Cosmic Creation Myth
Creation Myths across Cultures There are many different beliefs about how the world was created. People believe it happened in different ways. In the world of Zulu the world was just darkness and one very large seed. The seed began to grow. These seeds were called Uthlange, which means the source of all things. The seeds grew slowly and eventually grew into a man. The man grew so big the plant could not keep the man on it so he fell off. Then he walked up and down the land and he saw more men and women growing off the plants (The big Myth, 2011).
In the world Inca beginning, with Pachacamac the son rose slowly from Lake Titicaca. He was so bright in the sky all by himself so he made the stars, and the planets and the moon. The moon was so beautiful that she became his wife and together they ruled the heavens and the earth. Pachacamac made the first human out of stone of an enormous mountain rock. The first humans were pitiful creature, they knew nothing about the world or how the live and make food. So the sun and moon bore a son and a daughter.
They sent their son and daughter to earth to teach the humans how to survive (The big Myth, 2011). The worlds discussed in these two myths are the sky and earth. Both talk about sky elements and how those things came to earth and created an effect. The Zulu Creation story deals with a seed that falls from the sky. This seed sinks into the earth and then grows eventually into a reed and then mankind. This is very similar to the way a pregnancy takes place. Hence, the seed fell from the sky impregnating the earth.
The Inca Creation begins with the sun rising from a lake and then ruling from heaven over all the earth. If the sun represents sky, or fire then we have fire, earth, and water elements in this creation story. The creator of the Inca Creation myth was the sun, Pachacamac. In the Zulu Creation the creator was a seed. Pachacamac takes on the male gender role, whereas, the seed in the Zulu myth is not gender specific. However, both creation myths result with the male being the first gender mentioned. In Zulu myth the seed sank into the earth and a reed grew.
This tends to lead the reader to place the masculine gender to the seed and earth representing the female gender. Once the seed is in the earth then offspring is produced. In the Inca myth the sun noticed that the night sky was empty and created the moon, Pachamama, and then took the moon as his wife. Here we see that the name of the moon is taken from the name of the sun much like marriage today where the wife takes the last name of the husband. Pachacamac then creates humans from stones found on the side of a mountain.
For the survival of these humans the sun and moon bear a son and a daughter, who they send to earth to help the humans survive by teaching skills of planting, harvesting, and building shelter. In the Zulu myth the seed sprouted into a reed which then produces mankind. As they grew on the reeds eventually they became so heavy that they dropped to the earth. The first man was named, Unkulunkulu who was the creator of everything else including fish, cattle, streams, wind, sun, and moon. In the Zulu myth talks about natural phenomena as being created by Unkulunkulu.
So all natural occurrences were a result of this. Streams, moutains, lakes, wind, etc. were created by Unkulunkulu. It also talks about how mankind was taught how to create fire. It is also the only of the two myths that address the topic of death. The Inca myth talks of the celestial bodies, primarily the sun and moon and how everything comes from their creative efforts. In comparing the two myths there are striking similarities and differences. In both the male gender is mentioned as the primary creative source. In the Inca myth the sun was the first to create and was represented by the pronoun he.
In the Zulu myth the first seed grew into a man who was the creator of all things. Both myths talk about men and women in a familial setting and are created first even before animals, streams, etc. One difference between the two myths deals with the relation of creator and those things created. In the Zulu myth the seed is the creator but only by impregnating the earth. After that, the first man, Unkulunkulu, was the teacher of all the others. He was the one to pull off the animals, fish, and creator of everything seen.
Nothing more is said of the seed. In the Inca myth we see a more active part of the creator and his creation. It is mentioned that the sun and moon, Pachacamac and Pachamama, noticed that humans were not able to survive on their own, so they produced a son and a daughter and sent them to earth to teach mankind skills to survive. The relationship between creator and creation shows a more familial role. Works Cited The big Myth. (2011). Retrieved September 27, 2011, from The Big Myth: http://www. bigmyth. com/2_eng_myths. html
