Creation Myth

Creation Myth

This creation myth was inspired from reading the Myths of the Hopi, resembling an oral tradition of storytelling and a theory based on one cyclical spirit infused in all living things and written in the oral tradition. Earth encompasses land, water, food, and air to support life. Life depends on a cooperation of all earth’s forces to achieve a state of equilibrium. This myth offers a philosophy rooted from nature with echoes of transcendentalism and is founded on the metaphysical, cosmological, sociological, and individual functions according to Joseph Campbell.

When the world was a two-dimensional plane, it was dry and flat. A faint whisper wafted past a spot that became shiny and moist, Mother Dew. The slight trace of life effervesced. This droplet whispered, dividing into a cluster and into a mass that pressed the world out around its center. After four days, the world formed a round shape with nothing but a slight layer of dust clasped to a moist lining. The world consisted of dust and dew. The dew whispered to the dust and the dust inhaled the whisper. They enfolded each other until soil formed on the earth. The whispers swathed the soil along the surface of the world. For four days, the soil stood still, and then the ground breathed. Together with the dew, the soil molded the surface. Rising, rolling, and surging, the whirling soil formed canyons and mountains. They whispered, intertwined. The ground contained the spirit of life and became the essence of the earth.

Now was the time for the dew to fulfill its purpose. On the first day, the dew collected and pressed together over the soil, and the dew condensed on the second day sacrificing a single dew drop, Father Dew. On the third day, the drop rolled, following the mountains to the valleys, breaking off into individual beads, and on the fourth day, the water pooled and rested. The water thanked the earth for the lending of its land and promised to satiate the earth.

As the void above the earth lingered, the earth and water began to whisper. The ocean broke apart into the smallest matter, and each particle pressed and stretched the void. The earth shook underneath the ocean. With each shudder, the earth helped the ocean reach farther. The sea whispered to the void and stretched it all around the sphere, and when the water came down to rest, air filled the void.

Now there was land, ocean, and air, but the air was sticky. The earth whispered, and the whisper resonated across the ocean. As the water rippled, the whispers forced large waves to form and cross onto the earth. The waves reached and grasped at the air. The force swirled together from one direction, spinning the wind.

The ocean whispered to the wind, the wind whispered to the soil, and the soil whispered back. They began to argue about the earth’s needs. The ocean became angry and rose up above the ground, splashing and reprimanding the wind and the soil. The infuriated soil rattled the ocean floor, and the wind gusted upward and clutched some of the water. Seizing the most important drop, Mother Dew, the wind flung it to the sky. Mother Dew stuck there and grew red with fury. She began to fight the grip, and with the struggle, she expanded. She, grew angrier and angrier, became larger and larger, and hotter and hotter. Mother Dew became Mother Sun.

Father Dew splashed onto the earth, foaming with rage. Out of pity, the wind scooped him up and threw him to the sky to be with Mother Sun. Her light gleamed onto him and turned him white. Father Dew became Father Moon. As the seawater separated, some of the Ocean Children went with them, spraying across the sky as stars. The older droplets stayed low in the ocean, ready to begin their duties.

Father Moon made sure that the Ocean Children stayed securely in their home. They were not allowed to venture pass the boundaries where sea meets land. Father Moon stayed with his children during the night, rocking them with his pull, while Mother Sun stayed with them during the day. The Ocean Children, however, were curious and felt lonely at times, so they would sneak onto shore, closer inland with every try. When they began to roll in too far, Father Moon rotated around the earth and frowned on them, pulling the children back to their place in the sea. Staying far away was difficult for the restless Ocean Children. They often quibbled with each other, and rose into the air, rivaling one another. Such excitement caused great tantrums, and from their restlessness, the clouds stormed down on the good earth. Father Moon rocked them into a calmer state, and Mother Sun warmed them into peace. The ocean rolled in and rolled out. All was balanced and peaceful. All was thankful.

One day, the Ocean Children jumped up and down, farther onto shore. While they jumped, the sand sifted with the ocean. The wind blew through and whispered to them. Together, the wind and Ocean Children whispered, forming masses of earth beneath their feet. Pulp congealed from the ground, thrusting into tall cylinders, and to the towering tops where the spirit embraced Mother Sun’s warmth. Growing tall, the trees sprouted green leaves. Father Moon towed in the children to quench the trees’ thirst, and in thanks, the trees dropped seeds and more grew. Mother sun embraced the trees, and they covered the land. Mother Sun smiled. They loved the Ocean Children, who gave them drink, and the trees loved Father Moon. He gave them the coolness of the night and rest.

It came to be that grass grew. It did not stop, and the trees bore too much fruit. The agitated wind swirled around the oceans, and over the ground; it swirled around the sun and moon and back down. The wind concurred with Mother Sun, who concurred with Father Moon, and who concurred with the ocean and the earth. They began to whisper. They whispered to each other louder and louder, the tide came in farther and farther, and the sand grabbed hold to the tide and began to form mounds of new ground, all the while whispering, whispering. The sand formed tiny creatures, thousands of different sizes and shapes, with different tasks to accomplish. The wind encircled the creatures, who absorbed the whispers for four days until the creatures breathed with life. The sun, moon, and sky whispered their gratitude at the birth of the insects and small animals.

