creation myth
How everything began
A creation myth is a traditional story explaining how the world, humanity, or a particular people came into existence.
Nearly every culture has one—from Genesis to the Dreamtime to the cosmic egg.
The term applies neutrally to others' sacred narratives but can sound dismissive when applied to one's own: They have creation myths; we have scripture.
- sacred narrativeReligious story of significance
- cosmogonyStudy of universal origins
- cosmic eggMythic universe seed
- Enuma ElishBabylonian cosmogonic narrative
- legendUnverified traditional tale
Dreamtime · ex nihilo · folklore · primordial waters · Amaterasu · origin · world tree · oral tradition · great flood · primordial chaos · genesis · first man · first woman · axis mundi · deity · gods · firmament · waters
- Biblical ReferencesAdam and Eve, ark, forbidden fruit, Garden of Eden, Ten Commandments
- Maori mythologyMaui, demigod
- Mesopotamian textscuneiform, cuneiform tablets, clay tablets, Epic of Gilgamesh, Enuma Elish
- Moʻolelosacred story, sacred narrative, origin story, genealogy, migration story
- storytellingstorytelling, story, tale, narrative, narrator
- talestale, funny stories, tall tales, short story, yarns
creation mythscientific theory
Substantiated explanation of nature
historical record · evolutionary theory · evolutionary biology · natural history · fossil record
creation mythdoomsday prophecy
Prediction of cataclysmic end
Ragnarök · eschatology · apocalyptic vision · Book of Revelation · end of days
create, creation, myth, creative, creator, created, creativity, recreation, creating