Ancient myths about the creation of the world. Legends and myths about the creation of the world

10.10.2015 16.09.2018 - admin

7 mythological concepts of the creation of the world

Most mythologies have general stories about the origin of all things: the separation of elements of order from the primordial 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 and everyone inhabiting it came from.
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 found the world.” They decided to go down to the bottom of the sea, take some fine sand, sow it, and from it would come “black earth, cold water, green grass.” And from a golden stone, which was also mined at the bottom of the sea, “blue sky, bright sun, clear month and all the stars” would come from it.
According to one myth, the world was initially shrouded in darkness. There was only the progenitor of all things - Rod. He was imprisoned in an egg, but 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. The family created the kingdom of heaven, and under it - the heavenly kingdom, and separated the Ocean from the waters of heaven by the firmament. Then Rod separated Light and Darkness and gave birth to the Earth, which plunged into the dark abyss of the Ocean. The Sun came out of Rod’s face, the Moon came out of his chest, and the stars came out of his eyes. From Rod's breath came winds, from tears - rain, snow and hail. His voice became thunder and lightning. Then Rod gave birth to Svarog and breathed into him a powerful spirit. It was Svarog who arranged the change of day and night, and also created the earth - he crushed a handful of earth in his hands, which then fell into the sea. The sun heated the Earth, and a crust was baked on it, and the Moon cooled the surface.
According to another legend, the world appeared as a result of the hero’s battle with the serpent who was guarding the golden egg. The hero killed the snake, split the egg, and from it emerged three kingdoms: heavenly, earthly and underground.
There is also a legend: in the beginning there was nothing but a boundless sea. A duck, flying over the surface of the sea, dropped an egg into the abyss of the water, it split, and from the lower part of it came “mother earth,” and from the upper part, “a high vault of heaven rose.”

Egyptian

Atum, who arose from Nun - the primary ocean, was considered the creator and primordial being. In the beginning there was no sky, no earth, no soil. Atum grew like a hill in the middle of the world's oceans. There is an assumption that the shape of the pyramid is also associated with the idea of ​​a primary hill.
Atum absorbed his own seed and then vomited two children into the world.
Afterwards, Atum broke away from the water with great effort, soared over the abyss and cast a spell, as a result of which a second hill grew among the water surface - Ben-Ben. Atum sat down on a hill and began to think about what he should use to create the world. Since he was alone, he absorbed his own seed, and then vomited out 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 found them again and burst into tears of 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 to be killed and resurrected to an eternal afterlife.

Greek

In the Greek concept, there was originally Chaos, from which the land of Gaia emerged, and in its depths lay the deep abyss of Tartarus. Chaos gave birth to Nyukta (Night) and Erebus (Darkness). The night gave birth to Tanat (Death), Hypnos (Sleep), as well as moira - goddesses of fate. From Night came the goddess of rivalry and discord, Eris, who gave birth to Hunger, Sorrow, Murder, Lies, Exhaustive Labor, Battles and other troubles. From the connection of Night with Erebus, Ether and the shining day were born.
Gaia gave birth to Uranus (Sky), then Mountains rose from its depths, and Pontus (Sea) spilled across the plains.
Gaia and Uranus gave birth to the Titans: Oceanus, Tethys, Iapetus, Hyperion, Theia, Criya, Kay, 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 had once overthrown his own parent. That's why he swallowed them immediately after birth. Rhea hid one child in a cave in Crete. This rescued baby was Zeus. God was fed by goats, and his crying was drowned out by the blows of copper shields.
Having matured, Zeus overcame his father Cronus and forced him to vomit his brothers and sisters from his womb: Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia. Thus came the end of the era of the Titans - the era of the gods of Olympus began.

Scandinavian

The Scandinavians believe that before the creation of the world there was a void called Ginungagap. To the north of it lay the frozen world of darkness Niflheim, and to the south lay 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 the cow Audumla was formed, whose milk Imir drank, as well as the second man born from sweat - Buri.
The son of Buri Bore Bor married the giantess Bestla, and they had three sons: Odin, Vili and Ve. For some reason, the sons of the Storm hated the giant Ymir and killed him. Then they took his body to the center of Ginungagapa and created the world: from flesh - the earth, from blood - the ocean, from the skull - the sky. Ymir's brain was scattered across the sky, creating clouds. 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 created the people themselves from two tree branches. From the first man and woman all other people descended. The gods built the Asgard fortress for themselves, where they settled.

Chinese

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 lasting 3 thousand years.
The first period is the pre-existence of things and ideas. At this stage of heavenly creation there already existed the 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 to be the creation of the created world, that is, the real, visible, inhabited by “creatures.” Ahura Mazda creates the sky, the stars, the Sun, the first man and the first bull. Beyond the sphere of the Sun is the abode of Ahura Mazda himself. However, Ahriman begins to act at the same time. It invades the firmament, creates planets and comets that do not obey the uniform movement of the celestial spheres.
Ahriman pollutes the water and sends death to the first man Gayomart and the primeval bull. But from the first man are born man and woman, from whom the human race descends, and from the first bull come all animals. From the collision of two opposing principles, the whole world begins to move: waters become fluid, mountains arise, celestial bodies move. To neutralize the actions of “harmful” planets, Ahura Mazda assigns her 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 of Zoroaster, is also mentioned. During the last, fourth period (after Zoroaster) in each millennium, three Saviors should appear to people, appearing as the sons of Zoroaster. The last of them, 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 “flow of molten metal”, and everything that remains after this will gain eternal life.

Sumerian-Akkadian

The mythology of Mesopotamia is the most ancient of all known in the world. It arose in the 4th millennium BC. e. in a state that at that time was called Akkad, and later developed in Assyria, Babylonia, Sumeria and Elam.
At the beginning of time there were only two gods, who personified fresh water (the god Apsu) and salt water (the goddess Tiamat). The waters existed independently of each other and never crossed. But one day the salt and fresh waters mixed - and the elder gods were born - the children of Apsu and Tiamat. Following the elder gods, many younger gods appeared. But the world still consisted of nothing but chaos; the gods felt cramped and uncomfortable in it, about which they often complained to the Supreme Apsu. The cruel Apsu was 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 land, seas, rivers and fire. Tiamat wanted to take revenge for the murder of her husband, but she was also defeated by the younger god Marduk, who created wind and storms for the duel. After the victory, Marduk received a certain artifact “Me”, which determines the movement and fate of the entire world.

The debate between supporters of the theory of creationism and evolutionary theory continues to this day. However, unlike the theory of evolution, creationism includes not one, but hundreds of different theories (if not more). In this article we will talk about ten of the most unusual myths of antiquity.

