A Creation Myth

[Kaymyth]

Human beings are driven by stories.

 

Of course, we all know that.  After all, isn't that why we're all here?  Because we all have a particular love for a particular storyteller and the amazing worlds and characters that he created.  We love stories.  Reading them, writing them, listening to them, telling them; it's built into the basic building blocks of the human psyche.  Our entire understanding of the world is, at its most basic level, driven by stories.

 

What follows under the spoiler tags is a story that I have written and told before.  It'll be a little bit different this time, because this is the kind of story that changes with retellings.  This is the sort of story that gives a little glimpse of how I, as a human, see reality.

 

Do I believe it?  Absolutely.

 

Is it true?  Heck if I know. 

 

 

In the beginning, the Universe was born.

 

It came into being in a great crescendo of light and color.  It came into being with a whisper and a gentle sigh.  It expanded with blinding speed, though it hadn't quite made up the concept of time yet, and became yawningly vast before it even had a chance to take a breath.

 

The Universe looked around at itself, and it wondered.  "What am I?  Why am I here?  Goodness...there really is rather a lot of me, isn't there?  I should probably get to work on figuring these things out."

 

And so it expanded, the intense heat of birth fading out to a generalized sort of warmth, balls of gas and plasma starting to coalesce into the first stars.

 

"Oh!  Look at that!"  The Universe marveled at its newborn stars.  "Hello!  I am Me!  Do you know why I'm here?"

 

But the stars, of course,  could not answer that question.  "We don't know.  We're just stars.  We're pieces of you, and we exist to burn bright and smash tiny bits of things together to make slighly less tiny bits of things.  See?"  And they demonstrated, smashing hydrogen into helium over and over.  And as they got older, the helium smashed together into heavier elements.  And they burned cooler and cooler, until, as all stars do, they ran out of fuel and exploded.

 

As its first children died their natural deaths, the Universe mourned.  "My poor stars!  I shall miss them.  They could not answer my questions, but they were kind and good, and made me bright."

 

And as the Universe sorrowed, the new gases created by the exploded stars began to coalesce again, forming new baby stars.  Thus it learned its first lessons about the cycle of life, and how death is not the end, but instead is the beginning of new birth.  It learned many other lessons as those first generations of stars were born and died, most of which we cannot know, for the Universe is vast, and we are very small.

 

Soon, enough heavy elements existed that planets began to form.  "What is this?  New things!  Oh, these are beautiful!  Not as bright as my stars, but lovely all the same.  Hello, planets!  I am Me!  Do you know why I'm here?"

 

But the planets, of course, could not answer that question.  "We don't know.  We're just planets.  We're pieces of you, and we exist to dance around our parent stars.  We hear the music of your birth sounding throughout you, and so we dance."  And they demonstrated, swinging around in a complicated pirouette of joy and gravity.  And as their stars got older, they grew old as well, and were consumed in the inevitable nova.

 

The Universe sorrowed again as they died, but not as hard as before, for it knew that everything those stars and planets had been would be again, as new solar systems were born and new dances were choreographed.  "My poor planets!  I shall miss them.  They could not answer my questions, but they were kind and good, and danced for me.  But they shall be reborn!"

 

And so they were, and as new stars and planets shone with their brightness and danced their dances, more complicated elements and molecules began to form.  The Universe watched and learned.  And then one day, Life began.  "What is this?  This is new!  Hello, Life, I am Me!  Do you know why I'm here?"

 

But Life, of course, could not answer that question.  Indeed, unlike the stars and planets, it could not even speak.  It merely was.  And it grew, and it changed, and new things happened, and the Universe was quite pleased that part of itself was so clever.  "I like this life!" it said gleefully, and basked in its own complexity for generating such a marvel.  "It is much like Me, only smaller.  Which makes sense, as it is Me, just like everything else."  But it had to wait, for early Life wasn't really much for conversation.

 

And then one day the greatest marvel of all became - intelligence.  The Universe watched and listened, and realized that these new creatures of Life were asking the same questions that it did.  "This is the most Me-like piece of Me that I have seen!  Hello, Intelligent Life!  I am Me!  I hear you asking the same questions that I have, and I can answer some of them, for I have learned much since I was born!"

