Egyptian Creation Story

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     In the beginning, there was only Nun, the primordial ocean of chaos. The ancient Egyptians believed that Nun was an ocean, but you might know it by another name: space. Nun was made up of eight deities. There was the god Nu and the goddess Naunet, who represented the water of Nun. The god Huh and the goddess Hauhet, who represented the infinite expanse of Nun. The god Kek and the goddess Kauket represented the darkness of Nun. And, the god Amun and the goddess Amaunet represented Nun's difference from the living world. These eight deities were known collectively as the Ogdoad. The four gods were frogs, while the goddesses were snakes. They merged, causing a huge upheaval in the water of Nun. Then, from Nun's waters, there came a little hill in the shape of the first pyramid. It was called Benben.

     One of Nun's waves was a cow named Mehet-Weret. Mehet-Weret was the goddess of the milky Way, which came from her ears, Nun and Mehet-Weret together created a beat, which louder and louder until Ra came into existence (Ra can be replaced by Atum, Amun, or Ptah). Ra was the sun god, and rose from the top of Benben, like the rising sun. Ra further willed himself into existence by creating a heart around the beat, and then a voice box so that he could speak for the first time. Ra realized that words held great power. So, from words, he created a primordial island for him to live on. He then turned from a bennu into a man with the head of a falcon and one all-seeing eye. He then spat (or sneezed). From his saliva came his daughter Tefnut, the lion-headed goddess of mist and moisture. From the breath that propelled the moisture came his son Shu, the god of air.

     While they were living on the island, Tefnut and Shu got lost and they couldn't use their powers to see in the dark. Like any father, Ra began to feel very nervous and became scared for their safety. At the time, Ra had only one eye. So, he plucked out his eye and sent it to find Shu and Tefnut. But, while he waited, he realized that if they came back to him, then he would not be able to see them, so he created a second eye for himself. The second eye was the symbol known as "The Eye of Ra".

      Meanwhile, Ra's first eye found Shu and Tefnut and led them back to Ra. Ra embraced his children and began to cry out of happiness. His tears fell on the ground and they became humans. When Ra's first eye saw that Ra had replaced it, it became furious and tried to corrupt mankind. Hence, cruel qualities were born. Ra saw this and to comfort his first eye, he created a sun disk on his head named Aten, a form of Ra. He then turned his first eye into a snake and placed it on top of Aten. This was a position of great honor, and so Ra's first eye was calmed. Through his first eye, Ra could see the past, the universe, and the future. Ra also created a third eye for himself, so as to have a pair of eyes under his forehead, like most animals and humans.

     Ra then had a daughter named Ma'at. Ma'at is the order of the entire universe. Her opposite was Isfet, the total chaos of the universe. Ra then created Thoth from his tongue to help him create the world. Thoth was the god of knowledge and magic, and he had the head of an ibis (or baboon). Thoth was also a god of the moon and was also the one who invented writing and hieroglyphics Thoth married Ma'at and had a daughter named Seshat, the goddess of writing. Thoth helped Ra to create all animals and plants. Ra then became the first king of the Earth/Egypt.

     Another goddess that came from Nun was Neith. Neith became the goddess of hunting until she saw how her people grew old and died. So, she changed her role and instead became the goddess of weaving. Neith wove and wove and wove, until she ended up weaving most of the world into existence. She then married Khnum, a form of Ra with the head of a ram. Khnum was also said to have come from Nun. Khnum was the god of the source of the Nile, and from his potter's wheel, he makes babies before they are placed into their mothers. Neith and Khnum had three children: Sobek, the crocodile go of the Nile, which he made from his sweat; Tutu, the god of demons and strength; Serqet, the goddess of venomous creatures (mostly scorpions and snakes); and Apophis (Apep), the cosmic serpent of chaos, and the eternal enemy of Ra.

