Creation myth
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Tissot_The_Creation.jpg/220px-Tissot_The_Creation.jpg)
Acreation mythorcosmogonic mythis a type ofcosmogony,[2]asymbolicnarrativeof how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it.[3][4][5]While in popular usage the termmythoften refers to false or fanciful stories, members of cultures often ascribe varying degrees of truth to their creation myths.[6][7]In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profoundtruths–metaphorically,symbolically,historically,orliterally.[8][9]They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths – that is, they describe the ordering of thecosmosfrom a state ofchaosor amorphousness.[10]
Creation myths often share several features. They often are consideredsacredaccounts and can be found in nearly all knownreligious traditions.[11]They are all stories with aplotandcharacterswho are eitherdeities,human-like figures, or animals, who often speak and transform easily.[12]They are often set in a dim and nonspecific past that historian of religionMircea Eliadetermedin illo tempore('at that time').[11][13]Creation myths address questions deeply meaningful to the society that shares them, revealing their centralworldviewand the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context.[14]
Creation myths develop inoral traditionsand therefore typically have multiple versions;[4]found throughout humanculture,they are the most common form of myth.[8]
Definitions
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Suomalaisten_maailma.jpg/220px-Suomalaisten_maailma.jpg)
Creation myth definitions from modern references:
- A "symbolic narrative of the beginning of the world as understood in a particular tradition and community. Creation myths are of central importance for the valuation of the world, for the orientation of humans in the universe, and for the basic patterns of life and culture."[15]
- "Creation myths tell us how things began. All cultures have creation myths; they are our primary myths, the first stage in what might be called the psychic life of the species. As cultures, we identify ourselves through the collective dreams we call creation myths, orcosmogonies.... Creation myths explain in metaphorical terms our sense of who we are in the context of the world, and in so doing they reveal our real priorities, as well as our real prejudices. Our images of creation say a great deal about who we are. "[16]
- A "philosophical and theological elaboration of the primal myth of creation within a religious community. The term myth here refers to the imaginative expression in narrative form of what is experienced or apprehended as basic reality... The term creation refers to the beginning of things, whether by the will and act of a transcendent being, by emanation from some ultimate source, or in any other way."[17]
Religion professorMircea Eliadedefined the wordmythin terms of creation:
Myth narrates a sacred history; it relates an event that took place in primordial Time, the fabled time of the "beginnings." In other words, myth tells how, through the deeds of Supernatural Beings, a reality came into existence, be it the whole of reality, the Cosmos, or only a fragment of reality – an island, a species of plant, a particular kind of human behavior, an institution.[18]
Meaning and function
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Ba-Gua_animated.gif/170px-Ba-Gua_animated.gif)
Creation myths have been around sinceancient historyand have served important societal roles. Over 100 "distinct" ones have been discovered.[20]All creation myths are in one senseetiologicalbecause they attempt to explain how the world formed and where humanity came from.[21]Myths attempt to explain the unknown and sometimes teach a lesson.[22][23]
Ethnologistsandanthropologists[which?]who study origin myths say that in the modern context theologians try to discern humanity's meaning fromrevealed truthsand scientists investigatecosmologywith the tools ofempiricismandrationality,but creation myths define human reality in very different terms. In the past,historians of religionand other students of myth thought of such stories as forms ofprimitiveorearly-stage scienceorreligionand analyzed them in aliteralor logical sense. Today, however, they are seen[by whom?]as symbolic narratives which must be understood in terms of their own cultural context.Charles Longwrites: "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."[24]
While creation myths are not literalexplications,they do serve to define an orientation of humanity in the world in terms of a birth story. They provide the basis of a worldview that reaffirms and guides how people relate tothe natural world,to any assumedspiritual world,and toeach other.A creation myth acts as a cornerstone for distinguishing primary reality fromrelativereality, the origin and nature ofbeingfrom non-being.[25]In this sense cosmogonic myths serve as aphilosophy of life– but one expressed and conveyed throughsymbolrather than through systematic reason. And in this sense they go beyondetiological myths(which explain specific features in religious rites, natural phenomena, or cultural life). Creation myths also help to orient human beings in the world, giving them a sense of their place in the world and the regard that they must have for humans and nature.[3]
HistorianDavid Christianhas summarised issues common to multiple creation myths:
How did everything begin? This is the first question faced by any creation myth and... answering it remains tricky.... Each beginning seems to presuppose an earlier beginning.... Instead of meeting a single starting point, we encounter an infinity of them, each of which poses the same problem.... There are no entirely satisfactory solutions to this dilemma. What we have to find is not a solution but some way of dealing with the mystery.... And we have to do so using words. The words we reach for, fromGodtogravity,are inadequate to the task. So we have to use language poetically or symbolically; and such language, whether used by a scientist, a poet, or a shaman, can easily be misunderstood.[26]
Classification
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Mayan_-_Dwarf_Figurine_-_Walters_20092036_-_View_A.jpg/170px-Mayan_-_Dwarf_Figurine_-_Walters_20092036_-_View_A.jpg)
Mythologistshave applied various schemes to classify creation myths found throughout human cultures. Eliade and his colleague Charles Long developed a classification based on some commonmotifsthat reappear in stories the world over. The classification identifies five basic types:[28]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Shesh_shaiya_Vishnu.jpg/170px-Shesh_shaiya_Vishnu.jpg)
- Creationex nihiloin which the creation is through the thought, word, dream, or bodily secretions of a divine being.
