Saturday, August 28, 2010

Common elements In Creation Myths


"A myth is the projection of a culture's soul" which some people believe is true. This explains how different cultural myths can connect with one another. Many cultures have creation myths which are unique to their identity, but at the same time contain common themes of creators, nothing and a cosmic egg. This is amazing due to the facts of creating the world.

A common element in many myths is that there were creators. For example, the Chinese myth created the world for us to live in. Also the Egyptian myth created the world by having gods to create different parts of the world. Therefore it can be said that even though these myth are from different places, and times, there are some kind of connection between them.

Another common element is nothing. In the beginning of many myths there was nothing. For example in the Chinese myth of Phan-Ku there was nothing except for a cosmic egg. This also relates to the Egyptian myth where it started of with nothing except for a swirl. This proves that people in other countries, with different thinking can share the same idea.

A similar element in many myths is a start from a cosmic egg. for example in the Chinese myth it starts of with a cosmic egg. This is related to another Chinese myth that talks about a cosmic hen's egg instead. As we can see, many elements in myths started from a cosmic egg and then became more organized even though the places are not so far always even if both of the stories are told in China.

Many cultures have creation myths which have themes that are common such as creators, nothing and a cosmic egg. These are the things that all myths have in common. This was based on what people saw in the past and even more excited when it is past down from generation to generations.

As Paul Ricoeur said " But myth is something else than an explanation of the world, of history, and of destiny."


Picture URL: http://interacc.typepad.com/.a/6a01053596fb28970c0112790e10c128a4-pi

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