In most mythologies, there are common plots about the origin of all things: the separation of elements of order from the original chaos, the separation of maternal and paternal gods, the emergence of land from the ocean, endless and timeless. Here are the most interesting myths and legends about the creation of the world.
SLAVIC
The ancient Slavs had many legends about where the world came from and everyone inhabiting it.
The creation of the world began with filling it with Love.
The Carpathian Slavs have a legend, according to which the world was created by two pigeons who sat on an oak tree in the middle of the sea and thought, "how to establish light." They decided to go down to the bottom of the sea, take fine sand, sow it, and from it would go "black land, cold water, green grass." And from the golden stone, which is also mined at the bottom of the sea, - “blue sky, bright sun, clear moon and all the stars” would go.
According to one of the myths, the world was initially shrouded in darkness. There was only the progenitor of all things - Rod. He was imprisoned in an egg, but he managed to give birth to Lada (Love), and by her force he destroyed the shell. The creation of the world began with filling it with Love. Rod created the kingdom of heaven, and under it - the heavenly, separated the Ocean from the waters of heaven with a firmament. Then Rod divided Light and Darkness and gave birth to the Earth, which plunged into the dark abyss of the Ocean. From the face of Rod came the Sun, from the chest - the Moon, from the eyes - the stars. Winds appeared from the breath of Rod, rain, snow and hail from tears. His voice became thunder and lightning. Then Rod gave birth to Svarog and breathed a mighty spirit into him. It was Svarog who arranged the change of day and night, and also created the earth - he crumpled a handful of earth in his hands, which then fell into the sea. The sun warmed the earth, and a crust was caked on it, and the moon cooled the surface.
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According to another legend, the world appeared as a result of the battle of the hero with the serpent, who guarded the golden egg. The hero killed the snake, split the egg, and three kingdoms emerged from it: heavenly, earthly and underground.
There is also a legend: in the beginning there was nothing but an endless sea. A duck, flying over the surface of the sea, dropped an egg into the depths of water, it cracked, from the bottom of it came "mother-damp earth", and from the top - "a high vault of heaven".
EGYPTIAN
Atum, who arose from Nun, the primary ocean, was considered the creator and primary being. In the beginning there was no heaven, no earth, no soil. Atum has grown like a hill in the middle of the world's ocean. There is an assumption according to which the shape of the pyramid is also associated with the concept of the primary hill.
The Egyptian god Atum absorbed his own seed, and then vomited two children into the light.
After that, Atum broke away from the water with great effort, soared over the abyss and cast a spell, as a result of which the second hill, Ben-Ben, grew among the watery surface. Atum sat down on the hill and began to think about what he could create the world from. Since he was alone, he absorbed his own seed, and then vomited the god of air Shu and the goddess of moisture Tefnut. And the first people appeared from the tears of Atum, who briefly lost his children - Shu and Tefnut, and then regained it and burst into tears with joy.
From this couple, born of Atum, came the gods Geb and Nut, and they, in turn, gave birth to the twins Osiris and Isis, as well as Set and Nephthys. Osiris became the first god killed and resurrected for an eternal afterlife.
Greek
In the Greek concept, originally there was Chaos, from which the land of Gaia emerged, and in its depths the abyss of Tartarus lay deep. Chaos gave birth to Nyukta (Night) and Erebus (Darkness). Night gave birth to Thanat (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), and also moir - the goddesses of fate. From the Night came the goddess of rivalry and strife, Eris, who gave birth to Hunger, Sorrow, Murder, Lies, Hard Labor, Battles and other troubles. From the connection of Night with Erebus, Ether and a shining day was born.
Gaia gave birth to Uranus (Sky), then the Mountains rose from its depths, and the Pontus (Sea) spilled over the plains.
Gaia and Uranus gave birth to the Titans: Ocean, Tethia, Iapetus, Hyperion, Theia, Kriya, Kea, Phoebe, Themis, Mnemosyne, Kronos and Rhea.
Kronos with the help of his mother overthrew his father, seizing power and marrying his sister Rhea. It was they who created a new tribe - the gods. But Kronos was afraid of his children, because he himself once overthrew his own parent. That is why he swallowed them immediately after birth. Rhea hid one child in a cave in Crete. This saved baby was Zeus. God was fed by goats, and his cry was drowned out by blows of copper shields.
Growing up, Zeus overcame Father Crohn and forced him to vomit from the belly of his brothers and sisters: Aida, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia. So the era of the titans came to an end - the era of the gods of Olympus began.
SCANDINAVIAN
The Scandinavians believe that before the creation of the world there was the emptiness of Ginungagap. To the north of it lay the frozen world of darkness Niflheim, and to the south - the fiery country of Muspellheim. Gradually, the world emptiness of Ginungagap was filled with poisonous frost, which turned into the giant Ymir. He was the ancestor of all frost giants. When Ymir fell asleep, sweat began to drip from his armpits, and these drops turned into a man and a woman. From this water also formed the cow Audumla, whose milk Ymir drank, as well as the second man born out of sweat - Buri.
