The document describes various religious and cultural beliefs about how the world was created from different parts of the world and time periods. It discusses creation stories from cosmology, Judaism, Africa, Egypt, China, Australia, Hinduism, Greece, Rome, and the Maya involving gods or spirits bringing order out of chaos and forming the earth, sky, plants, animals, and humans over periods of days or ages.

1. How the world was Created By: Cynthia Owsley

11. Africa (Beginning of Time) The Dogon say that twin pairs of creator spirits or gods called Nummo hatched from a cosmic egg. People in both southern and northern Africa believe that the world was formed from the body of an enormous snake sometimes said to span the sky as a rainbow. The Fon people of Benin tell of Gu, the oldest son of the creator twins, Mawu (moon) and Lisa (sun). Gu came to earth in the form of an iron sword and then became a blacksmith. His task was to prepare the world for people. He taught humans how to make tools, which in turn enabled them to grow food and build shelters. The San people (Bushmen) of the south say that creation was the work of a spirit named Dxui, who was alternately a man and many other things, such as a flower, a bird, or a lizard.

12. Egypt (3,000 BC) According to one account, the world was a dark endless chaos of primeval waters, the forces of chaos were represented by an ogdoad consisting of four pairs of deities: Nun and Naunet, god and goddess of the primeval waters; Kek and Ketet, forces of darkness, Heh and Hehet, spirits of boundlessness and Amun and Amaunet the invisible powers. With in the waters of chaos the spirit of creation waited to take form. When a primeval mound rose above the waters Amun emerged and used divine powers to establish order out of the chaos. The Gods were formed from sweat of the creator spirit and humans came from his tears.

13. The Gods of Egypt Amun : Supreme god, combined with the sun god Ra to become Amun-Ra who was king of the gods and creator of the Universe Anubis : God of the dead Geb : God of the earth Nut : Goddess of the sky and mother goddess Hathor : Mother goddess associated with fertility and love, goddess of the sky Horus : Sun god and sky god, ruler of Egypt identified with the pharaoh

14. Isis: Mother goddess Osiris: God of the underworld and judge of the dead Ra: Sun god combined with the supreme god Amun to form a new deity called Amun-Ra who was king of the gods and creator of the universe Thoth: God of wisdom and knowledge Patron of scribes Set: God of violent and chaotic forces More Egyptian Gods

15. China (2000-1500 B.C. 4000 years ago) The Universe was created from Chaos. A god called Pan Gu was the son of Yin and Yang. He came into being in the darkness of chaos. Pan Gu became so big that he split the parts of chaos into two. The lighter parts became the sky the heavy parts became the earth. One day he lay down to rest and died. His body became various parts of the universe- the sun and moon, wind and clouds, and all elements on earth. The fleas on his body became humans. Confucianism Taoism Buddhism

16. Australia(75,000 years ago) The Aborigines believe the world began during a mythical period called Dreamtime. Ancestral beings slept beneath the ground and emerged from the earth. They created the landscape, made people, established the law and taught them to survive. When done they returned underground , never to be seen again. There was a big flood idea. The Worrorra people believe a big flood destroyed the previous landscape. The flood was brought on by a big serpent that still exists in deep pools of water off the coast. The Tiwi tell of the old woman, Mudundgkala, who rose up from the ground carrying three children, two sisters and a brother, called the Djang’kawu. They were ancestors of the peoples of the land. The land was created by them, and they traveled the land.

17. Hinduism (1700 BC) The idea of reincarnation is a major theme. The universe is continually created and destroyed. Time moves in cycles of millions of years, endlessly building up and tearing down with no beginning or end. All change and decay are part of a divinely directed cosmic dance that will eventually result in renewal. Faced with this immense pattern, each individual has the duty to follow his or her own pattern of right behavior called the dharma. Brahma brings the universe into being through his thoughts. The world then passes through a Maha Yuga, or great age, that lasts 4,320,000 years. The Maha Yuga contains four yugas or ages. Each is shorter and more immoral than the one before it. From the Krita Yuga- Brahma’s golden age- through two intermediate ages under Vishnu’s protection to the Kali Yuga-Shiva’s Dark Age. Each dark age in turn gives way to a new golden age and the cycle of the Maha Yuga repeats a thousand times. Then Shiva destroys all life with scorching heat and drowning flood and the earth remains empty while Vishnu sleeps. After a thousand Maha Yugas a lotus flower emerges from Vishnu’s bellybutton and it becomes Brahma ready to create again.

