Teachinghearts	Creation and Flood Facts, Myths and Legends "Explore the Word. Change the World"	Statistics: Time: 250 minutes Print: 50 pages

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Religions of the World
The Judeo-Christian religion has many more elements in common with other religions than one might think. The origin of the common elements in beliefs can be explained.

• Common Source. The global flood legends can be explained by the experience of one common ancestor of all nations. The Bible says that this is Noah and his three sons. All would have a similar story about the flood, but they may have their own opinions about the reasons behind sin and the problems at creation. So flood stories should be more consistent than creation stories.
• Jewish Origin. As a sect of Judaism, the text of Christians was the Torah. The only basic difference between the two religions was the identification of Christ as the Messiah.
• Middle Age Paganism. During the middle ages, as the Roman government made Christianity the state religion, the Catholic church incorporated pagan legends, feasts, customs and practices into the religion so that they could lure pagans into the church. So easter is a corruption of Passover. Christmas, Christmas tree, yule log, purgatory, indulgences, icons, Sunday worship and many other practices changed the religion. We will not discuss these legends.
• Jewish Slaves. The claim is also made that the Jews borrowed their religion from the Egyptians, Babylonians and Persians. According to the Bible, the power of God was so great among all these nations, that their leaders told them to honor the Jewish God! So, it is more likely that their religions were affected by the Jews.

Scholars and critics promote the following false assertions when they compare Christianity to the stories of other religions.

• Plagiarism. If the stories are similar and they believe one source is older, they automatically claim that this proves that one was stolen from the other. They never use the word converted or adopted or inherited, rather they use a disparaging word like "stole" or "plagarized". But, Moses did not plagiarize the story from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Noah was the common ancestor of all races and Abraham, the ancestor of the Hebrews came from that region where the Gilgamesh stories emerged.
  
  So the difference in the stories that Moses wrote is probably because God corrected the stories as He gave Moses the task of writing down the history in the Torah.
  Later, after the fourth century when Christianity tried to convert the Pagans, they corrupted the religion. But that did not affect the Torah.
• Ancient Documents. They propose that an older document means the more original story. When it simply means the oldest document that they have found so far. So they assert that the Epic of Gilgamesh preceded Moses and Moses stole this story. They do not account for the oral tradition, the technological advances of the ancient culture that might have preserved their artifacts or the existence of other buried documents, or the shared common history at the flood.
• Document Dating. Scholars use at least two methods to date artifacts.
  1. Science. Carbon 14 dating. While I have some issues with this method, my argument does not depend on its accuracy. I have already stated that an older document does not imply an older source or older story.
     Science also analyzes the ink and paper and the letters or type face to determine age. While they can exclude a document that is constructed with modern paper or inks, a good forgery will not include such obvious signs.
  2. Content. Documents are dated by their contents. If a document mentions an event, it is assumed that the document came after the event. So scholars tend to ignore the bible claims of prophecy and date books after the events about which they have prophesied, not what the author claims. Therefore, they assert that all claims of prophecy before the Greek period was simply a fraud. And they dated prophetic books after the historical event occurred.

Religion Chronology
Year	Elapsed	Event
4004	0	Creation
2348	1656	Flood
2247	1852	Babel
Nations and Stories Separated
1921	2083	Abraham called
1491	2728	Exodus, Torah
1491	Sin. 40 years in the desert
1489	2726	Hinduism
605 BC	Jewish apostasy and captivity
618 BC	3648	Zoroastrianism
535 BC	3695	Buddhism
500 BC	3722	Shinto
440 BC	3808	Taoism
420 BC	3788	Janism
31 A.D.	4036	Christianity
538	Christian apostasy and captivity
610	4839	Islam
1530	5759	Sikh
The emergence of other religions corresponded to the exile of the church for apostasy

Noah: The Original Source.
In examining these stories, I am proposing that the stories originated with the history that Noah and his family held. So now, there are up to eight minor or major variations of the same story. It is possible that while they had the same memory of the flood, that any of the three sons and the daughters-in-law could have held many personal opinions about the origins of the problems between God and Satan. They did emerge from a decadent society.

The time line in the Bible shows that from the call of Abraham, Judaism existed long before any of the surviving religions. And while the Jews were exiting Egypt, other religions were just being formally organized. Therefore, the Judeo-Christian version given in the Torah is the oldest, complete account of the history of the human race. And the differences in stories is a fascinating account of how stories develop and change as the oral tradition is passed down from one generation to another and as one culture interacts with another to modify their legends.

The Superiority of the Hebrew God.
I am also proposing that there is no evidence that the Jews stole the theology of the Persians and Egyptians. The most complete writings on the subject are the Jewish writings which scholars choose to reject. Accepting speculation instead. The Jews were conquered by the Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. It is just as valid a concept that they influenced the religion of their captors, than that they were influenced by it. This is the testimony of the bible. YHWH, the God of the Jews became famous for His ability to predict the future and demonstrate extraordinary miracles and power over the earth.

• Mesopotamia. Abraham, the father of Judaism came from the region of Babylon in Ur of the Chaldees. He was familiar with the beliefs of his people and he rejected it to follow YHWH. Their beliefs were probably Mithraism which is probably close to Zoroastrianism. He probably knew the flood stories in the Gilgamesh epic. It may be the version he held before God corrected it some time between his calling and Moses. It was part of His beliefs. He did not steal it.
• Egyptians. Joseph advanced from a slave in Egypt to marry the daughter of the high priest and to be second in command. So part of the Jewish line was half Egyptian. Joseph proved that his God was superior to the Egyptian god and gained respect for YHWH when the whole region was saved from famine through the power of God.
  ... Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are. You will be over my house, and according to your command all my people will do homage, only in the throne I will be greater than you. ... See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 41: 39-41)
  
  At the time of the Exodus, the Egyptians were afraid of the power of YHWH.
  The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, "We will all be dead". (Exodus 12: 33)
• Babylonians. Around the time that the religion of Zoroaster was beginning in this region, Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the image of the four ages. The king acknowledged the superiority of the Hebrew God.
  ... Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery. (Daniel 2: 47)
• Persians. King Darius made the following decree after Daniel was saved from the lions.
  ... in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel. (Daniel 6: 26)
  
  Esther was the beloved Jewish wife of a Persian king and the king gave her uncle a high office. This also means that the royal Persian line became Jewish! When the plot to destroy the Jews was thwarted, the whole region was afraid of the Jews. The Persians even paid to rebuild the temple. Why? Was their royal line was part Jewish?
  For Mordecai the Jew was second only to king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of the whole nation. (Esther 10 : 3 also 9: 1)

The Development of the Myths, Legends and Stories

God	Abyss	Creation	Sin			Flood			Dispersion		Hebrews	The End
Light	Darkness	World	Garden of Eden	Snake		Noah	Ark	Rainbow		Tower of Babel	Abraham	Last battle
Heaven	Sea	Adam, Eve	Tree of Life	Fruit		8 people	Animal pairs	Covenant		Languages	Exodus
Creation Myths			World Tree Myths			Flood Myths		Dispersion			Moses and The Torah, Covenant	End Time Myths
Cosmogony Myths				Sacrifice		Common Ancestors			Tribes Separated
Common Memories and Legends									National Histories (Divergence Begins)

Many errors crept into the oral tradition as time and recitation of the stories continued. That is the innocent way in which errors and changes emerged. As distance and isolation continued and memories faded, regional changes evolved. And, as families rejected God their ancestors probably learned to fear nature as they sought to understand the world. Over the generations as people sought to make sense of their primitive world, more changes were introduced. As tribes and families separated, the opinion of the dominant male or the spiritual leader influenced the elements of the stories.
Satan also existed to assist in distorting the original knowledge. But God intervened on Mount Sinai to restore the truth to Moses. But these are the myths and legends that should share some common information.

• Cosmogony Myths. These stories tell how the world was formed and how it is being sustained.
• Creation Myths. Tell how God, people and the world were formed.
• Savior and Sacrifice Myths. These myths and ceremonies were established long before the flood when God promised Eve that her son would save her. In fact, it is the only set of myths that were enshrined in a ceremony. This guaranteed a better chance of surviving intact over the centuries. This is why God used the feasts and festivals of the sanctuary system to enshrine the plan of salvation. The symbols in the ceremonies kept the meaning, even if the people changed their understanding. We list some of these saviors in the lesson on The Mystery of God.
• World Tree Myths. Most creation myths include a tree that is central to the structure of the world.
• Flood Myths. Stories about a great flood that wiped out mankind, leaving only a few to repopulate the earth.
• Dispersion of the Nations. Associated with the flood story is the subsequent dispersion of the next generations and the formation of new languages as they formed new tribes and migrated to other parts of the earth.
• Common Ancestors. All stories have a common ancestor at the point of the flood. Therefore, local legends should diverge after this point among each culture. And similarities should be expected in the shared knowledge of this common ancestor and the nations that emerged from him.
• End Time Myths. Since God promised Eve a resolution to the problem, all legends should contain information about how it should all end.

