M Y T H S ARE H I S T O R Y
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  • Myths of Creation
    • 1 Thesis
    • 2 Definitions
    • 3 Exposition
    • 4 First Things: Cosmogony
    • 5 Time After Time
    • 6 From Creation To Catastrophe
    • 7 Order Out Of Chaos
    • 8 Traits, Tropes & Themes
    • 9 Macrocosm To Microcosm
    • 10 Astronomical: Theogony
    • 11 Geophysical: Geogony
    • 12 Ethnological: Anthropogony
    • 13 Cosmogonic Causal Chains
    • 14 As Above, So Below
    • 15 Foregone Ages Past
    • 16 Forthcoming Future Ages
    • 17 Second Thoughts
    • 18 But Who's Counting?
    • 19 From Myth To History
    • 20 Cycles Of Recurrence
  • The Jupiter Myth
MYTHS  OF  CREATION
12.   Ethnological
Domain: ​Anthropogony
















​
* A N T H R O P O -
from the Greek  :
'... 
...

​
- G O N Y *
from the Greek γόνος :
‘Creation, generation, 
​or begetting’

​* ...
​... 
 *
   12.1
In all cultural traditions under consideration
every celestial event above was 
also held to have an immediate counterpart 
in human affairs below. 
In fact, the very origins of human society
were usually linked directly
to the deeds of the astral deities,
in that — in addition to the overthrow 
of an older heavenly order  
& the refashioning of a new earth 
from the remains of the former world — 
the final or culminating act
in most peoples’ cosmogonies
was the creation or
regeneration of Humankind. 

In some places the astral gods themselves 
(or their lesser subordinate deities)
were seen as the makers of mankind,
who fashioned our ancient ancestors
from the dust of the ground,
or from a mixture of blood and clay. 

— Equally common, however, were Creation Myths
that emphasized the power of the planet Earth 
itself as a creative deity; such as
those which depicted the first human beings
as emerging from the ground, ascending
out of the depths of the Earth, or 
coming forth from a particular tree or mountain 
of central cultural significance.
   12.2
Many of these myths opened by envisioning 
a kind of Golden Age 
at the beginning of history, when 
an earlier, more powerful, primordial
generation of human beings 
lived serenely & happily, 
& in complete harmony w/ nature,
untouched by disease, aging, or death —  
united w/ the rhythms of the cosmos,
the music of the spheres,
& the resourceful wisdom of the gods.

In fact, creation stories 
concerning an older, more divine
state of humankind, 
subsequent stages of human history
& relationships of genealogical descent 
are among the most common types
of mythos found worldwide. 

— Everywhere around the globe, moreover, 
these primeval ancestors of modern mankind
are represented as having accidentally lost 
their initial blessed state 
due to some unfortunate mischance 
or imbalance or indiscretion
arising between themselves 
& the forces of nature,
manifesting as a resurgence of active chaos
across all three of 
the major domains outlined here --
Astronomical, Geophysical, 
& Ethnological, alike.

In all cases, 
these ancestral myths describe 
the prehistoric golden time of creation
as being forever lost by decisive alterations 
in the very conditions of life 
— including the complete shattering
of the older, more ideal cosmic order on high
& the scattering of the planetary gods 
thro wider spaces round the skies;
— as well as the simultaneous unleashing of
catastrophic deluges, cataclysms & conflagrations 
on Earth here below, 
— w/ the pains of childbirth, 
the hard toil of agriculture,
wickedness, wastefulness, 
disease, & death itself 
entering into the human world 
as a result, even though 
human beings were not necessarily 
regarded as being at fault. 
   12.3
Most common of all were mythical accounts 
which told of multiple occasions when 
the gods began to create humankind
— only to destroy
the unfortunate results 
of these initial endeavors
by means of natural forces on high
directly stimulating geophysical upheavals, 
floods & fires on planet Earth below. 

Each of these races, or generations of human beings 
underwent radical transformations
in behavior and appearance — 
parallel to the alterations 
on earth & in the heavens 
that were signaled, on each occasion, by
revolutions among the planets or stars. 

Furthermore, in all instances of this mythos,
the newer generations of Man
exhibited traits that distinctly distinguished 
them from the older generations, 
tantamount to the older generation or race
being virtually wiped out & subsequently
replaced by a newly refashioned creation.

In some examples when an ancestral race 
was destroyed completely,
the gods themselves created the next generation; 
while in other cases, a small band of heroic survivors 
were the ones who ensured the continued 
survival of the human race.

— In all known instances, however, 
each destruction of mankind 
appeared to be a part of 
a progressive degradation 
or ‘cycle’ of general decline,
unfolding over longer periods of time
across all of the three major cosmological domains,
in a dramatically punctuated series of
destructions & renewals
 — eventually culminating in
the modern human being of today. 


     12.4
While the impact of earthquakes,
floods & fires  
on human societies & settlements
& the resilience of their surrounding ecosystems
varied considerably
from time to time & place to place,
the natural disasters and catastrophes 
that directly affected humankind
during the mythopoeic era often
culminated in the sweeping, near-total
extinction of the contemporary generation of man 
& all terrestrial life the same — 
excepting those providentially saved
in water-tight vessels at sea,
or by hiding out in mountaintop caves.