 

But to its great disappointment, the Universe realized that Intelligent Life was too small to hear it.  For these little pieces of itself, the voice of the Universe was too big, its words took too long to speak, and entire generations lived and died whilst it tried to get out a sentence.  These precious beings lived tiny and beautiful little lives, and the Universe was sad that it could not share its experience and wisdom.

 

As the Universe watched, it saw Intelligent Life try to invent ways to understand.  It realized that they wanted to speak to it just as badly as it wanted to speak to them.  They created stories about beings larger than themselves, but more like themselves than the Universe itself, that could explain some of these things.  And the Universe had an Idea.

 

It took those stories, and those ideas of beings, and for the first time it deliberately started to break off pieces of itself.  These weren't the pieces that made up the stars and planets and Life, but more mysterious pieces that were more difficult to see or hear.  These were pieces of its very soul.  The Universe listened to its tiny children and their stories about their worlds and the mythical beings that created them, and it made those stories real, inasmuch as it could be real.

 

It created the first gods.

 

The gods, you see, were big enough to hear the Universe, but small enough that Intelligent Life could hear them in turn.  It wasn't easy, of course; Intelligent Life had to be very still and listen very hard, and even then they sometimes didn't get it quite right, but the gods took the wisdom of the Universe and passed what they could on to their charges.  And if Intelligent Life took the gods to be the Soul of the Universe itself, well, they weren't entirely wrong.  They were just focusing on the pieces that they could see.

 

The Universe continues to watch and listen and learn.  We still tell stories about what was and what is and what will be, and the gods of our world that the Universe created continue to whisper wisdom to us.  If we are very still and listen very hard, sometimes we can hear a little bit of it.

 

And when we lay out in the grass and gaze up at the stars and wonder, we should say, "Hello, Universe!  I am You!  I don't know why I'm here, but I am glad to be part of You."  And the Universe will smile.

 

[Mailliw73]

This doesn't quite correspond with my beliefs(LDS), but I really like it all the same. It's an interesting belief and I love the way you wrote that. 

[Kaymyth]

This doesn't quite correspond with my beliefs(LDS), but I really like it all the same. It's an interesting belief and I love the way you wrote that. 

 

Thanks!  I don't expect a lot of people to necessarily believe it, but I at least hope that some folks find the concept beautiful.  The universe is vast and marvelous, but we're kind of marvelous, too.

 

There's this concept in pagan circles called Unverifiable Personal Gnosis.  Some people actually use it derogatorily, but I'm actually quite fond of the notion.  We all have our personal experiences with the Divine and or Really Weird Things .  We can't prove it (Unverifiable), it's unique to us (Personal), but it gives us some inkling of wisdom into the nature of everything (Gnosis).  Everyone has their own moments of connection with something that fuels faith.  Mine might be completely different from yours.  Heck, they might even contradict each other directly.  But for each of us, that moment was something real and tangible, and nobody can or should tell either of us that those things are anything other than valid.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

I definitely liked the story. As you hoped, I did find the concept beautiful, even if I didn't believe it.

I think the truth is out there. I believe in God, and I believe everyone has the capacity to comprehend only so much of his vast truths. Like the Universe in your story, I think God wants people to see and understand what they can of the truth, and he's given us ways to do that.

I loved the way you told it. Very well-written, like someone telling a story they know well to people they know will like it.

[Kobold King]

As a religious treatise I'm inclined to disagree with this. I think the biggest difference between our beliefs is that I believe that there is only one True religion, which is incompatible with the all-including doctrine presented in this piece.  Which is fine; it doesn't offend me in any way, and I'm quite happy to coexist with our separate ways of thinking about religion.

 

 

As a short story, this is beautiful. It reminds me a lot of the animist concepts I came across when worldbuilding one of my settings. I adore the idea of stars, planets, and the Universe itself having souls, being capable of communicating or trying to communicate through the cosmos.