Hebrew	Title	Greek	Roman
El Elyon	Chief God	Zeus	Jupiter
YHWH	Love	Eros	Cupid
YHWH-Tzevaot	War	Ares	Mars
YHWH-Rapha	Healing	Asclepius	Aesculapius

Common Themes
It is not a coincidence that the common legends appear to explain life before the flood and the resolution at the end of time. They explain how it began and how it will end. The rest of their legends involve history that is unique to the culture.

God.

• Multiple Names of God. The monotheistic God may have evolved a polytheistic nature because of the custom of giving God many names and titles for all of His works. So the one God with many names that describe His power becomes many gods with their own name who have power over one system. Therefore, the God who judges and wages war or the LORD of hosts (YHWH-Tzevaot), becomes a separate entity known as the god of war. With the possibility of multiple gods established, Satan was able to insert himself into the exclusive fraternity of the gods. So it was easy for him to spread the lie that he was a god or equal to God. But the names of YHWH show His concern over the welfare of people, while the names of the Pagan Gods show an interest in subduing things. Even this shows their inferiority because God gave Adam the right to subdue and rule his environment.
  ... Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. (Genesis 1: 28)
  
  Myths are all distorted by Satan's desire to be like God or to ruin His reputation. There is no distinction between the one who caused evil and the good God who fights evil. All the superior beings are seen as both good and evil. Warlike, treacherous, petty and incompetent. Each one has equal power and equal rights. Each uses humans as their pawns. Since God withdrew direct communication with humans, knowledge of Him was also distorted by our need to make sense of our situation. This concept of the world of the superior beings was a prime target of speculation to the descendants of Adam and Noah who must live in this imperfect world.
  
  Some concepts of God are worth noting because they do capture some of the truth.
  » Egyptian. Toth created everything from sound. When God spoke and things were created, He was using electromagnetic sound waves. The basis of all atoms is electromagnetic waves, like sound waves.
  » Norse. Balder, the god who died and had to be freed from Hel. He was murdered by the instigation of Loki. After the last battle at Ragnarok, he will rule. Christ was the God, who died and had to be rescued from Sheol. He was murdered by Satan who instigated the crowd. He will rule in the new earth after Armageddon, the last battle.
• Trinity. Many religions have the concept of a manifestation of one god in separate entities. They conceive of this concept as either linear or simultaneous. The manifestations occur singly, in order, at separate times in any place. Or they coexist at the same time in different places.
  » Christianity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three who are one named YHWH.
  » Hindu (Vedas). Agni (god of fire), Vayu (god of air), Surya (god of energy or life).
  » Hindu (Puranas). Vishnu exists in three forms at separate times in this order. Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver of life and savior who incarnates ten times), Shiva-Rudra (destroyer of evil).
  » Aztec. The four Tezcatlipoca. Quetzalcoatl, Xipe-Totec, Tonatiuh and Mictlantecuhtli.
  » Norse. Odin, Vili, Ve.
  » Japan. The three creating deities. Ame-no-Minaka-Nushi-no-Mikoto, Takami-Musubi-no-Mikoto and Kammi-Musubi-no-Mikoto
  » Fon (Bantu tribe in Africa). Nzame, Mbere and Nkwa. Three gods who are one.
  » Cherokee. One supreme being named YOWA who was a unity of three beings called "The Elder Fires Above".

The Cherokee Religion.
The Cherokee consisted of seven nations whose territory covered the western half and central United States. Let us compare this religion to the Hebrews to find some very surprising similarities.

» Name of God. They believe in one supreme being name YOWA whose name was so sacred that only certain priests were allowed to say it. The Jews also would not say or write the name of God named YHWH (YAHWEH).
Although they are monotheistic, the Cherokee believe that YOWA was a unity of three beings called "The Elder Fires Above" (CHO TA AUH NE LE EH). The Jews have no trace of this plurality except in the plural words used for God, such as Elohim.
» Fire God. God is always pictured in vision as being on fire from His feet to His waist. His throne sits above the stones of fire.
» Sanctuary. Inside the Council house was the Ark which contained a large quartz crystal. Inside the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the covenant which contained the ten commandments written on a blue sapphire stone called lapis lazuli.
» Sacred Objects. Eagle, eagle feathers, rattlesnake, fire, smoke, sun, moon, corn, seven, quartz cyrstal and the ark.
» Symbols. Some of the symbolic objects in the sanctuary were given human qualities.

• Sun and Moon. They were left to govern the earth after the creation. In Judaism they rule day and night. The symbol means that while there is darkness on the earth such as sin a secondary source of light will govern. The moon represents the church, the stars are the prophets and the sun represents Christ.
• Fire and Smoke. Fire was appointed to take care of man and smoke was the messenger. The Holy Spirit, symbolized by fire, was given as our companion and prayer, symbolized by smoke and incense, is the way we communicate with God.

Feasts
Month	Cherokee	Hebrew	Comment
March	?	Passover	First new moon of Spring
September	Donagohuni	New wine, oil	Ripe corn ceremony
September	Elawatalegi	Yom Kippur	Bouncing Bush feast
October	Nuwatiegwa	Trumpets	Great new moon ceremony
October	Atohuna	Tabernacles	Friendship ceremony
7 Years	Uku Dance	Land Sabbath	Jubilee and land Sabbath

Feast Days. Although most cultures appear to celebrate important feasts in spring and autumn, the Cherokee festivals have some other similarities. Tabernacles is a friendship ceremony with God.
The similarities in these cultures can be explained by one common ancestor. Although God formally introduced these ceremonies to the Jews 4000 years ago, it is obvious that they were given to Adam and Noah. The fact that the Cherokee have so much less corruption in their ancient religion points to the fact that they may have separated and migrated very early after the flood and their ancestor was loyal to YHWH. The other remote possibility is that they are descendants of the Jews or Gentiles who met Moses or faithful Jews.

The Navaho Hogan.
The Navaho traditionally build their living space with certain key features placed in designated directions. The placement is similar to the sanctuary.

• East (Door). All doors were in the east in the sanctuary complex.
• North (Kitchen). The table of shewbread with the bread and wine was kitchen with the food.
• South (Sleeping). The menorah is in the south, representing the church that is the light of the world. One prophetic symbol at the end is of a church waiting for God in the south to be rescued. It is the place of rest while they are being persecuted on the earth.
• West (Sleeping). The Most Holy Place where we rest in safety and live with God in heaven.
• Center (Fireplace). The altar of incense with the coals and clouds of smoke was in the center.

Sin and Death.
Besides the concept of the nature of God, Satan has concentrated the bulk of his distortions on the mystery of sin and death. These are unwanted common experiences in our current reality. But the fear and mystery surrounding them has created many myths.

• Blood Sacrifices. From the story of Cain and Abel we know that a blood sacrifice was known from the beginning of sin. With the first generation and with the Hebrews this sacrifice was supposed to be a clean animal. However, this ritual became distorted to include the awful practice of human sacrifice.
  This is probably because Adam and his children knew that one day one human would be sacrificed for the sins of the whole world. God would provide the sacrifice and Satan would initiate the murder. Until that day, an animal sacrifice was supposed to be used as a reminder of that future day. This became transformed into legends of a dying God, human sacrifices and one god murdering another.
  » Abraham and Isaac. When God asked Abraham to sacrifice His son, He was trying to show him the hard decision that He would have to make in 2000 years when He had to sacrifice His own son, Jesus Christ. Some scholars use this story to prove that the Hebrews practiced human sacrifice and this was the point at which they repudiated the practice. That is an outrageous statement.
  First, the Hebrew nation did not exist at that time. God called Abraham to be the father of that nation through his son Isaac. Second, the decision was hard for Abraham to make because he never practiced human sacrifice. He hid his plans from his wife, his son and his servants because they would try to prevent him from killing his son. To carry out the task, the New Testament informed us that since Isaac was the child who would be the father of the promised nation, Abraham reasoned that God must be able to raise the dead because Isaac did not have any chilren yet through whom the promise could be kept.
• Savior. Since the knowledge of the concept of a divine savior who would be sacrificed was promised to Eve and was known by her descendants, it has appeared in many religions.
  This is another concept that was distorted and was even kept a mystery to the powers in heaven. We discuss this more in another lesson.
• Death. The final disposition of the dead has created the most elaborate beliefs in all religions. This is regrettable, because it is a topic that God warns us to avoid because of the potential for deception.
  Since Satan works through the mysteries of death to deceive humans about the invisible world, God warns us not to speak to anyone who claims to be dead or who claims to have the ability to speak to the dead. We discuss this more in another lesson.

Satan.
In many myths, Satan tries to give himself an equal status with God. In doing this he not only raises his stature, he also lowers the nature of God so that God is vulnerable and is also capable of evil. One universal image of Satan is the serpent. He is the serpent in the sea that surrounds the earth and he is the serpent in the world tree who is an integral part of the structure of the world. This symbolism is supported by the Bible. But is the symbolism also based in reality as many of the other biblical symbols are?

