Comparing Three Creation Stories

Many of the religions of the world have a creation story, some share common elements, while others are something much different. Three creation stories that share similar structure are, “The Creation and Emergence” of the Jicarilla Indians, “The Golden Chain” of the Yorubans, and the story of “Genesis” of the Hebrews. Each of these stories gives the background for the creation of earth and man, but each shows how the way of life in a particular religion is evidence in its creation story. While these three stories share many similarities they also differ in more ways than one. In the Jicarilla Indians version of the creation story there are supernatural beings called the Hactcin and one supernatural being that is the most powerful named Black …show more content…
One of the Orisha named Obatala wanted to go to earth and he had a golden chain made to help him get to earth. When Obatala climbed down the chain, which took seven days, he poured sand into the water creating the land and as he walked along the land he scattered seed creating the plants. Obatala came to a pond where he saw his reflection and he began to create figures out of the clay that were in the likeness of his reflection (Anderson). When Olorun learned that Obatala was unhappy with his lifeless figures Olorun breathed across the figures bringing them to life, these were the first people of the …show more content…
In the Jicarilla story the supreme beings live in the underworld below the earth and the people and animals eventually emerge onto the earth from below, it also took more than one or two supreme beings to bring about the separation of land and water and to put the sun and moon in the sky. In the Yoruban story there are two prominent beings one who actually manipulates things physically and one who breathes life into man and solidifies the work of the first. The supreme beings in the Yoruban story unlike the Jacarilla story live above the earth. The Hebrew story has only one supreme being who is responsible for the creation of the earth and all living things, who also breathes life into man. The differences in these stories may not outnumber the similarities but it is the very differences that separate the stories as individuals. The similarities and differences among the creation stories of the world religions only serves to show how the different peoples backgrounds have shaped the stories of their beginnings. The Jicarilla, Yoruban, and Hebrew creation stories all share the same basic structure but the individual details tell three very different