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According to old Romanian folklore, the beginning of the world is actually quite endearing. While God was spooling out a thread to measure how large the Earth should be, a mole came along and started to help by unspooling the string while God carried it along.
The tale of Mbomba originates from the Boshongo tribe in the Bantu region of southern Africa. In the beginning, Mbomba was the only being in the universe, sitting alone in endless nothingness. Then, the stomach pains started.
By accident, the mole unspooled too much string, and the Earth became too large. Ashamed of his blunder, the mole hid underground, where moles still live to this day. When God asked the mole what to do with the extra space, the mole suggested God squeeze the Earth, and thus the mountains and valleys were formed.
As time went on, Mbomba’s stomach pains grew worse and worse, until he couldn’t stand it anymore. At that point, Mbomba vomited, and out of his mouth came the Sun, then the stars, nine animals, and, finally, three humans. Exhausted from the effort, Mbomba passed the responsibility of the rest of creation onto these nine animals and his three sons.
Their many sons, on the other hand, were growing tired of living in the cramped darkness in between their parents. They conspired amongst themselves and drew up a plan to escape into the light. Working as a team, they pushed their parents apart and broke their eternal embrace, causing the division of the Earth and sky, and built the world in between them.
She gave birth to the god Cernunnos, who, after learning of the creatures swimming through the ocean in each other's company, became lonely and wished for companions of his own. Eiocha then gave birth to the rest of the Celtic gods, and, using the bark from the oak tree, created humans and all other creatures of Earth.
According to the Native American Hopi tribe, who inhabit the southwestern portion of North America, the universe was created by three beings. First there was Taiowa, the supreme creator; Sotuknang, referred to as Taiowa’s nephew; and the Spider Woman, created by Taiowa to assist in the formation of humanity.
One of the creation stories told by the Maori people of Oceania concerns two celestial beings known as Rangi (Sky-Father) and Papa (Earth-Mother). Since the beginning of time, Rangi and Papa had been locked in a loving embrace, never letting the other go, and were quite content like this.
Taiowa created the nine universes, including ours, as well as the Earth, waters, and winds. The Spider Woman, when instructed to create humanity, mixed her saliva with dirt from Taiowa’s earth and molded two figures. After the Spider Woman sang a creation song, the figures came to life, and thus humanity began.
According to this Grecian myth of creation, the goddess Nyx existed alone in a vast expanse of nothingness. Personified in this story as a black bird, Nyx laid a golden egg, from which hatched Eros, the Greek god of carnal love.
At one point in time, Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion of the world. Practiced by only a small number of people today, there are two figures at the center of their theory of creation: Ahura Mazda, who represents goodness and light, and Angra Mainyu, who embodies darkness and ill will.
The gods tried three times to create humans. On the first attempt, all they could come up with was wet clay. On the second try, they created wood. On the third and final go around, using maize dough, they successfully created the first inhabitant of Earth.
According to this myth, Ahura Mazda created the Amesha Spentas, who were benevolent and pure beings who lived in the skies. Angra Mainyu, in turn, created creatures of malevolence. When Angra Mainyu’s evil beings killed the Man and the Bull, two of the first pure creations, seeds sprouted from their bodies, from which the rest of nature and humanity grew.
Izanagi and Izanami are the main protagonists in one of the numerous Japanese tales of creation. Before the Japanese deities, or kami, sent these two siblings down to Earth, the world was covered by one vast ocean.
Armed with a jeweled spear, the brother-and-sister duo mixed the ocean into a whirlpool. When they lifted their weapon out of the water, the little drops that fell off the tip of the spear solidified on the surface of the water to create the islands of Japan.
Pangu, a great primordial giant from ancient Chinese mythology, is said to have been stuck holding yin and yang together for 18,000 years, before eventually being torn apart and falling down to Earth.
Orunmila instructed Obatala to collect a variety of materials and animals from the other gods. Once Obatala found all these items, he descended from the heavens on a gold chain, drank wine, and began the creation process. However, inebriated from the wine, Obatala’s beings, humans included, weren’t created perfectly. This is how the Yoruba explain the evil and pain in the world.
Every part of his being became fundamental elements of the world. His arms and legs came apart and formed the hills and mountains, his muscles and the veins that ran through them became the pastures and roads, and his eyes became the Sun and the Moon.
Atum birthed two children, Shu and Tefnut. These first three deities joined together into one single being, and the joy of this moment caused them to weep tears of joy. From these tears, the first humans were formed.
In Norse mythology, the universe consisted of three planes at the beginning of time. Muspelheim was the land of fire, Niflheim was the land of ice, and between them lay the void of Ginnungagap.
Viracocha was unhappy with his first version of humanity, finding the stone beings too cold and emotionless. He destroyed them all in a flood, and once the waters receded, created a new and improved version of humankind. Legend has it Viracocha often disguises himself as a beggar and wanders through the great cities of his children, to witness our reality firsthand.
This story tells us that Goorialla was wandering around the flat subcontinent of Australia, looking for signs of life. His massive body carved out features and landmarks from the flat landscape. After eating two brothers known as the Bil Bil brothers, Goorialla was cut open by the other tribespeople in order to save them. To hide from the snake’s wrath, the tribespeople transformed into the myriad of creatures that roam Australia to this day.
Sources: (History Collection) (New World Encyclopedia) (The Celtic Religion)
See also: Mythological figures similar to Jesus
When the elemental opposites of fire and ice met in the middle of Ginnungagap, an explosive reaction occurred, and out of the chaos emerged Ymir. Ymir then gave birth to the first Norse gods, including Odin. This first generation of deities went on to create Earth and humanity.
The golden eggshell was split in two, and one half became Uranus (the sky) and the other became Gaia (the Earth). Eros’ influence caused the two to fall in love, and the couple went on to give birth to the first members of the Greek pantheon, who went on to create the rest of the world, including animals and humans.
Every culture has its own story to explain how everything came to be. The plants, the animals, and us humans, we all had to come from somewhere, right? Whether the universe was made by gods, horses, giant spider-women, or rainbow-colored snakes, the stories that explain the origin of everything are fascinating.
Intrigued? Read on to learn more about creation myths from around the world.
Fascinating creation myths from around the world
The places we come from and the wild ways we got there
LIFESTYLE Religion
Every culture has its own story to explain how everything came to be. The plants, the animals, and us humans, we all had to come from somewhere, right? Whether the universe was made by gods, horses, giant spider-women, or rainbow-colored snakes, the stories that explain the origin of everything are fascinating.
Intrigued? Read on to learn more about creation myths from around the world.