     Sobek married Renenutef, the snake goddess and had a son named Neper, the god of grains. Neper married Nepit, the goddess of grains; and Tayt, the goddess of weaving and textiles. Sobek also married Meskhenet, the goddess of the Ka (spiritual essence) of the soul.

     Khnum was also married to Heqet, the goddess of frogs and fertility; Satet, the goddess of hunting; Menhit, the goddess of lions and war; and Nebtuwi, goddess of desert oases. Khnum and Satet had a daughter named Anuket, the goddess of gazelles. Khnum and Menhit had a son named Heka, the god of medicine and magic. Khnum, Satet, and Anuket became the main triad worshiped at Elephantine.

     From his blood, Ra created Sia, the god of sight; and Hu, the god of creativity. Ra also had a lion-headed son named Anhur, the god of war. When another lion-goddess named Menhit ran away to Nubia, Ra sent Anhur to go get her back. Anhur fell in love with Menhit and when he brought her back, he got Ra's permission to marry her.

     Amun, a form of Ra, married the goddesses Amunet, Wosret, and Mut. Mut was a mother goddess and she and Amun had a son named Konshu, the moon god. It is Mut's job to make sure that the sun (Amun) and the moon (Konshu) are always happy with one another. Amun, Mut, and Konshu are worshiped as the triad of the city of Thebes.

     Shu and Tefnut got married and merged to form the mist. They gave birth to Geb and Nut, who were born clinging to one another. Geb was the earth god and Nut was the sky goddess. They got married. A prophecy said that the son of Geb and Nut would become the king of Egypt. To stop this from happening, Ra forced Shu to separate his children. Shu did it because he knew that Geb and Nut had to be separated so that life could thrive on Geb. So, Shu tore them apart and spread his daughter's body in a huge arch, making the sky and the earth separate to this day. This was also how the atmosphere was created. Now, whenever Nut released rain upon Geb, plants sprouted up from his body, and whenever Geb laughed, it resulted in earthquakes.

     Geb gave birth to Hapi, the god of the Nile river. Geb and Renenutet had a son named Nehebkau, the god of funerals. Nehebkau married a goddess named Nehmetawy. Geb is considered to be the father of all crops, geese, and snakes.

     Unfortunately for Ra, Nut was already pregnant at the time of the separation and so Ra used his power to make it so that Nut can't give birth on any month of the year. At the time, the year consisted of 360 days, like in the degrees of a circle. Nut was in great pain and she desperately had to give birth soon. Thoth took pity on her and so gambled light with Konshu. His moonlight was just as bright and powerful as Ra's sunlight. Thoth won enough times to take the light he won and add five extra days to the calendar, making 365 days in a year. Because of the light he had lost, Konshu had to wax and wane every month. To thank Konshu, Thoth made his ibis beak curve like the crescent moon.

     One the five days, one by one, Nut gave birth to five children: Osiris, Horus the Elder, Set, Isis, and Nephthys, respectively. Osiris was the god of agriculture, and the afterlife. Horus the Elder was a sphinx deity, and was the god of the sun disk and the protector of Egypt. Set was the god of storms, desert, chaos, and evil. Isis was the goddess of magic, love, and motherhood. Isis was such a great goddess that even the Romans worshiped her. Nephthys was the goddess of protection, water, rivers, skulls, nature, night, sleep, lamentation, and camels.

     Ra, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys were all known as the Enhead, and were the nine gods worshiped in Heliopolis.

     Isis wanted to become more powerful to be able to protect her husband and maybe one day, her child. So, she began to heal small wounds and worked her way up from there. But, it wasn't enough. By then, Ra had grown old over the years and he drooled a lot. So, Isis took some of his saliva, mixed it with sand, and created a very venomous snake. The snake bit Ra and he began to die. All the gods came to help him, but Ra would only accept help from Isis, due to her great healing abilities. Isis came and said that she couldn't save Ra unless he told her his secret name. Everything in existence had a secret name and to give Isis his secret name would give Isis dominion over him. He relented until he finally agreed to tell her his secret name, making her swear that she would not tell it to anyone except her son. She agreed and then was able to heal him. This made her the goddess of magic and she became one of the most powerful Egyptian.

