Creation Myths: Discussing the Genesis Myth & the Navajo Creation Myth - Essay Example

Creation Myths: Discussing the Genesis Myth & the Navajo Creation Myth Due INTRODUCTION Every culture, belief system, and religious organizations has a different explanation of exactly how the world and humanity was made. Creation myths are incredibly important to a society. It is not only provides answers to philosophical and physical questions about reality but, also, unifies a society under that shared ideology and have they interpreted the world around them (Magoulick, 2014). There are dozens upon dozens of creation myths originating from cultures both still present today and those lost to history. Some of these myths of creation may be quite foreign and strange to many, however, for the culture they belong to it may be a heartfelt belief. Two creation myths that are interesting to discuss, compare, and contrast is the Christian Biblical Creation Myth, Genesis, and the Native American Navajo Tribes creation myth. It is fascinating to see what is similar and what is different between these two myths developed 1000s of miles apart. HISTORY The Bible was written 1000s of years ago over a course of many years and was penned by a number of different authors. As a whole the Bible is the complete and essential history and morality of the Christian based religions and denominations. Christianity is one of the most practiced faiths in the world and the Genesis creation myth is one of the most widely accepted interpretations of the creation of the universe, the Earth, and humanities origin. The Navajo, who call themselves the Dine, existed and flourished throughout much of the southwestern United States long before the European settlers invaded the land. The Navajo represents one of the largest Native American Nations and remains so today, The Navajo were a non-war-like society that was dedicated to farming and raising livestock, preferably sheep. Navajo could and would hunt, but it was easier to steal from white and Hispanic settlers; however, they seldom took lives. The Navajo stretched and flourished throughout the Southwest, until the white European settlers continued to push them from their lands (Gontarc, 2010). This continued until the Navajo relented and moved onto reservation lands without objection. These societies could not be more different in many ways, but they, also, have similarities. In order to understand each better it is best to discuss them individually. DISCUSSUION Genesis In the beginning there was nothingness, the absence fall things, except for God. Within a 7 day period God created the universe, the Earth, and all of the stars. He made the all of Earth’s seas, mountains, and forests (Bible Gateway, 2014). Then came mankind. Granted there is some discrepancy among modern scholars as to which version or interpretation of events is more legitimate, because there are two different translations. One version says that God made man and then woman at the same time and made them before any of the other beasts of the planet. However, other version states that animals were made before man and woman, and woman was made secondarily from Adam’s rib. There is even a third myth concerning “Lilith,” which some believed was made before Eve, but refused to be Adam’s mate and was expelled from Eden. Eve was then made in her place. These discrepancies are likely due to the number of translations over the centuries. Regardless, Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. They were given dominion over the Earth, the beast upon it, and were chosen by God. God even expected the angels to worship and bow to man as they would bow to him; one refused, this is Lucipher or Satan. However, mankind, Adam and Eve were innocent, free of sin, and pure, so when a talking snake slithers to Eve and tells her to eat a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge; something that they were warned by God never to do. She listens, eats the fruit and then brings some to Adam. When God appeared in the Garden of Eden again, he was surprised by what he finds. Adam and Eve hides from him, they were now embarrassed and greater self awareness to their own individuality. In his anger God expelled them from the Garden (Bible Gateway, 2014). The God of the Genesis story is portrayed as a kindly God that was actively involved in the lives of his first two human beings. However when angered his temper is great. The idea that humanity was once perfect, sin free and innocent is a regular theme throughout, most, bible stories. We are, now, less perfect and humanity must continually work to be worthy of “forgiveness” for whatever “qualifying” sins they may have committed. This creation myth makes a huge statement about gender. Women are presented as subservient, inferior, and secondary to men. It is Eve’s foolishness that cause God’s anger and caused humanity to be separated from the paradise of their origin. This draws parallels with the mindset of the culture of the time as well. Treating women as secondary was part of the religious literature. This makes women the scapegoat of the Genesis myth. It makes it very clear that man is superior and women should be obedient, because she is not as strong, wise, and is known to make poor choices. Finally, this myth works to explain the universe and the inspiration of a single, all powerful, omnipresent, omniscient being alone and is responsible for