Creation Stories

While some scholars point to the positive role of creation stories as the sources of moral values that encourage cohesiveness of the society (Malinowski 1962), feminist thinkers argue that creation myths have carried a negative influence on the life of women. Because most creation stories mirror the patriarchal structures of their culture, they often encourage women's subordination and passivity.

INDO-EUROPEAN MYTH

The Rig-Veda, the Vedic creation hymn, shares much with many other Indo-European myths (Greek, Zoroastrian, Celtic, central and western European, etc.) such as polytheism and its veneration of nature. Chapter 10 of the Rig-Veda (c. 1500–1300 bce) describes a creative process as the sacrifice of the thousand-headed, thousand-footed primal man Parusa. When the gods perform the sacrifice of Parusa, there emerges a clear hierarchy as the upper parts of his body are employed for creation of higher states of existence and the lower for the more common. Out of Parusa's head emerges the sky, while his feet become the earth.

Parusa is a man, which signifies that all reality, even the divine, has its origin from a male body. While recognizing male primacy, the Vedic hymn describes a reciprocal engendering that is taking place between the female and the male energies. The female creative energy arises out of Parusa, but this female energy is also a source of Parusa, an energy that is necessary for the fashioning all of reality. This female energy will appear in future Hindu mythology as Sakit, the creative energy of the principal male Hindu gods.

HINDUISM

In contrast to the oldest, Vedic account of creation, in later tradition (200 bce), creation comes from Brahma (the masculine expression of Brahman), who creates through his thought ("out of nothing"). While in principle Brahman is beyond gender, the expressions of the divine responsible for creation are often portrayed in masculine images. In addition to Brahma, Shiva (the destroyer, god of procreation) is also masculine. During the fifth century ce, Hindu scriptures introduced a single Great Goddess (Devi, Shakta) who is the material cause of creation (tantric and Shakta traditions). Within the tantric tradition, various female incarnations of the Great Goddess provide the masculine Gods with their creative abilities. Thus, the masculine creators (Brahma or Shiva) rely on their female divine cohorts (Lakshmi or Kali) for their creative abilities. While the male gods are still performing their creative acts, they are impotent without the creative energy (shakti) provided by their female consorts.

Kali testifies to the power of the female goddess (one of many incarnations of Devi) because she defines the fierce divine. Carrying a sword, Kali wears a girdle of severed heads and a necklace of skulls. Fitting for a consort of Shiva, she symbolizes the power of destruction, but this mode of operation leads to a creative process of transformation. As Kali destroys the impediments to realizing the truth, she frees the followers to follow the truth. While the tantric followers of Kali see her as a cherishing mother, others see her as a stereotype of female chaotic presence, which is blamed for bringing destruction on others. Still others believe that Kali provides a needed counterbalance to the stereotypical concepts of femininity.

BUDDHISM

From a Buddhist perspective, this universe is not the only one that exists, but rather there is a cycle of "creations" and destructions that follow one another. At the same time, Buddhist teaching rejects the idea of a creator of the universe. Instead, the universe is maintained by the cycle of causal conditioning called dependent origination. This concept centers around a radical interdependence between all aspects of reality. Everything that exists, exists because it depends on the existence of everything else. That is, nothing can exist without specific causes that bring it about; however, these causes, depend on other causes or conditions. As a result, it is impossible to single out one specific cause for the whole matrix.

The concept of God as creator or as savior is rejected in Buddhism. Because human salvation is a matter of self-realization reached through enlightenment, it is this form of human creativity that is stressed by Buddhists. In the Mahayana tradition, Buddhas and bodhisattvas assist human efforts along the path of enlightenment. These are celestial or earthly beings who have reached enlightenment but were once ordinary human beings. Kuan-yin, a female bodhisattva of compassion, postpones her nirvana (state of bliss, release from the cycle of reincarnation) in order to assist others in their efforts toward enlightenment. Another important female Buddha is Tara found in Vajrayana Buddhism. She appears in two forms—Green Tara and Red Tara—the former specializing in compassionate action, and the latter in removing obstacles to enlightenment. Red Tara wears a garland of severed heads and carries a hooked knife and in many ways resembles the Hindu Kali.

ZOROASTRIANISM

The Zoroastrian creation story describes creation out of chaos by Mazda Ahura, an omnipotent and omniscient god creator. If Mazda Ahura represents the beneficent, high deity, the other lesser deity, Angra Mainyu, represents the evil spirit that brings chaos and disorder. Already within this original dualism there is a gender distinction because Mazda Ahura is referred to as the "father or of order" and the wise lord, whereas the source of disorder (embodied in Angra Mainyu) is personified as feminine. Mazda Ahura and Angra Mainyu produce, respectively, beneficent spiritual beings and as well as demonesses. Whereas beneficent beings include both passive feminine and active masculine beings, demonesses are exclusively feminine.

The first human pair, Mashya (male) and Mashayana Mashyana (female), had their common origin from the semen of the first human, an androgyne named Gayo-Maretan. Initially they sinned together and shared mutual responsibility for the sin. This original equality is soon replaced, however, when Mashyana commits an irreligious ritual act of worshipping the demonic spirits. As a result, woman is seen as susceptible to temptation and evil and as the source of spiritual chaos.

ANCIENT GREEK

Only in the late eighth century bce do we find the fully developed The Greek creation myth appears fully developed only in the late eighth century bce in the work of the poet Hesiod. In the beginning there is an absence of form, the absence itself called Chaos. Out of Chaos arises Gaea (the earth), Tartarus (deep pit), and Eros (love). Gaea gives birth by herself to Uranus (the sky) on whom she bestows equal partnership and who becomes her mate. Uranus engages in a continual sexual encounter with Gaea in order to avert keep the offspring from emerging into the world and thus engendering. In order to free herself, Gaea arms her son Kronos, who castrates Uranus of his power over Gaea. The earth and the sky are thus forever separated.

