Cosmic Creation Myths Across Cultures Paper Essay

For years, there have been some inquiries about how the world came to be. Included in those inquiries are who create the world and how human kind came to exist. To answer the unanswered, different cultures have their own version of how it was created. The creation myths explain the destruction that has or is going to happen. Different creation myths can also explain natural accident or the cosmic conditions. The different creation myths from different cultures all have similarities and difference in their level of creation, creators, cosmic elements, and creations. When it comes to the Navajo Legend, each song is a prayer to the Holy People who takes care of them. Ceremonies are taken place to help cure the sick and to help protect their herds, crops, families, and/or homes. During the ceremonies they sing songs which include a Blessingway Song. The song brings a blessing for a happy and long life. It I also used to bless new marriages. However, the Inca culture was directed by a great coordinated priesthood and engaged on honoring royal ancestors as well as gods. The priests relied on fortune-telling to answer all types of phenomenon’s, from analyzing sickness to deciding who’s innocence or guilty to figuring out what type of offering to give to which god. The Navajo legend includes three underworlds where crucial events happened to shape the fourth world which is the present. Their creators gave them the name Ni’hookaa Diyan Dinà © which means Holy Earth People. Today, the Navajo people just refer to themselves as Dinà © which means The People. The first world (black), which was called Nihodilhil, had four corners and above these appeared four clouds. The four clouds were also the elements of the first world and the colors were black, blue, white, and yellow. The second world (blue), Nihodootlizh, was created due to the battle in the Nihodilhil, the First Man (Atse Hastin), First Woman (Atse Estsan), and the Coyote called the First Angry crawled up from the World of Darkness and Dampness to Nihodootlizh. The third world (yellow), which was called Nihaltsoh, was founded by Blue Bird as he was the first to come through. After the Blue Bird, First Man, First Woman, and Coyote also came to Nihaltsoh. The fourth world (white), Nihalgai, founded by The Locust. The Locust saw that the world was covered with water that glittered and everything looked white. The others followed the Locust to the Nihalgai. The Navajo creator god, Dinà © BahaneÊ ¼, created First Man and First Woman and the twins got to this world, it was all covered with water. But winds came and blew the water off of some of the land, so people could live on it. Then First Man got help from the diyin dine (spirit people) to make all the things on earth. He had a sacred medicine bundle and he took out the things in the bundle one by one and sang to it, and so he turned it into a mountain, or a tree, or an animal, or a time of day, or something else. The Inca creator god, Viracocha, was believed to have had a special bond with the Inca king Pachacuti, who dreamed that the god helped his people gain victory in a war they were fighting. After winning the war, Pachacuti built a great temple to Viracocha at Cuzco. The temple contained a large solid gold statue of the god as a bearded man. According to Inca tradition, Viracocha had white skin, which explains why some of the Indians at first thought that the bearded, pale-skinned Spanish soldiers were representatives of their creator god. When it comes to the Navajo legend, there was the Great Flood. Coyote named took two Water Monster babies and brought on the flood by stealing from the Water Monster mother. First Man and First Woman brought them back through the passage and on to the bank. Coyote had also wrapped them in his skin coat with white fur lining. The Inca also had a Great Flood. In their legend, the great flood was used to wiped away the wicked and unruly people. During ancient time people were cruel and greedy and failed to pay proper attention to the gods. Then one day, two respectable brothers observed that their llamas were sad and acting abnormal. The llamas spoke to the brother and said, â€Å"A great flood is coming†. The brothers took their herds and families to the high caves. It rained for months, drowning the world below. Then one day the sun god Inti arose and with the warmth of his smile dried the earth. Reference http://bigmyth.com/myths/english/2_navajo_full.htm http://bigmyth.com/myths/english/2_inca_full.htm