     Over time, many more gods and goddesses appear, such as Nekhbet, the vulture goddess; Wadjet, a snake goddess; Hatmehyt, goddess of fish; Maftet, the mongoose; Tawaret, the hippo/lion/crocodile goddess; and her husband Bes, the god of dwarves and children.

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Lord Brahma's Family Tree

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     Lord Brahma gave birth to nine sages: Atharva, Bhrigu, Kratu, Marichi, Atri, Vashishta, Pulaha, Pulastya, Kardama, and a beautiful woman named Ahilya. He also gave birth to a man and a woman named Swayambhuva Manu and Shatarupa, respectively. Manu and Shatarupa got married and had three daughters named Akuti, Devahuti, and Prasuti. Devahuti married Sage Kardama and had six daughters, who married six of the seven sages. Shanti married Atharva, Gati married Pulaha, Havirbhu married Pulastya, Kala married Marichi, Khyati married Bhrigu, Kriya married Kratu, Shraddha married Angira, and Anasuya married Atri.

     Akuti married the sage Ruchi and they had a son and daughter named Yagna and Dakshina. Lord Yagna is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Dakshina is an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi. They got married and gave birth to twelve demigods called Tushitas.

     Atri prayed to Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, who all appeared before him. The boon he asked for what was that the lord of the universe would be born as his son. But he didn't know which of the three was the lord of the universe. They said that all three of them were the lords of the universe. Hence all three of them would be born as his sons.

     Lakshmi, Saraswathi, and Parvati wanted to learn pativratya from Anasuya. Pativratya is how a woman should treat her husband with love and respect. They sent their husbands to go and ask her. So Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva appeared to Anasuya disguised as sages and asked Anasuya to teach their wives pativratya. But she had to be very loving to the three sages while doing so.

     Thanks to her great yogic powers, Anasuya knew who the three sages actually were. So, she turned them into six-month old babies and lovingly fed them. The goddesses waited for days for their husbands to return until they decided to go to Anasuya's ashram. There they saw her lovingly feeding their husbands as babies. They asked her to turn their husbands back to normal, which she did. The three gods were pleased with Anasuya and offered her a boon. She asked that they should be born as her children, just like how her husband had asked.

     Once, the king's soldiers caught some thieves who were hiding in the ashram of sage Mandavya. The soldiers also kidnapped Mandavya and impaled him. When he met Yamaraja, he asked him why he was punished and died in such a manner. Yamaraja said that it was because he had killed an ant in his childhood. Mandavya was furious that he was punished for such an innocent act. So, he cursed Yamaraja that he would be born as the son of a maidservant. Because of this curse, Yamaraja would eventually be born as Vidhura, a wise and important character of the Mahabharata.

     Meanwhile, a sage named Kaushik was feeling very sick and his wife was helping him walk. On the way, he stepped on sage Mandavya's body, and was cursed by Mandavya's soul that he would die at sunset. But, his wife loved him so much that she made the sun stop moving. Because of this, Rahu was able to eclipse Surya for a long time. This caused tons of problems in heaven and the gods had to ask Brahma for help. Brahma went to Anasuya and Atri for help. Anasuya calmed Kaushik's wife and told her to allow the sun to move. The Atri pulled Surya away from Rahu and the sun peacefully set and Kaushik died as per his curse. But, Anasuya brought him back to life and cured him of his sickness. Brahma was very grateful and as a thank-you, he was born from Anasuya as Soma, the god of plants and vegetables.

     After the incident with Brahma and the pillar, Shiva was still angry, that all the demigods, including his wife, avoided him out of fear. When Shiva saw how scared everyone had become, he took away his anger and sent it into his incarnation, Anasuya's son. Hence, Shiva was born as Durvasa, the sage who is known for his great temper. and Vishnu was born as Dattatreya, a powerful sage whose physical appearance is a combination of all three gods. Anasuya and Atri also had a daughter named Subhatreyi.

