Tales of Creation: The Void

Many of the world’s creation myths share common patterns and themes. There may be a central myth that all myths sprang from, sharing the same origin point as mankind. During the evolution of the human species, language developed as oral tradition. Written language could have originated long after oral tradition developed. Over long periods of time societies began to emerge. They each developed their own language and script. Along with language and writing, religion flourished. Common themes and patterns in mythos could be caused by developing societies influencing or borrowing from other civilizations, or it simply could be coincidence. It could also be that these myths originate from one common myth; a single myth that developed shares the origin point of mankind. This myth started as an oral tradition shared by the first tribes of mankind. This myth could have been changed over time, growing and morphing according to the person retelling the myth until the myth barley resembled what was originally said, like playing a game of “telephone” or “pass it along.”

In the outset there seems to have been nothingness, some call it “chaos; a rough, unordered mass of things, nothing at all but lifeless bulk and warring seeds of ill-matched elements heaped in one” (Ovid 3). Some describe nothingness as a vast cosmic ooze or cloud. The ancient Mayas believed “according to the sixteenth-century-CE Popol Vuh, in the beginning nothing existed except the sky and a vast primordial ocean” (Laughton 94). There is an ancient Chinese myth where “Before heaven and earth had become separated from each other, everything was a great ball of mist, called chaos” (Campbell 223). In many myths, beings and planets spring from the void. In a Maori myth, the earth and sky extend “from the nothing the begetting, from the nothing the increase, from the nothing the abundance, the power of increasing, the living Breath. It dwelt with the empty space, and produced the atmosphere which is above us” (Campbell 234). If creation is not a child of the void, then in many myths it exists along side it. The Tahitian god Ta’aroa had no place of origin, he “simply lived in the void” (Campbell 238). Ta’aroa existed in an egg or shell and from this he created the world and placed it in the void. “There was no land, nor sky, nor sea. Land was nebulous: there was no foundation” (Campbell 238). Once Ta’aroa broke from his shell or egg he used the shell to shape the earth. Creation takes shape out of the darkness by God’s works. “In the beginning god created the sky and the earth. The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God’s spirit was moving the water” (Genesis 1:1). God fills the emptiness physically. He shapes the planet physically from the cosmic egg, or by using his own hands to gather elements present in the void.

Whether God existed before the void, created the void or sprang from the void, many myths acknowledge nothingness at the beginning of time, or man’s conception of time once he is created. The void and other commonalities in myths and religion are important in understanding the culture and history of man. If clear links can be made and traced through historical evidence, maybe one day a single myth can be discovered as the creator of creation myths.

Painting-Giovanni di Paolo, 1445

Refernces

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With A Thousand Faces. n.d.

Holy Bible New Century Version. Thomas Nelson Inc, 2003.

Laughton, Timothy. The Maya. New York: Barnes And Noble, 2004.

Ovid, Publius. The Metamorphoses. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2005.