In Japan, Land Floated Wherever It Wanted
[ranking: 15]
There are several Japanese creation myths, but one in particular is complicated and a little confusing. When heaven and earth both began to first exist, there were only three gods. Back then, land wasn't rooted down, and it just floated across the world like oil on water. Reeds grew on this land, and more gods grew, eventually spawning two called Izanagi and Izanami.
The first gods were kind of tired of land always floating around, so they asked these last two to do something about it. Izanagi and Izanami took their spears, and vigorously stirred the ocean. When they drew out their spears, the brine that dripped from them became an island.
They lived there, and built a pillar to the heavens, and eventually, the pair of gods gave birth to 14 islands, which became Japan. We can just imagine how horrible those labor pains were.
Gods Rip the Aztec Earth Spirit into Pieces to Create a Stable World
[ranking: 13]
As it happens in many other myths, the Aztecs believed that it all started with the void. From there, a great god that was both male and female came into being. This hermaphrodite god birthed four gods, named for the for directions (north, east, south, west), which started creating new life and objects as fast as possible.
There was just one little problem. There was no land, so all of the creations just fell into the water and were devoured by a great monster earth goddess named Cipactli. The gods decided it was time to do away with this hungry creature, so they attacked her and fought her viciously. She fought back, but they eventually dismembered her and from her battered corpse, they created everything.
A Native American Hummingbird Created the Stars
[ranking: 12]
If you're a little guy and need some serious inspiration, keep reading. Many myths credit the creation of the stars to the spirits of ancestors, distant gods, or messages left for us. In one Native American myth, however, it has more to do with punishment than promises. The great spirits were noticing that none of the animals were getting along, constantly bickering and fighting with each other. The great spirits decided to teach the disagreeable animals a lesson and took the sun away, covering the sky with a great dark blanket. Many animals volunteered to pull away the blanket, including Coyote and Bear, but none could do it.
At last, the smallest of the birds, the Hummingbird, volunteered. Given that she was so tiny, the animals all laughed at her, but still they let her try. With all her might, she flew all the way up to the blanket, and was able to puncture it with her beak. But she was too weak to do much more. Still, determined, she flew up again and again, each time poking a new hole. Eventually, the other animals, amazed at her effort, began to help, boosting her up when she lacked energy.
When the great spirits saw this teamwork, they removed the blanket as a reward. But once at night, every night, they put the blanket back so that we can see the stars, and be reminded that we should not forget that everyone is useful in their own way. And that is why we have the night, the day, and the stars.
In Romania, a Grumpy Mole Used Yarn to Weave the World
[ranking: 5]
Romanian origin myth dictates that everything started with a ball of thread. God used this ball of thread to measure the distance between heaven and earth, and then set about creating the world. During this, a little mole popped up and asked God if he needed some help. God said sure, and asked the mole to hold the thread while he wove the earth, but he didn't give the mole very good instructions. The mole often let out too much thread and the world became too large.
The mole was ashamed, and went to hide underground, which is why moles live in holes. Eventually, God sent a bee to ask the mole what he thought should be done about this too-big earth. The mole, rather accidentally, suggested that God should squeeze the earth so that the excess thread would become mountains and valleys, but that the earth would still fit under heaven. God did this, and everything fit just perfectly after that.
Everything in Central Africa is God Vomit
[ranking: 2]
The Bushongo tribe of Africa believed that even the gods could get tummy aches. One god in particular, named Bumba, had one of the worst cases of upset stomach in existence. Back when the world was only darkness and emptiness, the god Bumba noticed he was having some digestion pain, but given there was nothing to treat his problem, he had to just live with it until the situation sorted itself out.
It eventually did so in the way of a lot of vomit. The first thing he vomited up was the sun. Then it was the moon, the stars, animals, plants, and even eventually some very bile-coated and confused humans. So, without indigestion, the Boshongo believe we wouldn't even be here.
Humans Didn't Exist Until the Zuni Gods Did Some Plastic Surgery
[ranking: 9]
The Zuni believed that in the beginning of humanity, we had no mouths or anuses. That's right, no entrances, and no exits. We had webbed feet and crept around like some sort of pale lizard, and didn't know what we were or what to do. We were unfinished, and not quite humans yet.
We eventually came into the light with the Bow Priests, who wanted us to grow and improve. To help us do this, they planted corn, grew it, and harvested it for us. However, seeing as these early humans had no mouths or anuses, they really couldn't do anything about it. To fix this, the bow priests waited until we were all asleep, then took a knife, and cut mouths onto our faces.
Of course, then humans ate, but by nightfall they were very uncomfortable because they could not poop. To fix this, the bow priests took the same knives and made us all anuses. We should probably be really glad they didn't make those two holes in opposite order.
New Random Display Show all by ranking(15 items)