     Shraddha and Angira had four daughters and two sons named Utathya and Brihaspati. Brihaspati married Tara, the daughter of Surya, and had a son named Kacha, who became a sage. Chandra, the moon god, kidnapped Tara, and she became pregnant. She gave birth to Budh, the god of the planet Mercury. Budh married Ila, a woman who used to be a king named Sudyumna. Budh and Ila had a son named Pururavas, who was the first king of the Chandravanshis (the moon dynasty).

     Utathya had a wife named Mamata. They had a son named Dirghatamas, who was born blind, but still became a great sage. He married a woman named Pradweshi, and they had a son named Gautama, who also became a great sage. Brahma had a daughter named Ahilya and had set up a contest: Whoever went around the earth three times the fastest would marry her. Indra went around the earth three times and then demanded Ahilya's hand in marriage. But Narada Muni said that Gautama went around the earth three times the fastest. It turns out that Gautama had circumambulated the divine cow mother Surabhi, who was pregnant at the time. A cow represented the bountiful earth and so, Ahilya married Gautama, much to Indra's jealousy.

     Gautama and Ahilya had three sons named Nodhas, Vamadeva, and Shatananda, who became a priest. They also had a daughter named Anjana, who would be the mother of Lord Hanuman.

     Mamata had an affair with Brihaspati and they had a son named Bharadwaja, who also became a great sage. Bharadwaja had a son named Drona, who is an important character in the Mahabharata.

     Kriya and Kratu gave birth to 60,000 sages known as Valakhilyas. Bhrigu and Khyati had two sons named Dhata and Vidhata. They also had a daughter named Bhargavi, who was an incarnation of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Bhrigu also had another wife named Puloma. When she was pregnant, a demon named Puloman saw her and fell in love with her. Agni told him that she was the wife of Bhrigu. Hearing this, Puloman turned into a boar and abducted her. Her child fell on the grass and Puloma died. The baby was glowing so brightly that Puloman got burnt. The baby was named Chyavana, and he would become a great sage. Bhrigu was angry that Agni had given away Puloma's identity and so cursed Agni that he would be burn and consume everything.

     Vidhata had a son named Mrukandu, and Mrukandu's son is Markandeya, who is a famous sage who became immortal. Markandeya had a son named Bhavana Rishi, who married Bhadra, the daughter of Surya. They had 101 children named the Padmashalis, who became the Telugu population of India. Bhrigu had a third wife named Kavyamata, or Usanas. She had a son named Shukracharya, the god of the planet Venus. He is also the guru of the asuras and always brings the demons back to life after battles with the demigod.

     Once, Shukracharya was off praying to Shiva, the demigods attacked the demons, who ran to get help from Shukra's mother Kavyamata. She used her powers to put all the demigods to sleep. Vishnu realized that she had to die for the universe to progress. So, he used his chakra to chop off her head. Bhrigu was so angry that he cursed Vishnu to be born on the earth 10 times. Bhrigu then revived Kavyamata.

     Shanti and Atharva had a son who was a great sage named Dadhichi. Dadhichi also had a son named Kunda. Kala and Marichi had a son named Kashyapa, who became a famous sage and the father of tons of creatures: humans, animals, gods, and demons. Pulastya and Havirbhu gave birth to the sages Agastya and Vishrava. Agastya married a woman named Lopamudra. Vishrava has two wives named Idavida and Keshini. Idavida was the daughter of Bharadwaja and gave birth to Kubera, and Keshini gave birth to Ravana, Kumbakarna, Khara, Dhushana, Vibhishana, and Shurpanakha, all of whom are famous demons in the Ramayana.

