In the beginning the world was void and with out form. Then a bunch of dirt got together and exploded. Or so the last theory I read about the beginning of the universe said.
I'm a round earth believing, protestant christian who has read the gate-less gate and the zen koans, well versed in the mythologies of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Norse mythologies. I plan to read the Koran and some of the Veda texts if I can locate them.
I put all this forth to show that I start this topic with as neutral a ground as possible. I don't know what I hope to accomplish with this topic, nor do I plan to direct it in a particular direction. All I ask is for there to be no insults or name calling. Put forth your Ideas and let us see where they lead us.
In the beginning earth was void and without form. All religions agree to this point more or less.
According to the old testament,
the sky and the earth were created first, all the world was covered in ocean. Then came light, and night and day. Then god separated the sky from the oceans. The last step was gather the water so that dry land would appear.
According to the Egyptians,
In the beggining there was only water. They called this Nu or Nun. It was out of Nu that everything began. Then Ra emerged out of primeval chaos, he came out of a giant blue lotus flower that appeared on the surface of the water. Ra gave light to the universe. Ra created the air god Shu and his wife Tefnut the goddess of moisture. Shu and Tefnut gave birth to the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb, and so the physical universe was created.
Against Ra's orders Geb and Nut married. Ra was incensed and ordered Shu to seperate them, which he did. (shu (the air) holds Nut (the sky) up above Geb (the earth) out of Gebs reach) But Nut was already pregnant, although unable to give birth as Ra had decreed she could not give birth in any month of any year.
Thoth, the god of learning, desided to help her and gambling with the moon for extra light, was able to add five extra days to the 360-day calender. On those five days Nut gave birth to Osiris , Horus the elder, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys successively.
According to the Greeks,
In the beginning there was an empty darkness. The only thing in this void was Nyx, a bird with black wings. With the wind she laid a golden egg and for ages she sat upon this egg. Finally life began to stir in the egg and out of it rose Eros, the god of love. One half of the shell rose into the air and became the sky and the other became the Earth. Eros named the sky Uranus and the Earth he named Gaia. Then Eros made them fall in love.
Uranus and Gaia had many children together and eventually they had grandchildren. Some of their children become afraid of the power of their children. Kronus, in an effort to protect himself, swallowed his children when they were still infants. However, his wife Rhea hid their youngest child. She gave him a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he swallowed, thinking it was his son.
Once the child, Zeus, had reached manhood his mother instructed him on how to trick his father to give up his brothers and sisters. Once this was accomplished the children fought a mighty war against their father. After much fighting the younger generation won. With Zeus as their leader, they began to furnish Gaia with life and Uranus with stars.
According to the Aztecs,
in the beginning of the world, there was nothing but darkness. On great god named Ometeotl watched over this darkness in complete solitude. However, one day, Ometeotl gave birth to four other gods. These gods created the world, filling it with giants.
The god named Tezcatlipoca the Jaguar made himself into the sun. He ruled the world. But then, the god Quetzalcoatl knocked Tezcatlipoca into the ocean with a club. Quetzalcoatl turned himself into the sun. He appointed himself ruler of the world and created people with which to populate the earth. Tezcatlipoca returned and knocked Quetzalcoatl out of the sky. A great wind tore across the world, destroying everything except for a few people, who were turned into monkey.
Next, the god Tlaloc became the sun. He repopulated the earth with another group of people. However, in an attempt to regain his throne, Quetzalcoatl sent a rain of fire down upon the earth, killing all of Tlaloc’s people except the few that became birds. Then, the goddess Chalchiuhtlicue became the sun. However, during this war between the gods Tezcatlipoca caused great floods to cover the earth. All of the people drowned except for those who turned into fish.
Due to Tezcatlipoca’s actions, the entire earth was covered with water, with no land in sight. Finally, Tezcatlopoca and Quetzalcoatl stopped their quarrel and lifted the waters off of the earth. Then, Quetzalcoatl went to the land of the dead where the bones of the people lay. He tricked the god of the underworld, Mictlantechutli, into letting him take back the bones of the people back into the world. Quetzalcoatl then dripped his own blood onto the bones. The bones transformed into living, breathing people, the Aztecs.
In order to show their gratitude towards Quetzalcoatl for giving them life, the Aztecs sacrificed people on special holidays.
According to the Vedic (the Hindu),
Who really knows, and who can swear,
How creation came, when or where!
Even gods came after creation’s day,
Who really knows, who can truly say
When and how did creation start?
Did He do it? Or did He not?
Only He, up there, knows, maybe;
Or perhaps, not even He.
This is not the complete view as they have many views, the reason for this is the following from the Rig Veda
“Truth is One; the sages call it by different names” (Rig Veda 1:164:46)
It means that every creation myth, or any myth for that matter, is part of the greater truth.
That is all I feel like posting at the moment.