18. Brahma- Creator God Devi- Wife of Shiva, goddess who takes many forms-both kind and fierce Ganesha- God of good fortune and wisdom Indra- God of storms and rain Shiva- Avenging and destroying god Varuna- Originally a creator god and ruler of the sky later became god of water Vishnu- Preserver god and protector of life

19. Greece (800 B.C.) The world started with Chaos. Out of that came Erebos, the place where death dwells and night, then came Eros (Love). Light and Day came from love. Then came Gaia (mother earth). When Erebos and Night had children they created heavenly light and earthly light. Night alone created doom, fate, death, sleep, dreams, and Nemesis. The Greeks believe that Gaia then created Uranus (father sky) , and they mated and created three kinds of children; the Hecatoncheires, the Cyclops, and the Titans. When the Titans were born, Uranus feared them and ate his children. Gaia had Cronus, the youngest Titan, cut off his fathers’ sex organs with a flint knife and throw them into the ocean. Aphrodite was born from the foam where they landed. From Uranus's blood came the Giants, ash tree nymphs and the Erinnyes. Then Cronus and Rhea ruled the titans had the gods. Cronus, also fearing his children, ate them as they were born. He also placed the Hecatoncheires and Cyclops into Tartarus. Rhea was mad about the treatment of her children and had her 6 th one, Zeus, in secret on a island. She gave Cronus a rock to eat instead. Then Zeus came back with a plan from Metis. He gave his father a poison to vomit up his siblings and then went to war with the Titans. After defeating them, Gaia was mad and had Typoeus, a monster. When Zeus defeated him he was cast under Mount Etna in Sicily. The Giants tried to storm Mt. Olympia. They were defeated with the help of Hercules and Olympia was finally safe.

21. The Gods and Goddesses Chaos - The separation of the Earth and Sky. Confusion. Erebos - The place of death and night. Eros - God of love, child of chaos and darkness. Gaia - Mother Earth Uranus - Father Sky Hecatoncheires - 50 headed monsters with 100 arms. There were 3 of them. Cyclops - Monsters with one eye. Worked in the forges. 3 of them as well Titans - Rulers efore the gods.

22. Oceanus - Created the water that encircled the earth, wife: Tethys Coeus - Intelligence. Father of Leto Cronus - Youngest of the titans, over threw his father and his youngest son Zeus over threw him. Hyperion - Father of light, sun, moon and dawn Iapetus - Father of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Atlas Tethys - Wife of Oceanus. Produced the waters that encircled the earth and the 3,000 water nymphs. Themis - Justice and order. Mother of the Fates and the seasons Phoebe - Titan of moon. Mother of Leto Mnemosyne - Memory, mother of the muses Theia - Wife of Hyperion. Had Helios, Eos and Selene. Was considered very beautiful. Rhea - Married Cronus, had the Olympian gods Prometheus - Forethought. Son of Iapetus. Able to see the future, and fought on the side of Zeus. He and his brother made mankind. Gave them fire and the best of the meat when sacrificed to the gods. Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock and had an eagle eat his liver every day. Epimetheus - Afterthought. Stupid Titan. Accepted Pandora and her box and unleashed evil on mankind. Atlas - Led the Titans into battle. Singled out by Zeus to hold the world on his back. Metis- Mother of Athena. Presided over all wisdom and knowledge. Seduced by Zeus but was eaten by him when he herd her second child would over rule him.

23. Aphrodite - Goddess of love and beauty Apollo - God of the sun, arts, and medicine; ideal male beauty Ares - God of war Artemis - Goddess of hunting and protector of wild animals and chaste girls Athena - Goddess of wisdom, warfare and crafts Demeter - Goddess of grain, farming and soil Hephaestus - God of fire, volcanoes, and industry Hera - Queen of the gods, protector of marriage and children. Hermes - Messenger of the gods, patron of travelers, merchants and thieves Hestia - Goddess of the hearth Poseidon - God of the sea Zeus - King of the gods, protector of justice and social order, and god of the sky. Dionysus - God of wine and revelry Hades- King of the underworld Persephone - Queen of the underworld

24. Roman (700 BC) The twins Romulus and Remus were offspring of a Latin princess and the god Mars. Their uncle tried to drown them but they survived under the care of a she-wolf and a wood-pecker. Eventually the twins overthrew their uncle and decided to found a new city on the spot where they had been rescued by the she-wolf. After receiving an omen from the gods about the new city, Romulus killed Remus and became leader- as the gods had intended. Rome took its name from him. The ditch that Romulus dug to mark the boundary of Rome was called the pomerium . Everything within this was considered to be part of the original, authentic, sacred Rome. According to legend, Romulus made the new city a refuge for criminals, the poor and runaway slaves to attract citizens, but because the city had no women he had a plan. He invited the Sabines to a religious festival and then kidnapped the Sabine women. Their king came back to get the women and before a war could start the women told the men to make peace.