 

 

So while I can't say I'll be adopting this particular cosmological headcanon as my own, I can say that this was a beautiful piece of writing that made me ponder reality in a different light than usual. Take an upvote for a work well executed. I'd be delighted to read more from you, if you have anything else to share.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Kobold King

[Kaymyth]

I loved the way you told it. Very well-written, like someone telling a story they know well to people they know will like it.

 

Funny you should say that; the original draft was written for me to tell to the congregation as an introduction to a very astrophysics-based ritual.  It was designed to bridge the gap between science and spirituality in a way that related to the ritual itself, while being simple enough for the kids to follow.

 

So while I can't say I'll be adopting this particular cosmological headcanon as my own, I can say that this was a beautiful piece of writing that made me ponder reality in a different light than usual. Take an upvote for a work well executed. I'd be delighted to read more from you, if you have anything else to share.

 

I've got some stuff I'm working on.  Did you read that silly little blurb I spit out on the Herd thread about Discord giving Twilight the first several books of A Song of Ice and Fire?  Yeah, that's worked itself into an entire episode-esque story where he gives all of the Mane Six "gifts" that backfire in typically ridiculous ways.  And then they all find a way to appreciate what they got, and Discord learns a valuable lesson about friendship.  It's like I know the formula, man.

 

I also have a much bigger project that I started during NaNoWriMo.  It's an Alloy of Law-era fic featuring original characters, its own plot, and airships.  Because airships are cool.  (The main character of that?  She's who's been ponified into my avatar.)

[Surgebound Rainspren]

*sigh*

that was pretty beautiful

On the topic I only have one thing to say: I was not here when the universe was born, I will probably* not be here when it dies. If I die knowing someone, somewhere, will understand it's vastness then I will die happy.

 

*not unless [redacted] works

[Kaymyth]

*sigh*

that was pretty beautiful

On the topic I only have one thing to say: I was not here when the universe was born, I will probably* not be here when it dies. If I die knowing someone, somewhere, will understand it's vastness then I will die happy.

 

*not unless [redacted] works

 

The only thing that I am certain of is that the Universe has a sense of humor.  There is really no other explanation for the platypus.

[Kasimir]

I have to say I like this. Thank you for sharing   

[ccstat]

Some of my favorite writing has been when I get to include creation myths. Sometimes they contain more truth for the characters than for me, but I think it is in their nature to find something beautiful behind the mundane. (Or, in certain genres, frightening/horrific, but I don't write in those.)

I have to say that my favorite part of this piece is the voice given to the Universe. It communicates a lot about the person relaying the story.

[The Honor Spren]

Wow, I am late, but I saw hs in your signature so . . . Here I am.

 

That was a beautiful story. I greatly enjoyed every second that I spent readng it. Woud you mind if I used this story, retold in my own words, for a religion in one of my fantasy cultures?

 

Edit: or maybe even have a  character that somewhat resembles you bethe one telling it?

Edited February 16, 2016 by The Honor Spren

[Kaymyth]

Wow, I am late, but I saw hs in your signature so . . . Here I am.

 

That was a beautiful story. I greatly enjoyed every second that I spent readng it. Woud you mind if I used this story, retold in my own words, for a religion in one of my fantasy cultures?

 

Edit: or maybe even have a  character that somewhat resembles you bethe one telling it?

 

Yay!    That's why I put it in my sig:  shameless self-promotion...er, I mean, to make sure it's findable for people who might be interested.  And thank you!

 

Yes, you may absolutely use it.  I originally wrote it up for a Unitarian Universalist children's lesson; it was meant to be shared.

[Eagle of the Forest Path]

The only thing that I am certain of is that the Universe has a sense of humor.  There is really no other explanation for the platypus.

I really have to mention Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent here. If you've read it, you probably know what I'm talking about, if not, I strongly suggest you start reading ASAP.

 

It's a very nicely written story.

[Seonid]

I ought to mention that I love this little piece - I remember it inspiring me to write up my own cosmological history for my fantasy setting. (I'm not sure if that memory is accurate, because the dates are weird for that, but it's beautiful enough to have inspired me to do so even if little nitpicky things like dates say otherwise. Off-topic question - Kaymyth, did you post an earlier version of this in a Random Stuff thread? Or maybe one of the Question threads?)

