1988 School Magazine

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important as the creation of the rest of universe is only a secondary factor in them. The earth is the beginning and everything else is later placed into the sky. Some Egyptian and Creek myths have the earth as a god being boin from the waters and so explain why they conside, the earth a spirit. Many times the earth is moulded from the waters by the most powerful, and sometimes only, god. Persia, Italy, Japan and China are examples of this form of creation. There are some myths, dealing with the creation of the earth that make no mention of primordial waters. ln the Norse myths, the earth is the body of a god, thrust down from the realm of "Heaven" into the void, thus creating Earth. The universe is created after the earth. One lndian myth tells of how earth and sky are the children o{ a spirit who lived in the great void. A Chinese myth tells of the earth as part of a cosmic egg. Earth and sky were chiselled apart when the egg cracked open, another of the earth's creation from emptiness. The myths of the Australian aborigines are of particular significance for, in many of them,the gods come after the creation of the earth and there seems to be no great being who started creation. ln some tribes there is no explanation offered for the creation of the universe or the Earth and no desire to have an explanation. Once the Earth has been formed it has to be populated. Man is either the {irst or the last thing created and, in almost all myths, Man is either created from the earth or appears at the same time as the creation of the earth. There are myths which deviate from this idea. The Eskimos claim the first man was born from a seed-pod and the Joshua, an American lndian tribe, believe man was created from a dream of the god Xowalaci. The origins of the universe, the Earth and Mankind have been questioned since Man was able to question and a myth l-ras arisen for almost every idea. lt is the number of similarities in the myths that make a study of creation interesting. There are countless examples of parallel myths in cultures that had no way of communicating. Those cultures that have very distinct myths which have no parallel, are the most important, for they have probably had the least contact with any other outside influence. The Australian aborigines are the best example of this, as their tales are unique. ln all these myths, Man is seeking an understanding of himsel{. Modern Man has science, to try to explain, while Early Man had only observation and imagination. Even with this difference, Early Man managed to devise some explanations that are more plausible than today's scientific reasons, Caroline Leditschke Winner of the Charlotte d'joncourt Folklore Prize (Seniorl 1987

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Bird in Reeds - T' Burgess (Year 12).

A FAIRYTAI.E SADNESS Once upon a time

I was happy, I was in love with life And I felt that I could soar

with rhe birds On the wind. When along came the witch, She was old and gnarled, She destroyed my life, My happiness, Everything, And left her vultures To scour the carcass of my soul. For years I waited, I wept, I felt the emptiness I had no-one, No thing To love, I was as dead. When finally my Prince Charming came He was the solitary island ln my sea of sadness, Once again I was happy

Once again I was in love with Iife And I felt that I could soar

wirh the birds On the wind.

Vanessa Robins Winner Year 9,/10 Mary Alexis Macmillan Prize, 1987

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