Initiation Within Creation

I decided to take a quick break from reading Metamorphoses this morning and explore around From Primitives to Zen. This site is so cool! Now initially I was drawn to the initiation myths but decided to keep with the theme of the class and start with the creation myths. There are two who have caught my attention at this point. The first of which is the Creation Myth According to the Upanishads.

This myth is in a more fragmented format than some of the others but one of the underlying concepts is different. I had never before seen Death personified as the creator of the world. In all of the other creation myths that I have read there is always a being that is associated with a god but is quite different than the God of Death. They are, of course, related somehow as most gods are within mythologies. The reason that I think this is so interesting is that it leads back to the idea of the circular nature of mythology. Death creates life and life leads to death which then will create new life. I thin that it is important to always remember the circular nature of mythology and life.

The second story that I really connected to was the story of the Earth-Diver Creation Story. It wasn't the fact that the world was created by sand brought from the bottom of the ocean but that the creator was called the Earth-Initiate. As most of you will catch on to as the semester goes on, I am OBSESSED with initiation stories so this definitely fixated me. I think that it is telling that the creator is called the initiate. I had never before thought of the creation of the world as an initiation. I had considered it on a more micro scale, such as an individual person's birth. But never before had I thought of the birth of the world. I wonder if in all creation stories, I could find an initiation story? When reading this particular story, various rituals can be seen, such as walking by the pebble three times before it is the Earth. The new initiate is seeking knowledge just like in any initiation story. This story is most definitely an initiation story! Now I just need to figure out if it is one of many or unique in this manner. The symbolism that connects these two types of tales is very blatant to one who knows where to look. So I guess I better start looking at all of the other creation stories that I have waiting for me.