10. The myth of Pan-gu

The Chinese have their own ideas about how the world came into being. The most popular myth is the myth of Pan-gu, the giant man. The plot is as follows: at the dawn of time, Heaven and Earth were so close to each other that they merged into a single black mass.

According to legend, this mass was an egg, and Pan-gu lived inside it, and lived for a long time - many millions of years. But one fine day he got tired of such a life, and, swinging a heavy ax, Pan-gu got out of his egg, splitting it into two parts. These parts subsequently became Heaven and Earth. He was of unimaginable height - about fifty kilometers in length, which, by the standards of the ancient Chinese, was the distance between Heaven and Earth.

Unfortunately for Pan-gu and fortunately for us, the colossus was mortal and, like all mortals, died. And then Pan-gu decomposed. But not the way we do it - Pan-gu decomposed in a really cool way: his voice turned into thunder, his skin and bones became the firmament of the earth, and his head became the Cosmos. Thus, his death gave life to our world.

9. Chernobog and Belobog

This is one of the most significant myths of the Slavs. It tells about the confrontation between Good and Evil - the White and Black gods. It all started like this: when there was only one continuous sea around, Belobog decided to create dry land, sending his shadow - Chernobog - to do all the dirty work. Chernobog did everything as expected, however, having a selfish and proud nature, he did not want to share power over the firmament with Belobog, deciding to drown the latter.

Belobog got out of this situation, did not allow himself to be killed, and even blessed the land erected by Chernobog. However, with the advent of land, one small problem arose: its area grew exponentially, threatening to swallow everything around.

Then Belobog sent his delegation to Earth with the goal of finding out from Chernobog how to stop this matter. Well, Chernobog sat on a goat and went to negotiate. The delegates, seeing Chernobog galloping towards them on a goat, were imbued with the comedy of this spectacle and burst into wild laughter. Chernobog did not understand the humor, was very offended and flatly refused to talk to them.

Meanwhile, Belobog, still wanting to save the Earth from dehydration, decided to spy on Chernobog, making a bee for this purpose. The insect coped with the task successfully and found out the secret, which was as follows: in order to stop the growth of land, you need to draw a cross on it and say the cherished word - “enough.” Which is what Belobog did.

To say that Chernobog was not happy is to say nothing. Wanting revenge, he cursed Belobog, and he cursed him in a very original way - for his meanness, Belobog was now supposed to eat bee feces for the rest of his life. However, Belobog was not at a loss, and made bee excrement as sweet as sugar - this is how honey appeared. For some reason, the Slavs did not think about how people appeared... The main thing is that there is honey.

8. Armenian duality

Armenian myths resemble Slavic ones, and also tell us about the existence of two opposite principles - this time male and female. Unfortunately, the myth does not answer the question of how our world was created; it only explains how everything around us works. But that doesn't make it any less interesting.

So here's the quick gist: Heaven and Earth are a husband and wife separated by an ocean; The sky is a city, and the Earth is a piece of rock, which is held on its huge horns by an equally huge bull - when it shakes its horns, the earth bursts at the seams from earthquakes. That, in fact, is all - this is how the Armenians imagined the Earth.

There is an alternative myth where the Earth is in the middle of the sea, and Leviathan floats around it, trying to grab onto its own tail, and constant earthquakes were also explained by its flopping. When Leviathan finally bites its tail, life on Earth will cease and the apocalypse will begin. Have a nice day.

7. The Scandinavian myth of the ice giant

It would seem that there is nothing in common between the Chinese and the Scandinavians - but no, the Vikings also had their own giant - the origin of everything, only his name was Ymir, and he was icy and with a club. Before his appearance, the world was divided into Muspelheim and Niflheim - the kingdoms of fire and ice, respectively. And between them stretched Ginnungagap, symbolizing absolute chaos, and there, from the fusion of two opposing elements, Ymir was born.

And now closer to us, to the people. When Ymir began to sweat, a man and a woman emerged from his right armpit along with the sweat. It’s strange, yes, we understand this - well, that’s how they are, harsh Vikings, nothing can be done. But let's get back to the point. The man's name was Buri, he had a son Ber, and Ber had three sons - Odin, Vili and Ve. Three brothers were gods and ruled Asgard. This seemed to them not enough, and they decided to kill Ymir’s great-grandfather, making a world out of him.

Ymir was not happy, but no one asked him. In the process, he shed a lot of blood - enough to fill the seas and oceans; From the skull of the unfortunate man, the brothers created the vault of heaven, broke his bones, making mountains and cobblestones out of them, and made clouds from the torn brains of poor Ymir.

Odin and the company immediately decided to populate this new world: so they found two beautiful trees on the seashore - ash and alder, making a man from the ash, and a woman from the alder, thereby giving rise to the human race.

6. Greek myth about marbles

Like many other peoples, the ancient Greeks believed that before our world appeared, there was only complete Chaos around. There was neither the sun nor the moon - everything was dumped into one big pile, where things were inseparable from each other.

But then a certain god came, looked at the chaos reigning around, thought and decided that all this was not good, and got down to business: he separated the cold from the heat, the foggy morning from a clear day, and everything like that.

Then he set to work on the Earth, rolling it into a ball and dividing this ball into five parts: at the equator it was very hot, at the poles it was extremely cold, but between the poles and the equator it was just right, you couldn’t imagine anything more comfortable. Further, from the seed of an unknown god, most likely Zeus, known to the Romans as Jupiter, the first man was created - two-faced and also in the shape of a ball.

And then they tore him in two, making him a man and a woman - the future of you and me.

5. An Egyptian god who loved his shadow very much

In the beginning there was a great ocean, whose name was “Nu,” and this ocean was Chaos, and besides it there was nothing. It was not until Atum, by an effort of will and thought, created himself out of this Chaos. Yes, the man had balls. But further - more and more interesting. So, he created himself, now he had to create land in the ocean. Which is what he did. After wandering around the earth and realizing his total loneliness, Atum became unbearably bored, and he decided to plan on more gods. How? And just like that, with an ardent, passionate feeling for your own shadow.

Thus fertilized, Atum gave birth to Shu and Tefnut, spitting them out of his mouth. But, apparently, he overdid it, and the newborn gods were lost in the ocean of Chaos. Atum grieved, but soon, to his relief, he found and rediscovered his children. He was so glad to be reunited that he cried for a long, long time, and his tears, touching the earth, fertilized it - and people grew out of the earth, many people! Then, while people impregnated each other, Shu and Tefnut also had coitus, and they gave birth to other gods - more gods to the god of gods! - Gebu and Nutu, who became the personification of the Earth and the sky.