— Over time, as new communities grew, 
recollections of the devastating occasions 
that led to the loss of older social orders,
& which furthermore played such a critical role
in shaping the rise of  new cultural groups,
developed into the central narratives 
of their newly expanded mythologies.

These Myths of Creation as such also commonly
served as the basic pragmatic charter 
for newly forged societies — 
& likewise affirmed the basic foundations for
the rituals & ceremonies which became
so central to their polyarchal beliefs & practices. 
— Hence it was that the survivors 
of each newly-turned Age
developed new cultures of their own, 
which often enough passed over 
partly to the next subsequent Age. 

But all the same: 
each time new disasters struck 
the more practical, scientific
discoveries of the preceding epoch
were almost entirely obliterated, 
& the vast majority of men & women
were time & again
reduced to a more brutish state.

— Consequently — both the prelude 
& the aftermath of each
round of creation & destruction
was the near complete disintegration 
of human society altogether. 
       12.5.1
Reverting back to their primal origins 
among the ashen ruins of 
an earlier world order
each time 
a new creation was raised, 
humankind in like manner 
started out 
over & over again, anew.

Not only was each consecutive generation
more highly cultured & refined
(& thereby more domesticated & artificially  
removed from the natural world, likewise —),  
many traditions regarded the Floods & Fires 
& other catastrophic disruptions in their mythos
not only as profound catalysts
for sociological renovations, 
but also as the very impetus 
behind the development of 
every conceivable aspect of  
human culture altogether — 
leading up to, & including, the eventual rise 
of the modern technocratic civilization 
most peoples live in today. 

— For in addition to the displacement 
of the old heavens & earth
at the end of the Golden Age, 
humanity also found themselves 
in a new position w regard to the astral gods — 
— who afterwards immediately 
withdrew from Earth 
in open warfare,
& entirely abandoned humankind 
for more distant celestial dwellings.

Prior to that time, while the gods 
still lived peaceably alongside 
or nearby people on earth, 
mankind received everything 
necessary for their subsistence 
as gifts from the gods,
lived in complete harmony w/ nature
& did not have to work
for anything whatsoever at all. 

 — But in the new world
mankind suddenly found themselves 
all alone. 
Now separated from the gods, 
they had to toil tirelessly 
in order to simply get by . . . 


   12.5.2
The separation that accompanied the collapse 
of the sacred Golden Age was not absolute, however; 
thereafter a new sort of relation 
flourished for a time 
between mankind & the astral gods — 
in which mankind was believed to
hold a particular integral place 
among the entire natural order,
on account of the new cultural developments 
entrusted to them as gifts, along w/
their newly proscribed duties to the gods. 

Hence one of the most ancient & ubiquitous 
traditional religious beliefs
in which human behavior played a decisive role
held that there was a sort of 
sympathetic relation between human conduct
& the ’moral’ behavior of Nature; 
— to the extent that
the very order of the cosmos itself 
was either actively preserved 
by mankind’s continued upholding of 
their god-given beliefs & ritual praxes;
or alternatively, more or less disturbed or poisoned
by the unruly offenses of man.

By and large, early cultures in
the ancient world
were almost obsessively concerned
with warding off or otherwise ameliorating 
the potential of future impending catastrophes 
further beleaguering the continued viability 
of human society; 

— & likewise held in common that,
so long as mankind kept straight upon his path of 
regular rituals & sacrifices to the gods,
strictly regulating his own conduct 
so as to regulate the behaviors
of the earth & the skies as well — 
the orderly processes of day & night,
seed-time & harvest, life & death
would hence continue to go forward too, 
& reward the faithfulness of humankind 
w/ the good fruits of the earth.

— And so, accordingly, 
the regular seasonal maintenance
of the new ordering of the world 
described by the community’s cosmogonic myth 
 was annually re-enacted  
in their festive ‘New Years” rituals, 
which commonly served as the focal point
of their ongoing cultural development — in that 
the responsible recollection & celebration  
of their cosmogonic mythos 
enabled the community, by proxy, to continue 
to participate in the larger life of the cosmos
around which all known cultures 
had first been founded 
& orientated from the very start.
CONTINUE
  • Home
  • Myths of Creation
    • 1 Thesis
    • 2 Definitions
    • 3 Exposition
    • 4 First Things: Cosmogony
    • 5 Time After Time
    • 6 From Creation To Catastrophe
    • 7 Order Out Of Chaos
    • 8 Traits, Tropes & Themes
    • 9 Macrocosm To Microcosm
    • 10 Astronomical: Theogony
    • 11 Geophysical: Geogony
    • 12 Ethnological: Anthropogony
    • 13 Cosmogonic Causal Chains
    • 14 As Above, So Below
    • 15 Foregone Ages Past
    • 16 Forthcoming Future Ages
    • 17 Second Thoughts
    • 18 But Who's Counting?
    • 19 From Myth To History
    • 20 Cycles Of Recurrence
  • The Jupiter Myth