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
Hactcin. The supernatural beings are responsible for the creation of the underworld, the earth and everything in it. Before the creation of the earth there was nothing just darkness, water, and wind. Black Hacticin created animals of the land, then birds, then water dwelling animals, and finally created man. Each time Black Hactcin created a new living creature, “he thought it was good”. (Opler) The animals were concerned that man would be lonely so Black Hactcin created a companion (woman) for man while man was sleeping, these two people are the mother and father to all the Jicarilla. Black Hactcin gave all the plants and all the cloven-footed animals to man for food. White and Black Hactcin released the sun and moon into the sky, and with the help of Holy Boy and Red boy separated the land from the water. They created a mountain and all the people and animals emerged onto earth. In the Yoruban creation story the supernatural beings are called Orishas and the supreme being is Olorun.
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
earth. In the Hebrew creation story, there is one God who was responsible for creating everything. In the beginning there was just darkness and water, God created light, the sky and the earth below, and separated the land and water, and “saw that it was good” (Genesis). Then God created plants, the sun and moon, all the creatures of the sea and the birds of the air, all the land animals, and finally man “in his own image” (Genesis) God brought man to life by breathing the breath of life into him, and when he thought the man needed a companion he created woman from man while the man was sleeping. God gave every plant as food for man and all of the animals. The first man and first woman are the mother and father of all the Hebrew people. All three of these creation stories have at least one supreme being that is responsible for the creation of earth and man. In both the Jicarilla and Yoruban stories there are multiple supreme beings with one supreme or more powerful being. In the Jicarilla and Hebrew stories, the first animal and man respectively were created and the next was created from the body of the first. Also in both of these stories woman was created while man was sleeping and after the creation of something new the creator thought “it was good”. In the Yoruban and the Hebrew stories there is a reference to seven days and the creator created the land, and brought about plants, the creator also created man “in his image”. In these two stories man was given life from the breath of a supreme being. While, not exactly the same these three creation stories are very similar in the structure of the story. The differences in the stories shows how each religion shapes the story of their people.
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
stories.