There is another myth in which Atum is replaced by Ra, but this does not change the main essence - there, too, everyone fertilizes each other en masse.

4. The myth of the Yoruba people - about the Sands of Life and the chicken

There is such an African people - the Yoruba. So, they also have their own myth about the origin of all things.

In general, it was like this: there was one God, his name was Olorun, and one fine day the idea came to his mind that the Earth needed to be equipped somehow (at that time the Earth was one continuous wasteland).

Olorun didn’t really want to do this himself, so he sent his son, Obotala, to Earth. However, at that moment, Obotala had more important things to do (in fact, there was a gorgeous party planned in heaven, and Obotala simply could not miss it).

While Obotala was having fun, all the responsibility fell on Odudawa. Having nothing at hand except chicken and sand, Odudawa nevertheless set to work. His principle was the following: he took sand from a cup, poured it onto the Earth, and then let the chicken run around in the sand and trample it thoroughly.

After carrying out several such simple manipulations, Odudawa created the land of Lfe or Lle-lfe. This is where Odudawa's story ends, and Obotala appears on the stage again, this time completely drunk - the party was a great success.

And so, being in a state of divine alcoholic intoxication, the son of Olorun set about creating us humans. It turned out very badly for him, and he created disabled people, dwarfs and freaks. Having sobered up, Obotala was horrified and quickly corrected everything by creating normal people.

According to another version, Obotala never recovered, and Odudawa also made people, simply lowering us from the sky and at the same time assigning himself the status of ruler of humanity.

3. Aztec "War of the Gods"

According to Aztec myth, there was no primordial Chaos. But there was a primary order - an absolute vacuum, impenetrably black and endless, in which in some strange way the Supreme God - Ometeotl - lived. He had a dual nature, possessing both feminine and masculine principles, was good and at the same time evil, was both warm and cold, truth and lies, white and black.

He gave birth to the remaining gods: Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Xipe Totec, who, in turn, created giants, water, fish and other gods.

Tezcatlipoca ascended to the heavens, sacrificing himself and becoming the Sun. However, there he encountered Quetzalcoatl, entered into battle with him and lost to him. Quetzalcoatl threw Tezcatlipoca from the sky and became the Sun himself. Then, Quetzalcoatl gave birth to people and gave them nuts to eat.

Tezcatlipoca, still harboring a grudge against Quetzalcoatl, decided to take revenge on his creations by turning people into monkeys. Seeing what happened to his first people, Quetzalcoatl flew into a rage and caused a powerful hurricane that scattered the vile monkeys throughout the world.

While Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc were at war with each other, Tialoc and Chalchiuhtlicue also turned into suns in order to continue the cycle of day and night. However, the fierce battle between Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca affected them too - then they too were thrown from heaven.

In the end, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoc stopped their feud, forgetting past grievances and creating new people - the Aztecs - from the dead bones and blood of Quetzalcoatl.

2. Japanese “World Cauldron”

Japan. Again Chaos, again in the form of an ocean, this time as dirty as a swamp. In this ocean-swamp, magical reeds (or reeds) grew, and from this reeds (or reeds), like our children from cabbage, gods were born, a great many of them. All of them together were called Kotoamatsukami - and that’s all that is known about them, for as soon as they were born, they immediately hastened to hide in the reeds. Or in the reeds.

While they were hiding, new gods appeared, including Ijinami and Ijinagi. They began to stir the ocean until it thickened, and from it the land was formed - Japan. Ijinami and Ijinagi had a son, Ebisu, who became the god of all fishermen, a daughter, Amaterasu, who became the Sun, and another daughter, Tsukiyomi, who became the Moon. They also had one more son, the last - Susanoo, who, for his violent temper, received the status of the god of wind and storms.

1. Lotus flower and “Om-m”

Like many other religions, Hinduism also features the concept of the world emerging from the void. Well, as if out of nowhere, there was an endless ocean in which a giant cobra swam, and there was Vishnu, who slept on the cobra’s tail. And nothing more.

Time passed, days followed each other one after another, and it seemed that it would always be like this. But one day, everything around was filled with a sound that had never been heard before - the sound of “Om-m”, and the previously empty world was overwhelmed with energy. Vishnu awoke from sleep, and Brahma appeared from the lotus flower at his navel. Vishnu ordered Brahma to create the world, and in the meantime he disappeared, taking with him a snake.

Brahma, sitting in the lotus position on a lotus flower, set to work: he divided the flower into three parts, using one to create Heaven and Hell, another to create Earth, and the third to create heaven. Brahma then created animals, birds, people and trees, thus creating all living things.

The creation of the world is the original question in any religion. How and when everything that surrounds man was born - plants, birds, animals, man himself.

Science promotes its theory - a big explosion occurred in the universe, which gave rise to the galaxy and the planets around it. If the general scientific theory of the creation of the world is united, then different peoples have their own legends about it.

Myths about the creation of the world

What is a myth? This is a legend about the origin of life, the role of God and man in it. There are a huge number of such legends.

According to Jewish history, Heaven and Earth were original. The material for their creation was the clothes of God and snow. According to another version, the whole world is an intertwining of threads of fire, water and snow.

According to Egyptian mythology, initially darkness and chaos reigned everywhere. Only the young God Ra, who shed light and gave life, was able to defeat him. In one version, he hatched from an egg, and in another version, he was born from a lotus flower. It is noteworthy that there are many variations in the Egyptian theory, and many contain images of animals, birds, and insects.

In the stories of the Sumerians, the world came into existence when the flat Earth and the dome of Heaven united and gave birth to a son - the God of Air. Then the deities of water and plants appear. Here for the first time we speak of the emergence of a person from the organ of another.

The Greek myth about the origin of the world is based on the concept of chaos, which swallowed up everything around, the sun and moon were inseparable, cold was combined with heat. A certain God came and separated all opposites from each other. He also created man and woman from a single matter.

The parable of the ancient Slavs is based on the same chaos that reigned everywhere and around. There are deities of time, earth, darkness, wisdom. According to this legend, all living things appeared from dust - humans, plants, animals. The stars came from here. Therefore, it is said that the stars, like man, are not eternal.

Creation of the world according to the Bible

The Holy Scripture is the main book of Orthodox believers. Here you can find answers to all questions. This also applies to the origin of the world, humans and animals, plants.