The Bible says that Satan was responsible for luring the first humans into sin. As a consequence, he was restricted to the earth. Many people have tried to speculate about his nature. Is he invisible, occupying the same coordinates as the human race as an unseen peeping Tom. Or does he also have a visible form? Does he also have an assigned physical place on the earth? If it is visible and concrete, where could this place be?

Many beliefs consistently assign him to living in the sea and controlling hell somewhere under the ground. The fact that the dead must be buried under the earth even links these concepts symbolically.
The surface of the earth is over two thirds ocean and mostly unexplored. Does Satan physically live in the depths of the unexplored ocean, under the sea and under the earth? If that is so, is that the source of the beliefs that hell is now underground and the legends about the dragon who is restricted to the sea?

The City of Atlantis. Is this the source of the legends of Atlantis, the city under the sea and the reports of unidentified flying objects entering and leaving the sea? If so, then we cannot go there because God has set boundaries and Satan is the source of UFO reports. Satan lives under the sea and launches plots and schemes to confuse and terrorize humans.
The Legends of Atlantis and Lamuria (Mu) could also be the result of stories told by the children of Noah. If they described the incredible civilization and technology that existed before the flood that is now lost under the sea it would be the truth behind this legend. So Atlantis is not a city that was built under the sea, it is a city that was submerged under the sea at the time of the flood.

The bible is very clear about the stages of the exile of Satan.

Time	Before Sin	After Sin		Millennium
Location	Heaven	Sea		Earth
Physical	Heaven	Thrown from Heaven. Dragon lives in the sea	Sea	Sea Dries Up. Dragon in the abyss	Earth Destroyed. Sea gone
Symbolic	Good Angels		Wicked People		The wicked are all dead
Status	No evil in Heaven	Satan is restricted to the earth (ocean)		Satan is restricted to the surface of the earth

The sea is symbolic of the wicked and the persecuting dragon of Revelation 12-13 is restricted to the sea. He controls the wicked. So, when symbolism and reality merges, Satan is the serpent who lives in the sea, who also controls the sea of wicked people. Satan is the architect of death who lives under the surface of the earth and greets all the unconscious dead bodies who go back to the earth.

• Before Sin. Satan and his angels are not restricted. All regions are at peace.
• After Sin. Satan lost access to heaven and is physically restricted to the oceans of the earth. He also controls the wicked who live on the surface of the land.
  There has also been speculation about a race of giants that are the children of humans and angels who still live in underground caverns. This is not supported by the Bible or the symbolism or the plan of salvation or nature. Everyone was destroyed at the flood, except eight people. However, the symbolism supports the concept that perhaps Satan occupies the regions under the earth and sea. And, perhaps by treaty or threat or some other restrictions, he is mostly limited to an invisible existence on the surface of the earth or when he is with humans.
• Millennium. The Second Coming kills all the wicked and destroys the earth. The earth is in perpetual darkness and it is broken in two. The seas are displaced. Satan is now restricted to the surface of the earth. He no longer has access to either the sea of wicked or the oceans.

So the vast majority of the distortions about our concepts of God are related to the nature of God and death. Changes to common stories are related to these distortions and the gradual loss of detail after years of the oral tradition.
So we can assume from the common remaining elements that there is a God, there was a flood, a serpent and there was darkness and a great sea at the beginning of creation.

Creation.

Group	Primeval Water	Abyss
Roman	Pontos	Chaos
Egyptian	Nun	Chaos
Caananite	Yamm	Chaos
Norse	Hvergelmir	Ginnungagap

• Primordial Waters. Many legends describe creation out of the sea and the darkness of a great formless abyss or void of nothingness. The waters surround the earth. It is amazing that even though some myths have a concept of destruction by fire in the end, they all agree that in the beginning there was darkness and a vast sea of water.
• Serpent. Within this sea lived the great serpent Leviathan. Both became symbols of evil and destruction. In many myths a serpent became the guardian of the waters surrounding the earth. This probably reflects the fact that when Adam sinned, the world legally became the domain of Satan to rule until the Messiah came. Therefore, there is a serpent guarding the waters of the earth and guarding the access to the tree of life. The serpent is the guardian of people and controls life and death.

  Group	Serpent (Dragon)	Comment
  Hebrew	Leviathan	The evil destroyer who lives in the sea. (Isaiah 27: 1) He tempted Eve.
  Babylon	Tiamat	The salt water god. Her dead body was used to create the sky and the earth
  Mesopotamia	Tiamat	The dragon in the primeval waters of chaos who was killed by Marduk and broken in two to create the sky and earth
  Arabic	Falak	A snake under the sea and underneath a layer of fire with six hells in his mouth
  Caananite	Yamm the Sea	The dragon in the primeval waters of chaos who was conquered by Baal-Haddad
  Greek	Ladon	A hundred headed dragon who guards the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides
  	Typhon	A hundred headed dragon of the underworld who fought the Olympian gods
  Aztec	Cipactli	All creation is contained in his body
  	Coatlicue	The dragon in the primeval waters of chaos who was killed by Quetzalcoatl and broken in two to create the sky and earth
  	Quetzalcoatl	The feathered serpent who created man
  Norse	Jormungand	He lives in the ocean surrounding Midgard, with his tail in his mouth
  	Nidhogg	The serpent who eats the world tree and will destroy it at Ragnarok
  Hindu	Adi Shesha	Vishnu, the supreme being, sits on the many-hooded serpent in the primeval waters
  	Vritra	Held back rain
  	Vasuki	Tries to pollute the world ocean
  China	Gong Gong	Has nine heads and the body of a snake. He caused the flood
  Yoruba	Oshumare	The rainbow serpent. It circles the egg of the world
  Fon (Dahomey)	Oshumare	The rainbow serpent. It circles the egg of the world and binds it with 3500 coils above and 3500 below
  Africa	Danh (Ayido Hwedo)	The rainbow snake who encircles the world with his tail in his mouth
  Samoa	Fe'e and Na Kika	The waters produced a primeval octopus. Fe'e is the war god who is a huge octopus with a compass whose tentacles reach the far corners of the world. Na Kika is the octopus who used his arms to separate the heavens from the underworld.

• The Two Trees of Eden. A tree became central to life and it eventually merged into the myths as part of the universal Cosmogony. So that somehow, the structure of life and access to God involved a tree. This is because sin came into the world when Satan tempted Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge. The sin then caused loss of access to another tree, the tree of life.
  Tree of Knowledge. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." (Genesis 2: 16-17)
  Tree of Life. Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever". (Genesis 3: 22)
  In the Qur'an there is only one tree not two, the tree of eternity (shajarat al-khuld).
• Guardians of the Tree of Life. The guardians are angels or serpents. This seemingly opposite view is understandable if you consider the point of reference. God placed the cherubim at the entrance to the garden to prevent humans from having access to the tree of life.
  So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3: 24)
  However, because the serpent was the initial cause of the loss of access to Eden, it is seen as the one who prevents us from eating from this tree.

  Hindu. Mount Meru, is the dwelling place of God. It was guarded by serpents, which watched the entrance to the realm of Secret Knowledge.

  Sumerian. Ningizzida, the god of the serpent, is the lord of the Tree of Life.

  This tree and its gifts of immortality are not easy to discover. It is historically difficult to find, and almost invariably guarded. The tree of Life in the Jewish bible is guarded by a Seraph (an angel in the form of a fiery serpent) bearing a flaming sword. To steal the apples of knowledge, the Greek hero Hercules had to slay a many-headed dragon Ladon. In Mayan legends, it is a serpent in the roots that must be contended with. Similarly, the Naga, or divine serpent guards the Hindu Tree. In Norse stories, the Serpent Nidhogg lives under Ygdrassil (the tree of life), and gnaws at the roots.
• Forbidden Fruit. Many legends have two kinds of fruit. One that causes problems and one that gives immortality. Again, the source is from the two trees in Eden. The forbidden fruit was from the tree of knowledge.

  Apple of Discord. Eris, the goddess of discord, tossed a golden apple into the assembly of the gods at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. On it was inscribed, "For the Fairest". It was claimed by three goddess, Aphrodite, Athena and Hera. Paris, the prince of Troy was asked to make a choice. He awarded it to Aphrodite and the jealousy of Hera led to the Trojan war.

  Although the next story does not involve a snake or a tree, it is about the first woman who was created. She unleashes evil into the world because of her curiosity. Eve was the first woman who wandered from the side of her husband and was tempted by the snake. Her curiosity caused evil to come into the world.

  Roman: Pandora's Box. The earth was perfect in the days of the Golden age. Jupiter was angry at the perfect conditions which he believed was caused by the gift of fire that Prometheus had stolen and given to the man. And he tried to find a way to punish humans for accepting this gift. So he called a meeting of the gods on Mount Olympus, and they decided to create woman. As soon as she had been fashioned, each one gave her some special charm, to make her more attractive. They created Pandora as a gift for Prometheus. But when he refused, his brother Epimetheus took her. Life was happy for a while. Pandora was always with Epimetheus. Later, a weary Mercury brought a box and asked for permission to leave it there. Jupiter had malignantly crammed into this box all the diseases, sorrows, vices, and crimes that afflict poor humanity. Curious, she decided to make an excuse to stay by herself that day. Later, Pandora opened the box and she let loose all the evils in the world. But the gods had pity and had also put Hope in the box.

