Indigenous religions have many stories about its origins and how the world was created. As a whole, there are beliefs in a supernatural realm. Many of the origin stories of indigenous religions mention the work of different gods, as they traditionally involve a High God as well as deities that would help create this earth. These deities were believed to exist in the supernatural realm and affect the daily lives of others, setting the foundation for the sacred beliefs and practices for each individual religion. Below are the origin stories of three indigenous religions: those of the Māori, Chinese, and Hawaiian.
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Creation Story #1: Māori religionIn the beginning there was a giant shell. In the top of it was the sky, Rangi and in the bottom was the earth, Papa. These were the parents of gods, humans and all life in the world. They loved each other very much, held each other in a close embrace and very soon they had given birth to six children.
As the children began to grow there was not much room inside the shell and, longing for light and space, the children began to resent being confined between their parents’ bodies. So they plotted to separate their parents and bring about the world as we know it. The six sons: Tawhirimagtea, the god of the winds; Tane, god of the forests; Tu, god of war; Tangaroa, god of the sea; Rongo, god of peace and Ru, god of food could not agree on the best way to separate the sky and the earth and quarrelled violently. One son suggested killing the parents and Tawhirimagtea opposed separating them altogether and refused to take part in the plot. Tane however, eventually managed to pry Rangi and Papa apart. He did this by lying on his back and forcing the shell open with his feet pressing upwards, just as a tree has its roots in the earth while its trunk and branches stretch towards the sky. Rangi and Papa were finally separated and the sky and the earth have remained apart ever since. Tawhirimagtea, the god of winds and storms, was furious with his brothers. He could not bear to see his parents being torn apart and decided to make his home between Rangi and Papa. He promised his brothers however, that they would forever have to deal with his fury so, from time to time, he sends storms, whirlwinds, thunder and lightning to the world, as a reminder of his anger. When the space between the earth and sky was wide enough the sons decided to make humans. They worked together to mold people out of red clay. When they had finished Tane, god of the forest, took the figures of man and woman and pressing his nose to theirs, breathed the spirit of life into their lungs. The humans’ eyes opened. They sneezed and came to life. Papa and Rangi were proud of what their sons had created but they still missed each other’s touch. And so every night Rangi cries and in the morning the world is damp with the dew of his tears. The morning mists are Papa’s sighs of sadness, as she thinks of her beloved Rangi, now separated from her embrace. --- Ranginui and Papatuanuku -part one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsEAab_Tni4 Ranginui and Papatuanuku -part two - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHhMgrAMulA |
Creation Story #2: Chinese Indigenous religionIn the beginning, the heavens and earth were still one and all was chaos. The universe was like a big black egg, carrying Pan Gu inside itself. After 18 thousand years, Pan Gu woke from a long sleep. He felt suffocated, so he took up a broadax and wielded it with all his might to crack open the egg. The light, clear part of it floated up and formed the heavens, the cold, turbid matter stayed below to form earth. Pan Gu stood in the middle, his head touching the sky, his feet planted on the earth. The heavens and the earth began to grow at a rate of ten feet per day, and Pan Gu grew along with them. After another 18 thousand years, the sky was higher, the earth thicker, and Pan Gu stood between them like a pillar 9 million li in height so that they would never join again.
When Pan Gu died, his breath became the wind and clouds, his voice the rolling thunder. One eye became the sun and on the moon. His body and limbs turned to five big mountains and his blood formed the roaring water. His veins became far-stretching roads and his muscles fertile land. The innumerable stars in the sky came from his hair and beard, and flowers and trees from his skin and the fine hairs on his body. His marrow turned to jade and pearls. His sweat flowed like the good rain and sweet dew that nurtured all things on earth. According to some versions of the Pan Gu legend, his tears flowed to make rivers and radiance of his eyes turned into thunder and lighting. When he was happy the sun shone, but when he was angry black clouds gathered in the sky. The fleas and lice on his body became the ancestors of mankind. --- Pan Gu - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew-7RM378khttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsEAab_Tni4 Panku - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPXquGBwFXs |
Creation Story #3: Hawaiian indigenous religion
From the beginning, according to the Hawaiian story, a trinity of gods existed, who were the sole and all-pervading intelligences of chaos, or night – a condition represented by the Hawaiian word Po. These gods were: Kane, the originator; Ku, the architect and builder; and Lono, the executor and director of the elements. By the united will of Hikapoloa, or the trinity, light was brought into chaos. They next created the heavens, three in number, as their dwelling-places, and then the earth, sun, moon and stars. From their spittle they next created a host of angels to minister to their wants. Finally, man was created. His body was formed of red earth mingled with the spittle of Kane, and his head of whitish clay brought by Lono from the four quarters of the earth. He was made in the image of Kane, who breathed into his nostrils, and he became alive. Afterwards, from one of his rubs, taken from his side while he slept, a woman was created. The man was called Kumu-honau, and the woman Ke-ola-ku-honua. The newly created pair were placed in a beautiful paradise called Paliuli. Three rivers of the ‘waters of life’ ran through it, on the banks of which grew every inviting fruit, including the ‘tabued bread-fruit tree’ and ‘sacred apple-tree’ with which are connected the fall and expulsion of man and woman from their earthly paradise. The three rivers had their source in a beautiful lake, fed by ‘the living waters of Kane’. The waters were filled with fish which fire could not destroy, and on being sprinkled with them the dead were restored to life. --- Hawaiian Creation story - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JigSscmDXk |
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