CREATION
MYTHS
COMMON ELEMENTS
WHAT IS CREATION MYTHS
• Much like our distant ancestors, we strive to uncover our origins and determine our
place in the universe.
• Scientists advance new theories each year on the origin of the universe.
- scientifi c evidence serves as a basis for creation stories.
- Deeply rooted beliefs ancient beliefs remain the cornerstone in their own
theories.
COMMON THEMES
• Creation Myths from around the world often share many similar themes.
• It's important to remember that these similarities have been identifi ed by
modern scholars, not the original storytellers.
• Therefore, individual myths shouldn't be expected to perfectly match
modern stereotypes.
• Instead, each creation myth will likely contain several common thematic
features.
• CULTURE is a system of beliefs and values through which a group of people
structure their experience of the world .
• These beliefs and values can be roughly organized in three areas:
1. Beliefs about the nature of the physical world.
2. Beliefs about social order & appropriate behavior
3. Beliefs about human nature & the problem of good and evil
• Are symbolic stories about the Creation of the World and how human came to
be
• Used to explain the origin of human, earth, animals, plants, and other elements
of nature
• Infl uence how they think about the world and treat it; their worldwide
• All cultures have a creation story
• In a eff ort to explain their origins, early humans invented stories which made
sense in regard to his specifi c time period and culture.
• Creation myths from around the world often share many similar themes
• These similarities have been attributed by modern scholars, not the inventors
of the stories.
• Each creation myth will likely contain several common thematic features.
• Creation myths usually have one of these basic themes:
1. Creation from chaos
Initially there is nothing but a formless, shapeless expanse, which is also
sometimes called a avoid or an abyss, contains the material with which the
created world will be made.
2. Earth Diver
In these stories a supreme being usually sends an animal into the primal
waters to fi nd bits of sand or mud with which to build habitable land.
3. Emergence
Humanity emerges from another world into the one they currently inhabit
with the previous world is often considered the womb of the earth mother, and
the process of emergence is likened to the act of giving birth.
4. Ex nihilo ( out of nothing)
In most of these stories the world is brought into being by the speech,
dream, breath, or pure thought of a creator but creation ex nihilo may also take
place through a creator’s bodily secretions.
Any good creation myth contains several of
these common elements:
• Birth - death - rebirth
• Mother - Father
• Family - children/siblings
• Supreme beings - immortal, powerful
• Creation from above or below
• Diver myths
• The relationship between animals and humans
• An instruction, a sin, and a consequence
• Gods creating suff ering
• EGG
- Often a jumbled mass of
components which serve as the first
elements of life.
• CHILDBIRTH
- male of female gods give birth to
children in a natural or unusual way.
• MOTHER and FATHER
Very common in many cultures:
- Mother usually earth
*life emerges from
earth/womb
- Father usually sky
*create a sense of unity
• GENEALOGY
- the first god born did not
always create the world.
- often, his or her children
decided to fill the world with life.
- several generations
represented in the story
• SUPREME BEINGS
- most cultures worshipped a
pantheon of supreme beings
(polytheistic)
- some culture worshipped a
single creator. ( monotheistic)
• EARTH- DIVER MYTHS
- Many stories allude to a time
when the earth was covered by water.
*Many myths feature a creature
diving into the water to retrieve earth,
which is then used to grow and form
the land.
• ANIMAL/ HUMAN
RELATIONSHIPS
- animals played a key role in
many creation myths:
*often viewed as equal to
human
*often reflect feelings of
• NIGHT, FEAR, FIRE AND SIN
- in the creation myths of many
cultures, darkness represents fear.
-the settings of the sun brought
on fear and chaos.
- this fear and chaos was
sometimes represented as fire.
• AN INSTRUCTION A SIN AND
THECONSEQUENCE
-many creation myths consist of at
least one of these elements:
*the consequence is often what
causes,pain, hunger, disease, and all
other evils which plague the earth.
• CREATION OF MAN
- created by a god or supernatural
being
* a connection between human
beings and the supernatural world
* the place of humans in the
hierarchy of life in the universe ( below
gods, above animals.)
• CREATION OF LESSER
CREATURES ( ANIMALS,
PLANTS, INSECTS,ETC.)
- almost all creation stories
account for the existence of the forms
of life that inhabit the planet.
* may also explain the physical
characteristics of the animals.
• CREATION OF
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
- many myths offer
explanations for the formation
of mountains, valleys, oceans,
rivers, etc.
THANK YOU VERY
MUCH!
JEMINA KATE PAA
KYLA MARIE PADRON
EMMANUEL PESCADOR