  Garden of Hesperides. The Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far west corner of the world. The Garden of the Hesperides is Hera's orchard in the west, where either a single tree or a grove of immortality giving golden apples grew. The apples were planted from the fruited branches that Gaia gave to her as a wedding gift when Hera accepted Zeus. The Hesperides were given the task of tending to the grove, but occasionally plucked from it themselves. Not trusting them, Hera also placed in the garden an unsleeping, hundred-headed dragon named Ladon as an additional safeguard.

Flood.
The flood story is the most common and persistent legend around all cultures. Many of them only have a few things in common. There was a flood that destroyed the world, a human and some animals were saved by going up a high mountain in a sealed vessel and life restarted afterwards. The inclusion of a rainbow and the dispersion of races by language appears in a few legends.

Destruction.
All major religions include a final destruction, a final battle and a new creation after a steady decline in morals and nature. This has resulted in two views of time. One is linear and the other cyclic. Linear time has only one final new creation, while cyclic time has an infinite number. Reincarnation is a feature of cyclic time.

Creation and Cosmogony Legends

Sound: From The Voice of God.

The Structure of the Universe
3 Heaven God exists Sea of Glass 2 Heaven Outer space 1 The sky above 1 Earth Land sea 2 Sheol (the grave) Water
Day	Creation
1	Brought light. Made day and night.
2	Separated sea and sky
3	Separated sea and earth. Made trees
4	Sun, moon and stars
5	Fish and birds
6	Land animals and humans
7	The Sabbath rest and the week

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said "Let there be light"; and there was light. (Genesis 1: 1-3)
Most creation legends begin with a dark void of nothingness. YHWH also created time and the physical world from nothing, or from "things that cannot be seen". He spoke and the physical objects, including time, were created in seven days.

By faith we understand that the ages were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11: 3)

» Earth. In Genesis 1, the Judeo-Christian story also begins with a void in the part of space that would become our universe. The world emerged from the will of God by the sound of the voice of God. So the thing that cannot be seen is the electromagnetic waves of the sound of the voice of God. God created with sound waves, by using His voice and speaking the physical world into existence. This is absolutely scientific. All atoms are a bundle of electromagnetic waves. However, God already existed and the story does not attempt to explain how He came to be. So the Bible only describes the creation of our universe.
» Sea. The creation continued when the earth and heavens were carved out of water. The story supports the idea that while the earth sits in water, there may be a ceiling of water that exists outside the heavens that we see. Beyond outer space.
Symbolically, the salty sea that is part of the earth is where the snake Leviathan lives. The symbols of God always have a basis in reality. Perhaps when Satan and his angels were banished to earth, they were confined to living their physical existence under the ocean. And there must be a law in place that prevents our physical worlds from colliding. And perhaps the myths about hell being located under the earth is based on the fact that Satan lives there.
» Underworld. The underworld is simply the earth where the dead are buried beneath the surface of the earth. They are unconscious and unaware in Sheol. The breath of God which also gave them life goes back to God. But it is not a conscious entity living in a particular place. It probably contains information about our memories and personalities so that God can recreate us with new bodies.
» Heaven. The New Testament adds one other detail about this cosmology. There are three levels of heaven. The first is the sky and atmosphere that we can see. The second is outer space. The third is the highest heavens where God lives.
I know a man ... such a man was caught up to the third heaven. (2 Corinthians 12: 2)

» The Sea of Glass. This could be the layer of waters above the earth, between outer space and the earth that we cannot see. Revelation states that God will come from the east and that we will stand on "the Sea of Glass" as we go back to heaven (Revelation 15). Adventists also think that God will come through the constellation of Orion. The schedule of the actions of God seem to indicate that the Second Coming will happen during the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. This is between September to October. A meteor shower which is caused by Halley's comet appears in the Orion constellation in late October.

The Dark Abyss of Water
I chose a few examples of the creation from a dark void. Either an egg or a person was produced from this void. In these myths, water was a part of the beginning. It is interesting that science concludes that water was needed to start life and that the planets were once covered in water.
These stories also shared some other common features. The order of creation was the abyss, darkness, fire or light, sea, sky and earth, sun, moon and stars, then plants and animals and man.

From The Mind of God.
Hindu legends vary. Brahma is sometimes said to be self-created, or born from a lotus out of Vishnu's navel, or hatched from the cosmic egg. In another myth, creation came from the tears of Prajapati.

Hindu. In the beginning there was a single soul who looked around and saw nothing but itself. Since it was lonely it wanted a companion so it split into two, a man and a woman. They had intercourse and other human beings were born. Then the woman thought that it was wrong to have intercourse since they came from the same soul. So she tried to hide herself and became a cow. He became a bull and had intercourse and all cattle were born. Then she changed herself into a mare and he became a stallion and horses were born. This continued until all creatures down to the smallest insect were created.
After this, the man realized that he is creation. This created world will last 4,320,000,000 years.

Mixtec. When all was chaos and confusion, the earth was covered with water, there was only mud and slime on the surface of the earth. At that time there became visible, the god One-Deer, who had the surname Snake of the Lion. There was also a goddess, very genteel and beautiful, whose name was also One-Deer, and whose surname was Snake of the Tiger. They are the beginning of all other gods. As soon as these two gods became visible on earth in human form, with their power and wisdom they made a large stone on which they built a very sumptuous mansion. The stone was called "the place where the heavens were", which was their seat and residence on earth. This large stone and the mansion was on a very high hill. A garden was planted on the mountaintop.

The Cosmic Egg.
Theory of Natural Selection and the Survival of the Fittest.
The world emerged from an egg that holds the seeds of life. The shell became the structure that held the sky and the earth. After drawing the representation of the cosmos that I think is correct, I realize that it looks like an egg. The yolk is represented by the earth. And it is surrounded by air and water. So it makes me wonder if the ancients used an egg to explain how the cosmos is structured and it was morphed into the cosmic egg. It would also explain the belief that we are the center of the universe. Even the connection to the heavens by a bridge over the sea of glass reminds me that the yoke is connected to the shell with a string.

PanGu

Like Ymir, the earth was created with the body of PanGu. But he also supported the egg before he died.

Chinese. In the beginning there was nothing in the universe except a formless chaos. However this chaos began to coalesce into a cosmic egg for eighteen thousand years.
» PanGu, The Giant. When the opposing principles of yin and yang became balanced within the egg, PanGu emerged from the egg. He is usually depicted as a primitive hairy giant dressed in furs. PanGu began the task of creating the world. He separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth (murky Yin) and the Sky (clear Yang). To keep them separated, PanGu stood between them and took up the Sky. This task took eighteen thousand years, with each day the sky grew ten feet higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and PanGu ten feet taller. In some versions of the story, PanGu is aided in this task by the four beasts; the Turtle, Qilin, Phoenix and the Dragon
» The World. After the eighteen thousand years had elapsed, PanGu was laid to rest. His breath became the wind his voice the thunder, his left eye the sun and right eye the moon. His body became the mountains and his blood formed rivers. His muscles formed the fertile lands and his facial hair made the stars and milky way; His fur became the bushes and forests, his bones were the valuable minerals, his bone marrow is sacred diamonds and his sweat fell as rain.
» Humans. The fleas on his body carried by the wind became human beings all over the world.

Hindu. This universe existed in the shape of darkness, unperceived as if it were in deep sleep. Then the Divine Self-existent appeared with power and dispelled the darkness. He is eternal and he contains all created beings and shone forth of his own will. He first created the waters with a thought and placed his seed in them. That seed became a golden egg, as bright as the sun. In that egg he himself was born as Brahma. The Divine One resided in that egg during a whole year, then by his thought he divided it into two halves. And out of those two halves he formed heaven and earth, between them the middle sphere, the eight points of the horizon, and the eternal abode of the waters. From himself he also drew forth the mind and self-consciousness. He created the five organs which perceive the objects of sensation and all beings.
» The Time Cycle. They believe that the world is created and destroyed in cycles of 4,320,000,000 years.

Mithraism . Mithra was born from a cosmic egg on December 25.

