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CREATION MYTHOLOGY

At one time, people lived together with animals underneath the earth with Enkai as their

master and the God of all lives. During this time, both animals and people lived in harmony

under the leadership of Enkai without any complain. No one thought about the existence of earth

and therefore satisfied with their current situations. However, Enkai knew about the world above

but did not tell his friends because he always wanted to be in control of everything. Despite the

absence of the sun, this place always had light. Enkai represented all good things, however He

had the power to bring devastation and natural calamities, and could also destroy things. When

Enkai had bad moods, he behaved like fire and when he was in good moods he took the form of

a human being. He was responsible for light.

Enkai made humans the highest among all animals and the lowest of the gods. The body

of a human being resembled that of an animal: mortal, sensate, and corporeal. The intellect and

spirit of humans was like that of the gods: rational, immortal, and incorporeal. The humans got

their descent from animals but they had more intelligence than them. Despite their differences,

both animals and humans lived in harmony in the underworld and there was no one greater than

the other. Human beings did not draw boundaries and they did not try to find a position in their

relationship with the animals. It was hard to tell who was superior to the other. Both the humans
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and animals respected each other. They took care of each other with the animals protecting man

while the man also protected the vulnerable animals.

All this time, Enkai the deity was planning on what he would do with the world above.

First he created a huge tree with branches stretching all over the country. At the base of the tree,

Enkai dug a hole that connected the underworld to the earth. Using the branches of the tree, he

furnished the world according to his liking. After he finished creating the world he led the first

man up the hole. He sat at the bottom of the tree as the other people followed. A woman came

out next and the rest of the crowd followed. All the people gathered at the foot of the tree amazed

by the things in the new world. Happy that the people like their new environment, Enkai started

leading the animals out of the hole. Unlike people, some animals went up the root of the tree and

came out through the branches that had spread in different parts of the world. They continued

coming out until there was no man or animal remaining underneath. Soon, the world that Enkai

created was filled with people and animals. There were plant inform of trees. The world below

where there was only light and happiness was left empty. The departure to the new world brought

men and the animals a lot of problems.

Enkai gathered all animals and people around him and ordered them to live in harmony.

He warned men not to ever start a fire or something evil would befall them. The people assured

him that they would follow his orders. After giving his orders, Enkai went to live in a place

where he could watch the world secretly. However, when the evening came, the only source of

light, the sun went down. The people were very frightened because they were not used to

darkness. In the world beneath there was always light. Both the animals and the people could no

longer see each other. Only sounds of some animals could be heard. They could no longer see the

fur of animals and could not keep themselves warm. The place was so dark and extremely cold.
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The men were so desperate but one of them suggested that they should light a fire to keep them

warm and provide them with light. They forgot about the warning they were given by Enkai.

Once again they could now see each other and they kept themselves warm. Enkai was no longer

there to warn them. From the day he left, both the animals and human beings had never seen

him. As a result, they felt that they needed to look for a way to protect themselves. They did not

known that the instruction came with some consequences.

However, the animals were frightened by the fire and they fled to the caves and the

forests. They thought that man was looking for a way to kill them so they decided to ran for their

lives. Since this night, man was not able to communicate with the animals again. The friendship

they had was replaced by fear. Some animals feared the man while the man started fearing some

animals. The cats, dogs, cows, goats, sheep, rabbits, chicken, and donkeys decided to be left

behind. However, these domestic animals were very tired from the long journey from the

underworld and had gone to sleep. They did not notice the man lighting the fire and by the time

they woke up, it was already in the morning. When they asked man where the other animals

were, the man lied them that their deity, Enkai had decided that they should go and live in the

forests. This was the only way that he could keep the remaining animals closer to him. The man

also told them about the new technique they had discovered as a source of light and a way to

keep themselves warm. So by the time he was lighting fire in the evening, the animals were

psychologically prepared and did not run away. From this day onwards, these animals decided to

stay closer to man and they were domesticated by man.