creating all that exists in reality. At the time of its writing this single God ideology was still somewhat controversial, after all many cultures were practicing pagan religions with multi-God pantheons, like the Greeks and the Norse. Navajo In the beginning there were five known worlds. The first was a Black world, small, floating, through the mists. At each of its corners were different colored clouds; black, white, yellow and blue. The black cloud represented the feminine and the white represented the masculine energy. The place where the while and black clouds met is the place where humanity was formed. However, man at this time existed as misty, spiritual beings. Many other beings came to this place; the red ant people, the black ant people, the Coyote, and the yellow skinned men just to name a few. The small, first world grew too crowded. So First Man, First Women, Coyote, and others left the first world and entered, the Second World. This world was already populated by birds at constant warfare. So they moved to the Third World. The Third World is a place where they hoped to plant seeds; the seeds brought by First Man, First Women, the Turkey, and the snake joined them from different worlds. As they went to the Fourth World the Coyote came through followed by the white buffalo. First Man was not pleased by the Fourth World; it was barren and forever flooded and muddy. After much travel, First Man, First Women, and entourage emerged into the Fifth World, which is the world we know as Earth. First man disguised the wolf and the mountain lion in garbs to hide them. He told the people to split up and chose 2 chiefs; those who picked the wolf would become the beast and other life of this world, while those who chose the mountain lion would become mankind (OBryan, 2014). The different beings present throughout the myth are never directly indentified as God’s per say, more like different spirits embodying different things; most of which are represented by animals; humanity was just one sort of being among many different beings populating different worlds. All communicate and treat each with respect and sense of equality. The Navajo were, also, incredibly progressive in their views of gender and gender roles within their society. While First Man and First Woman represent the origins of the two sexes, the Navajo people actually acknowledge 5 distinct genders. Male and female are represented, of course, but, also, the “nadleeh,” which refers to a non-gendered person or hermaphrodite, masculine-female, and feminine-males. (Gontarc, 2010). Essentially the Navajo acknowledge, within, their won creation myth that homosexuality and transgenderism are biological, birth traits, There progressive perspectives on gender equality, there is separation among genders, but is not presented to benefit one and diminish the other. Clearly, there are similarities indicative of all Creation myths, the nature of things that came before mankind and how mankind came into being (OBryan, 2014). However, these myths differ greatly. The Bible myth presents mankind as “special,” better or more important that many of the other creations of God. It applies many negative ideologies about the relationship between the genders. The Navajo myth makes no criticism or comparison between First Man and First Woman the way that Genesis myth does; while mankind in Genesis is created into being at the whim of God the Navajo had to travel and struggle to become the human beings they would become. So many Creation myths address gender in an incredibly unjust, unequal, and imbalanced ways. This is true of many ancient cultures; Christianity is just one of many. However, it is refreshing to come across a myth with so much more progressive, equal, and productive interpretation of “humanity” that what many people are accustomed to in the main stream. CONCLUSION While flaws, faults, questions, and misunderstandings can be gleaned from any myth, this makes them no less valuable. However it is not about passing judgment of which myth is better not and which is most likely to be true, it is about understanding how these creation myths influenced and were reflected by the cultures that conceived and embraced them. In the modern world we are guided to view creation through the eyes of science, logic, and natural processes, without regard for the supernatural and divine, like evolution. Sometimes we, as a species, forget that before we were a society of technology, that once upon a time, the stories of our origins were unfathomable, divine, magical, and downright fascinating. REFERENCES Doyle , B. (2014). Creation myths. Retrieved from http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/creation_myths.html Gontarc, K. (2010, December 17). Navajo Cultural Constructions of Gender and Sexuality. Trans Bodies Across the Globe Retrieved from http://transgenderglobe.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/navajo-cultural-constructions-of-gender-and-sexuality/ Magoulick, M. (2014). What is myth?. Retrieved from http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~mmagouli/defmyth.htm OBryan, A. (2014). The dine: Origin myths of the navaho indians. Retrieved from http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/nav/omni/omni02.htm Bible Gateway. (2014). Genesis 1 (good news translation). Retrieved from http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis 1&version=GNT k Read More