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The Romanian mole myth -

According to old Romanian folklore, the beginning of the world is actually quite endearing. While God was spooling out a thread to measure how large the Earth should be, a mole came along and started to help by unspooling the string while God carried it along.

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The Romanian mole myth -

By accident, the mole unspooled too much string, and the Earth became too large. Ashamed of his blunder, the mole hid underground, where moles still live to this day. When God asked the mole what to do with the extra space, the mole suggested God squeeze the Earth, and thus the mountains and valleys were formed.

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The tale of Mbomba -

The tale of Mbomba originates from the Boshongo tribe in the Bantu region of southern Africa. In the beginning, Mbomba was the only being in the universe, sitting alone in endless nothingness. Then, the stomach pains started.

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The tale of Mbomba -

As time went on, Mbomba’s stomach pains grew worse and worse, until he couldn’t stand it anymore. At that point, Mbomba vomited, and out of his mouth came the Sun, then the stars, nine animals, and, finally, three humans. Exhausted from the effort, Mbomba passed the responsibility of the rest of creation onto these nine animals and his three sons.

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Rangi and Papa -

One of the creation stories told by the Maori people of Oceania concerns two celestial beings known as Rangi (Sky-Father) and Papa (Earth-Mother). Since the beginning of time, Rangi and Papa had been locked in a loving embrace, never letting the other go, and were quite content like this.

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Rangi and Papa -

Their many sons, on the other hand, were growing tired of living in the cramped darkness in between their parents. They conspired amongst themselves and drew up a plan to escape into the light. Working as a team, they pushed their parents apart and broke their eternal embrace, causing the division of the Earth and sky, and built the world in between them.

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Eiocha, the horse from the sea - There is an ancient creation myth of Celtic origin that tells the story of Eiocha, a beautiful white mare that was made out of sea foam, who emerged from the endless ocean and became pregnant after eating berries that she found growing on an oak tree.

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Eiocha, the horse from the sea -

She gave birth to the god Cernunnos, who, after learning of the creatures swimming through the ocean in each other's company, became lonely and wished for companions of his own. Eiocha then gave birth to the rest of the Celtic gods, and, using the bark from the oak tree, created humans and all other creatures of Earth.

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The Hopi spider-grandmother -

According to the Native American Hopi tribe, who inhabit the southwestern portion of North America, the universe was created by three beings. First there was Taiowa, the supreme creator; Sotuknang, referred to as Taiowa’s nephew; and the Spider Woman, created by Taiowa to assist in the formation of humanity.

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The Hopi spider-grandmother -

Taiowa created the nine universes, including ours, as well as the Earth, waters, and winds. The Spider Woman, when instructed to create humanity, mixed her saliva with dirt from Taiowa’s earth and molded two figures. After the Spider Woman sang a creation song, the figures came to life, and thus humanity began.

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Nyx and the first Greek gods -

According to this Grecian myth of creation, the goddess Nyx existed alone in a vast expanse of nothingness. Personified in this story as a black bird, Nyx laid a golden egg, from which hatched Eros, the Greek god of carnal love.

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Nyx and the first Greek gods -

The golden eggshell was split in two, and one half became Uranus (the sky) and the other became Gaia (the Earth). Eros’ influence caused the two to fall in love, and the couple went on to give birth to the first members of the Greek pantheon, who went on to create the rest of the world, including animals and humans.

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Izanagi and Izanami -

Izanagi and Izanami are the main protagonists in one of the numerous Japanese tales of creation. Before the Japanese deities, or kami, sent these two siblings down to Earth, the world was covered by one vast ocean.

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Izanagi and Izanami -

Armed with a jeweled spear, the brother-and-sister duo mixed the ocean into a whirlpool. When they lifted their weapon out of the water, the little drops that fell off the tip of the spear solidified on the surface of the water to create the islands of Japan.

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The Zoroastrian creation story -

At one point in time, Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion of the world. Practiced by only a small number of people today, there are two figures at the center of their theory of creation: Ahura Mazda, who represents goodness and light, and Angra Mainyu, who embodies darkness and ill will.