From this moment, man became an enemy to the animals living in the forests and

whenever most of them could see him could hurt him. The animals also felt that the animals that

were left behind betrayed them and a war was declared between the two groups. The domestic
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animals were no longer friends with wild animals. The wild animals started hunting the domestic

animals but the man always ensured that they were protected. Domestic animals were not around

to go anywhere near the forests. When the wild animals started attacking, the man was forced to

kill them to defend himself. He also realized that some meat from some of the animals was

edible while others were poisonous. Man decided to make some tools to protect himself.

However, man did not intend for the rivalry between him and the animals. He was only

looking for himself and if it was warm and if there was light, then he would not have resulted to

building the fire. He had no way of explaining these to the animals because they had already left.

The two groups became the worst of enemies and men had power over the animals. The

relationship became worse when man could not find something to fill his belly. To prevent

starvation, he had to kill some animals. However, he did not kill for the enemity, but because he

needed food to survive. He even started killing the domestic animals for food but the animals had

nowhere to run to because the wild animals were hunting for them. The friendship between man

and domestic animals started becoming weak. No matter how hard some animals like the donkey

and cows worked, the man still killed them.

The men also believed that wind, thunder, and rain had life similar to them and the

animals. They believed that the spirit of Enkai lived in them. Whenever there were floods,

drought, and thunder, man believed that Enkai was punishing them for been disobedient. They

believed Kang was always watching and as a result they tried their best not to commit sins. Men

continued to hunt for the animals for food. However, they did this for survivor and not as way of

punishing the animals despite their rivalry. As a result of man’s evil, there no more harmony on

earth. Animals had their own kingdom so did men.


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Elements in the Creation Myth

Supreme Being

The myth had Enkai as the Supreme Being. Enkai is the one who discovered the earth

and he is the one who put both man and animals in it. Enkai created the wondrous tree that had

its branches all over the world. Enkai is not a clear form because it is hard to tell whether he is a

human or an animal. People placed their faith in him. Enkai discovered the earth and he created a

big tree with branches that would help go to all parts of the world. He made a hole that people

and the animals used. If it were not for him, human beings and animals would not be where they

are today. He is the reason why people are on earth today. For example in the Greek creation

myth, Zeus was the god of all people and animals on earth. She laid an egg that hatched to

people and animals. In the creation myth of the Japanese, the green plant transformed to the

Supreme Being. In the Christian creation myth, God was the Supreme Being.

Creation from above and below

In this creation myth, there was a below earth where both people and the animals lived

happily. Both people and animals originated from world below the earth. It was when they were

here that Enkai discovered the land above and decided to keep it as a secret. He dug a hole that

connected the two worlds and brought the animals and people living below to the wondrous land.

The animals found a way to get out of this world where they climbed up the roots of the tree and

it led them to the branches. The tree helped the animals to spread to different parts of the world.

In this myth, Enkai created the earth. For example, in the creation myth of the Bushmen in

Africa, both animals and men lived underground until earth was discovered above them.
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Relationship between humans and animals

In this creation myth, the animals were viewed as equals of men, until the disobedience

of man. Both humans and animals lived happily together and there was no economic, social, and

sexual tension. They understood each other and they did have fear amongst them. Despite the

misunderstanding because of the fire, both the animals and men used to get along. They did not

even have leaders to control them. They have no differences between them. The animals were

important until later when they started hunting them because of their differences. They played a

very significant role of giving man some company. In Iroquois creation myth, the sea animals

saved the woman falling from the sky and they build her an island where she lived.

An instruction, Sin, and Consequence

Before Enkai left, he gathered both men and women and instructed them not to start a fire

or an evil would befall them. However, men committed a sin when disobeyed their god and they

started a fire in order to get light and warmth because it was too dark and cold respectively. As a

result, the animal ran away because they were frightened by the fire. Ever since this day, the

good relationship between animal and humans was broken. Men became superior to the animals.

For example, in the Greek creation myth, Pandora was given a box that he was not supposed to

open by Zeus. Due to curiosity, Pandora opened the box and all the problems of the earth flew

out. Since that day, the entire human race started suffering.

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