The Bible has five books that tell the whole story. These books were written by Moses during his wanderings with the Jewish people. All the revelations of God were initially recorded in one volume, but then it was divided.

The beginning of the Holy Scriptures is the Book of Genesis. Its name from Greek means “beginning,” which speaks of the content. It is here that the story is told about how the birth of life, the first man, the first society occurred.

As the Scripture says, man, by his existence, carries the highest goal - love, beneficence, improvement. It contains within itself the breath of God himself - the soul.

According to biblical history, the world was not created in eternity. How many days did it take for God to create a world filled with life? Even children know about this today.

How God created the earth in 7 days

The appearance of the world in such a short time is briefly described in the Holy Scriptures. There is no detailed description in the book, everything is symbolic. Understanding transcends age and time - it is something that lasts for centuries. History says that only God can create the world out of nothing.

First day of creation of the world

God created “heaven” and “earth”. This should not be taken literally. This does not mean matter, but certain forces, entities, angels.

On this same day, God separated darkness from light, thus creating day and night.

Second day

At this time, a certain “firmament” is created. The personification of the separation of water on earth and air. Thus, we are talking about creating air space, a certain atmosphere for life.

The third day

The Almighty orders the water to gather in one place and make room for the formation of land. This is how the earth itself appeared, and the water around became seas and oceans.

Fourth day

It is notable for the formation of celestial bodies - night and day. The stars appear.

Now the possibility of counting time arises. The successive sun and moon count days, seasons, years.

Fifth day

Life appears on earth. Birds, fish, animals. This is where the great phrase “be fruitful and multiply” comes into play. God gives the beginning, the first individuals who will themselves raise their offspring in this paradise.

Sixth day

God creates man “in His image and likeness” and breathes life into him. Man is molded from clay, and the breath of God revives dead material and gives him a soul.

Adam is the first person, man. He lives in the Garden of Eden and understands the languages ​​of the world around him. Despite the diversity of life around him, he is lonely. God creates a helper for him, the woman Eve, from his rib while Adam sleeps.

Seventh day

Called Saturday. It is reserved for rest and serving God.

This is how the world was born. What is the exact date of creation of the world according to the Bible? This is still the main and most difficult issue. There are claims that time is being described long before the advent of modern chronology.

Another opinion says the opposite, that the events in the Holy Book are our time. The figure varies from 3483 to 6984 years. But the generally accepted point of reference is considered to be 5508 BC.

Creation of the world according to the Bible for children

Initiating children into the doctrine of God teaches correct principles of behavior and points to undeniable values. However, the Bible in its present form is difficult for an adult to understand, let alone a child’s perception.

In order for a child to study the main book of Christians himself, a children's Bible was invented. A colorful, illustrated publication, written in a child-friendly language.

The story of the creation of the world from the Old Testament tells that initially there was nothing. But God has always been. All seven days of creation are narrated very briefly. It also tells the story of the emergence of the first people and how they betrayed God.

The story of Adam and Abel is described. These stories are instructive for children and teach them the right attitude towards others, elders, and nature. Animated and feature films come to the rescue, which clearly show the events described in the Holy Scriptures.

There is no age or time for religion. She is beyond everything essential. Understanding the origin of the environment and the role of man in the world, finding harmony and one’s path is possible only by understanding the values ​​that faith carries.

Introduction

One of the most important and interesting questions for every person is the question of the origin of the world. This question arises naturally, since the example of many changeable things, phenomena or processes in the surrounding world, the example of the birth and existence of living beings, humans, society and cultural phenomena, teaches us that everything has its beginning. Much in the world once began, originated and began to change and develop over a relatively short or long period of time. True, before the human gaze there were examples of such long-lived things that seem eternal. For example, the ocean, rivers flowing into it, mountain ranges, the shining sun or moon seemed eternal. These examples suggested the opposite idea, that the world as a whole could be eternal and have no beginning. Thus, human thought, human intuition suggested two opposite answers to the question posed: the world once began to exist and the world always existed and had no beginning. Between these two extreme points of view, various options are possible, for example, that the world arose from the primary Ocean, which itself has no beginning, or that the world periodically arises and then is destroyed, etc. This content of human thought is reflected in mythology, religion, philosophy , and later - in natural science. In this work, we will briefly consider the most famous myths about the creation of the world and allow ourselves a small comparative analysis of mythological stories with the Biblical story of creation. Why might mythology be interesting to us? Because in mythology, in the collective consciousness of people, which is a special way of understanding the world around us, inherent in people in the early stages of historical development, certain ideas of people are reflected. And these ideas may have a historical, speculative or some other basis.

1 Myths about the creation of the world

Let's make some introductory remarks. Firstly, we will limit ourselves to considering only the cosmogonic part of myths and Holy Scripture, leaving out of sight the story of man’s settlement in Paradise. Secondly, the content of the myths will be conveyed in an abbreviated form, since a full description of the adventures of the gods and their genealogies will take up a lot of space and distract us from the main goal - a comparative analysis of mythologies with the Biblical account of the creation of the world and man.

1.1 Myths of ancient Egypt. Memphis, Hermopolis, Heliopolis and Theban cosmogonies

All four ancient Egyptian cosmogonies have significant similarities in the narrative of the creation of the world and are therefore united. At the same time, there are certain differences in the nature and sequence of creations and births of deities, people and the rest of the world. As a preliminary analysis, we will highlight three main stages in creation, following one after another: A - the existence of the primordial Ocean, B - the birth of the gods and the creation of the world, C - the creation of man.

A) A common feature of these creation myths is the initial existence of only one vast ocean, which was on its own. This ocean was lifeless, according to some myths, or full of potentialities, according to others, but at the same time it turned out to be the first deity.

Memphis Cosmogony: The Ocean of Nun was cold and lifeless.

Hermopolis cosmogony: in the beginning there was Chaos in the form of the primordial Ocean. The Primordial Ocean was full of forces and potencies, both destructive and creative.

Heliopolis cosmogony: the endless Ocean of Chaos-Nun was a dark, cold, lifeless water desert.

Theban cosmogony: there were initial waters.

B) Then gods are born from the Ocean, who give birth to other deities, with a list of genealogies, and create the whole world.

Memphis cosmogony: the very first god Ptah-Earth, through an effort of will, creates himself, his flesh from the earth. Then Ptah-Earth creates with Thought and Word, giving birth to his son - the solar god Atum, who arose from the Ocean of Nun. God Atum, helping his father, creates the great Ennead - nine gods. Ptah-Earth endows the Ennead with divine attributes: power and wisdom, and also establishes religion: temples, sanctuaries, festivals and sacrifices (but man was not yet on earth). From his body, Ptah created everything that exists: living beings, rivers, mountains, established cities, crafts and works. The god Ptah, his wife the goddess Sokhmet and their son the god of vegetation Nefertum made up the Memphis Triad of gods.