The son of the Buri Bor Bor married the giantess Bestle, and they had three sons: Odin, Vili and Ve. For some reason, the sons of Storm hated the giant Ymir and killed him. Then they took his body to the center of Ginungagapa and created the world: from flesh - earth, from blood - ocean, from skull - sky. Ymir's brain was scattered across the sky, and clouds were formed. With the eyelashes of Ymir, they fenced off the best part of the world and settled people there.
Drops of sweat from the armpits of the Scandinavian giant Ymir turned into a man and a woman.
The gods themselves created the people from two tree knots. From the first man and woman, all other people descended. For themselves, the gods built a fortress of Asgard, where they settled.
CHINESE
In China, it is believed that the universe once had the form of a huge chicken egg, in which the first ancestor Pangu was born. He slept in an egg for 18 thousand years, and when he woke up, he began to look for a way to get out. Pangu cut the shell with an ax.
Two principles - light, formed by the Yang spirit, and dark, formed by the Yin spirit, became heaven and earth, respectively. Pangu stood on the ground and rested his head against the sky to prevent them from mixing again and turning into chaos. Winds rose from his breaths, thunder roared from his exhalation, day came when the giant opened his eyes, and when he closed it, night fell. Every day, Pangu grew 3 meters, which made the sky higher and the earth thicker.
People were made from parasites that crawled over the body of the Chinese ancestor Pangu. Pangu stood for 18 thousand years and died, and his voice became thunder, his sigh became the wind and clouds, his left eye was the sun, his right eye was the moon, his body was the four sides of the world, blood was rivers, flesh was soil. But people turned out from parasites that crawled over Pangu's body.
ZOROASTRIAN
The Zoroastrians created an interesting concept of the universe. According to this concept, the world has existed for 12 thousand years. Its entire history is conventionally divided into four periods, each 3,000 years old.
The first period is the pre-existence of things and ideas. At this stage of heavenly creation, there were already prototypes of everything that was later created on Earth. This state of the world is called Menok ("invisible" or "spiritual").
The second period is considered the creation of the created world, that is, the real, visible, inhabited by "creatures". Ahura Mazda creates the sky, stars, the Moon, the Sun, the first man and the primitive. Behind the sphere of the Sun is the abode of Ahura Mazda himself. However, at the same time Ahriman begins to act. He invades the sky, creates planets and comets that do not obey the uniform movement of the celestial spheres.
Ahriman pollutes the water, sends death to the first man of Gayomart and the primitive. But from the first man a man and a woman are born, from whom the human race descended, and from the primitive all animals originate. From the collision of two opposing principles, the whole world begins to move: the waters become fluid, mountains appear, celestial bodies move. In order to neutralize the actions of "harmful" planets, Ahura-Mazda puts his spirits to each planet.
The third period of the existence of the universe covers the time before the appearance of the prophet Zoroaster.
During this period, the mythological heroes of the Avesta act: the king of the golden age - Yima the Shining, in whose kingdom there is no heat, no cold, no old age, no envy - the creation of the devas. This king saves people and livestock from the Flood by building a special shelter for them.
Among the righteous of this time, the ruler of a certain region Vishtaspa, the patron saint of Zoroaster, is also mentioned. During the last, fourth period (after Zoroaster), in every millennium, three Saviors should appear to people, who appear as the sons of Zoroaster. The last of them, the Savior Saoshyant, will decide the fate of the world and humanity. He will resurrect the dead, destroy evil and defeat Ahriman, after which the world will be cleansed with a "stream of molten metal", and everything that remains after that will gain eternal life.
SHUMERO-AKKAD
The mythology of Mesopotamia is the most ancient of all known in the world. It arose in the 4th millennium BC. e. in the state, which at that time was called Akkada, and later developed in Assyria, Babylonia, Sumeria and Elam.
At the beginning of time, there were only two gods who personified fresh (god Apsu) and salt waters (goddess Tiamat). The waters existed independently of each other and never crossed.
But once salty and fresh waters mixed - and the elder gods were born - the children of Apsu and Tiamat. Following the older gods, many younger gods also appeared. But the world still consisted of only one chaos, the gods were cramped and not comfortable in it, about which they often complained to the Supreme Apsu. The cruel Apsu got tired of all this, and he decided to destroy all his children and grandchildren, but in the battle he could not defeat his son Enki, by whom he was defeated and cut into four parts, which turned into dry land, seas, rivers and fire. For the murder of her husband, Tiamat wanted revenge, but she was also defeated by the younger god Marduk, who created wind and storms for the duel. After the victory, Marduk got a certain artifact "Me", which determines the movement and fate of the whole world.