25. Venus - Goddess of love and beauty Apollo - God of the sun, arts, and medicine; ideal male beauty Mars - God of war Diana - Goddess of hunting and protector of wild animals and chaste girls Minerva - Goddess of wisdom, warfare and crafts Ceres - Goddess of grain, farming and soil Vulcan - God of fire, volcanoes, and industry Juno - Queen of the gods, protector of marriage and children. Mercury - Messenger of the gods, patron of travelers, merchants and thieves Vesta - Goddess of the hearth Neptune - God of the sea Jupiter - King of the gods, protector of justice and social order, and god of the sky. Bacchus - God of wine and revelry Pluto - King of the underworld Proserpine - Queen of the underworld

26. Mayan (300 B.C.) The world began with the god Huracan who blew as a great wind over the primeval ocean, causing the earth to rise from the depths. Then Xpiacoc and Xmucane, the “old man and old woman,” performed magical rites that helped Huracan and other creator deities from plants, animals and eventually the human race. The gods fashioned the first man out of clay and he melted into the water. The next one they made out of wood and were dull and spiritless and easily destroyed by fire. The third ones they made from yellow and white maize flour and made the First Fathers. The First Fathers were worshipful, handsome and wise. The gods thought they were too wise and feared their creations would become too powerful. The gods then blew fog into the First Fathers’ eyes, taking away some of their knowledge. The gods then made the First Mothers and then the sun to bring light to the world. The Mayan’s believed that humans had been put on earth to nourish the gods. Human sacrifices served this purpose. So did bloodletting. This was an act in which priests or nobles would pierce a part of their body and offer the blood to the gods or to ancestors in exchange for guidance. Smoke rising from burning blood offerings was thought to summon the Vision Serpents, images of snakes with Mayan gods and ancestors coming from their mouths.

27. The Mayan’s pictured the universe consisting of heavens above and underworlds below, with the human world sandwiched between them. The heavens consisted of 13 layers stacked above the earth, and the earth rested on the back of a turtle or reptile floating in the ocean. Four brothers called the Bacabs, possibly the sons of Itzamna, supported the heavens. Below the earth lay a realm called Xibalba, an underworld in nine layers. Linking the three realms was a giant tree who’s roots reached into the underworld and branches stretched to heaven. The gods and the souls of the dead traveled between worlds along this tree.

28. Ah Puch (Yum Cimil)- God of death and destruction, brought disease and was associated with war Chac- Rain God Cizin (Kisin)- God of death, linked with earthquakes Hun-Hunahpu (Ah Mun)- God of maize and vegetation Hunahpu and Xbalanque- Twin sons of Hun-Hunahpu, tricked the lords of the underworld Itzamna- Chief god, ruler of heaven, of night and day and of the other deities Ixchel- Goddess of fertility, pregnancy and childbirth Kinich Ahau- Sun god, sometimes considered an aspect of Itzamna Kukulcan (Quetzalcoatl)- Feathered Serpent, god of learning and crafts.

32. Norse (750A.D. to 1050A.D.) All began in Ginnungagap, a deep empty space between realms of heat and ice. Frost formed and became a giant named Ymir. A cosmic cow named Audhumla also appeared. Licking the cliffs of ice, she revealed a man who had three grandsons. One of them was Odin. With his two brothers, Odin killed the frost giant Ymir and formed the earth from his body, the seas and rivers from his blood, and the sky from his skull, which was held suspended above the earth by four strong dwarfs. Odin and his brothers made the first man and first woman out of an ash tree and an elm tree. They gave the humans life, intelligence, and beauty.

33. Once Ymir was killed, Odin and the other gods created an orderly universe in three levels. Although journeys between the different levels of the universe were possible they were difficult and dangerous, even for the gods. The top or heavenly level contained Asgard, the home of the Aesir; Vanaheim, the home of the Vanir and Alfheim the place where the light or good elves lived. Valhalla, the hall where Odin gathered the souls of warriors who had died in battle, was also located on this level. Connected to the upper level by the rainbow bridge Bifrost was the middle or earthly level. It contained Midgard, the world of men; Jotunheim, the land of the giants; Svartalfaheim, the land of the dark elves; and Nidavellir, the land of the dwarfs. A huge serpent called Jormungand encircled the middle world. The bottom level consisted of the underworld of Niflheim, also known as Hel after Loki’s daughter Hel who ruled there.

34. Running through this universe from bottom to top, holding it all together and linking the three worlds of heaven, earth and underworld was a great ash tree called Yggdrasill. Its branches spread over the heavens and its roots stretched into all three worlds. Balder - Odin’s son, gentle and handsome god Bragi - God of poetry and music Fenrir - Monstrous wolf, child of Loki Freyja - Goddess of love and fertility, twin of Freyr Fre yr - God of fertility and prosperity, twin of Freyja Frigg - Wife of Odin, goddess of the sky, marriage and childbirth Heimdall - God who guards Asgard, the home of the gods Hel - The goddess of the dead, child of Loki Idun - Goddess of fertility, spring and rebirth Jormungand - Giant serpent Loki - Trickster figure, companion to the gods Mimir - Giant who guards the well of knowledge Njord - Sea god, father of Freyr and Freyja Odin - God of wisdom, battle and poetry and ruler of the gods Thor - God of the sky and thunder, associated with the weather, crops and warriors Tyr - God of war, justice and order Valkyries - Female spirits, servants of Odin Ymir - Frost giant whose body was used to form the world.