Hermopolitan cosmogony: in the Ocean lurked the forces of destruction - Darkness and Disappearance, Emptiness and Nothingness, Absence and Night, as well as the forces of creation - the Great Eight (Ogdoad) - 4 male and 4 female deities. Male deities are Huh (Infinity), Nun (Water), Kuk (Darkness), Amon (Air). Male deities have their own female deities, who act as their hypostases. These eight creative deities initially swam in the Ocean, but then the deities decided to engage in creation. They raised the Primordial Hill from the water and grew a lotus flower on it in complete darkness. From the flower emerged the baby Ra, the solar god who first illuminated the whole world. Later, the god Ra gave birth to a pair of deities: the god Shu and the goddess Tefnut, from whom all the other gods were born.

Heliopolis cosmogony: the solar god Atum, the first of the gods, jumped out of the cold dark waters. Atum created the Primordial Hill and then created a pair of deities: the god Shu and the goddess Tefnut, vomiting them out of his mouth. God Shu is the god of wind and air; The goddess Tefnut is the goddess of world order. When Shu and Tefnut got married, they had twins: the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut. This pair of twins, when they grew up and got married, gave birth to many children: the stars, and then other gods: Osiris, Set, Isis, Nephthys, Harver, who, together with their parents and ancestors, formed the great Ennead. God Shu cut off the sky from the earth so that Nut and Geb would not give birth to more gods (stars), and so that Nut would not eat her children. Thus the sky was separated from the earth.

Theban cosmogony: the first god of the earth - Amon - created himself, emerging from the initial waters. Then Amon created all things from himself: people and gods. Later, the god Amon became the solar god Amon-Ra. The god Amun-Ra, his wife the goddess Mut and their son the lunar deity Khonsu made up the Theban Triad of gods.

C) Gods create people. People appear after the first gods, but simultaneously with some other gods or even before some of them.

Memphis cosmogony: as already mentioned, the god Ptah creates all things, including people, from his body. This happened after the creation of the Ennead and the establishment of religion. After creation, God Ptah resides in the body of all creatures, animate and inanimate, endowing people with part of his creative power, which previously allowed him to create the world. In the place where Ptah created the world, the city of Memphis was formed.

Hermopolitan cosmogony: when the baby Ra saw the wonderful world illuminated by its rays, he cried with joy. From these tears of Ra, dropped on the Primordial Hill, the first people arose. There, on the Hill, the city of Hermopolis later arose.

Heliopolis cosmogony: the god Atum once temporarily lost his children: the god Shu and the goddess Tefnut. He sent after them his fiery divine Eye, which stubbornly wandered and illuminated the darkness. Instead of the first Eye, Atum created a second one for himself. This is how the sun and moon appeared. Meanwhile, the fiery Eye found the children of Atum. From joy that children were found, the god Atum began to cry. From these tears of Atum, which fell on the Primordial Hill, people arose. Later, the city of Heliopolis and its main temple were built on the Primordial Hill.

Theban cosmogony: the god Amon created everyone from himself. From his eyes appeared people, and from his mouth - gods. He taught people to build cities. The first city built was Thebes.

Aivazovsky. Among the waves

(Taken from the site: http://see-art. ru/art. php? genre=all)

The Boundless Ocean or aquatic Chaos at the beginning of creation

1.2 Myth of ancient Mesopotamia

Here we will apply the same three-step creation sequence, since Mesopotamian cosmogony is similar to ancient Egyptian cosmogony.

A) In the beginning, for a long time, only the World Ocean existed. His daughter, the goddess Nammu, was hiding in the depths of the Ocean.

B) The birth of the gods (with pedigree) and the creation of the world

From the womb of the goddess Nammu came a great mountain, on the top of which lived the god An (sky), and below lay the goddess Ki (earth). The god An and the goddess Ki got married and gave birth to the mighty god Enlil, and then seven more gods. This is how the eight gods appeared, ruling the world. Then the world gradually became crowded with the younger Anunnaki gods, who were born by An and Ki, as well as by the older gods. Then Enlil separated the sky from the earth (An from Ki), cutting off the firmament from the earth in order to stop the birth of new gods. Since then, a spacious and wide land has opened up, on which there was enough space for all the gods. God Enlil filled the vast earth with the breath of life and created in its center the city of Nippur with the temple of Enlil, where all the gods came to worship.

C) Gods create people.

Enlil's brother, the god Enki, the demiurge and sage, began to arrange the world while Enlil dealt with the gods. Enki launched fish into the water, forbade the seas to flood the earth, filled the bowels of the earth with minerals, planted forests, established the order of irrigating the earth with rain, created birds and their singing. However, many younger gods began to devastate the earth in search of housing and food. Then Enki creates the divine Sheep - the god Lahar and the divine Grain - the goddess Ashnan. Thanks to them, cattle breeding and agriculture appeared on the earth. Then Enki created assistants for the younger gods - hard-working and intelligent people. Enki and his wife Ninmah together began to sculpt people from clay and assign them fate and work. This is how people were created - men and women, endowed with soul and mind, similar in image to the gods.

1.3 Myth of ancient Babylonia

Babylonian culture is seen as a continuation of Mesopotamian culture. Therefore, we also apply the three-stage sequence of creation to the Babylonian cosmogony.

A) In the beginning there was the primordial Ocean. The seeds of life were already ripening in him.

B) The birth of the gods with their genealogy and the creation of the world.

Two first parents lived in the Ocean, stirring its waters: the all-creator god Apsu and the foremother goddess Tiamat. Then pairs of gods were born from the Ocean: Lahmu and Lahamu, Anshar and Kishar, as well as the god Mummu. Anshar and Kishar gave birth to the god Anu, and this one gave birth to the god Ey. When the god Eya dealt with his evil great-grandfather Apsu (he was irritated by the hubbub and restlessness of the gods), he married Damkina, and they gave birth to the god Marduk. This Marduk then became the supreme god. Marduk dealt with his great-grandmother Tiamat, and from her corpse he created the whole world - heaven and earth. Marduk decorated the sky with planets, stars, sun and moon; created clouds and rain, made rivers flow; created animals. Marduk also established religious rites. Later, many younger gods appeared, and the younger gods worked for the benefit of the elders.

C) Gods create people.

