDqkC|year=2002|publisher=James Clarke & Co.|isbn=9780227172032|ref=harv}} | |||
| * {{cite book |chapter=myth |last=Encyclopædia Britannica |year=2009 |url= http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9108748 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |first=Sandra |last=Giddens |first2=Owen |last2=Giddens |year=2006 |title=African Mythology |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=1404207686 |ref=harv}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Honko |first=Lauri |editor=Alan Dundes |chapter=The Problem of Defining Myth |title=Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth |publisher=University of California Press |year=1984 |isbn=978-0520051928 |ref=harv |editor-link = Alan Dundes }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Religion, Myth, and Magic: The Anthropology of Religion-a Course Guide |last=Johnston |first=Susan A. |publisher=Recorded Books, LLC |isbn=978-1-4407-2603-3 |year=2009 |ref=harv}} | |||
| * {{Cite book |last=Kimball |first=Charles |title=Comparative Religion |chapter=Creation Myths and Sacred Stories |publisher=The Teaching Company |year=2008 |ref=harv |isbn=1598034529 }} | |||
| * {{cite book|first=Jan |last=Knappert |authorlink=Jan Knappert |year=1977 |title=Bantu Myths and Other Tales |publisher=Brill Archive |isbn=9004054235 |ref=harv}} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Creation Myths of the World |last=Leeming |first=David A. |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-1598841749 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Creation Myths |first=David Adams |last=Leeming |first2=Margaret Adams |last2= Leeming |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |edition=Oxford Reference Online |ref=harv |isbn=0195102754}} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Creation Myths |first=David Adams |last=Leeming |first2=Margaret Adams |last2= Leeming |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1994 |isbn=9780195102758 |ref=harv}} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Creation Myths |last=Leeming |first=David Adams |last2=Leeming |first2=Margaret Adams |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=1994 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0874367393 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title= Myth: A Biography of Belief |last=Leeming |first=David A. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |isbn= 978-0195142884 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title= The Oxford companion to world mythology |last=Leeming |first=David A. |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=illustrated |year=2005 |isbn= 9780195156690 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |first=Scott A |last=Leonard |first2=Michael |last2=McClure |title=Myth and Knowing |year=2004 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=9780767419574 |edition=illustrated |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Gods, goddesses, and mythology |first=C. Scott |last=Littleton |year=2005 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=9780761475590 |volume=1 |ref=harv}} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Alpha: The Myths of Creation |first=Charles H. |last=Long |publisher=George Braziller |location=New York |year=1963 |ref=harv |isbn=0891306048 }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Mair |first=Victor H. |authorlink=Victor H. Mair |title=Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way, by Lao Tzu |publisher=Bantam Books |year=1990 |ref=harv |isbn=0553070053 }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Creation Myths: Man's Introduction to the World |first=David |last=MacClaglan |year=1977 |isbn=978-0500810101 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite journal |last=Nassen-Bayer |last2=Stuart |first2=Kevin |title=Mongol creation stories: man, Mongol tribes, the natural world and Mongol deities |publisher=Asian Folklore Studies |volume=51 |series=2 |date=1992-10 |pages=323–334 |url=http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-EPT/stuart1.htm |accessdate=2010-05-06 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Creation Myths: Man's Introduction to the World |first=David |last=MacClaglan |year=1977 |isbn=978-0500810101 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Segal |first=Robert |title=Myth: A Very Short Introduction |publisher= Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0192803474 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Sproul |first=Barbara C. |publisher=HarperOne HarperCollinsPublishers |title=Primal Myths |isbn=9780060675011 |year=1979 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=The Paeolithic Paradigm |first=Terry |last=Stocker |year=2009 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=1449022928 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Brother One Cell: An American Coming of Age in South Korea's Prisons |first=Cullen |last=Thomas |year= 2008 |isbn=0143113119 |publisher=Penguin |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Studies in Folklore, in Honor of Distinguished Service Professor Stith Thompson |first=Erminie|last=Wheeler-Voegelin |last2=Moore |first2=Remedios W. |editor=W. Edson Richmond |chapter=The Emergence Myth in Native North America |year= 1957 |isbn=9780837162089 |publisher=Indiana University Press |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite journal |title=Creation and Procreation, Cosmogony and Childbirth: Reflections on Ex Nihilo Earth Diver, and Emergence Mythology |first=Marta |last=Weigle |journal=Journal of American Folklore |volume= 100 |issue=398 |year=1987 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Anthropology and religion: what we know, think, and question |first=Robert L. |last= Winzeler | |||
| |year=2008 |publisher=AltaMira Press |isbn=978-0-7591-1046-5 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite book |title=Symbols and Meaning: A Concise Introduction |first=Mari |last=Womack |publisher=AltaMira Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0759103221 |ref=harv }} | |||
| * {{cite journal |last=Y.Z. |chapter=Some Account of the Tangousians in general and the Transbaikal Tangousians in particular |year=1824 |month=June |title=Asiatic journal and monthly miscellany |volume=17 |publisher=Wm. H. Allen & Co |url=http://books.google.com/?id=8w8oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA595#v=onepage&q |ref=harv}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
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Revision as of 03:33, 18 July 2011
Some people wish to call the Biblical Account of Creation a myth, but in reality it is intended to not be taken symbolicly, but literaly.