Universal Creation

Wow.  Just wow.  To be honest, I haven't felt this engaged with reading in quite some time.  When I was younger, I was rather obsessed with myths from all cultures.  I would endlessly check out books on Norse, Egyptian, Greek, and even African stories.  Creation myths in particular sparked my interest.  All of them are unique to their culture yet there seem to be some universal themes that connect all of mankind.  I recalled many of the connections just with the assigned reading and I'd like to bring them up before doing an analysis on the core myths at stake here.

First of all, every creation I've ever read starts with a world covered in water.  From the Egyptian waters where a pyramid of land first arose to the African myth of one of the gods hanging off a golden chain to dump sand into the sea and create land.(http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/miranda.htm#AFRICAN)  I honestly can't think of a myth where the earth started in a solid, condensed state.

The original land mass in Egyptian myth was a pyramid, hence its religious significance.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sun_Over_Pyramid.jpg

Tangential to that, I noticed that both Genesis and Milton's Paradise Lost mention whales as one of the very first creatures created.  And I could see a connection to The Jungle Book's first creator- the elephant.  I mean, both are large, grey mammals.  I wonder why our ancestors thought of whales as some of the first to be created.  It does hold with evolution because they are one of the oldest mammals still alive today.  I just wonder how the ancient peoples realized this.

Another bit of interest is the creation of man.  ""And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (14)  Another major archetype in world cultures is the creation of man from dirt.  In the Greek tradition, the Gods tried to use gold and copper before settling on dirt being the best material to create mankind out of.  I understand that we are, for the most part, land bound creatures but I'm still intrigued why the common story has us arising from the dirt and not some other terrestrial material.

Lastly, I saw a minor connection specifically between the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil's guardian and Atlas' daughters- the Hesperides.  For in Greek myth, there exists in the far west a tree which gives immortality from its golden apples.  The Hesperides are the guardians of this plant along with the never-sleeping dragon Ladon.  And as with in the Bible where the tree is guarded by a fiery light, the Hesperides names mean the different forms of sunlight from morning to evening.

The Hesperides guarded the Tree of Immortality, similar to the cherubim in Christian tradition. http://www.fineartzdirect.co.uk/the-garden-of-the-hesperides-p-1805.html

Now, on to the major questions posed by the reading in Milton, Kipling, and Genesis.

For example, what did mankind gain from taking the forbidden fruit?  I used to believe that the tree represented the ability to reason.  That before our fall, we were as ignorant as the beasts.  But in Milton's rendition, it seems reason already exists.  "But of this tree we may not taste nor touch; God so commanded, and left that Command Sole Daughter of his voice; the rest, we live Law unto ourselves, our Reason is our Law." (41) We, in fact, had all our reasoning faculties already with us.  Before I read this piece, I always thought that Genesis was a bit backward.  That like Prometheus, we had to steal knowledge from the Gods and were now being punished for it.  I recall reading an Egyptian myth where Thoth actually sat down and taught mankind numbers and mathematics and writing.  In that case, the gods wanted us to intellectually prosper.  I thought this was in direct opposition with the portrayal in Genesis but it seems I mis read the situation.  The tree was not representative of intellectual reasoning.  Maybe it is more akin to existing as a rule simply to test the obedience of humans.  For some reason, I feel I can't quite put my finger on the meaning of the fruit.  It's no longer what I believed it was but nor is it defined in my mind.

Also in Miltons Paradise Lost, I was thinking on the logical interpretation of the dispute between Cain and Abel.  "Choicest and best; then sacrificing, laid the Inwards and thir Fat, with Incense strew'd, On the cleft Wood, and all due Rites perform'd.  His Offring soon propitious Fire from Heav'n Consum'd with nimble glance, and grateful steame; The others not, for his was not sincere." (45)  In this description, it seems offerings to God were burned (in keeping with the Greek tradition where the Gods were sustained off the perfume of burning food).  In the most obvious sense, Cain was rejected not because of God but because of science.  Simply put, meat burns with much stronger and with more aroma than green plants.  A fresh harvest would be hard to light and not necessarily be as appealing as burning fat.  Is it possible that this sin was committed all because Cain's produce didn't catch light as easily?  I think it's altogether possible.

In the last reading section, we get a new flavor of the creation myth.  It starts in much the same vein as Genesis. "In the beginning of the Jungle, and none know when that was, we of the Jungle walked together, having no fear of one another.  In those days there was no drought, and leaves and flowers and fruit grew on the same tree, and we ate nothing at all except leaves and flowers and grass and fruit and bark." (55)  But instead of humans being the central role, all of creation is doomed when the Tiger betrays them and brings fear into life in the jungle.  Man is not the one ruined so much as Man is the ruin of the animals in being fear personified.  But what I found truly curious about this story is the effect of Tiger's murder.  "Then some of us said this and some o us said that, but he saw the dead buck among the flowers, and asked who killed him, and we of the Jungle would not tell because the smell of blood made us foolish." (56)  Was the spilling of blood the loss of innocence?  Was it something that could never be undone?  Is it the specific cause that led to some of the animals becoming carnivores.  I think it answers yes to all of those questions.  And it very well holds with Cain and Abel allowing murder into this world.  I know the Jungle Book was written by human hands but it seems all of creation has made room for murder in some way.

As for some suggested myths, here's a site I found extremely helpful:
http://www.magictails.com/creationlinks.html
Also, note the names o the first humans in this myth and how similar they sound to Adam and Eve:
http://www.meta-religion.com/World_Religions/Ancient_religions/Europe/norse_creation_myth.htm