     Prasuti married the Chief Prajapati Daksha and had sixteen daughters. One of their daughters went to the underworld, and thirteen of them married the sage Dharma. Dharma, and one of his wives, Murti, gave birth to the twin-brothers incarnation of Lord Vishnu called Nara-Narayana. They performed lots of penance in Badrinath and became very powerful sages. Shiva wanted to show the world how powerful they were by throwing his Pashupatastra weapon at them. They were so powerful that the astra lost its power before it hit them.

     Once, Indra became very nervous because of Nara-Narayana's power that he sent Kama (love, desire), Vasant (spring), and beautiful nymphs to them to disturb them and stop their meditation. Narayana took a flower and placed it on his thigh. From his thigh came a beautiful nymph named Urvashi. She was the most beautiful nymph of all time and the other nymphs couldn't make themselves more beautiful. So they all went back to heaven along with Urvashi and Nara-Narayana continued meditating. Nara and Narayana eventually were reborn as Arjuna and Krishna from Mahabharata, respectively.

     One of Daksha's daughters, Swaha, married the fire god Agni and they had a daughter named Agneya, who married Uru, a descendant of Angira. Agni and Swaha also had three sons who carried offerings to and from heaven and yagnas on earth. They each had 15 sons, so there are 49 fire gods in total. The youngest daughter of Daksha, Sati, later married Shiva, but burned herself before she had any children.

The Goddess Bhuvaneshwari and the Goddess Siddhidhatri

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     After the death of Madhu and Kaitabha, the Earth had land as well as water, but they needed energy from the sun to help provide life. So, the goddesses Tara and Kushmanda entered the sun. Kushmanda made the sun very bright and radiant and Tara made the sun radiate with energy and heat. Shakti then took the form of Goddess Shodashi. Goddess Shodashi planted a bamboo tree within the earth and poured water on it from her magical water pot. In this way, all plants on earth began to grow.
     After this, Brahma Vishnu and Rudra, a form of Shiva, didn't know what to do. Suddenly, a magical chariot appeared. The three of them got on the chariot and it flew them to a magical island. They saw a beautiful city and decided to go in there. The moment they entered the city, They turned into women. The reached the main palace where they learned that the island was called Manidvipa, and the ruler was Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, the queen of the universe. She was taken care of by many Yoginis who supplied her every need. She sat on the left thigh of Lord Sadashiva, the cosmic form of Lord Shiva.
     Bhuvaneshwari gave her shaktis in marriage to them. She gave Saraswathi to Brahma, Lakshmi to Vishnu, and Uma or Kali to Rudra. Bhuvaneshwari then created 14 planetary systems in the universe, each one different from the next. Goddess Shakti then took the form of Goddess Siddhidhatri and told them that their power comes from their wives, and that she will also create divine powers for them to use. Hence, she created the 8 main Siddhis, which are special powers one can gain through meditation. They are called Anima, Mahima, Garima, Laghima, Prapti, Prakamya, Ishitva, and Vishitva.
     Anima can make you shrink to the size of an atom, Mahima can make you grow infinitely big, Garima can make you heavy, Prapti can make you teleport to wherever you want, Prakamya can make you know whatever anyone wants, Ishitva allows you to control nature, and Vishitva allows you to control elemental forces. There are 15 secondary siddhis which can allow you to do many things, ranging from shapeshifting and telepathy, to teleportation and seeing the future. Throughout many stories, you see sages, demons, and yogis use these abilities. Goddess Shakti then created the goddess Kamalatmika, who spread prosperity among humanity.
     Once the universe was set in motion, Brahma called all the gods, his mind-born sons and daughters, and some brahmins to conduct the first yagna. Lord Shiva attended the yagna in the form of Bhikshatana, the god of ascetics. He was scary looking, with a corpse stuck on his trident, and he used a skull as a food bowl. He came outside the yagna arena and begged for food. But the brahmins didn't let him in, not wanting to waste their time with a creepy beggar when they had a yagna to conduct. So, Bhikshatana threw his skull bowl into the yagna arena and the brahmins threw it out. But another skull appeared and another, until the whole yagna arena was full of scary skulls, which were de-purifying the atmosphere of the area.
     So, Brahma went to Shiva and promised him that no yagna can be completed without a prayer to Lord Shiva. Hence Lord Shiva is known as Kapaleshwara, the Lord of skulls. After the yagna, Brahma returned to Brahmaloka and Vishnu returned to the milk ocean in Vaikuntha. Shiva felt very hot and so decided to live on Mount Kailash in the Himalayas, where he would be cool and comfortable. This is also why in todays world, people pour cold water and milk products on the lingam, which is a special form of worshipping Shiva.

