Published by There is one question that has plagued people since the first records of history were found: Where did we come from? Every culture has its own tail, most of which are considered mythological. Interestingly enough, there are themes and elements common among cultures that never came in contact with each other.
Born from Chaos
Chinese mythology states that, “In the beginning, the heavens were still one and all was chaos.”1 In Hinduism, “This universe existed in the shape of darkness, unperceived, destitute of distinctive marks, unattainable by reasoning, unknowable, wholly immersed, as it were, in deep sleep.” 1 From the Tales of Kojiki, a Japanese myth, a retelling states, “Before the heavens and the earth came into existence, all was a chaos, unimaginably limitless and without definite shape or form.” 2 Another story comes from the Pima, a tribe of Native Americans from Arizona. Their myth states, “In the beginning there was nothing at all except darkness. All was darkness and emptiness. For a long, long while, the darkness gathered until it became a great mass.” 3 This theme continues through Australian Aboriginals, many African tribes, and so many others.
The Flood Story
The story from the Bible is very well known and slightly romanticized among children’s stories. However, this theme is throughout most religions and cultures. In Greek mythology, a flood occurred during the time of Ogyges, the founder of Thebes. It was said to have covered the entire earth, killing many and leaving the country without a king. Similarly, according to Roman mythology, Jupiter was angered by the evil ways of humanity and instead of setting the earth ablaze; he opted to cover it with water.
In Lithuanian mythology, the supreme god Pramzimas was upset by the cruelty of mankind. From his heavenly window, he saw nothing but war an injustice. Thus, he sent two giants (water and wind) to destroy earth. After twenty days and twenty nights, the god looked to see the progress. He was eating nuts at the time and threw down one of the nutshells. It landed on a the peak of the tallest mountain and some of the people and animals climbed in for shelter. When his wrath abated, the people dispersed but an old couple stayed behind in the boat out of fear. To coax them out, he spread a rainbow across the sky.
In Sumerian mythology, the gods had decided to kill all of mankind. The god Enlil warned a priest of the coming flood and instructed him to build a great ship and carry all the animals and birds upon it. Violent winds and rains did come, and it rained upon the earth for seven days and seven nights. This tale is almost identical to the Assyrian and Babylonian tale.
Many places in Africa such as Masai and southwest Tanzania believe a variation of the Hebrew/Christian creation story. For those not familiar, it states that God is upset at man’s wickedness but Noah’s righteousness finds favor with him. He advises Noah to build and ark and fill it with the animals of the earth (7 of each clean animal) as well as to bring his family. It rains for 40 days and nights. After 150 days, the waters receded. Still 40 days after that, Noah sent out a dove, which returned without finding a perch. A week later, he sent it out again, and it returned with an olive leaf. The next week, he sent the dove out yet again only this time it did not return. So a year and ten days after the start of the flood, everyone emerged from the ark again.
In central Asia, the Altaics believed that Tengys (the Sea) was lord over the earth. Nama, a good man on the earth, was commanded by a god to build an ark. His sight was failing, so he had his three sons do it on the top of a mountain. Once it was finished, his family and various animals entered the ark. The waters kept rising and every seven days he would have one of his sons look out the window. At last, the ark stopped among a group of eight mountains. On successive days, Nama released a raven, a crow, and a rook, none of which returned. On the fourth day, he sent out a dove, which came back with a birch twig and told him why the other birds hadn’t returned.
The people of eastern Siberia believed that the god Burkhan advised a man to build a great ship. The man worked on it for many days in the forest, keeping it secret from his wife. The devil, Shitkur, told the wife what the husband was up to and insisted that she refuse to board. Should her husband strike her in anger, the devil told her to say, “Why do you strike me, Shitkur?” Because the woman followed these directions, the devil was able to board the ark. With the help of Burkhan, the man was able to collect on the animals onto the ship, except for the Prince of Animals (the mammoth) who thought he was too big/great to drown. Once on the boat, the devil turned into a mouse and started gnawing holes in the hull until Burkhan created a cat to catch it.
In Burma, there is a story about two brothers who survived a world-wide deluge on a raft. In China, there is a story of a god who created a flood to punish the behavior of humans. In southwestern Bengal, the first people became unheedful of God so he destroyed all but sixteen people. In northern Thailand, a brother and a sister sealed themselves inside a drum to survive a flood.
In Papua New Guinea, there is the story of a flood the covered the whole world. The same story occurs in Tahiti, the Cook Islands and Samoa. Eskimos even have a myth about a world-wide flood.
Moral Dualism, Ditheism, and Bitheism
Moral dualism is the belief of a great conflict, usually between benevolence and malignance. In western religions it’s usually between “good” and “evil”. This is not in relation to any god or deity.
Although ditheism implies moral dualism, they are not equivalent. It implies a belief in two (or more) equally powerful gods, not just the idea of good and evil. In ditheism, they are opposing forces and often have rivalries.
Bitheism is similar to ditheism; however the two forces are complementary and exist in harmony with each other.
Evil Prevails
As far as I could tell from my research, no culture or religion is free from evil.
In Hinduism, the Vedas address evil as a matter of humans not fulfilling his laws or not performing a ritual properly. Further, in the Upanishads, the idea of karma is introduced and it is explained that ignorance launches karma into action, bringing suffering to those who wrong others. It’s the natural consequence to evil.
In Buddhism, they reject the authority of the Vedas that are revered in Hinduism. To Buddhists, evil is the perpetuation of the illusion of the world. The Buddha even proclaimed that all of existence is suffering. Three things lead to suffering: greed, aversion, and ignorance.
In Taoism, even positive manifestation has an equal negative one. Evil is a lack of balance between the two opposing principles of yin and yang.