The hawk flew over the land, and swooping down, it snatched a mouse. Dropping the carcass to the ground, the earth took the mouse’s body and cradled it in the ground; the earth rocked the corpse, whispered to it, and absorbed it until the body turned to dust, and the dust whispered through the soil. The spirit stretched from the dust to the root of grass. The spirit seeped into the blades of grass and reached for Mother Sun to warm it, Father Moon to cool it, and the wind to bring the rain. A mouse came upon the luscious grass and ate, ingesting the fresh nourishment. The animals remembered the good earth and they were thankful.

The animals ate the grass, the leaves, the bushes, and the trees. They ate more than was needed. The sun, moon, and sky met with the wind, ocean, and soil, whispering in to each other and breathing in and out of each other until the wind swirled with the tide and sand, intertwined. Four days passed as larger animals were formed. The snakes, wolves, and bears all thanked the earth. The sun and moon whispered into song, and they all breathed into the earth. The animals absorbed the whispers. As the breath seeped through their bodies and into their limbs, black soot formed around their orifices. They took their first breaths. These carnivores ran with voracious appetites hunting the others. The earth was alarmed by the ravaging beasts. They overpowered the structure of life and once again, there was imbalance. The animals cried for help.

Working together, each animal found their own voice. The insects bleated to the birds who chirped to the bats. They screeched to the deer who cried to the fish in the stream. The fish schooled together, whispering throughout the leagues of the oceans. The bears ate the fish and roared the message to the wolves. The wolves howled to the moon, and the moon whispered across the trees of the night, into the twilight and on to the sun. The wind encircled the earth and carried the spirit to where the land meets the sea. The wind harbored all the messages and whispered it to the forms that molded the tide and the soil. Nature was thankful.

For four days, the soil formed the creature. For four days, the wind tore and swirled in to an eddy, around a mound of earth. The whispers spiraled and wrapped around the mold, layers and layers of spirit blanketed the form. It took four more days for it to harden. The creation became larger and larger until a woman was formed. The wind swooped around and dove in to the earth below. Standing on the good earth, her heels steeped with the spirit. Her legs carried the whisper throughout her body, infusing her head and saturating her heart. As her heart began to beat, the whispers shot out with life and little dewdrops formed on her skin dripping onto the earth. The ground absorbed the droplets. There lived a woman, and Nature called her S-he.

The wind blew by, and the tide crashed along the shore, scooping a pile of sand. For four days, the wind tore and swirled in to an eddy, creating a mound of earth. The whispers spiraled and wrapped around the mold. A man stood lifeless for four more days. The wind whispered into the ground under the man’s feet and the spirit followed the path of his legs and throughout his limbs and head. The woman standing on the shore felt the energy of the soil on the souls of her feet. She kissed the man and whispered into his mouth, her breath billowed into his lungs and into his heart. Dewdrops formed on his skin and dripped onto the earth, soaked with spirit. The man lived. Nature called him -he. S-he and –he were grateful.

Now there was woman and man who ate the fruit and farmed the field. They worked by the sun and they slept by the moon. They used some of the trees to build modest shelter. They lived well and helped nourish the earth with water and vegetation. The sea breeze encircled their life and they felt it along the surface of the moist soil. They gave birth to their family. Man and woman worked and fished along with their children. When all food had been consumed, they gave the bones to the earth that whispered and cradled the corpse. The people were thankful to the ocean, sky, wind, soil, and animals. They remembered their Nature.

When the man went to hunt for food, he saw a bear, weak and suffering. He killed the bear and brought it back to his family to eat, and the humans used all they needed. The wolves came to eat the remains of the bear and so did some others. The last remains were given to the earth that cradled the vestiges deep in to the ground. The earth absorbed its spirit, rocked it, and whispered to it until the body turned to dust, whispering through the dirt. This spirit stretched through the soil and into the root of some grass. The spirit crawled into the pores of the roots and seeped into the blades, which waved for Mother Sun’s warmth and the wind’s rain. A small deer wobbled close and ate the luscious grass. The time was good and there was balance. They all thanked the good earth.

One day a child was running through the grass and stepped on a snake. The serpent sunk its fangs into the young, springy ankle. The father tried to suck the venom out of the boy, but he could not expel all of it. The child writhed in pain. Black, beaded sweat rolled down the boy’s face, and his gray breath reeked of acid. The boy lived but was never the same. The people in the village watched the boy grow and throw stones, injuring animals and children. As a young man, he held the venom within his veins and often hunted for food, only to kill too many lives and leave the carcasses to rot, turning his back on his purpose and forgetting thanks. He married and had his own children, who breathed the black acid, and their children breathed the black acid. They were not taught to remember and forgot their nature.

The animals no longer looked at the humans for protection. They no longer felt the warm breath around them and began to fear them. The animals saw that the humans forgot their beginning and looked to the generous land in greed. The humans forgot, and the earth was imbalanced.

The wind remembers, and it whispers, “Remember the earth and whisper to it, remember the sea, the sky, the sun, and moon. Whisper. Whisper to each other, feel the warmth of the flowing spirit. Embrace thanks. To whomever we act, it is to ourselves that we act.”

The humans do not listen.

by Ninette Franz