Tolkien Ainulindale- Krupakar Dhinakaran

J.R.R. Tolkien created a world.
In the beginning there was Iluvatar. He is independent of all else. The eternal, timeless, spaceless. He created the Ainur, the divine beings that were but manifestations of his thought. He taught them music and they played tunes, at first alone, and slowly in groups, in harmony with one another. After some time, Iluvatar called them all to him and presented to them a great theme. They were fascinated by the new and great things that he revealed to them. Then Iluvatar told them to play a Great Music on this theme. With the Imperishable Flame, this theme and Music could come into Being. They began together and it seemed flawless for a time- the greatest Music ever to be heard yet. But, Melkor, one of the Ainur to whom was given the most knowledge and power played a tune of his own. He was impatient of the emptiness and Void of the world and wished to bring in Beings of his own conception. It created a discord among those around him. Iluvator understood this discord. He stood and raised his left hand and a new theme was introduced, a strong one with a new beauty but Melkor contended with it, and the discord rose. Iluvatar raised his right and a third theme was born. This one was soft at first but it grew with a power of its own, though filled with sorrow. Now there were two Musics running alongside one another and Melkor's was loud and violent, drowning out the other.
Iluvatar rose a third time and raised both his hands, and with one chord, so powerful in itself, the Music stopped. Iluvatar took them to the Void and said "Behold your Music". The Ainur were shown a vision of the world in the Void- in it but not part of it. And the world reflected the Music. But there were things that the Ainur were not a part of, things they could not understand The most beautiful of which were Children of Iluvatar, Elves and Men (the First Born and the Follwers), free beings within the world, given great gifts and thoughts. The world appealed to the Ainur and their desired turned to it, beautiful, full of colour and different elements. Melkor's desire was the greatest. He said he wanted to fix the disorder and turrmoil that had come through him but he secretly wished to control the Children and was jealous of them.
Ulmo was the chief contributor to the water element. He was the most gifted in Music and the Elves still feel the Music of the Ainur in the Seas. It was more great than he had initially conceived.
Then the vision was taken away. Iluvatar understood the desire of the Ainur and said this shall Be. And the Imperishable Flame was sent into the Void and Ea, the World, was created. Many of the Ainur stayed without but the fairest of the descended within the World to help its creation and to guide the Children. These were the Valar, the Gods, the divine beings of the world. They entered upon the condition that they would be bound to it till the End.
Melkor was one of them. Once within, he declared that this would be his kingdom and raised fires and tried to disrupt the work of the others, the chief of whom were Manwe, Ulmo, and Aule. Manwe, who was Melkor's brother in thought, and set against him, was sent down to see that things would Be as it had been concieved. He was given control of the Air and Sky. Ulmo took control of the Waters and Aule took the Earth under his care, creating gems and elements deep within.
When Melkor saw the beauty of the world, he was jealous and thus began the first conflict in the dominion of the world.

Egyptian Creation Myths - Ragini Ramanathan

Egyptian Creation Stories

I am Ain and I am a farmer from Egypt. The year is 3051 B.C and I’m going to tell you about how the universe was created.

Before life was born there was the wondrous and terrifying river Nile. It brought forth chaos of bubbling water called Nu. It was out of Nu that everything began. When Nu receded, the first hill top came into being and so did the first sun rise. The sun was one of our first Gods of creation. He rose as Khepri, the great Scarab beetle, as Ra, great and strong as it climbed mid day and set as, Atum, the old man. Seth, the lunar God, was the god of darkness, in constant battle with the God of light. The sky Goddess, Nut, stood as a cow over the earth, her eyes being the sun and the moon. She gave birth to the daily Sun. Shu, the God of air and wind, kept her from falling to the earth. Then as evening fell, Nut swallowed the sun. Beneath her stretched the ocean in the centre of which lay her husband Geb, the earth - god. These gods together create life. They are just, fair and powerful gods. I pray to them, and my fields thrive, my family is healthy and happy. As much as I worship them, I also fear them. Many have suffered at the wrath of the gods and so must always be respected.

I am Ragini Ramanathan and I am a third year student at Srishti. I’ve always been fascinated with Egyptian mythology and their myths of creation are incredibly intriguing. As a story, it sets off your imagination and I was personally blown away by the imagery. The idea of the different phases of the sun as a scarab beetle, a young strong man and an old man gives us a perspective of the Sun as an actual personified being. They are also very accurate as well as poetic descriptions of its physical appearance. The Sun and moon as the eyes of Nut pulled me back to my own childhood when I also believed the moon was an eye. Obviously I wasn’t imaginative enough to believe I was staring at a cow but I probably would have believed it if someone told me about it. Personification is a natural way for humans to identify with the different forces of life and respect them.