Marduk decided to create people from divine clay mixed with the blood of one of the younger gods who fought on the side of Tiamat against Marduk, so that people would serve many gods. People appeared hardworking and intelligent.

1.4 Myths of ancient Greece. Five variants of cosmogony

Let us apply the three-stage sequence of creation to ancient Greek cosmogony.

A) The primordial existence of Chaos, Ocean or Darkness, full of potentialities and essentially deities.

First option: in the beginning there was Chaos.

Second option: at first the whole world was covered by the Ocean.

Third option: in the beginning there was the goddess Night and the god Wind.

Fourth option: in the beginning there was Chaos.

Fifth option: in the beginning there were Darkness and Chaos.

B) The birth of the gods with a listing of their genealogies, and the creation of the world.

First option: Eurynome, the goddess of all things, rose naked from Chaos, separated the sky from the sea and began her lonely dance over its waves. It was cold; The north wind appeared behind the goddess. The goddess caught the north wind, and the great serpent Ophion appeared before her eyes. The goddess danced more and more frantically, warming herself, and Ophion wrapped himself around her and possessed her. The pregnant Eurynome laid the World Egg, and Ophion incubated it. From this Egg the whole world was born. After a quarrel between Eurynome and Ophion, the goddess herself created the planets and gave birth to the Titans and Titanides.

Second option: gods are born in the streams of the Ocean. The mother of all gods is the goddess Tethys.

Third option: the goddess Night responded to the courtship of the god of Wind and laid a silver Egg. From him came the bisexual god Eros. Eros set the whole world in motion, made the earth, sky, sun and moon. The world began to be ruled by the triune Night - a triad of goddesses.

Fourth option: the Earth arose from Chaos and gave birth to Uranus in a dream. Uranus shed fertilizing rain on the Earth, and it gave birth to gods. Water also came from rain.

Fifth option: Chaos and Darkness gave birth to all the titans and gods, Heaven, Gaia-Earth, and the Sea.

C) Gods create people.

First option: Eurynome and Ophion settled on Mount Olympus after the creation of the world. Then they had a quarrel, as Ophion declared himself the creator of the Universe. The goddess drove the snake into the underground, knocking out his teeth. From these teeth of Ophion people were born.

Fifth option: people were created by the titan Prometheus and the goddess Athena. Prometheus blinded people from earth and water, and Athena breathed life into them. The soul in people appeared thanks to the wandering divine elements preserved from the time of creation.

1.5 Myths of ancient India. Three variants of cosmogony

Indian myths gradually underwent strong changes, so there is no single system of views on the origin of the world. We will consider three narrative options.

1.5.1 One of the oldest variants of cosmogony is as follows. The gods created the Primordial Man Purusha. Then this Man was sacrificed by the gods, his body was cut into pieces. From the parts of the body arose the moon, sun, fire, wind, sky, cardinal points, earth and various classes of human society.

1.5.2 The next most famous version of cosmogony is somewhat reminiscent of the creation myths discussed above. Therefore, we will present it according to the same three-step scheme.

A) In the beginning there was nothing but the primordial Chaos, which rested without movement, but concealed within itself great powers.

B) From the darkness of the primordial Chaos, waters arose before other creations. The waters gave birth to fire. The Golden Egg was born within them by the great power of heat. Since there was no sun, no moon, no stars, there was nothing and no one to measure time, there was no year; but for as long as a year lasts, the Golden Egg floated in the vast and bottomless ocean. After a year of sailing, the progenitor Brahma emerged from the Golden Egg. Brahma broke the egg: the upper half of the Egg became Heaven, the lower half became Earth, and between them Brahma placed airspace. And he established the earth among the waters, created the countries of the world and laid the foundation for time. This is how the Universe was created. With the power of his thoughts, Brahma gave birth to six sons - six great lords, as well as other gods and goddesses. Brahma gave them power over the Universe, and he himself, tired of creation, retired to rest.

C) People are born from Vivasvat and the goddess Saranyu. Vivaswat was the son of the goddess Aditi and became a man after the gods remade his nature (he later became the sun god). The first children of Vivasvata and Saranyu were mortal men: Yama, Yami and Manu. The younger children Vivasvata and Saranyu were gods. The first person to die is Yama. After his death, he became the ruler of the kingdom of the dead. Manu was destined to survive the Great Flood. From him come the people now living on earth.

1.5.3 Late Hindu version of cosmogony. There is a trinity of gods - Trimurti - Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer, whose functions are not strictly delimited. The universe is cyclically born by Brahma, preserved by Vishnu and destroyed by Shiva. Brahma's day lasts as long as the Universe exists; night of Brahma - when the Universe dies and does not exist. Brahma's day and Brahma's night are equal to every 12 thousand divine years. The divine year consists of days equal to one human year. The life of Brahma lasts for 100 years of Brahma, after which there will be another Brahma. (We can calculate that the period of existence of the Universe is 4 million 380 thousand years, and the life of Brahma lasts 159 billion 870 million years.)

Relationship" href="/text/category/vzaimootnoshenie/" rel="bookmark">relationships of deities, their marriages and conflicts, their divine pedigree, who was born from whom. In many mythologies, deities act as personified forces or times of nature: the deity Ocean -Nun, god Ptah-Earth, god Atum-Sun, god An-Sky, goddess Ki-Earth, daughter of Brahma, goddess Virini-Night, etc.

The third common feature of myths is the narrative of the creation of the world and man by one or more of the elder gods. Moreover, some narratives claim that man was created to serve the gods, while others talk about the creation of man as an accidental, side event of divine history.

2.2 Comparison of creation myths with the Biblical account of the creation of the world and man

We believe that the reader is familiar with the content of the Biblical account of the creation of the world and man (Six Days), so there is no need to quote it. Let us point out that the three general features of cosmogonies listed above are fundamentally different from the Biblical Six-Day.

Instead of the originally, eternally existing progenitor of the Ocean-Chaos, the Bible claims that God created the world out of nothing. That is, according to the Biblical story, once the world did not exist, but then it was created by God.

Instead of long, intricate and fabulous stories about the relationships between gods and their genealogies, the Bible tells in ascetic language about one God (monotheism), who is the true Creator of the entire existing world. The God of the Bible and Christianity is not a personified force of nature, is not dissolved in the natural elements, but He is transcendental to the world, exists outside the world, outside physical space and time, unlike mythological deities.

Instead of ideas about the creation of man by one of the elder gods, Christianity claims that the true creator of man is the one God the Creator. Moreover, according to Christianity, the whole world was created only for the sake of the existence of man, who is the image of God and who is destined to reign over the material world. While in mythologies, the appearance of man looks like a minor event against the background of stories about the adventures of the gods.

