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Native american religious practice
What other story is connected to iroquois creation myth
What other story is connected to iroquois creation myth
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Creation myths are made to explain how the Earth was created and to introduce information on the relationship a group has with their creator. In both Iroquois and Babylonian creation myths, the gods do not find the Earth below as their first priority. In the Iroquois myth, the gods only help out the Earth when they are needed, but in the Babylonian myth, humans have more of a relationship with gods as the god that created Earth is willing to go beyond what is needed to help better the human experience on Earth. In both the Iroquois and Babylonian myths, the gods do not find Earth (and the humans on it) as their first priority, and this lack of importance the gods show to humans is important to the tribes because they can understand that the …show more content…
The Iroquois creation myth comes across a situation in which there is no one for the two females to mate with since there is no male life on earth. Without men, human life on Earth would not continue, and, “when the girl had grown to womanhood, a man appeared,”(Iroquois) which lets the Iroquois tribe know that if they are in a needy situation, the gods have the ability to help out. Because of the gods only helping out humans on Earth when it was needed to sustain life, the Iroquois tribe can assume that in small troubles, it is unlikely the gods will help them. Rather than only helping human life out when it was needed, the gods in the Babylonian myth helped and had a relationship with humans on Earth. The female that helped create human life on Earth felt as if she had sinned, so in result of her sinning, “she changed to a cow to disguise herself, but [the god] changed to a bull and mated with her,”(Babylonian) which ended up creating all of the animals on Earth. Because of the relationship the god had with the woman, the god further bettered the Earth making animals. The type of
Most cultures have a creation myth, a story of how humans came to exist in the world. Often, they involve Gods of some capacity who exist without much question or explanation. Many myths have a common idea for the origin of the world, like Earth being born from water, a golden egg, or a great monster. The Mayan creation myth and the Babylonian creation myth are similar in that they both begin with water, and account the creation and purpose of man. They also differ, as the Mayan Popol Vuh chronicles a peaceful tale of trials to forge the Earth and sentient beings to worship the gods, while the Babylonian Enuma Elish tells of wars between gods that lead to the creation of Earth and of man as a servant to the gods.
Although the myths share many similar ideas, the myths are created differently with contrasting ideas and parts. For example, one difference between the two myths is in Genesis, God created the Earth, while in The World on Turtle’s Back, a woman created the Earth. Regarding creators, there is only one God and creator in Genesis, while there are multiple in The World on Turtle’s
A myth is a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. Each civilization has its myths about the creation of the world and its human race. Most speak of “gods” who perform feats far beyond that of humankind. Most are legends passed down through oral tradition, and embellished along the way. The book of Genesis is one of the most significant books in the Bible and is sacred scripture for Jews, Samaritans, and Christians. The Babylonian epic, Enuma Elish, is one of the most important sources for understanding the Babylonian worldview. Hesiod’s Theogony is a poem describing the origins and genealogies of
Storytelling and myths have been a tradition in all cultures since the beginning of time. One well-known myth is “When Grizzlies Walked Upright” by the Modoc tribe, which is about the creation of Earth. Another myth is “The Earth on Turtle’s Back” by the Onondaga tribe, which is about how a muskrat and a turtle create the world. The two stories are similar because they both are about the creation of the Earth and rely heavily on animals, but they are different because of the importance of gods in the stories. Although the stories are very unalike, they both show that the creation of Earth and its population was mainly because of animals.
Myths – as they are known to most of the world – give insight into the pasts of various countries and religions as the people saw them. They have been used to explain phenomena in nature or describe the tales of courageous and important men and women throughout history. Creation myths in particular define how the Earth itself was created, along with the universe, heavens, hell, people, and creatures that exist today. Genesis of Christian mythology, for instance, tells the story of how the single deity God spoke and formed everything from day and night to man and woman. Various African creation myths, such as with the Yoruba, explain the creation of the Earth through at least a couple gods working together and all life sprouting from a seed.
In both myths the relationship between humans and nature is shown as a positive one but with negative effects from humans’ greed and necessity for more. In the beginning of the Creation Story it is stated in the first few lines “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” God then began to create the Earth in seven days. On the first day he created day and night out of the darkness and light. The second day led to the creation of the sky. The third day was the creation of the land. The fourth day led to the creation of the season. And finally on the fifth and sixth day, animals and humans were created, and the first two were a male and female named Adam and Eve. At the end of everyday during creation the words “and God saw it was good” are written. God is happy with his creation of nature. The phrase shows the positive connotation of...