35. Aztec (14 th Century) Story of the Five suns: 1) Tezcatlipoca created the first sun known as Nahui-Ocelotl (four-Jaguar). Ended when Quetzalcoatl struck down Tezcatlipoca who became a Jaguar and destroyed all the people 2) Quetzalcoatl was ruler of the second sun, Mahui-Ehecatl (four-wind). Tezcatlipoca threw Quetzalcoatl off his throne and together the fallen god and sun were carried off by a hurricane of wind. People turned into monkeys and fled to the forest 3) Tlaloc had the third sun Nahuiquiahuitl (four-rain). Quetzalcoatl destroyed it with fire that fell from the heavens. 4) Chalchitutlicue ruled the fourth sun called Nahui-Atl (Four-water). A 52 year flood destroyed that sun and the people turned into fish.

37. Coatlicue (Lady of the Serpent Skirt)- Earth Goddess Huitzilopochtil (Humming bird of the south)- Sun and war God Ometecuhtli (Dual Lord)- Creator God Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent)- God of twins and learning Tezcatlipoca (Lord of the Smoking Mirror)- God of the night sky Tlaloc (Growth –maker )- God of rain and fertility Xipe Totec (Flayed Lord)- God of vegetation, torture and sacrifice

38. Inca (1300’s) Viracocha was the creator god. Inti was the sun god. He was the ancestor of the Incas. Also associated with gold, “the sweat of the sun”. The mother of the Incas was the moon goddess Mama Kilya. She was also the wife of Inti. Silver was believed to be her tears. Illapu was the god of weather and gave them the rain. The Inca’s saw the Milky Way as a heavenly river. Illapu’s sister would store it in a jug until it was needed on the earth. When Illapu struck the jug with a bolt of lightning from his slingshot, making the sound of thunder, he broke the jug and released the rain. Cuichu: the rainbow Paca Mama: the earth mother Mama Qoca: the sea mother. Viracocha’s first creation was a dark world inhabited by giants that he had fashioned form stone. The creatures were disobedient though and Viracocha destroyed them. He did it either by flood, or by turning them back into stone. Once gone Viracocha made a second race, this time making people from clay. He gave them clothes, languages, songs, skills and crops of different nations. Before the people spread out and populated the world, Viracocha made them sink back into the earth and reemerge from lakes, caves and hill tops. When and were they emerged they built shrines at that spot.

39. Native American Legends One of the oldest creation stories is told every where except the southwest and on the arctic coast: The earth is covered by a primeval sea. A water turtle, plunges to the depths of the sea and returns with a lump of mud that becomes the earth, which is often supported on its back. Creation begins when a sky goddess named Atahensic plummets through a hole in the floor of heaven. This Woman Who fell from the Sky lands in the primeval sea. To support her and give her room to move about, the animals dive deep into the sea for bits of earth. The goddess spreads this earth on Great Turtle’s back to create the land, and the daughter she has there becomes known as Earth Woman. This is the story of the Iroquois peoples.

40. Spider Woman, a powerful earth goddess and creator, is the mother of life. Together with Tawa, the sun god, Spider Woman sang the First Magic Song. This song brought the earth, light, and life into being. She then shaped and wove Tawa’s thoughts into solid form, creating birds, fish and other creatures. After people were created, Tawa rose into the sky. However, Spider Woman moved among the humans, dividing them into groups, leading them to their homelands, and teaching them how to live and worship the gods. Spider Woman then disappeared from the people’s sight, drawn back down into the earth in a whirlpool of sand. This is the story of the Hopi peoples. Insects climbed up from their First or Red World to the Second or Blue World, the realm of birds. When the Second World became too crowded, the insects and birds flew up to the Third or Yellow World, where they found animals and people. All lived together until food became scarce. Then the people, animals, birds and insects flew up again into the Fourth or Black and White World of day and night. They found people created by the gods already living there, and these people taught the newcomers how to farm and live in their new world. This is the story of the Navajo and Pueblo peoples.

41. http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/god.html http://www.greekmythology.com/ http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/egypt/index.htm Wickersham, John M., ed. Myths and Legends of the World . Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Print. Wickersham, John M., ed. Myths and Legends of the World . Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Print. Wickersham, John M., ed. Myths and Legends of the World . Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Print. Wickersham, John M., ed. Myths and Legends of the World . Vol. 4. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Print. Genesis . Holy Bible . NVI ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervin Corporation, 2001. Print. http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses.htm