A significant distinctive feature of the Biblical Six-Days is the statement about the sequential, step-by-step creation of the world during six days (periods) of creation. Moreover, each time after the next stage of creation, God characterizes the primordial nature and creation as perfect in His eyes. We will never find this recognition of the perfection of the creature in mythologies.

So, in its main features, the Biblical, Christian understanding of the creation of the world and man does not coincide with pagan mythologies.

But at the same time, there are some similarities and analogies between these narratives, which we will now consider.

1) In mythologies, the original state of the world is characterized as Chaos-Ocean-Darkness. In the Biblical Sixth Day, the initial state of the created earth is presented as formless and empty, covered with water and immersed in darkness.

2) The Primordial Chaos-Ocean-Darkness of mythologies is fraught with strength and potency and is the environment for the birth of gods. In the Bible, the Spirit of God hovers over the waters and gives them life.

3) In many mythologies, land appears from the waters. In the Bible, God gathers the waters under the sky into one place, revealing dry land.

4) Some analogy between the narratives is the birth of many gods in mythology and the creation of spiritual entities - angels in the Christian Holy Tradition. True, the Biblical Sixth Day does not directly talk about this. But many interpreters of the Bible understand the phrase about God’s creation of heaven as the creation of the angelic world.

5) In some mythologies there is a motif of separation (separation), for example, the separation of heaven from earth. In the Biblical Sixth Day, the motif of separation is clearly noticeable: the separation of light from darkness, the separation of the firmament of water from water, the actual separation of land from water.

6) In some mythologies, gods mold people from clay or earth. And, for example, in Babylonian cosmogony, to create a person, clay was mixed with the blood of one of the younger gods. In the Bible, God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, then breathed life into him. The name Adam itself can mean “clay” or, as they also say, “red clay.”

The question arises of how to interpret the differences and similarities between mythological cosmogonies and the Biblical narrative. How to assess the degree of similarity and degree of difference? Wasn't the Biblical Sixth Day borrowed from earlier myths of other peoples? Isn't the similarity of cosmogonies the effect of parallel independent collective creativity, a manifestation of an archetype, the collective unconscious of many peoples? And if so, then who or what put this archetype into the minds of humanity. Or maybe there is a single Source of true knowledge, from which all the known myths about creation originated, only different peoples decorated them in accordance with their inclinations, their mentality? This is a very difficult question. Moreover, behind this question one can feel the presence of a real secret... And the reader must ultimately come to comprehend it himself. In atheistic and non-Christian literature one can find claims that the Biblical account of the creation of the world and man is borrowed from earlier Babylonian and Egyptian or other mythology. After all, there are some analogies between them. But the brief comparative analysis presented here speaks against this, according to which there is a significant difference between these stories. More precisely, we want to say that differences are observed between the Bible and pagan cosmogonies, while there are many similarities between the cosmogonies themselves. And, on the contrary, Orthodox literature speaks of the polemical aspect of the Biblical Sixth Day, that it was written (including) against the then dominant religious and philosophical views of the pagans, i.e. against the creation myths of the peoples surrounding the ancient Jews. This is supported by the same significant differences between the Bible and the creation myths. Moreover, the Bible looks different: the language of the Bible is ascetic, there are no stories about the adventures of the gods, there are no divine genealogies. If the Bible were written simply as a Hebrew myth, then instead of the Sixth Day we would most likely have a Jewish version of the relationship of spiritual entities and their genealogies, against the background of which people appear as a secondary detail, either from the tears of a deity, or from the teeth of a serpent, and even then only to serve the gods. Then one could say that the Biblical narrative is the same as other myths, a product of the collective creativity of the people, the product of an archetype or a simple borrowing from more ancient legends. But it doesn't look like it. The biblical story differs in fundamental points from pagan cosmogonies. But then the question may arise: didn’t Moses personally come up with all this? Didn’t he take the Egyptian creation myths as a basis and rework them in favor of the affirmation of a single Creator of heaven and earth? Of course, this can be assumed. Moses could theoretically force people to confess Bible truth, but this is only theoretical. It is difficult to imagine that man himself, without the will of God, was able to achieve such colossal authority among the Jews that, instead of popular myths, he could impose the strict Sixth Day on an entire people, and a very stubborn people at that. The same Sixth Day in which greenery and trees flourish before the Sun is created, contrary to everyday observations, contrary to natural worship of the luminary and contrary to all common sense! And thus the Biblical tale became fundamentally different from pagan myths. And this should be seen as a manifestation of the will of God.

But we still haven’t sufficiently illuminated this question: where did the individual analogies between the narratives come from? Do they have a common source? The hypothesis about the existence of a common archetype does not solve the problem, but only pushes it aside, since then the question arises about the reason for the existence of this archetype. Here we adhere to a point of view, the logic of which let the reader evaluate for himself: there are at least two reasons for the existence of analogies between the Bible and pagan cosmogonies. The first and main probable reason is that they all have a common Source - Divine revelation, passed down from generation to generation through tradition. Perhaps Adam knew this legend when he had the closest communication with the Creator. After the fall of Adam and Eve, people fell away from God and the content of the tradition began to be lost. On the basis of legend, various pagan myths grew and flourished. Pagan peoples embellished the ancient legend by composing fabulous genealogies of gods, adding speculative moments, for example, the birth of the world from a Silver or Golden Egg, and obscuring the reason for the appearance of man, making man’s purpose in this world secondary. But at the right moment, Divine revelation was once again revealed to Moses to formalize it in Holy Scripture and to educate the Jewish people, and then all Christians, in the worship of God. That is why the language of the Bible is ascetic, the texts of which stand apart from the myths of other peoples. The second probable reason for the existence of analogies between the Bible and pagan myths is that, while denying these myths and polemicizing with them, Holy Scripture is partly expressed in their own language. Apparently, otherwise the Jewish people, who had been captivated by the pagans, heard their cosmogonies and were tempted to worship their gods, would not have been able to understand the essence of Moses’ story. This is how we see the reasons for the existence of analogies between narratives.