Gaea appears as a powerful goddess, who eliminates the schemes of her cohort by employing her son. Out of Uranus's severed genitals, Gaea creates the female Furies, who are responsible for assuring retributive justice in the world. Gaea is a prototype for other strong female Goddesses goddesses in the Greek pantheon (such as Rhea, Demeter, and Athena) who manipulate their destiny through intricate plotting, enlisting the help of their children, withholding fertility, or giving birth.

Humanity is fashioned by a divine artisan, Hephaestus, or the mediator Prometheus (according to Hesiod). There is a separate account of the origin of a woman. When Prometheus steals fire for the human race, Zeus punishes humanity by creating an evil called woman. The first woman, the mother of all women, is both beautiful and evil and receives the name Pandora. She is the very goddess who, according to the patriarchal rendering of Hesiod, by opening her box releases all woes that afflict humankind.

BABYLONIAN

The Babylonian myth of Enuma Elish (1100 bce) depicts the primal force as water, which that from the beginning takes on male and female characteristics. That is, there is a commingling between the male Apsu, the primordial freshwater ocean, and Tiamat, the female saltwater. Out of this pairing emerge several generations of gods. The Strife ensues, in which newer generations of male gods revolt against the original pair. Younger gods kill Apsu, which, in turn, results in the an all-out battle between Tiamat and the rest of the gods. The gods finally conquer Tiamat and create the world out of her dismembered body. The gruesome detail of the cutting of Tiamat's body communicates the pleasure over the conquest of the goddess. The story suggests that the primordial female goddess not only introduced chaos into the universe but also received a deserved punishment.

The vanquished body of Tiamat gives rise to the new hierarchy, i.e., that of heaven over earth, male power over female power. The female passion (or chaos) is subdued by the male rational order.

JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

Hebrew and Christian tradition derive their creation story from the book of Genesis, where God is described as creating the universe out of nothing by the power of divine words. There are two creation stories describing the creation of the first human couple, Adam and Eve, in Genesis 1:1-2:3 and Genesis 2:4-3:24. The first account (c. sixth century bce) stresses the equality of both the sexes as it speaks of both as being created in the image of God. In the second narrative (c. tenth century bce), Eve is created out of Adam's rib and is the one who leads Adam to disobey the divine commandment. Traditionally this second story was understood as a sign of women's subordination to men because Eve was created after Adam, from Adam, and for Adam. Furthermore, her disobedience was taken as evidence of her vicious nature, which brings evil into the world. Eve and all women were thus seen as the weaker, inferior sex. Contemporary scholars either reject completely the second story as intrinsically patriarchal or reinterpret the myth. New interpretations point to the fact that creation from Adam symbolizes the mutual need for companionship while the eating of the fruit by Adam and Eve pictures the joint disobedience of the first couple. Eve's initiative to consume the fruit could also be interpreted in a positive light as an expression of her more independent nature.

Jewish apocryphal tradition relates a story about another first woman, Lilith, who according to rabbinic tradition was a night demon who seduced men and killed children. Jewish feminists agree with the tradition that Lilith asserted equality with Adam, but reject the demonic portrayal. Instead, they suggest that such a negative rendition of Lilith reflects a patriarchal fear of a strong female presence.

ISLAM

In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity, God creates the universe out of nothing in six days. Adam and Eve—the first human beings—appear in the Muslim scenario as well, but there are significant differences between the Muslim and the Hebrew accounts. Overall, the Muslim creation story of the first couple affirms the equality of Adam and Eve. According to the Qur'an, Adam and Eve are created from one genderless source (nafs); they have one point of origin that comes from one living entity. In contrast to Genesis, Eve is not formed out of Adam, but both Eve and Adam are formed from a previously existing, genderless being. After creation out of nafs, Adam and Eve are irrevocably linked to each other in providing comfort, companionship, and support. Satan tempts both Adam and Eve, and both disobey by eating from the tree. The Qur'an leaves no possibility to infer that Eve is a secondary and inferior form of creation, nor that she is more responsible for the Fall fall of humanity. Eve is not singled out as the initiator or temptress of evil, and instead Adam and Eve share the same culpability for their deeds.

see also Adam and Eve.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams Leeming, David, and Margaret Adams Leeming. 1995. A Dictionary of Creation Myths. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bonnefoy, Yves, and Wendy Doniger, eds. 1991. Mythologies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Choksy, Jamsheed K. 2002. Evil, Good, and Gender: Facets of the Feminine in Zoroastrian Religious History. New York: Peter Lang.

Gross, Rita M. 2000. Soaring and Settling: Buddhist Perspectives on Contemporary Social and Religious Issues. New York: Continuum.

Hiltebeitel, Alf, and Kathleen M. Erndl, eds. 2000. Is the Goddess a Feminist? The Politics of South Asian Goddesses. New York: New York University Press.

Holm, Jean, and John Bowker, eds. 1994. Women in Religion. London: Pinter Publishers.

Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1962. Sex, Culture, and Myth. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.

Plaskow, Judith, and Carol P. Christ. 1989. Weaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality. San Francisco: Harper and Row.

Sharma, Arvind, ed. 1994. Religion and Women. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Wadud, Amina. 1999. Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective. 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press.

                                          Wioleta Polinska