Greco-Roman Chaos. Chaos was the primordial void that existed before order became imposed on the universe and from which all created things originated, including the gods. Proceeding from time, Chaos eventually formed a huge egg from which was issued his children Nyx (darknos), Eros (gravity) and Ge or Gaia (Earth).
» The World. Gaia created Ouranos, the starry sky. Ouranos, Gaia and Eros created the mountains, sea, rivers, lakes and the Titans.
» Titans, The Giants. Ouranos entombed the Titans in the earth, so Gaia conspired with the Titan, Kronos to hurt Ouranos. Kronos removed the testicles of Ouranos with a sickle. The blood flowed to the earth and created the Erinyes who were the punishers of crime against nature and God. When Ouranos threw the testicles into the primeval sea, Pontos, it foamed and produced Aphrodite, the goddess of love. So Kronos and the Titans ruled the world. The cycle of sun and moon, day and night and death were established during their rule. Helios, Selene, Promethus were also born.
Kronos married his sister Rhea and she gave birth to five children, Hestia, Hers, Demeter, Poseidon and Hades. Kronos ate them in his jealousy. Gaia and Ouranos helped their daughter Rhea to hide the sixth child, Zeus. They tricked him into swallowing a stone instead. Zeus would later revolt against his father and the Titans. Kronos was forced to give birth to the five children he swallowed. They also fought their father. The Olympian gods succeeded and the Titans were banished to Tartarus. Chronos escaped to Italy and ruled as Saturn during the golden age.
Jesus is Ouranos and the Titans are Satan and his angels. God banished Satan and his angels to the earth. With the help of humans and the Romans, they circumcised Christ at the crucifixion.
» Humans. Life on the earth and humans evolved as the gods and the Titans fought. Zeus gave birth to Athena, Apollon, Artemis, Hermes, Ares, Hephaestos and Persephone and Dionysos. These shared their gifts and knowledge with humans.

Roman Version: Prometheus Creates Man. At the time of the creation, the new Earth was covered with vegetation, and creatures of all kinds. Eros thought that he should give them instincts to help them to preserve and enjoy the life they had received. So he called two titans, the youngest sons of Iapetus (Prometheus and Epimetheus) to help him. He told them to make gifts to all living creatures and create a superior being, called Man, to rule over all the others. They used clay to mold an image similar in form to the gods. Then they asked Eros to breathe into its nostrils the spirit of life, and Minerva to give it a soul. Then man lived.

Prometheus observed man and longed to bestow upon him some great power, unshared by any other creature of earth, which would raise him far above all other living beings, and bring him nearer to the perfection of the immortal gods. So he stole fire from Olympus and gave it to man. When Jupiter discovered the theft he sentenced Prometheus to eternal suffering. He was chained to a rock on the Caucasian Mountains where a vulture fed on his liver each day. The liver grew back at night causing him a cycle of eternal punishment. After many centuries of woe, Hercules, son of Jupiter and Alcmene, found Prometheus, killed the vulture, broke the adamantine chains, and liberated the long-suffering god.

From The Body of a Giant.
Monster Mutation Theory.
The world was created from the parts of a god or a giant dead body. Our ancestors were giants over ten feet tall, so they appear in every myth. The dimensions of the ark supports the occupation of people twelve to fifteen feet tall. For an emergency vehicle, there is no reason why each floor was so high unless the adult humans were extremely tall.

Giants We believe that Adam and his children were very tall and the average age was over 700 years. After the flood, the population grew much smaller and lived an average age of 70 years.

Norse Ginnungagap. Before creation there was a vast, empty chasm named Ginnungagap. It was between Niflheim in the north and Muspelheim in the south. Muspelheim was the land of fire. Niflheim was the land of darkness, cold and ice and it is the source of all rivers. In Niflheim was a frozen spring called Hvergelmir from which the Elivagar flowed. This was eleven rivers named Svol, Gunnthra, Fiorm, Fimbulthul, Slidr, Hrid, Sylg, Ylg, Vid, Leiptr, and Gioll.
» Ymir, The Giant. Life began in the middle of the abyss. Here water from Niflheim met fire from Muspelheim and melted the Hvergelmir and formed the primeval giant named Ymir and the cow named Audhumbla. Ymir drank her milk for food. Ymir became the father of a race of frost giants. As he slept, his sweat produced a male and female giant and his legs formed a male giant. The cow licked a block of ice into the shape of a man named Buri, who was the first God. He was the grandfather of Odin, Vili and Ve. Ymir eventually became evil and was killed by Odin, Vili and Ve. His body was used to create Yggdrasil, the tree of life that supports the cosmos.
» The World. With Ymir's dead body Odin and his brothers created the world in the middle of Ginnungagap. Of Ymir's blood the sea, of his flesh the fertile land, of his bones the mountains, of teeth and shattered bones came cliffs, boulders and loose rocks. From his skull the heavens were created, from his hair came trees and plants, from his brain the clouds. Midgard was created between his eyebrows. The sun, moon and stars were created from sparks in Muspelheim.
» Humans. The first man and woman (Askr and Embla) were created from trees lying on the beach.

Babylon. Tiamat is a huge female dragon that personifies the saltwater ocean, the water of chaos. She is also the primordial mother of all that exists, including the gods themselves. Her consort is Apsu, the freshwater God. From their union, saltwater with freshwater, the first pair of gods were born. Their descendants started to irritate Tiamat and Apsu so they decided to kill them. The offspring discovered their plans and one managed to kill Apsu while he was asleep. Tiamat flew into a rage when she learned about Apsu's death and wanted to avenge her husband. She created an army of monstrous creatures, which was to be led by her new consort Kingu, who is also her son. Eventually, Tiamat was defeated by the young god Marduk, who was born in the deep freshwater apsu.
» The World. Marduk cleaved her body in half. He created the sky from the upper half and he made the earth from the lower half. The clouds came from her water and her tears became the source of the Tigris and the Euphrates.
» Humans. Kingu also died, and from his blood Marduk created the first humans.

Giant Task

On the Backs of Giants.
Capture Theory.
While the following do not tell how the world was created, they explain how the world is being supported. Previous examples show how the universe has been supported internally while it was being formed. Now we see how the current world is being supported externally.

• Greco-Roman. Atlas is the Titan who carries the world on his shoulders. This was his punishment from Zeus for leading the Titans in battle against the Olympian gods.
• India. The world rests on three elephants, which rests on a huge turtle swimming in a vast ocean.
• Hindu. The head of the giant Purusha formed the heavens and the deities Indra, Agni and Vayu, his navel formed the atmosphere and his feet formed the earth.
• China. PanGu is the giant who emerged from an egg and supported the sky for eighteen thousand years.
• Batak (Oceania). The earth rested on the back of a giant snake named Naga-Padoha. Naga-Padoha grew tired of its burden and shook it off into the sea. But the God Batara-Guru caused a mountain to fall into the water to preserve his daughter. The human race is descended from her. Later, the earth was replaced onto the head of the snake.
• Bali. In the beginning there was nothing, all was emptiness; there was only space. Before there were the heavens, there was no earth, and when there was no earth, there was no sky. Through meditation, the world serpent Antaboga created the turtle Bedawang, on whom lie coiled two snakes as the foundation of the World. On the world turtle rests a lid, the Black Stone. There is no sun, or moon, or night in the cave below (the underside of the stone). This is the underworld, whose gods are the male Batara Kala and the female Setesuyara. There lives also the great serpent Basuki.

  Bahamut

• Arabic. Bahamut is the enormous fish which floats in a vast sea under which was darkness. On the fish stands Kujara (Kujuta), the giant bull with four thousand eyes, ears, nostrils, mouths, tongues, and feet. On his back was a mountain of ruby, on the top of which stands an angel. On the shoulders of the angel are six hells, then the Earth, and then seven heavens. The word Behemoth is of the same origin.
• Arabic. Another version of the legend of Bahamut has this structure. The earth has its foundation on the water. The water, on a rock of ruby which sits on the forehead of a bull. The bull stands on a bed of sand which is on Bahamut. Bahamut stands on a stifling wind. The wind is on a mist. What lies under the mist is unknown. The tale goes on that beneath the measureless fish is a sea; and beneath the sea, a chasm of air; and beneath the air, fire. Beneath the fire is a serpent named Falak in whose mouth are the six hells.
• Maya (South America). The Itzam are four giant reptiles whose outstretched bodies define the top, bottom, and the four corners of the cosmos.
• Fon (West Africa) . The world was created by the genderless god Nana-Buluku. He made the rainbow serpent Aido-Hwedo as a companion. The dung from the serpent created the mountains and nourished the earth so that plants grew. His writhing created the rivers and valleys. Eventually the world was so overladen with plants and animals that the gods feared that it would collapse. Aido-Hwedo supported the earth by forming an Ouroboros, a great circular loop made with his tail in his mouth.
  Nana-Buluku made a great ocean for the serpent to swim in because it could not tolerate the heat. He is fed with iron bars by red monkeys who live under the sea. When the iron supply runs out, the serpent will be so hungry that it will begin to eat its own tail. Then the world will collapse into the sea.

The Four Corners of the World.

The Flat Earth

Until the nineteenth century everyone believed that the earth was flat. And, if you sailed far enough you could fall off the edge of the earth or be gobbled up by sea monsters waiting there for hapless sailors.

Geologic Column Theory.
If you conceive the world as a flat disc, then one way to support it is by lifting the four corners with strong creatures or with columns. The sky is also supported by pillars so that it remains separated from the earth and does not crush us.