- Earth-divercreation in which a diver, usually a bird or amphibian sent by a creator, plunges to the seabed through aprimordial oceanto 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 acosmic eggor a bringing order fromchaos.
Marta Weiglefurther developed and refined this typology to highlight nine themes, adding elements such asdeus 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.[28]
An alternative system based on six recurring narrative themes was designed by Raymond Van Over:[28]
- Primevalabyss,an infinite expanse of waters or space
- Originator deity which is awakened or an eternal entity within the abyss
- Originator deity poised above the abyss
- Cosmic egg orembryo
- Originator deity creating life through sound or word
- Life generating from the corpse or dismembered parts of an originator deity
Ex nihilo
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Hieronymus_Bosch_-_The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_-_The_exterior_%28shutters%29.jpg/170px-Hieronymus_Bosch_-_The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_-_The_exterior_%28shutters%29.jpg)
The myth thatGodcreated the world out of nothing–ex nihilo– is central today to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the medieval Jewish philosopherMaimonidesfelt it was the only concept that the three religions shared.[29]Nonetheless, the concept is not found in the entire Hebrew Bible.[30]The authors of Genesis 1 were concerned not with the origins of matter (the material which God formed into the habitable cosmos), but with assigning roles so that the cosmos should function.[31]In the early 2nd century CE, early Christian scholars were beginning to see a tension between the idea of world-formation and the omnipotence of God, and by the beginning of the 3rd century creationex nihilohad become a fundamental tenet of Christian theology.[32]
Ex nihilocreation is found in creation stories fromancient Egypt,theRig Veda,and manyanimisticcultures in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and North America.[33]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 phraseex nihilois "from nothing" but in many creation myths the line is blurred whether the creative act would be better classified as a creationex nihiloor creation from chaos. Inex nihilocreation myths, 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, whereas in creation from chaos the substance used for creation is pre-existing within the unformed void.[34]
Creation from chaos
[edit]In creation from chaos myths, there is nothing initially 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 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.[35]One example is theGenesis creation narrativefrom the first chapter of theBook of Genesis.