In its essence this myth isn’t very far from the truth. These gods all represent elements that support life. This story in fact seems logical considering its setting. The Nile brought life as well as destruction therefore it’s a force to be reckoned with. The sun appeared out of the river, so the river must’ve given birth to it. The sun and moon constantly battle for a place in the sky.

Some of the more scientific ideas of creation again aren’t very far from these stories. There are theories that do in fact state that life began from the ocean, and that we all originated from stars. This shows that imagination can play an important role in discovering more about the cosmos.

More than that, these stories attempt to describe the experience and magic of life.

Myth of Reincarnation

Reincarnation is the belief that after death,the ‘spirit’ or some inextinguishable part of

each human, survives, and, at some later timeis reborn again into either a human, or an

animal body. Most believers in reincarnationbelieve that there is a never-ending cycle of

rebirths, which can only be ended by gaining‘final release’ from the cycle

Reincarnation is believed to occur when the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, comes back to Earth in a newborn body. This phenomenon is also known as transmigration of the soul. The term is confined to the majority of Indian religious traditions, such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism; the Buddhist concept of rebirth is also often referred to as reincarnation.

The origins of the notion of reincarnation are obscure. Majority of people on earth believe in birth after death .

In almost every society the spiritual writings are about the art of living which prepares human beings for death. As it is believed that one soul goes through eighty four lakh lives in different human bodies. The soul leaves the domain of one body and takes the form of another and continues the journey of the nature set by God. The basic instinct of the soul remains the same, the only change takes place is the human body. The soul can also contain the impressions of the journey or life of the previous human body life; but not for a longer time. People use the medium of hypnotism to reveal information about their previous soul. Also, the body form of the soul in next life is somehow connected to the previous human body, may it be friends, family or soul mates or any close person the soul was in the previous life. In addition to this, the body carried by the soul in this life is influenced by its previous life to a larger extent. In Hindu mythology Lord Ram is considered as reincarnated form of Lord Vishnu .As no one has seen the life after death so it is believed that the person after death goes to heaven or hell depending upon the deeds done by him in the previous life, through the process of Purgatory. The deeds are described in form of karma. For every karma he is answerable to God..

Each one of us is born with a unique genetic makeup, which provides a basic template for our general behavior. This behavior is further modified by the surroundings that one encounters in life. I therefore believe that each one of us has the power to change our destiny and our memories by our actions in this life.

On the other hand,being in a scientific world people have stopped believing in these types of myths. They are being practical in their doings as well as thoughts. They do not believe in destiny given by God rather than modifying their own destiny. Somewhere I also feel the same. Our lives do get affected by our previous life but its not influenced by it.

Australian Aborigine Creation Myth -Maanvi Kapur

There was a time when everything was still. All the spirits of the earth were asleep - or almost all. The great Father of All Spirits was the only one awake. Gently he awoke the Sun Mother. As she opened her eyes a warm ray of light spread out towards the sleeping earth. The Father of All Spirits said to the Sun Mother,
"Mother, I have work for you. Go down to the Earth and awake the sleeping spirits. Give them forms."
The Sun Mother glided down to Earth, which was bare at the time and began to walk in all directions and everywhere she walked plants grew. After returning to the field where she had begun her work the Mother rested, well pleased with herself. The Father of All Spirits came and saw her work, but instructed her to go into the caves and wake the spirits.
This time she ventured into the dark caves on the mountainsides. The bright light that radiated from her awoke the spirits and after she left insects of all kinds flew out of the caves. The Sun Mother sat down and watched the glorious sight of her insects mingling with her flowers. However once again the Father urged her on.
The Mother ventured into a very deep cave, spreading her light around her. Her heat melted the ice and the rivers and streams of the world were created. Then she created fish and small snakes, lizards and frogs. Next she awoke the spirits of the birds and animals and they burst into the sunshine in a glorious array of colors. Seeing this, the Father of All Spirits was pleased with the Sun Mother's work.
She called all her creatures to her and instructed them to enjoy the wealth of the earth and to live peacefully with one another. Then she rose into the sky and became the sun.