The question may arise: if pagan creation myths are distorted retellings of ancient tradition, then why do we claim that there are more fundamental similarities between the myths themselves than with the Bible? They would have to differ more from each other than each from the original source. The answer here is this. In fact, if the reader has noticed, great similarities are observed only between the myths of ethnically related and geographically close peoples, for example, the cosmogonies of the Semitic-Hamitic peoples are very similar: Egyptian (Memphis, Hermopolis, Heliopolis and Thebes), Mesopotamian and Babylonian, as descended from one branches of interpretation of ancient legend. The further the mutual kinship and location of peoples, the less similarities there are in their mythologies, since they come from different branches of retellings of legend. Further. The distortion of the ancient tradition among pagan peoples could follow a certain general direction, determined by the collective consciousness and collective unconscious of humanity, prone to polytheism, the deification of the elements and times of nature. In all likelihood, this allowed us in this work to identify a general three-stage scheme for the creation of the world among many peoples: A - the existence of the primordial Ocean-Chaos-Darkness, B - the birth of the gods and the creation of the world, C - the creation of man. Let us explain this using the example of stage A. The ancient tradition, judging by the Bible, should have asserted that in the beginning there was no world, but God always existed, that He created heaven and earth, and that the initial state of the created earth seemed formless and empty, covered with water and plunged into darkness. But the pagan consciousness of the peoples could not keep this truth, this secret of the creation of the universe unchanged, but began to see here the original state of the world as Chaos-Ocean-Darkness, which itself represents a deity. This is how the legend was distorted in favor of the deification of the elements of nature.

Conclusion

This work does not pretend to be complete. And it is impossible to fully illuminate one of the most important secrets of the universe - the mystery of its creation. We limited ourselves to considering only the cosmogonic part of pagan myths and Holy Scripture, leaving out of sight the story of man’s settlement in Paradise and his expulsion from Paradise. The similarities and differences between pagan myths and the Biblical account of the creation of the world are discussed in general terms. It has been suggested that pagan cosmogonies are distorted retellings of the Divine revelation given to humanity from Adam and revealed a second time to Moses for its formalization in the Holy Scriptures and for the education of the Jewish people, and then all Christians in the worship of God.

Literature

1. Ovchinnikova A.G. Legends and myths of the Ancient East. – St. Petersburg: Litera Publishing House, 2002. – 512 p.

2. Graves R. Myths of Ancient Greece. Publishing house "Progress", 1992.

3. Myths of ancient India. Literary presentation by V. G. Erman and E. N. Temkin. M.: Main editorial office of oriental literature of the Nauka publishing house, 1975. – 240 p.

4. Priest Oleg Davydenkov. Dogmatic Theology. Part three. About God in His relation to the world and man. Section I. God as Creator and Provider of the world. http://www. sedmitza. ru/index. html? sid=239&did=3686

5. Alexander Men. Experience of a course in the study of the Holy Scriptures. Old Testament. Sacred writing before the era of prophetic writers. Prologue of the book of Genesis. http://www. krotov. info/library/m/menn/1_8_104.html

6. Deacon Andrey Kuraev. Shestodnev's polemics.

http://ao. orthodoxy. ru/arch/012/012-kuraev. htm

WORLD CREATION. CREATION MYTHS

V. Yu. Skosar, Dnepropetrovsk

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The similarities and differences between pagan myths and the Biblical account of the creation of the world are discussed in general terms. It has been suggested that pagan cosmogonies are distorted retellings of the Divine revelation given to humanity from Adam and revealed a second time to Moses for its formalization in the Holy Scriptures and for the education of the Jewish people, and then all Christians in the worship of God.

“Primordial darkness” - the same chaos, was present in the ideas of the ancient Slavs, both Western and Eastern.

“And there was primordial darkness, and in that darkness lived the Mother of Time, the great Mother of darkness and eternity - Sva. And her heart yearned, she wanted to know a child’s laughter, tender little hands, and she took the warmth of her soul, and, holding it in her hands, rolled it into a spiral, rolling up a fiery embryo. And from that fiery embryo she made her son. And a son was born from a fiery embryo, and from the umbilical cord a fire-breathing serpent was born, his name was Fert.

And the wise serpent became a friend to Sva’s son Svarog. Playing, they grew up together. And Svarog and his mother became bored, for he had already become a young man. And he also wanted to have small children. And he asked his mother to help him. Mother Time agreed. She took from her soul and gave it to the wise snake to swallow. A lot of time has passed. And one day Svarog woke up. He took the heroic staff and touched the tail of the serpent-Fert. And an egg fell out of the snake.

Mother Time picked it up and, breaking it, made a star. Once again Svarog pressed his staff on the tail of the fiery serpent, and another child (son or daughter) was born to the god and goddess. This is how all the children of him and Mother of Time – Sva – were born.

How did all living things appear in the white world?

Svarog fell asleep, lay down on his friend snake, and the snake curled up, becoming a bed for his brother. Mother of Time, the goddess of Eternity, wanted to surprise her son. She took the clear stars in her hands, tore off the old skin from the snake, and ground it all into silver dust. She waved her swan-like arms, and dust scattered across the starry sky. And from that dust all living things were born. And it didn’t take a day, not two, or a thousand years.

Man was made in the same way, only the Great Mother of all things put her soul into his body. That soul is the breath of the sleeping son of Svarog. Maybe that’s why the soul sleeps in our body and wakes up only in difficult times. Maybe this is correct, because if a person thought only about the sublime, without caring about their daily bread, people would die out. Know that man was born both by God and by the serpent. That is why it contains both good and bad. The left half is serpentine, and the right half is starry. It is only important for him to ensure that good and bad, evil and good, are in balance, he will only benefit from this. If there is more evil, the soul will burn in a fiery flame, in the flame of anger and envy. And there will be no benefit or joy from that life. If the good outweighs, then that person will become boring for people; a very righteous person is more boring than necessary. He takes to teaching without measure. His instructions often do not come from the heart. Such a person is boring and funny.

But father and mother love all their children. Each child is sweet to them in their own way. He loves Svarog and his faithful friend Firth. Once a year, Svarog walks with a staff across the sky, and from those steps the stars fall and space, form, and time are born.

But like people, the stars in the sky are not eternal. Svarog himself is not eternal. There is death and birth for everything. The hour will come when Svarog will be destroyed by his friend, his beloved friend, the fiery serpent. He will spew out of his mouth stinking fire, like a thousand hot suns. And the stars will die in flames. And every living thing in the world will perish. But, dying, will be reborn. An update will occur. It has already been so and it will be so. And at the death of the gods and the fiery serpent, their souls and the souls of people will gather into a single whole, into one common spiral, and this whole will be nurtured by the Mother of Time. And he will add a piece of his soul to it. And from this, over time, a fiery embryo will appear, and fire, earth and water will appear, and everything will repeat itself from the beginning, and will return to normal. So it was, is and will be..."