• China. After the flood, Nuwa cut off the legs of a giant turtle to hold up the sky.
• Maya (South America). Bacabs were gods who held up the heavens in the four quarters of the sky. They were Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac, representing the east, north, west, and south.
• Aborigines (Australia). The earth is circular and flat and covered by the sky dome. The sky is held up by giant props at the corners of the earth. The underworld was under this and in some legends it is inhabited by people and in other legends it is dark and uninhabited. The underworld contains two mountain ranges with a valley between. The sky plane is inhabited by supernatural beings and it was where the soul went after death. Certain people had access to the sky world by means of trees between heaven and earth.
• Samoa. At the command of Nareau, Riiki the Eel raised the heavens above and the earth sank under the sea. At first, his body separated the earth and the sky. Then Nareau, the first of things, called four women and said to them, "These are your names: Make-north, Make-south, Make-east, Make-west. Go hold the four corners of heaven, for you are its supports." They went, and their feet became roots of mighty trees, so that they might not be moved again.

The Bible also describes the earth as being set on pillars. So this theory dates back to the beginning of time. We will explore this below.

String Theory.

The World on a String

Another way to support the earth is to suspend it on strings.

Cherokee. The earth is a great island floating in a sea of water, and suspended at each of the four cardinal points by a cord hanging down from the sky vault, which is of solid rock. When the world grows old and worn out, the people will die and the cords will break and let the earth sink down into the ocean, and all will be water again.
» Humans. Men came after the animals and plants. At first there were only a brother and sister until he struck her with a fish and told her to multiply, and so it was. In seven days a child was born to her, and thereafter every seven days another, and they increased very fast until there was danger that the world could not keep them. Then it was made that a woman should have only one child in a year, and it has been so ever since.

The Axis Mundi (The Pole Star).
So the world has been created and it is being supported, so why is it spinning?
Since they could discern a pattern of revolution in the heavens, the ancients theorized that the universe revolved around a pole, or a cosmic axis. This pole came through the center of the earth at the navel or the world axis. This does not destroy the other theories, it just places everything on a spin cycle. The shape of this pole is either a pole, a cone or an hour glass.

Omphalos (The Navels of the World).
There were many places that were considered the navels of the world, the center of access to God.

• Mount Parnassus. This is the mountain at Delphi and home of the great oracle.
• Baghdad. Muslims believe that Iraq is the belly, and Baghdad is the navel of the universe.
• Jerusalem. According to the book of Jubilees, Jerusalem is the navel of the earth and Mount Sinai is the center of the desert.
• Nippur.The center of the earth in 2000 BC.
• Mount Meru. Hindu home of the gods.
• Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). At El Templo Mayor according to the Aztecs.

Aztec Cosmogony: Cipactli, The Serpent in the Void.
This legend places the entire heavens and earth inside of a creature, spinning around a central world axis in Mexico.

Section		World	Occupant	Serpent	Cipactli
13	Heaven	Omeyocán	Ometeotl	Head
9-12		All other gods
8		Rain
7		Blue heaven
6		Night sky
1-5		Sun, moon, stars, comets, planets
1	Earth	West	Quetzalcoatl	Tlaticpac (Body)
		East	Xipe-Totec
		South	Tonatiuh
		North	Mictlantecuhtli
	Paradise (for the Dead)	Chalmecacivati	Babies, children
		Tamoanchan	Pregnant Women
		Tlalocan	Drowned
		Tonatiuhichan	Warriors
1	Mictlan (Under World)	Baator	Treacherous river	Tail
2		Acheron	Mountains shake
3		Avalas	Huitzilopachtli
4		Ocanthus	Xiuhtecuhtli
5		Mechanus	-
6		Arcadia	-
7		Mt. Celestia	Quetzalcoatl
8		Arborea	Tlalocan
9		Mictlan	Nine rivers, rest		South is traditionally to the left
Note: The names of the first eight levels of hell may be incorrect

Aztec Creation. In the beginning there was nothing but a void. Then Ometeotl, the first god who was both masculine and feminine created himself. Ometeotl spawned four children who created our visible world. These children are separate, yet the same, and they are referred to as the four manifestations of one god, Tezcatlipoca. After 600 years they began creation. They created water, the god Tlaloc and his goddess. and then they created Cipactli, the serpent that floats in the void. They created the whole universe within the body of Cipactli by dividing his body into two parts. One part made the heavens and the other part made the earth and the underworld. The central region where the humans lived was called Tlaticpac.
» Pole Star. The earth was divided into four regions with the world axis (Axis Mundi) at the center navel. Four sacred trees were used to support the heaven and earth. The pole star is the pivot point of the Aztec universe with thirteen domed regions revolving around it and nine underworlds below.
» Heaven. Thirteen heavens exist in Cipactli's head. Ometeotl lives by himself in the thirteenth heaven.
» Earth. The earth is a great, flat disc located in the middle of Cipactli's body and is surrounded by the Celestial Waters. So it is called Cem-á-nahuac, which means "that which is surrounded by water". The world is divided into four quadrants with the navel at the center.

• West. Ruled by the white Tezcatlipoca named Quetzalcoatl. He is the creator of humans.
• East. Ruled by the red Tezcatlipoca named Xipe Totec, the god of spring time and rebirth.
• South. Ruled by the blue Tezcatlipoca named Tonatiuh, god of the sun.
• North. The cold land of the dead ruled by the black Tezcatlipoca named Mictlantecuhtli, the Lord of the Night Sky and the dead. All the dead go here and proceed to one of four paradises or to the nine hells of Mictlan.
  • North (Chalmecacivati). Babies and young children.
  • West (Tamoanchan). Women who died in childbirth.
  • South (Tlalocan). Those who die by water, weather or lightning. This is a place of butterflies, rainbow, flowers where souls spend four years before returning. Souls usually have an endless cycle of life and paradise in this place unless they have higher aspirations.
  • East (Tonatiuhichan). Warriors, sacrifices and tradesmen who died in far lands. After four years they lived forever in the bodies of humming birds.
  • Lillan-Tlapallan. The land of the fleshless. A paradise for followers of Quetzalcoatl. It is the highest achievement for a soul.
  These four quadrants of the earth also correspond to the symbols of the four directions around the sanctuary. West is the dwelling place of God and the righteous. East is the direction of the Coming of Christ when He will resurrect the dead. North is the direction where Christ was crucified and buried. South is the direction of His tribulation where He suffered as the burnt offering. All these are discussed in our original lesson on the twelve tribes of Israel.

» Underworld. Nine underworlds go down the length of Cipactli's tail. Souls of those whose manner of death failed to call them to various paradises in the north were sent on a four year journey of trials through the nine hells of Mictlan. At the first level they cross a treacherous river with the help of the dog headed god, Xolotl. Then they must pass through the shaking and crashing mountains and other trials. These tests are a gigantic snake, a large lizard, eight deserts, eight hills, and a wind with obsidian knives. In the lowest level the last obstacle is crossing the extension of the Nine Waters of the great river Chicunanhuapan on the back of a red dog. Then they reach the region of rest. Mictlan is a vast cave filled with skeletons.
» Humans. Humanity was created by Quetzalcóatl in an act of self sacrifice. With the help of his twin, Xólotl, the dog-headed god, he succeeded in reviving the dried bones of the old dead in Mictlan by sprinkling them with his own blood. The sun and moon were also created by an act of self sacrifice. When the gods, assembled in the darkness at Teotihuacán they built a huge fire. Then two of them, Nanahuatzin a small deity covered with ulcers, and Tecciztécatl, a richly bejeweled god, threw themselves into the flames. Nanahuatzin became the sun and Tecciztécatl became the moon. Then the sun refused to move unless the other gods gave him their blood. They were compelled to sacrifice themselves to feed the sun.

The Tree of Life Myths
Instead of a pole that unites heaven to earth, many cultures have a myth about a world tree which sustains the Universe and unites Heaven and Earth. God lives in the top where the tree meets the heavens. The roots are the underworld where the dead exist. The source of this myth is from a combination of the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These trees caused the separation of the worlds when sin began.

Mayan Cosmogony: Yaxche, The Great, Green, Ceiba Tree of Abundance.
The tree of life was set up as a pillar of the sky and the axis of the earth was set up when the world was created. The roots lie in the nine levels of the underworld, Xibalba. The trunk is in mid earth and the leaves are in the thirteen levels of heaven.
There are also four trees in the earth that are planted in the four directions. A white tree in the north, red in the east, yellow in the south and black in the west.

Whac Chan (Wakah Chan). This is another name for the tree of life that is also the Milky Way.

Norse Cosmogony: Yggdrasil, The World Tree.
The Norse myth about the tree named Yggdrasil is the most complete and elaborate of these myths. It is not only a simple tree of life as in Christianity, it is the structure by which the whole cosmos is maintained. We will use this to demonstrate the equivalent realities in Christianity.