World parent
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/WahineTane.jpg/170px-WahineTane.jpg)
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 asSky(usually male) andEarth(usually female), who were so tightly bound to each other in the primeval state 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.[36]
In the second form of world parent myths, 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.[37]One example of this is theNorsecreation myth described in "Völuspá",the first poem in thePoetic Edda,and inGylfaginning.[38]
Emergence
[edit]In emergence myths, humanity emerges from another world into the one they currently inhabit. The previous world is often considered the womb of theearth mother,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 several mythologies of Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Male characters rarely figure into these stories, and scholars often consider them in counterpoint to male-oriented creation myths, like those of theex nihilovariety.[21]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Sipapu_%28small_round_hole%29_in_floor_of_ruined_kiva_in_Mesa_Verde_National_Park.jpg/170px-Sipapu_%28small_round_hole%29_in_floor_of_ruined_kiva_in_Mesa_Verde_National_Park.jpg)
Emergence myths commonly describe the creation of people and/or supernatural beings as a staged ascent ormetamorphosisfrom nascent forms through a series of subterranean 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.[39][40]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.[41]
Earth-diver
[edit]The earth-diver is a common character in various traditional creation myths. In these stories a supreme being usually sends an animal (most often a type of bird, but also crustaceans, insects, and fish in some narratives)[42]into the primal waters to find bits of sand or mud with which to build habitable land.[43]Some scholars interpret these myths psychologically while others interpret themcosmogonically.In both cases emphasis is placed on beginnings emanating from the depths.[44]
Motif distribution
[edit]According toGudmund HattandTristram P. Coffin,Earth-diver myths are common inNative American folklore,among the following populations:Shoshone,Meskwaki,Blackfoot,Chipewyan,Newettee,Yokutsof California,Mandan,Hidatsa,Cheyenne,Arapaho,Ojibwe,Yuchi,andCherokee.[42][45]
American anthropologistGladys Reichardlocated the distribution of the motif across "all parts of North America", save for "the extreme north, northeast, and southwest".[46]In a 1977 study, anthropologist Victor Barnouw surmised that the earth-diver motif appeared in "hunting-gathering societies",mainly among northerly groups such as theHare,Dogrib,Kaska,Beaver,Carrier,Chipewyan,Sarsi,Cree,andMontagnais.[47]
Similar tales are also found among theChukchiandYukaghir,theTatars,and manyFinno-Ugrictraditions,[48]as well as among theBuryatand the Samoyed.[49]In addition, the earth-diver motif also exists in narratives from Eastern Europe, namelyRomani,[50]Romanian,[51]Slavic(namely, Bulgarian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Belarusian), and Lithuanian mythological traditions.[52]
The pattern of distribution of these stories suggest they have a common origin in theeastern Asiaticcoastal region, spreading as peoples migrated west intoSiberiaand east to theNorth Americancontinent.[53][54]However, there are examples of thismythemefound well outside of this boreal distribution pattern, for example the West AfricanYorubacreation myth ofỌbatalaandOduduwa.[55][56]
Native American narrative
[edit]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.[57][58]
Among the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the earth-diver cosmogony is attested inIroquois mythology:a female sky deity falls from the heavens, and certain animals, thebeaver,theotter,theduck,and themuskratdive in the waters to fetch mud to construct an island.[59][60]
In a similar story from theSeneca,people lived in a sky realm. One day, the chief's daughter was afflicted with a mysterious illness, and the only cure recommended for her (revealed in a dream) was to lie beside a tree and to have it be dug up. The people do so, but a man complains that the tree was their livelihood, and kicks the girl through the hole. She ends up falling from the sky to a world of only water, but is rescued bywaterfowl.A turtle offers to bear her on its shell, but asked where would be a definitive dwelling place for her. They decide to create land, and thetoaddives into the depths of the primal sea to get pieces of soil. The toad puts it on the turtle's back, which grows larger with every deposit of soil.[61]
In another version from theWyandot,the Wyandot lived in heaven. The daughter of the Big Chief (or Mighty Ruler) was sick, so themedicine manrecommends that they dig up the wild apple tree that stands next to the Lodge of the Mighty Ruler, because the remedy is to be found on its roots. However, as the tree has been dug out, the ground begins to sink away, and the treetops catch and carry down the sick daughter with it. As the girl falls from the skies, two swans rescue her on their backs. The birds decide to summon all the Swimmers and the Water Tribes. Many volunteer to dive into the Great Water to fetch bits of earth from the bottom of the sea, but only the toad (female, in the story) is the one successful.[62]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^An interpretation of thecreation narrativefrom the first book of theTorah(commonly known as theBook of Genesis),painting from the collectionsArchived2013-04-16 atarchive.todayof theJewish Museum (New York)
- ^Leitao, David D. (2012),The Pregnant Male as Myth and Metaphor,Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, p.106,ISBN9781107017283.
- ^abEncyclopædia Britannica 2009
- ^abWomack 2005,p.81,"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."
- ^"Creation Stories".Signs & Symbols – An Illustrated Guide to Their Origins and Meanings.DK Publishing. 2008. p. 157.ISBN978-1405325394.
For many they are not a literal account of events, but may be perceived as symbolic of a deeper truth.
