The Sun Mother Created all things, why don't they teach that in Kansas?

http://www.cs.williams.edu/~lindsey/myths/myths_13.html

There was a time when everything was still. All the spirits of the earth were asleep - or almost all. The great Father of All Spirits was the only one awake. Gently he awoke the Sun Mother. As she opened her eyes a warm ray of light spread out to wards the sleeping earth. The Father of All Spirits said to the Sun Mother,
"Mother, I have work for you. Go down to the Earth and awake the sleeping spirits. Give them forms."

The Sun Mother glided down to Earth, which was bare at the time and began to walk in all directions and everywhere she walked plants grew. After returning to the field where she had begun her work the Mother rested, well pleased with herself. The Father of All Spirits came and saw her work, but instructed her to go into the caves and wake the spirits.

This time she ventured into the dark caves on the mountainsides. The bright light that radiated from her awoke the spirits and after she left insects of all kinds flew out of the caves. The Sun Mother sat down and watched the glorious sight of her insects mingling with her flowers. However once again the Father urged her on.

The Mother ventured into a very deep cave, spreading her light around her. Her heat melted the ice and the rivers and streams of the world were created. Then she created fish and small snakes, lizards and frogs. Next she awoke the spirits of the birds and animals and they burst into the sunshine in a glorious array of colors. Seeing this the Father of All Spirits was pleased with the Sun Mother's work.

She called all her creatures to her and instructed them to enjoy the wealth of the earth and to live peacefully with one another. Then she rose into the sky and became the sun.

The living creatures watched the Sun in awe as she crept across the sky, to wards the west. However when she finally sunk beneath the horizon they were panic-stricken, thinking she had deserted them. All night they stood frozen in their places, thinking that the end of time had come. After what seemed to them like a lifetime the Sun Mother peeked her head above the horizon in the East. The earth's children learned to expect her coming and going and were no longer afraid.

At first the children lived together peacefully, but eventually envy crept into their hearts. They began to argue. The Sun Mother was forced to come down from her home in the sky to mediate their bickering. She gave each creature the power to change their form to whatever they chose. However she was not pleased with the end result. The rats she had made had changed into bats; there were giant lizards and fish with blue tongues and feet. However the oddest of the new animals was an animal with a bill like a duck, teeth for chewing, a tail like a beavers and the ability to lay egg. It was called the platypus.

The Sun Mother looked down upon the Earth and thought to herself that she must create new creatures less the Father of All Spirits be angered by what she now saw. She gave birth to two children. The god was the Morning Star and the goddess was the moon. Two children were born to them and these she sent to Earth. They became our ancestors. She made them superior to the animals because they had part of her mind and would never want to change their shape.

-------in certain circles in kansas you have to allow the teaching of intelligent design, (aka creationism, aka the christian creation story) alongside the teaching of evolution so that the children can 'get both sides' of the issue of how the earth and everything on it came about.

the above is the australian aborigine creation story, which to me holds just as much validity as the christian creation story. both stories were passed down through the millenia from people who lived before we had t.v. and encyclopedias and such.

they are interesting stories, and every religion has one, and each one is radically different, even though they are similar. why do we have to have JUST ONE creation myth taught to our children, why not ALL of them, from the world over. reading all of them is infinitely more interesting and educational than restricting our children to reading only one creation myth, the state approved one.

happy holidays, and praise be to the creator The Sun Mother!

:sarcasm:

she'd have never created anything apparently. and who created the father of all spirits? don't get me started.

Could you possibly envision a MALE Creator willing to put the words "Thou shall not commit adultry" into PRINT as a LAW???

It was originally designed to ensure that women would not engage in adultery, as they are possessions.

Ever hear of a man being stoned to death for adultery? ;)

the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
An all-out food fight.

Do they hate us for our meatballs ???

I stand waiting, ready to feel persecuted, either way.

:hide:

Good FSM's

(nice try with the trick question :-)

I'm sure I'll just have to make something up.

All heathens who have not been saved by the Holy Collander are doomed to be washed into the food grinder of hell!

:rofl:

okay, I'll stop being evil now.

who touched us first with his/her noodly appendages. Come on, Sun Mother was a distant relative at best.

:)

but if you want to believe that crackpot noodle stuff, go ahead blasphemer, see you in hell.

:popcorn:

I swear, I'm this close to putting on all my pirate regalia and going there to protest...

and while i respect the devotees of the flying spaghetti monster cult, and their freedom to worship this diety, i totally dismiss the monster himself as worthy of study or worship cause i wish to and for no other reason than contraryness.

:rofl:

I pray for you, and hope that one day you may be touched by the noodly appendage.

Greek Creation Myth
In the beginning there was an empty darkness. The only thing in this void was Nyx, a bird with black wings. With the wind she laid a golden egg and for ages she sat upon this egg. Finally life began to stir in the egg and out of it rose Eros, the god of love. One half of the shell rose into the air and became the sky and the other became the Earth. Eros named the sky Uranus and the Earth he named Gaia. Then Eros made them fall in love.

Uranus and Gaia had many children together and eventually they had grandchildren. Some of their children become afraid of the power of their children. Kronus, in an effort to protect himself, swallowed his children when they were still infants. However, his wife Rhea hid their youngest child. She gave him a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he swallowed, thinking it was his son.

Once the child, Zeus, had reached manhood his mother instructed him on how to trick his father to give up his brothers and sisters. Once this was accomplished the children fought a mighty war against their father. After much fighting the younger generation won. With Zeus as their leader, they began to furnish Gaia with life and Uranus with stars.

Soon the Earth lacked only two things: man and animals. Zeus summoned his sons Prometheus (fore-thought) and Epimetheus (after-thought). He told them to go to Earth and create men and animals and give them each a gift.

Prometheus set to work forming men in the image of the gods and Epimetheus worked on the animals. As Epimetheus worked he gave each animal he created one of the gifts. After Epimetheus had completed his work Prometheus finally finished making men. However when he went to see what gift to give man Epimetheus shamefacedly informed him that he had foolishly used all the gifts.

Distressed, Prometheus decided he had to give man fire, even though gods were the only ones meant to have access to it. As the sun god rode out into the world the next morning Prometheus took some of the fire and brought it back to man. He taught his creation how to take care of it and then left them.

When Zeus discovered Prometheus' deed he became furious. He ordered his son to be chained to a mountain and for a vulture to peck out his liver every day till eternity. Then he began to devise a punishment for mankind. Another of his sons created a woman of great beauty, Pandora. Each of the gods gave her a gift. Zeus' present was curiosity and a box which he ordered her never to open. Then he presented her to Epimetheus as a wife.

Pandora's life with Epimetheus was happy except for her intense longing to open the box. She was convinced that because the gods and goddesses had showered so many glorious gifts upon her that this one would also be wonderful. One day when Epimetheus was gone she opened the box.

Out of the box flew all of the horrors which plague the world today - pain, sickness, envy, greed. Upon hearing Pandora's screams Epimetheus rushed home and fastened the lid shut, but all of the evils had already escaped.

Later that night they heard a voice coming from the box saying,

Let me out. I am hope.

Pandora and Epimetheus released her and she flew out into the world to give hope to humankind.

One could rewrite it for modern times, and the first evil to fly out of the box would be the bush family.

Gee, I always thought it was Father Sun-Mother Moon...or maybe Mother Earth...or the opening of a Lotus Blossom.

Of course it might have been the Wolf & the Owl...or that Turtle thing.

I like the masculine aspect and descriptions of lunar lore.

I personally address my meditations to Father/Mother or Mother/Father God...drives my kids nuts!