The myth provides a very pretty picture of how the world could have been created. Glorious light and rivers and insects of all kinds, flying out of caves, paints a pretty frame, but for a film. Today I have a lot of background knowledge about how the world was really created. Science tells me that it all started with a Big Bang. There are many other theories, most of them, with proofs providing enough useful information about our planet, the stars, and the Universe.
Maybe if I was from an Australian family, and if I was born way before my time, my great-grandmother would be telling me this myth as a story and I would be in awe of all the things described. But today, scientists have proved enough for us to leave the stories behind.
The interesting thing is, these facts destroy the beauty of the stories in a way.
We live in an era where we question everything, where we need solid proof for everything, where following something without questioning it is a crime. I feel it is about the way we perceive things. A lot of us like to believe, and a lot of us like to question before we believe. What we forget is that our perception is ours. How we control it is upto us. You can destroy the beauty of anything by asking too much about it. Its upto you to take a step back and enjoy what you want.

Hindu Creation Myth - Saudamini Tambay

One of the most popular Hindu creation myths from the Rig Veda talks about Purusha, the one beyond all as the creator of all the elements that constitute the earth and the universe. The word Purusha in the Sanskrit language means cosmic man. This creation myth portrays Purusha as a part of all aspects of earth.
According to Hindu mythology Purusha was sacrificed to create the world. His body formed the castes of the Hindu society, his mouth being the highest caste, that of the Brahmanas who were the priests and the leaders. His arms became the second highest caste, of the Kshatriyas who were known to be the warriors. His thighs were next forming an even lower caste comprising of the Vaishyas who were the prostitutes, the farmers and merchants. Finally the lowest caste was that of the Shudras which was created from Purushas feet and was meant to serve all higher castes.
Purusha's body went on to form the rest of the known Universe in Hindu mythology. His mind became the moon, his eye became the sun, his mouth was the fire gods Indra and Agni, his breath was the wind, his head was Heaven, his feet the earth, and his navel the atmosphere.
If I were one amongst the people created a during this era, when people relied on stories passed on over generations as the truth about creation and life, I would believe the existence of a certain powerful figure called God and that all life, the earth, the sky and the waters was his creation. In the story above this powerful figure was in the form of Purusha. The Hindu mythology is a vast collection of interconnected stories that manages to explain most theories of life if only one has faith in magical powers possessed by most characters who constitute these stories. If one believes in the existence of any kind of magical powers, it is no doubt that the Hindu mythology has been written with great care to answer most questions of life, devoid of any loop holes. In such a case it seems to the common man a much easier path to depend on God, a powerful being to help solve their problems.
Another great cause of this blind faith was the distinction in caste that made the masses believe that certain people were more learned, powerful and closer to God than others. This distinction often led to the words spoken by the so called higher beings to be taken as the gospel truth by the rest. To me this seems like a vicious cycle where the creation myths caused the castes and the existence of the castes caused people to believe in certain creation myths. It was back then that people were satisfied by these stories as answers to how the world was created. They believed what they saw such as the sun and the rain giving life to everything on earth and what they did not see was taken to be a chamatkar (miracle) which was believed to be the doing of the mighty powers that controlled the earth.
In today’s world where science has a huge impact on the people’s lives and in a society where one can find enough people who do not believe in the existence of some mighty power called God, it is difficult to fall back on these creation myths for answers. Science has come with its own answers about the creation of the earth, the sky, waters and human beings and has challenged us to think beyond these mythological stories passed on to us over thousands of years. Science gives reasons and proofs and today people only believe what they see. Miracles are rare and in fact everything that is considered to be a miracle is backed up with scientific proof.
Today there is also something between believing blindly and not believing at all which is the process of reasoning and finding a proof which is what science constitutes of and is a major cause of the turnaround of belief systems.

The Norse Cosmogony - Sandeep Mathew

The Norse people are from southern and central Scandinavia, later known as the Vikings. Their creation story is as follows.

Ginnungagap is the vast chasm of chaotic, potentially creative energy that always was. To its north lies Niflheim, a world of the most intense cold, and to its south, Muspelheim, a world of equally intense heat. A poisonous river, Elivâgar flowed from Niflheim to Ginnungagap which hardened into ice. When the heat of Muspelheim met with the icy Elivâgar a might battle took place with each side trying to destroy the other. Sparks from Muspelheim fell upon the icy river and warmed it, forming drops of water. From these drops grew the evil, icy hearted frost giant Ymir, ancestor of all future frost giants, and Audhumbla, a cow.