- ^"In common usage the word 'myth' refers to narratives or beliefs that are untrue or merely fanciful; the stories that make up national or ethnic mythologies describe characters and events that common sense and experience tell us are impossible. Nevertheless, all cultures celebrate such myths and attribute to them various degrees of literal or symbolictruth."(Leeming 2010,p. xvii)
- ^Long 1963,p. 18
- ^abKimball 2008[page needed]
- ^Leeming 2010,pp. xvii–xviii, 465
- ^See:
- ^abJohnston 2009
- ^See:
- ^Eliade 1963,p. 429
- ^See:
- ^Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions 1999,p. 267
- ^Leeming 2010,p. 84
- ^creation myth,Encyclopædia Britannica(2009)
- ^Eliade 1964,pp. 5–6
- ^Mair 1990,p. 9
- ^Bohan, Elise; Dinwiddie, Robert; Challoner, Jack; Stuart, Colin; Harvey, Derek;Wragg-Sykes, Rebecca;Chrisp, Peter;Hubbard, Ben; Parker, Phillip; et al. (Writers) (February 2016).Big History.Foreword byDavid Christian(1st American ed.).New York:DK.p. 18.ISBN978-1-4654-5443-0.OCLC940282526.
- ^abLeeming 2011a
- ^Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes.Ancient Civilizations.US History.org - Ancient Greece: "Myths were used to help explain the unknown and sometimes teach a lesson."
- ^Culture, Religion, & Myth: Interdisciplinary Approaches.Cora Agatucci. Central Oregon Community College. - "A mythology or belief system often concerns supernatural beings/powers of a culture, provides a rationale for a culture's religion and practices, and reflects how people relate to each other in everyday life."
- ^Long 1963,p. 12
- ^Sproul 1979,p. 6
- ^ Christian, David(2004).Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History.California World History Library. Vol. 2. University of California Press. pp. 17–18.ISBN978-0520931923.Retrieved2013-12-29.
- ^DescriptionfromWalters Art Museum
- ^abcLeonard & McClure 2004,pp. 32–33
- ^Soskice 2010,p. 24.
- ^Nebe 2002,p. 119.
- ^Walton 2006,p. 183.
- ^May 2004,p.179.
- ^Leeming 2010,pp. 1–3, 153
- ^Leeming & Leeming 1994,pp. 60–61
- ^Leeming 2010
- ^Leeming 2010,p. 16
- ^Leeming 2010,p. 18
- ^Leeming 2010,p. 209.
- ^Leeming 2010,pp. 21–24
- ^Long 1963
- ^Wheeler-Voegelin & Moore 1957,pp. 66–73
- ^abHatt, Gudmund(1949). "Earth-diver".Asiatic influences in American folklore.København: I kommission hos ejnar Munksgaard. pp. 12–36.
- ^Eason, Cassandra.Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters, and Animal Power Symbols: A Handbook.Greenwood Press. 2008. p. 56.ISBN9780275994259.
- ^Leeming 2011b
- ^Tristam P. Coffin, ed. (1961).Indian Tales of North America: An Anthology for the Adult Reader.New York, USA: University of Texas Press. p. 3.doi:10.7560/735064-003.S2CID243789306.
The most common Indian myth begins with a primeval water, out of which some animal brings up a few grains of sand or mud which a culture hero then develops into the world
- ^Reichard, Gladys A. "Literary Types and Dissemination of Myths". In:The Journal of American Folklore34, no. 133 (1921): 274-275.https://doi.org/10.2307/535151.
- ^Barnouw, Victor.Wisconsin Chippewa Myths and Tales.Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1977. pp. 59 (map 2), 57, 60.
- ^Deviatkina, Tatiana. "Images of Birds in Mordvinian Mythology".In:Folklore: Electronic Journal of FolkloreVo. 48 (2011). p. 144.
- ^Leeming, David Adams.A Dictionary of Asian Mythology.Oxford University Press. 2001. p. 55.ISBN0-19-512052-3.
- ^Kornel, Vladislav. "Gypsy Anecdotes From Hungary: II-How the Devil assisted God in the Creation of the World".In:Gypsy Lore JournalVol II, No. 2. April, 1890. pp. 67-68.
- ^Beza, Marcu.Paganism in Romanian Folklore.London: J. M. Dent & Sons LTD. 1928. pp. 120-123.
- ^Laurinkienė, Nijolė. "Pasaulio kūrimo motyvai lietuvių pasakojamojoje tautosakoje"[The Motifs of creating the world in the Lithuanian narrative folklore]. In:Liaudies kultūraNr. 5 (2002), p. 9.ISSN0236-0551.
