In the beginning the earth was a shapeless mass. Then
the god Izanagi and the goddess Izanami were given the
job of stirring this mass with a long, jeweled spear.
As they stirred, the mixture thickened and dropped off
the spear point and hardened into an island. On the island
the god and goddess were married and had children. These
offspring included the eight islands of Japan, many gods
and goddesses, and finally the sun-goddess Amaterasu.
From her descended the emperors of Japan.
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African Creation Myths (Boshongo)
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(The Boshongo are a Bantu tribe of Central Africa.)
In the beginning there was only darkness, water, and the
great god Bumba. One day Bumba, in pain from a stomach
ache, vomited up the sun. The sun dried up some of the
water, leaving land. Still in pain, Bumba vomited up the
moon, the stars, and then some animals: the leopard, the
crocodile, the turtle, and, finally, some men, one of
whom, Yoko Lima was white like Bumba.
At the beginning of time, Amma (a supreme god who lived
in the celestial regions and was the origin of all creation)
created the Earth and immediately joined with it. But
the Earth's clitoris opposed the male penis. Amma destroyed
it, circumcising his wife, and they had a child, Ogo,
and the twins, the Nommo. Ogo had no partner and was
barren, so he introduced disorder into the world by
committing incest with his mother, Earth. The first
menstrual blood came from this union, as well as Yeban
and Andumbulu, the spirits of the underworld.
Amma created the stars by throwing pellets of earth into
space. He created the sun and moon by modelling two white
earthenware bowls, one encircled with red copper, the
other with white copper. Black people were born under
the sun and white people under the moon. (The latter paragraph
is quoted in L.V.Thomas, Les Religions de L'Afrique noire,
Paris, 1969)
(The Efik are a Nigerian tribe) The creator, Abassi,
created two humans and then decided to not allow them
to live on earth. His wife, Atai, persuaded him to let
them do so. In order to control the humans, Abassi insisted
that they eat all their meals with him, thereby keeping
them from growing or hunting food. He also forbade them
to procreate. Soon, though, the woman began growing food
in the earth, and they stopped showing up to eat with
Abassi. Then the man joined his wife in the fields, and
before long there were children also. Abassi blamed his
wife for the way things had turned out, but she told him
she would handle it. She sent to earth death and discord
to keep the people in their place.
(The Ekoi are a tribe in southern Nigeria.) In the beginning
there were two gods, Obassi Osaw and Obassi Nsi. The two
gods created everything together. Then Obassi Osaw decided
to live in the sky and Obassi Nsi decided to live on the
earth. The god in the sky gives light and moisture, but
also brings drought and storms. The god of the earth nurtures,
and takes the people back to him when they die. One day
long ago Obassi Osaw made a man and a woman, and placed
them upon the earth. They knew nothing so Obassi Nsi taught
them about planting and hunting to get food.
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The Origins of Procreation
(Ashanti:
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Long ago a man and a woman came down from heaven,
while another man and woman came out of the ground.
The Lord of Heaven also sent a python, the non-poisonous
snake, which made its home in a river. In the beginning
men and women had no children, they had no desire for
one another and did not know the process of procreation
and birth. It was the Python who taught them. He asked
the men and women if they had any children, and on being
told that they had none, the Python said he would make
the women conceive. He told the couples to stand facing
each other, then he went into the river and came out
with his mouth full of water.
This he sprayed on their bellies, saying "Kus,
kus" (words that are still used in clan rituals).
Then the Python told the couples to go home and lie
together, and the women conceived and bore children.
These children took the spirit of the river where the
Python lived as their clan spirit. Members of that clan
hold the python as taboo; they must never kill it, and
if they find a python that has died or been killed by
someone else, they put white clay on it and bury it
human fashion.
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