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Hindu Mythology: Creation of the Vedic Universe 2.0 Part #2

     With the five elements at hand, Brahma set to work creating the universe. He held out his hands and calmed the harsh winds and the waves of the ocean. He then tore his lotus into three parts. With each parts he made the heavens, the earth, and the sky between them. Bellow them, was the underworld, where demons, spirits, monsters, serpents and Nagas (snake-people) lived.
     Indra killed a demon named Puloman and married his daughter Shachi, who is a form of Shakti. She became his queen and she and Indra ruled the heavens. Brahma also created Surya, the sun god; Chandra, the moon god; and the Nakshatra, who were the stars and constellations.
     Brahma then created the seven sages: Vashishta, Mareech, Atri, Angira, Pulaha, Gratu, and Pulastya. They were tasked with creating mantras, and spreading religion, devotion, knowledge, and good virtues amongst humanity. All seven sages then departed to their abodes. Then from his heart, Brahma created a handsome man and a beautiful woman. Brahma named the man Kama and the woman Sandhya. Kamadeva was tasked him with spreading love and desire amongst all living creatures. Kamadeva is literally the Vedic Cupid. Sandhya was tasked with spreading the knowledge of yagnas and prayers on the earth. She then departed to the home of Brahma rishi. Kamadeva flew off on his parrot vehicle. Brahma then created Vasant, the god of spring. He was tasked with accompanying Kamadeva and spreading the beauty of nature in the form of spring.
     In the previous lifetime of Brahma, there was a Gandharva named Upabarhana, who was respected for his good looks. Unfortunately, his beauty and power made him arrogant. Once the demigods were having a festival and Upabarhana came there with tons of women and foolishly sang random songs while the demigods sang prayers and bhajans (religious songs). The Prajapatis (sons of Brahma), got up and cursed him to be born in a low-caste family and have no good looks in his next life. Hence, in his next life, he was born as the son of a maidservant.
     Him and his mother once served some great devotees and their knowledge and devotion entranced him. After his mother died, he meditated until Vishnu appeared before him. Vishnu gave him a vina and told him to preach devotion wherever he went in the next universe. Henceforth, in the next universe, he was re-created by Brahma as the famous Narada Muni. He became a great devotee of Lord Vishnu and was tasked with travelling the three worlds and spreading religion. Narada had no concerns for the physical world and encouraged living creatures to not get married and not to have children. Since this was the opposite of what Brahma wanted, Brahma became angry at Narada. He cursed him to never stop wandering and that he would live until Lord Narayana goes back to sleep. Narada Muni became very restless and so enjoys going around, causing jealous, quarrels, anger, and all kinds of trouble. You will see more of Narada Muni's mischievousness throughout many stories.
     Then Brahma created a man and a woman. The man was named Swayambhuva Manu and the woman was named Shatarupa. Brahma told them to get married and give birth to all living things. So they got married and gave birth to all humans, then they turned into all different kinds of animal couples and gave birth to all animals on the earth.
     In watching the universe he had created, Brahma had forgotten to create the chief Prajapati Daksha. Daksha's soul was about to burst from Brahma's toe. In pain, Daksha's soul cried out to Brahma. So Brahma finally created Daksha, who then left in a huff, unhappy that he wasn't created first. Daksha married Prasuti, or Veerni, daughter of Swayambhuva Manu, also known as Prajapati Veeran.
     Brahma then created the four Kumaras and asked them to expand the population, but they were sages, and didn't listen to their father. This made Brahma angry and he arched his eyebrows in anger. from the arch came Rudra, the roaring god of storms and hunting. He is known as a form of Lord Shiva. He was born in an Ardhanareshwar for. He split himself into male and female forms. From the male form came eleven beings, both gentle and fierce. They were the eleven Rudras. From the female form came eleven beings who married the Rudras. They were the Rudranis. The Rudras, also known as the Vamadevas, began to create things such as lightning, storms, thunder, rain, rainbows, and medicines (which is kind of weird), all of which are immortal, not mortal, like Brahma wanted. So, the Rudras stopped their creation spree.
     Remember when Prajapati shamefully chased after Ushas and how the gods planned to punish him? Well, they sent Rudra to go and hunt after Prajapati, who was still in the form of a stag. So, Rudra took his bow and arrow and chased Prajapati all over the earth. Finally, Rudra managed to shoot him with an arrow and send him flying into the sky. Prajapati became the constellation Capricorn and Ushas was free to return to the sky, but she never came until night time was finished so that she would be far away from Prajapati.
     Then, after creating all living creatures, Brahma tasked Yama Raj, the ruler of the dead, to also keep track of the deeds of all living and unborn creatures. the task proved too much for Yama Raj and he began to make wrong decisions about dead souls. So, Brahma meditated for 11 thousand years, hoping to find some answers. When he opened his eyes, he saw a god holding a pen and an ink pot. Brahma named him Chitragupta. He was tasked with helping Yama Raj by keeping record of all good and bad deeds of all living and unborn creatures.