Norse Mythology			Christian Equivalent
Yggdrasil		World Tree	Tree of Life
1	Asgard	Warrior gods	Heaven	God
2	Vanaheim	Nature gods		God
3	Alfheim	Light elves		Good angels
4	Midgard	Humans	Earth	Humans
5	Svartalheim	Dark elves		Evil angels
6	Jotunheim	Giants		Giants (Nephilim)
7	Niflheim	Ice, cold, dark	Hell (Hades)	Darkness of the abyss
8	Muspelheim	Flame land		Flames of Hell
9	Helheim	Dead		Dead (Sheol)
Mountain		Mountain	Mount Zion
Ginnungagap		The Gap	The Abyss at creation
Bifrost		Rainbow Bridge	Sea of Glass
Ragnarok		Last battle	Armageddon
Nidhogg		Eats yggdrasil	Satan, the snake who destroys
Jormungand		Snake in the sea	Satan, the snake Leviathan

The Nine Worlds of Yggdrasil.
These are interesting because they are the representation of where certain people and events occur in the past, present and future of Christian beliefs.

• Bifrost. A rainbow bridge that connects Midgard and Asgard. It was the only entrance to Asgard. It is equivalent to the Sea of Glass over which the righteous go from Earth to Heaven at the Second Coming. In heaven there is a rainbow over the throne of God.
  In Zoroastrianism, the Kinvad bridge is the road between earth and heaven for the dead. It was also called "Chinvato Peretu" or the sword bridge because it became a broad road for the righteous or a thin razor blade for the wicked so that they fall into Hell.
• Elves and Angels. Elves are tiny creatures and at one point up to the last century, people used to believe that angels were so small that hundreds could fit on the end of a pin. The relationship is even more convincing when you see that the good elves and bad elves live in separate lands in heaven and earth. The good elves or good angels live in heaven just as the Christian story says. The bad angels were exiled to live on the earth. They occupy the planet in an alternate reality where they are invisible. In Norse myth, this reality becomes a real land.
• Giants. The Bible describes the existence of giants about nine to eleven feet tall (274-335 cm). They are now extinct. But their existence and current location survive in the Norse myth as Jotunheim.
  Giants Before the Flood (The Nephilim). The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterwards, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6: 4)
  Giants After the Flood. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim). and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we are in their sight. (Numbers 13: 33)
  (The Anakim, descendants of The Nephilim). There were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod some remained. (Joshua 11: 22)
  Rephaim. For only Og, king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold his bedstead was an iron bedstead; ... its length is nine cubits [162 inches] and its width four cubits [72 inches]. (Deuteronomy 3: 11)
  David conquered the giant Goliath and other giants from Gath. One of them had twelve fingers and twelve toes. (2 Samuel 21: 15-22).
• The Underworld. The three underworlds are also supported in Christianity as different stages in time. Niflheim, the dark and cold place, is the primeveal abyss when no human exists. During the time after Midgard was created, Helheim is the same as sheol or the grave, where all the unconscious dead exist until their resurrection. During the period of Muspelheim, the land of flames will exist on the surface of the whole earth in the future when the wicked dead will be resurrected and face the judgment and then destroyed in the lake of fire. Then Midgard will be part of Asgard.

  Abyss	Sin, Death	Resurrection (Good)	Millennium	Resurrection (Evil)	Armageddon	Hell	New Creation
  Niflheim	Helheim			Muspelheim (Flame Land)			Asgard

Persian Cosmogony: The Seven Karshvars and the Saena Tree.

Seven Karshvars		Location	Comment
1	Vourubaresti	North West	Details are not known
2	Vourugaresti	North East
3	Arezahi	West
4	Savahi	East
5	Fradadhafshu	South West
6	Vidadhafshu	South East
7	Hvaniratha	Center	Land of Humans
•	Mount Hara (Alburz)		Source of light and water
•	Chinvat Bridge	Bridge of Judgment
•	Gaokerena tree	Gives immortality to the resurrected
•	Veh Daiti (Veh Rod)		East river
•	Raha?		West river
•	Vourukasha Sea	Gathering point of all water
•	Harahvaiti (Arax)	River that feeds the Vourukasha sea
•	White Bull	First animal. Source of all animals
•	Saena Bird	Head of a dog and body of a fowl
•	Gayomartan	He was the first man
•	Rivas plant	Source of a mortal man and woman
•	Saena Tree	Tree of all remedies, tree of all seeds
After 6000 years, the evil Ahriman dug a hole in the ground and created hell and purgatory.

Many stories are about a tree that supports the entire world. But in one myth, humans came from a plant. An abyss existed for 3000 years then Ahuramazda created the universe in seven steps.

Origin of the Myth of Seven Worlds How did these ideas develop? These seven worlds are separated by a salty ocean and that gives us a clue. From their position in the ark or on top of the mountain, Noah and his sons probably saw seven distinct, inaccessible islands or mountain peaks separated by water. The flood caused salty water to come to the surface of the earth that had previously been fresh water. The great salty sea became prevalent in their myths because this was a new experience for them. They probably witnessed the breakup of the continents. In all these myths humans only lived on one of the worlds because Noah and his family lived on only one of these islands. From his view above mount Ararat, 17000 feet (5137 m) above sea level, which mountain peaks could he have seen rising above the water? In the area were Caucasus, Elburz, Zagros, Panrus, Taurus and Kurdistan mountains. Further away were Everest (8848 m), Himalayas, Pamirs, Karakoram, Carpathian and the Alps.

1. The great crystalline sky which was a round empty shell made of rock crystal, passing beneath as well as above the earth. It contained the sun, moon, stars and twelve constellations of the zodiac.
2. The bright waters
3. The earth with its rivers and oceans and continents
4. Sweet vegetation which nourishes
5. The beneficent animals
6. Humans
7. Fire

The cosmos is composed of seven disconnected karshvars or keshvar (zones, regions, earths or worlds). They are separated by an ocean. The Hindus also have a concept of seven dvipas (islands).

1. Vourubaresti in the northwest.
2. Vourugaresti in the northeast.
3. Arezahi in the west.
4. Savahi in the east.
5. Fradadhafshu in the southwest.
6. Vidadhafshu in the southeast.
7. Khvaniras or Khvanirath or Hvaniratha in the center is the only karshvar that is inhabited by men. It is larger than all the other six regions combined.
   » Mountain. For 800 years Mount Hara (Alburz) grew in Khvaniras like a tree its roots, sinking deep underground to invisibly connect and nourish all of its chain. It took 200 years to reach the stars, another 200 years to reach the moon, then the sun and then the endless light. At the peak of this mountain is attached the Chinvat Bridge of Judgment over which pass souls freed from their bodies of earth to continue their unending progression through regions of bliss, or to purgation and hell. Alburz was the source of light and water. As it grew it sprouted 2244 other mountains. The stars, moon and sun revolved around this peak of Hara.
   » Water. The Vourukasha Sea was the gathering point of water. This sea occupied "one third of the earth, to the south. It was fed by a huge river, the Harahvaiti. Two great rivers flowed out from the sea to the east and the west, to form the boundaries of the inhabited world. The River Veh Daiti (Veh Rod) flowed to the east. The rivers were cleansed as they passed around the earth and, when they returned to the Vourukasha, their clean water was taken back up to the Peak of Hara.
   » Trees of Life.
   • Saena. The Saena Tree grew in the middle of the Vourukasha. It was the mother of all trees, the source of all plants. It was the Tree of All Remedies or Tree of All Seeds. This tree held the nest of the legendary bird Saena (Senmurv or Simurgh). It had the head of a dog and body of a fowl. Seeds fell from the tree when it flapped its wings. In one version of the legend The bird Chanmrosh forever sits in that vicinity, and collects the seed which drops from the tree and conveys it where Tishtar seizes the water, so that it may rain on the world. This may be the same as the Camros birs.
   • Gaokerena. Another important plant growing nearby was the Gaokerena, the seeds have healing properties when eaten and gave immortality to the living and can resurrect the dead. The camros is a bird-like creature that collects the seeds of Gao-kerena, the Tree of Life. It brings those seeds to the god Tistrya who mixes them with water. The mixture provides the peoples of Iran with life, but nothing is left for those who strive for their destruction.
   