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The Zoroastrian creation story -

According to this myth, Ahura Mazda created the Amesha Spentas, who were benevolent and pure beings who lived in the skies. Angra Mainyu, in turn, created creatures of malevolence. When Angra Mainyu’s evil beings killed the Man and the Bull, two of the first pure creations, seeds sprouted from their bodies, from which the rest of nature and humanity grew.

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The Mayan creation myth - The Mayan creation story is told in an ancient hieroglyphic text known as the Popul Vuh. The old gods of Mayan tradition looked upon the nothingness before them and decided to create humanity, apparently for the sole purpose of keeping track of time as it passed.

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The Mayan creation myth -

The gods tried three times to create humans. On the first attempt, all they could come up with was wet clay. On the second try, they created wood. On the third and final go around, using maize dough, they successfully created the first inhabitant of Earth.

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The tale of Obatala - In the West African Yoruba tribe, stories are told of Orunmila (son of the chief god Olorun) and the lesser god Obatala. Obatala, seeing the potential of the universe and believing that more could be done with the space, asked Orunmila for permission to go down to Earth.

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The tale of Obatala -

Orunmila instructed Obatala to collect a variety of materials and animals from the other gods. Once Obatala found all these items, he descended from the heavens on a gold chain, drank wine, and began the creation process. However, inebriated from the wine, Obatala’s beings, humans included, weren’t created perfectly. This is how the Yoruba explain the evil and pain in the world.

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The story of Pangu -

Pangu, a great primordial giant from ancient Chinese mythology, is said to have been stuck holding yin and yang together for 18,000 years, before eventually being torn apart and falling down to Earth.

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The story of Pangu -

Every part of his being became fundamental elements of the world. His arms and legs came apart and formed the hills and mountains, his muscles and the veins that ran through them became the pastures and roads, and his eyes became the Sun and the Moon.

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The Egyptian creation story - According to legend, Atum was the first and original deity in the Egyptian pantheon. Atum emerged from the edge of the Sun, which had itself risen from Nun, the endless black ocean that existed before anything else.

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The Egyptian creation story -

Atum birthed two children, Shu and Tefnut. These first three deities joined together into one single being, and the joy of this moment caused them to weep tears of joy. From these tears, the first humans were formed.

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The story of Viracocha - Another creation story that begins with a vast ocean is the Incan tale of Viracocha. Viracocha rose from the ocean and created the skies and the stars, and then a small group of stone men.

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The story of Viracocha -

Viracocha was unhappy with his first version of humanity, finding the stone beings too cold and emotionless. He destroyed them all in a flood, and once the waters receded, created a new and improved version of humankind. Legend has it Viracocha often disguises himself as a beggar and wanders through the great cities of his children, to witness our reality firsthand.

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The Norse myth of Ymir -

In Norse mythology, the universe consisted of three planes at the beginning of time. Muspelheim was the land of fire, Niflheim was the land of ice, and between them lay the void of Ginnungagap.

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The Norse myth of Ymir -

When the elemental opposites of fire and ice met in the middle of Ginnungagap, an explosive reaction occurred, and out of the chaos emerged Ymir. Ymir then gave birth to the first Norse gods, including Odin. This first generation of deities went on to create Earth and humanity.

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Goorialla the rainbow serpent - Most Aboriginal creation stories revolve around an entity widely known as the Rainbow Serpent. In one particular story from the Northern Territories, he is known as Goorialla.

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Goorialla the rainbow serpent -

This story tells us that Goorialla was wandering around the flat subcontinent of Australia, looking for signs of life. His massive body carved out features and landmarks from the flat landscape. After eating two brothers known as the Bil Bil brothers, Goorialla was cut open by the other tribespeople in order to save them. To hide from the snake’s wrath, the tribespeople transformed into the myriad of creatures that roam Australia to this day.

Sources: (History Collection) (New World Encyclopedia) (The Celtic Religion)

See also: Mythological figures similar to Jesus

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