Creation myth

A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony,^[2] a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it.^[3][4][5] While in popular usage the term myth often refers to false or fanciful stories, members of cultures often ascribe varying degrees of truth to their creation myths.^[6][7] In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths – metaphorically, symbolically, historically, or literally.^[8][9] They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths – that is, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.^[10]

Creation myths often share several features. They often are considered sacred accounts and can be found in nearly all known religious traditions.^[11] They are all stories with a plot and characters who are either deities, human-like figures, or animals, who often speak and transform easily.^[12] They are often set in a dim and nonspecific past that historian of religion Mircea Eliade termed in illo tempore ('at that time').^[11][13] Creation myths address questions deeply meaningful to the society that shares them, revealing their central worldview and the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context.^[14]

Creation myths develop in oral traditions and therefore typically have multiple versions;^[4] found throughout human culture, they are the most common form of myth.^[8]