   » Animals. The first animal in the world is a uniquely created white bull as bright as the moon. It lived on the bank of the River Veh Daiti. It was killed by Angra Mainyu, the Evil Spirit, and its seed was carried up to the moon. This purified seed produced many species of animals and It sprouted into plants when part of it fell to the ground.
   » People. On the opposite bank lived Gayomartan (Gayomard). He was the first man, who was as wide as he was tall and as bright as the sun. He was slain by Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), but the sun purified his seed and, after forty years, a rhubarb plant sprang from it. The Rivas or rhubarb plant which was born from Gayomard grows up and contains the bodies of the first mortal man and woman (Mashya and Mashyanag). They receive the breath of life. They were beguiled by Angra Mainyu and turned to him as the creator and committed the first sin.
   » Sin Begins. After 3000 years of good reigned under Ahuramazda, in the year 6000 of time, the 3000 year reign of evil Ahirman began. At the head of millions of fiends, he rushed into the material world, mixed smoke with fire, corrupted the waters, sowed thorns in the earth, covered the trees with bark, destroyed the vegetation, killed the Primeval Ox and distressed Gayomard, and created billions of noxious creatures such as ants, lice, locusts, and destructive beasts. He also dug a great hole in the earth and established there the infernal regions of hell and purgatory. He debased all mankind by filling them with evil thoughts and wicked desires; he made them vicious and corrupt. He filled the world with misery. Nature itself served his evil purpose, and generated storms, drought, earthquakes, and devastating cold. The human race seemed destined only for suffering, extinction, and the everlasting fires of hell. After 300 years he sent a devastating frost for seven years. It almost wiped out the world.
   Instead of peace and harmony, their world was filled with corruption and evil. Only after fifty years were they able to produce offspring, but the first twins were eaten by their parents. After a long period of childlessness another set of twins was finally born, and from these sprang the Persians race.

The Divine Comedy and Dante's Inferno: The Nine Levels of Hell.
Here we see the Pagan structure of hell as a part of a Christian belief. It is the medieval world view of the afterlife. Around 1300AD, Dante claimed to have a vision of the structure of heaven, purgatory and hell and the journey of the dead.

The Nine Circles of Hell Sin Occupant Terrain 1 Limbo The unbaptized and virtuous pagans Green fields, castle 2 Lust Blown by a violent storm, no rest Violent storms 3 Glutton Consume their excrement Muddy, cold rain, hail 4 Greedy Hoarded goods Push great weight against each other Prodigals Squandered goods 5 Wrathful They fight Swamp waters of the river Styx Sullen Lie beneath the river 6 Heretics Trapped in flaming tombs Flaming tombs 7 Violent to others and property Homicide, vandalism Phlegethon, River of boiling blood Violent to self Suicide Thorn bushes and trees chased by ferocious dogs Violent to God and nature Blasphemers, sodomite, userer Desert of flaming sand and rain of fiery flakes 8 Those who perpetrate fraud Ten ditches connected by bridges Panderer, seducer Scourged by horned demons Flatter Immersed in Excrement Simony Put head first in holes in a rock, with flames burning the soles of their feet Astrologer, false prophet, sorcerer Head twisted back. They walk backwards Corrupt politicians Lake of boiling pitch Hypocrites Wear lead cloaks Thieves Pursued and bitten by snakes False Advisors Encased in flames Sew discord and schism Hacked by demons with swords Perjury, alchemy, counterfeit Diseases 9 Betray family Caina Sunk in ice head down Political traitors Antenora Gnawed on their heads Betray guests Ptolomaea Heads up in ice Betray benefactor Judecca Completely immersed in ice. Home of Satan			Seven Terraces of the Mountain of Purgatory 1 Proud Carry giant stones on their back 2 Envious Their eyes are sewn shut 3 Wrathful They walk around in acrid smoke 4 Slothful They must run continually 5 Greedy Lay face down on the ground 6 Gluttonous Abstain from food and drink. Passing cascades of cool water and forbidden fruit 7 Lustful Burn in an immense wall of flame Garden of Eden Located on the summit of mount purgatory Nine Spheres of Paradise (Heaven) 1 Moon Those who abandoned vows 2 Mercury Did good for fame 3 Venus Did good because of love 4 Sun Wise 5 Mars Those who fought for Christianity 6 Jupiter Justice 7 Saturn The contemplative, e.g. monks 8 Stars All the blessed 9 Primium Mobile Angels

• Hell. It is located under Jerusalem to the center of the earth and is shaped like a funnel with nine circles. Satan lives in the ice of the lowest level of the ninth circle. Lucifer is trapped up to his waist in ice. He has six weeping eyes, six flapping wings which keep the area cold, three faces (red, black and pale yellow) and three mouths which chew a sinner. Judas is head first in the center mouth while Satan claws his back. Brutus and Cassius are in the left and right mouth with their heads hanging out.
• Purgatory. It is a mountain that is located on an island in the southern hemisphere with the Garden of Eden at its summit. It has seven terraces which correspond to the seven deadly sins.
  Garden of Eden. Here, one is returned to a state of innocence by drinking water from the river Lethe which causes the soul to forget past sins. Then they drink from the river Eunoe which causes the soul to remember good deeds.
• Paradise. The nine spheres of Heaven are in outer space.

Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes
Let us take a look at an ancient and modern fairy tale. It appears that they might have been used to tell biblical truths. If so they are based on common beliefs about sin and the plan of salvation, not simply on the imagination of the author. With that understanding, the basic teaching of the story is their truth because it is based on the author's belief that it is true.

Nursery Rhyme Ring around the rosie A pocket full of posies Ashes, ashes We all fall down! This nursery rhyme became famous during "black death" or the plagues in Europe. A sign of the plague was the circular swelling on the body. People believed that posies or a bag filled with crushed flowers and herbs might protect them. "Ashes, ashes" is the sound they made when they sneezed. Sneezing was a symptom of the plague. But eventually they "all fell down" or died.

Snow White. The names have changed but it is the same story. A woman disobeys a warning and eats a fruit that causes her eternal sleep. A prince on a white horse who comes from a far country will awaken her and they live happily ever after.

» Snow White. The perfect condition of Eve before she sinned.
» Warning. Seven dwarves warned Snow White not to open the door to strangers. God warned Eve not to eat the fruit.
» The Wicked Step Mother. Anger, jealousy and pride caused her to murder Snow White by giving her a poisoned apple. Just like Satan. He was full of pride and jealous of God. He tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
» Wicked Witch. This is Satan who tempts Eve.
» Eats an Apple. Eve eats a fruit which kills her and Snow White eats an apple which causes her to sleep forever.
» Falls Asleep. Eve also falls asleep and sleeps the sleep of death. Jesus refers to death as a sleep. It is possible that the act of sleeping came to the planet the moment she sinned, just like rain came to the planet after the flood. Sleep is a sign of the death that would come to her. If this is what happened then God is correct because she died the day that she sinned and began the process of physical deteoriation and her body began the process of repair which is a function of sleep.
» Washing. The dwarves washed her with water and wine. This is baptism and the blood of Jesus which gives new life.
» Resurrection. A prince saves her by removing the offensive apple. The story of Sleeping Beauty also uses this theme. A beautiful princess who was condemned to death because of a malicious fairy. But a good fairy changed the curse. The princess falls asleep instead and the entire castle falls asleep for a long time until a prince from a far away land awakens her with His love. The entire castle is also rescued.
When Eve sinned, the entire world fell asleep in death with her until Jesus comes from a far country to rescue them.
» The Prince. Jesus, the Prince of the Covenant, comes as a king on a white horse to rescue His bride.
» Punishment. The wicked queen was forced to dance in red hot shoes until she died. Satan will dance in the red hot fires of hell until he is dead.
» They Lived Happily Ever After. Heaven will last forever. The church is the bride of Christ and God lives with us.

The Whizard of Oz. This is a modern story of the ancient struggle between God and Satan in which humans have gotten involved. But heaven has the remedy which will take us back home.

» Dorothy. The lost girl who wanted to go home to Kansas. Eve is the lost woman who wanted her previous life.
» Cowardly Lion. He needed courage. We need courage.
» Silly Scarecrow. He needed a brain. We need wisdom.
» Emotionless Tin Man. He needed a heart. We need love.
» The Wicked Witch of the West. She was killed by melting her with water. The power of evil is broken by the power of the Holy Spirit. Water is used to represent the Spirit and our cleansing.
» The Good Witch of the East. She gave Dorothy the ruby shoes and told her to follow the yellow brick road to the emerald city. Jesus comes from the East to rescue His people.
» Field of Dreams. They encounter a poppy field where the evil witch tries to make them fall asleep. This is the sleep of death that Satan lured us into when Eve sinned. This field of dreams is death.
» Ruby Red Shoes. This will get her home, like the red blood of Christ.
» Yellow Brick Road. Heaven has streets of gold.
»The Emerald City. In heaven, God sits with an emerald rainbow surrounding His throne.
»The Whizard of Oz. A kindly old gentleman who controls everything. He disguises himself to strike terror in the hearts of evil. He helps Dorothy and her three friends to achieve their dreams.

While one might not immediately think of fairy tales and plays as reservoirs of religious teachings, there are many modern tales that do. The Pilgrim's Progress and the Chronicles of Narnia are two of the best known modern fairy tales on Christianity. From these we can agree that the story was not simply made up from random ideas, it was made to preserve a religious truth in symbols.

Flood Legends
The flood is recorded in Genesis 6-9. Noah preached for 120 years while he made the ark. But only his wife and three sons and their wives were saved.
It had never rained on the earth because of the geological structure. The earth was floating on an aquifer like a controlled swamp. There were no vast oceans to generate rain clouds. So underground water watered the earth at night in a mist. Therefore nobody believed and obeyed Noah when he described rain.