 

Mostly, I just wanted to say that I have much praise for this (since somehow I never posted about it before), and am delighted to see that it has found renewed attention.

[Kaymyth]

I really have to mention Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent here. If you've read it, you probably know what I'm talking about, if not, I strongly suggest you start reading ASAP.

 

It's a very nicely written story.

 

Oddly enough, I think that's one of the minority of Discworld books I haven't gotten around to reading yet.

 

I ought to mention that I love this little piece - I remember it inspiring me to write up my own cosmological history for my fantasy setting. (I'm not sure if that memory is accurate, because the dates are weird for that, but it's beautiful enough to have inspired me to do so even if little nitpicky things like dates say otherwise. Off-topic question - Kaymyth, did you post an earlier version of this in a Random Stuff thread? Or maybe one of the Question threads?)

 

Mostly, I just wanted to say that I have much praise for this (since somehow I never posted about it before), and am delighted to see that it has found renewed attention.

 

I haven't posted a full version of it anywhere else, but I may have gotten into my personal universe headcanon a bit on the Religions thread or my AMA.

 

(I've never posted in any of the Question threads.  I've never even read any of the Reckoners RP threads.  I find it amusing that people keep forgetting that I'm not a part of that madness.  The pony avatar must keep confusing y'all.)

[Mashadar Mistborn]

That was beautiful. I don't really think that there is much more that I can say to it than those three words, but I am very glad that you linked it in your signature.

[Kaymyth]

That was beautiful. I don't really think that there is much more that I can say to it than those three words, but I am very glad that you linked it in your signature.

 

Chalk another one up to shameless self-promotion.

[Bugsy]

That was incredibly beautiful and touching. Thank you for having risked that little piece of yourself that you put out there each and every time you bare your soul of express your world as you see it. As an agnostic/atheist, I interpret most religion as an elaborate metaphorical expression of the followers self and values, and I enjoy learning religions largely in part to experience the beauty of mankind's efforts to understand the universe itself. I am honored to have read this and most definitely consider it one of the most beautifully simplistic yet expressive interpretations of life I've yet encountered. Thank you for having shared this, and know I don't give that praise lightly

[Kaymyth]

That was incredibly beautiful and touching. Thank you for having risked that little piece of yourself that you put out there each and every time you bare your soul of express your world as you see it. As an agnostic/atheist, I interpret most religion as an elaborate metaphorical expression of the followers self and values, and I enjoy learning religions largely in part to experience the beauty of mankind's efforts to understand the universe itself. I am honored to have read this and most definitely consider it one of the most beautifully simplistic yet expressive interpretations of life I've yet encountered. Thank you for having shared this, and know I don't give that praise lightly

 

Thank you! 

[Jedal]

That's some good crem right there.

[Anarkitty]

 @Kaymyth, I really enjoyed this. A few years ago, the fact that it differed from my own beliefs would have bothered me, but I've worked on not being attached to my idea of Truth since then, and I find it makes me more open to hearing Truth from others. (I still believe that capital-T Truth exists, but I no longer believe that I, personally, can actually grasp it. I've found that it's a much more comfortable place to sit, for me.) I find your Truth a helpful way to view things. I clicked your link and read it a week or two ago, and I keep finding my mind going back to it.

[Kaymyth]

On 10/28/2017 at 11:21 AM, Anarkitty said:

 @Kaymyth, I really enjoyed this. A few years ago, the fact that it differed from my own beliefs would have bothered me, but I've worked on not being attached to my idea of Truth since then, and I find it makes me more open to hearing Truth from others. (I still believe that capital-T Truth exists, but I no longer believe that I, personally, can actually grasp it. I've found that it's a much more comfortable place to sit, for me.) I find your Truth a helpful way to view things. I clicked your link and read it a week or two ago, and I keep finding my mind going back to it.

Thank you! It's a piece that I original wrote for a children's lesson at my pagan Unitarian Universalist church years back, which is why it's written in such a childrens-book style. I'm glad you enjoyed it.