- ^Booth 1984,pp. 168–70
- ^Vladimir Napolskikh(2012),Diving Bird Myth after 20 years 2012(Earth-Diver Myth (А812) in northern Eurasia and North America: twenty years later)
- ^"King's Crown Story".The Minneapolis institute of Art.citingLloyd, P. C. "Sacred Kingship and Government among the Yoruba".Africa.30(3): 222–223.
- ^R.D.V. Glasgow(2009),The Concept of Water,p. 28
- ^Leonard & McClure 2004,p. 38
- ^Thompson, Stith.Tales of the North American Indians.Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard university press, 1929. p. 279.
- ^Converse, Harriet Maxwell (Ya-ie-wa-no);Parker, Arthur Caswell (Ga-wa-so-wa-neh) (December 15, 1908). "Myths and Legends of the New York State Iroquois".Education Department Bulletin. University of the State of New York: 33.
- ^Brinton, Daniel G.The Myths of the New World: A Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America.New York: Leypoldt & Holt. 1868. pp. 197-198.
- ^Thompson, Stith.Tales of the North American Indians.Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard university press, 1929. pp. 14-15, 278.
- ^Barbeau, Marius.Huron and Wyandot mythology, with an appendix containing earlier published records.Ottawa, Government Printing Bureau. 1915. pp. 303-304.
Bibliography
[edit]- Ashkenazi, Michael (2008).Handbook of Japanese mythology(illustrated ed.). OUP (US).ISBN978-0-19-533262-9.
- Barbour, Ian G. (1997).Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues(first revised ed.). HarperSanFrancisco. pp. 58, 65.ISBN978-0-06-060938-2.
- Bastian, Dawn E.; Mitchell, Judy K. (2004).Handbook of Native American Mythology.Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-1-85109-533-9.
- Boas, Franz (1916)."Tsimshian Mythology".Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnography.U.S. Government Printing Office:651.
- Bodde, Derk (1961). "Myths of Ancient China". In Samuel Noah Kramer (ed.).Mythologies of the Ancient World.Anchor.
- Booth, Anna Birgitta (1984). "Creation myths of the North American Indians". InAlan Dundes(ed.).Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth.University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-05192-8.
- Courlander, Harold (2002).A Treasury of African Folklore: The Oral Literature, Traditions, Myths, Legends, Epics, Tales, Recollections, Wisdom, Sayings, and Humor of Africa.Marlowe & Company.ISBN978-1-56924-536-1.
- "Creation Myth".Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions.Merriam-Webster.Merriam-Webster. 1999.ISBN978-0-87779-044-0.
- Doty, William (2007).Myth: A Handbook.University Alabama Press.ISBN978-0-8173-5437-4.
- Eliade, Mircea(1963).Patterns in comparative religion.The New American Library-Meridian Books.ISBN978-0-529-01915-8.
- Eliade, Mircea(1964).Myth and Reality.Allen & Unwin.ISBN978-0-04-291001-7.
- Frank; Leaman, Oliver (2004).History of Jewish Philosophy.Psychology Press.ISBN978-0-415-32469-4.
- Frankfort, Henri(1977).The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man: An Essay on Speculative Thought in the Ancient Near East.University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0226260082.
- Giddens, Sandra; Giddens, Owen (2006).African Mythology.The Rosen Publishing Group.ISBN978-1-4042-0768-4.
- Honko, Lauri (1984). "The Problem of Defining Myth". InAlan Dundes(ed.).Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth.University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-05192-8.
- Johnston, Susan A. (2009).Religion, Myth, and Magic: The Anthropology of Religion-a Course Guide.Recorded Books,LLC.ISBN978-1-4407-2603-3.
- Kimball, Charles (2008). "Creation Myths and Sacred Stories".Comparative Religion.The Teaching Company.ISBN978-1-59803-452-3.
- Knappert, Jan(1977).Bantu Myths and Other Tales.Brill Archive.ISBN978-90-04-05423-3.
- Leeming, David Adams;Leeming, Margaret Adams (1994).Encyclopedia of Creation Myths(2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-0-87436-739-3.
- Leeming, David A. (2001).Myth: A Biography of Belief.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-514288-4.
- Leeming, David Adams; Leeming, Margaret Adams (2009).A Dictionary of Creation Myths(Oxford Reference Online ed.). Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-510275-8.
- Leeming, David A. (2010).Creation Myths of the World(2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-1-59884-174-9.