The cow survived by licking salt off the icy river and nourished Ymir with rivers of milk. Ymir, nourished with milk, went to sleep wherein he fell into a sweat. He sweated a male and female pair of giants who were responsible for the ensuing giant population from under his left arm. As the cow licked away the ice, there slowly emerged the form of a tall, strong, handsome man named Búri. Búri, unlike Ymir was a good man with a warm heart.   Búri singlehandedly produced a son Borr who married Bestla the daughter of one of the Frost Giants.

Borr and Bestla went on to have three sons, Odin, Villi and finally Vé. The three brothers were the first the Gods and began the elite Aesir race of which Odin was the All-Father. The brothers deciding that no evil should exist in the world set out to slay Ymir. After a hard battle, Ymir was killed – his blood gushed through the world and drowned all other frost giants except one giant and his wife, the only survivors of their race. Odin and his brother got to work and used every part of Ymir to fashion the earth. His eyebrows formed the land (called Midgard); his blood filled the ocean and rivers; his strong bones formed the mountains; his teeth and broken bones became pebbles and stones; his hair sprouted plants and trees; his brain formed the heavy clouds; and his enormous skull formed the arching heavens.

The Gods continued the production, bringing sparks from Muspelheim for the Sun, the Moon and the stars. The Sun and Moon travelled around the earth on chariots riden by drivers who were trained to keep time forever. The Gods also made Night a dark and gloomy giantess and Day a bright and beautiful man of the Aesir race. Once satisfied with their job the brothers created a man and woman in Midgard out of an Ash and Elm tree giving them the gifts of wisdom, speech, hearing and sight. The coupled lived happily in Midgard as father and mother of the entire human race.

The story is a rollercoaster of vivid imagination, or so it seems at this point in time. The apparent violation of all things logical makes it quite hard for one to truly believe this tale. Even so, the essential basis of the social conflict and harmony hold true till this day. The giants and Gods are clearly superhuman beings who also feel anger, betrayal, love and the rest of the emotional spectrum. One can also wonder when the myth started, and whether it has been corrupted over the years as the concepts of chariots and anatomy probably took a while to develop. Interestingly, unlike other major creation myths both man and woman were created simultaneously, and hence were considered equal.  

the greek creation myth.

Everything in the world began with Chaos, a primordial void of darkness. Then came Gaia, the Earth, who was born from Chaos or appearing on her own. After Chaos and Gaia came Tartarus, who is deep inside the Earth, the lowest of lows of the Underworld. Then Eros, the most beautiful of all immortals.

Chaos gave birth to Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night). While sleeping, Gaia gave birth to Uranus (God of the Sky and Sky himself) and Pontus (God of the Sea and Sea). Uranus was the first son of Gaia and later became her husband.

Uranus, the sky, grew as huge as Gaia and enveloped her. Fertile rain fell to the earth and Gaia then gave birth to the rest of the physical world, mountains, oceans, flowers and trees. Their children included 12 children - the Titans, three Cyclops and three hundred handed Giants.

So essentially this is how the world came about in Greek mythology.

Now one might ask how did man come about ?

There are many tales about this, One of the most convincing tales credited one of the elder Greek Gods (a Titan), Prometheus, who created humans out of mud in the image of the gods.

In the early history of man, an argument emerged on which portion of a sacrificial bull must be given to the gods.

Somehow Prometheus tricked Zeus into taking the smaller portion.

Zeus was furious that Prometheus tried to trick him and decided to withdraw the gift of fire to humankind. Man can get the best part of the meat but will have to eat it raw. However, Prometheus stole the fire away from the flaming chariot of Helios.

Zeus’ rage knew no bounds when he found out that Prometheus had stolen his fire. To punish Prometheus and mankind, he instructed Hephaestus (God of fire, artisans, smiths) to create a woman of astounding beauty from clay and water.

Thus Pandora, the first woman was created. She was then given a gift, a jar which she must not open. Hermes then delivered her to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. Though Prometheus had foreseen that Zeus will retaliate and warned his brother against accepting the gift. But Epimetheus was too blinded by Pandora’s beauty to bother.

It wasn’t long before she became curious about the jar the gods gave her. When she opened it, all the misfortune of the world came rushing the earth. The gifts were in fact labour, old age, evil, plague - brought only trouble to mankind. Panicked, she then quickly replaced the jar lid just before Hope could come out. The rest of the evils and diseases were already out causing humans much pain and hurt thereafter.