The Maori myth is a Polynesian story about the creation of the universe which according to Rosenberg was different from other creation myths because it begins with nothing and then progresses through a process of “nonbeing to thought to the creation of the universe and human beings” (351). Even though it may be different because it goes from “nonbeing to thought” instead of nothingness to a spoken word or action, it has many similarities to other creation myths in how it explains the origins of the Gods and how each one represents a natural event or aspect of nature and humanity. The myth begins with an “idea” that “was remembered” and then “became conscious” and then “a wish to create”, all of which created a “power to live and to grow, even in emptiness” (352). At this point there was still no being, only thought and desire which gives the idea that what is being addressed are the human attributes of feeling, sensing, desire and thought, this is where this story is different from other creation myths.
The pagan creation myth of the Iroquois “The World on the Turtle’s Back” similitude to the Christian beliefs of Earth’s creation in the book of Genesis. “In the beginning there was no world, no land, no creatures of the kind that are around us, and there were no men.” This phrase indicates that Iroquois also believed that at the beginning of Earth’s formation there was nothing. These beliefs are very similar to the accounts in the Bible. “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.” “Now the Earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2) In the first paragraph the Iroquois show that they believe in gods who live in the sky. Just like Christians believe in the almighty God creator of Earth. Humans, Christian or pagan have always sought to believe in a higher power that is in charge of life and shaping Earthly creatures of the natural world (existence).
The creation myths that I have studied are similar in many ways. They also have differences that show an inherently different way of thinking about the world. All have creators-gods that make the world into what is now. There are conflicts within their world, and these conflicts change the face world. God to god or human to god maybe be involved in these conflicts. Their bloody struggles prove who is more powerful, causing change in the control of the world. Some gods are beneficial to man and others are self-serving, using man only as a tool.
The Cherokee tribe has an interesting creation story. In “Native American Legends” animals came first, already living in the sky. They became curious with what was below and began to discover water and land. With in no specific series of events the Earth was formed. With the wings of a buzzard the mountains and valleys were formed. The animals also called for the sun because of the darkness. They lived in a world above earth and decided to occupy this new world.1
Everyone has a different belief or religion, and every religion has a different creation story. Comparing the Christian creation story next to the Iroquois creation story there are several similarities and well as differences.
A creation myth is an explanation of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. Every creation myth is different, but there is similarity in most of them. Motifs are recurring ideas that help develop a theme and these motifs are common in many creation myths. Three similar motifs are the idea of a supreme being, the idea of people being created from organic material, and the idea of rulers being overthrown. These concepts appear in the Inuit, Greek, Hindu, Chinese, Norse, and many more myths. These three motifs connect to one another and are common in many creation myths.
Myths tell a certain story, and are meant to give meaning to places, people, and things. Many times myths can be connected to religious beliefs and rituals. A popular theme of myths are creational myths, as a way to give some kind of meaning in the universe. Two creational myths are “Greek Creation” and “The Algonquin myth of Michabo”. Both Myths tell a story of how the earth or universe came to be, but the stories told have many details that contrast and at the same time compare to each other.
Ancient Mesopotamian civilization was susceptible to the unpredictable flooding and volatile nature of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. As a result, their creation myth “Enuma Elish” is representative of the natural forces that wreaked havoc on the lives of the Mesopotamians, highlighting the importance of these rivers in the conceptualization of the ancient gods of Mesopotamia. For this reason, Mesopotamians did not believe in benevolent gods, instead the actions of the gods were
As we looked at other creation stories specifically from native Americans creation there are many similarities found between them. Both the bible and native American creation stories tells about a creator that shape beautiful and complicated things. The creators of both stories live in the heavens one called God and the other referred to as the great spirit but could go by many names depending on the tribe. They both value humans came to be into this world and their surroundings. But they differ on some things for example, the bible focuses on man as a superior being to animals and nature, while native Americans put mother nature above all. Most of the native American stories begin with man being born from the earth or an animal back. An example