- Leeming, David A. (2011a)."Creation".The Oxford Companion to World Mythology(online ed.). Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0195156690.Retrieved13 October2011.
- Leeming, David A. (2011b)."Earth-Diver Creation".The Oxford companion to world mythology(online ed.). Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0195102758.Retrieved13 October2011.
- Leonard, Scott A; McClure, Michael (2004).Myth and Knowing(illustrated ed.). McGraw-Hill.ISBN978-0-7674-1957-4.
- Littleton, C. Scott (2005).Gods, goddesses, and mythology.Vol. 1. Marshall Cavendish.ISBN978-0-7614-7559-0.
- Long, Charles H. (1963).Alpha: The Myths of Creation.New York: George Braziller.
- MacClaglan, David (1977).Creation Myths: Man's Introduction to the World.Thames & Hudson.ISBN978-0-500-81010-1.
- Mair, Victor H.(1990).Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way, by Lao Tzu.Bantam Books.ISBN978-0-553-07005-7.
- McMullin, Ernan (2010)."Creation ex nihilo: early history".In Burrell, David B.; Cogliati, Carlo; Soskice, Janet M.; Stoeger, William R. (eds.).Creation and the God of Abraham.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1139490788.
- May, Gerhard (2004).Creatio ex nihilo(English trans. of 1994 ed.). T&T Clarke International.ISBN978-0567083562.
- "myth".Encyclopædia Britannica.Encyclopædia Britannica Online.2009.
- Nassen-Bayer; Stuart, Kevin (October 1992)."Mongol creation stories: man, Mongol tribes, the natural world and Mongol deities".Asian Folklore Studies.2.51(2): 323–34.doi:10.2307/1178337.JSTOR1178337.Retrieved2010-05-06.
- Nebe, Gottfried (2002)."Creation in Paul's Theology".In Hoffman, Yair; Reventlow, Henning Graf (eds.).Creation in Jewish and Christian Tradition.Sheffield Academic Press.ISBN978-0567573933.
- Pettazzoni, Raffaele;Rose, H A (1954).Essays on the History of Religions.E J Brill.
- Segal, Robert (2004).Myth: A Very Short Introduction.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-280347-4.
- Soskice, Janet M. (2010)."Creatio ex nihilo: its Jewish and Christian foundations".In Burrell, David B.; Cogliati, Carlo; Soskice, Janet M.; Stoeger, William R. (eds.).Creation and the God of Abraham.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1139490788.
- Sproul, Barbara C. (1979).Primal Myths.HarperOne HarperCollinsPublishers.ISBN978-0-06-067501-1.
- Stocker, Terry (2009).The Paleolithic Paradigm.AuthorHouse.ISBN978-1-4490-2292-1.
- Sweetman, James Windrow (2002).Islam and Christian Theology.James Clarke & Co.ISBN978-0-227-17203-2.
- Thomas, Cullen (2008).Brother One Cell: An American Coming of Age in South Korea's Prisons.Penguin.ISBN978-0-14-311311-9.
- Walton, John H.(2006).Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible.Baker Academic.ISBN978-0-8010-2750-5.
- Wasilewska, Ewa (2000).Creation stories of the Middle East.Jessica Kingsley Publishers.ISBN978-1-85302-681-2.Retrieved23 May2011.
- Wheeler-Voegelin, Erminie; Moore, Remedios W. (1957). "The Emergence Myth in Native North America". In W. Edson Richmond (ed.).Studies in Folklore, in Honor of Distinguished Service Professor Stith Thompson.Indiana University Press.ISBN978-0-8371-6208-9.
- Weigle, Marta (1987). "Creation and Procreation, Cosmogony and Childbirth: Reflections on Ex Nihilo Earth Diver, and Emergence Mythology".Journal of American Folklore.100(398): 426–35.doi:10.2307/540902.JSTOR540902.
- Winzeler, Robert L. (2008).Anthropology and religion: what we know, think, and question.AltaMira Press.ISBN978-0-7591-1046-5.
- Womack, Mari (2005).Symbols and Meaning: A Concise Introduction.AltaMira Press.ISBN978-0-7591-0322-1.
- Y.Z. (June 1824)."Some Account of the Tangousians in general and the Transbaikal Tangousians in particular".Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany.17.
External links
[edit]Quotations related toCreation mythat Wikiquote
Media related toCreation mythsat Wikimedia Commons