Read Online Parallel Myths by J.F. Bierlein - Free Book Online

taken form. So all gods, as well as their kas gathered themselves to him, content and associated with the Lord of the Two Lands [Upper and Lower Egypt].
     

THE CREATION MYTH OF FINLAND
     
     
    NOTE : The source of this story is the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic.
    I lma was the goddess of the air. She had a virgin daughter named Luonnatar who lived in the stars. Luonnatar became lonely and came down to the great primordial sea, where she found no place to rest, floating for seven hundred years.
    Then she met a male duck who flew about looking for a place to nest. * Finding nothing on the great sea, he landed on Luonnatar’s knee and built a nest. The male duck laid eggs in the nest and sat on them for three days.
    Luonnatar was in great pain; the duck’s nest burned the skin on her knee, so she turned over and the eggs fell into the sea. However, in the fertile primordial sea the eggs changed form. The yolk of the egg became the sun, and the white, the moon. The spots on the shell became the stars and the black flecks became clouds.

THE CHINESE CREATION MYTH
     
     
    C haos was like a hen’s egg. The parts of the egg separated into the Yin and the Yang, the male and female essences of all living things. The lighter parts rose to the top, becoming sky and heaven,while the heavier parts sank to become the earth and sea. Out of this egg also came the giant Pangu.
    Pangu grew at the rate of ten feet per day for eighteen thousand years until his height spanned the distance between earth and heaven. Then Pangu died.
    Upon his death, his body decomposed and his stomach formed the central mountains; his eyes, the sun and the moon; his tears, rivers; his breath, the wind; and his bones, metals and stones. His semen became pearls, and his bone marrow, jade.

THE CREATION MYTH OF JAPAN
     
     
    NOTE : The source of this story is the Kojiki, the mythical history of Japan and the genealogy of the first emperors.
    I n the beginning there was nothing but a vast oily sea of Chaos that contained a mix of all the elements. There were three spirits or “kami” in heaven who looked out over this sea and decided that a world ought to be created. The spirits produced many gods and goddesses, including Izanagi (“male who invites”) and Izanami (“female who invites”). Izanagi was entrusted with a magic jeweled spear for this work.
    Izanagi and Izanami descended from heaven and Izanagi stirred the spear around in the sea. When he pulled it out of the Chaos, some drops congealed on the tip of the spear. Then the drops fell back into the sea, where they formed an island.
    Izanagi then asked Izanami what her body was like. She replied that it was very beautiful, but that there was a curious spot between her legs where the skin had not grown together. Izanagi found that interesting, as there was a place between his legs where the flesh protruded. They decided to join these parts together and when they did Izanami began to conceive many wonderful things.
    The first thing they conceived was a disappointment—the leech. They placed it in a reed basket and cast it adrift. To this day, the leech still likes to live among the reeds. Then Izanami gave birth to an island—the Foam Island, which was useless. But, with a little practice, the couple produced the islands of Japan, waterfalls, mountains, and other natural wonders. Then Izanami gave birth to the Fire Spirit, which burned her body very badly, causing her to become seriously ill. While she was ill, her vomit became the Metal Mountain prince and princess, the source of all mines. Her feces became the clay, and her urine, the Fresh Water spirit.
    But Izanami was dying. Izanagi wept bitter tears as she descended into the Land of Night. He begged her not to stay there, but she replied that she could not leave as she had eaten some of the food there. Izanagi then went into the Land of Night to fetch his wife. But when he arrived, he was horrified—she had begun to decay. When Izanagi