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Hindu Mythology: Creation of the Vedic Universe 2.0 Part #1

     In the beginning, before time and space, there was nothing. Then came Shiva and Shakti. Shiva is the lord of time and destruction and is known as Kaal Bhairava, or Mahakaal. Shakti is the eternal female energy. There is no universe without her for if there is no energy and light, then there cannot be any universe.
     Shiva cannot exist without Shakti, because without her, Shiva is cold. silent, and purposeless. In the same way, Shakti cannot exist without Shiva, for if she is not calm, then she becomes wild and scary. Once Shiva and Shakti came into being, they created happiness, sadness, life, death, beginning, ending, light, darkness, movement, strength, stars, space, planets, and the atmosphere.
     Goddess Shakti then took the form of Goddess Kushmanda, whose body is made of pure light. Kushmanda has 10 hands, 3 eyes, and rides a tiger. She created the cosmic egg of gold. The golden egg floated on the cosmic ocean for nine months before hatching. Out of the egg came two things: Brahman and Lord Prajapati.
     Lord Prajapati has no gender, and stood there, unmoving, quiet, for almost a year until he finally spoke. His words formed both the ground and the top of the sky. He became lonely and so turned himself into a man and a woman, who got married and gave birth to the first gods and demons. Time was created and Prajapati became the god of time. Prajapati wanted to separate the good from the bad, and so he hid the demons deep in the ground.
     From her left eye, Kushmanda created a goddess with black skin and multiple heads, arms, legs, and fangs. This goddess had messed up hair and cackled like a witch. Kushmanda named her Mahakali, the goddess of time and the wife of Mahakaal. She represented the fiery aspect of the goddess.
     From her right eye, Kushmanda created a shy, beautiful goddess with many hands and with skin whiter than the moon. She had a calm smile and wore a milky white dress. Kushmanda named her Mahasaraswathi. Mahasaraswathi represented the sound aspect of the goddess.
     Finally from her third eye, Kushmanda created a lady with many hands and skin made of gold. She was so bright that she seemed to glow like lava and wore a pretty pink dress underneath her battle armor. Kushmanda named her Mahalakshmi. Mahalakshmi represented the love aspect of the goddess.
     From the body of Mahakali came another goddess who also had black skin and was wild in appearance. She had four hands and stuck her tongue out, but not because she was making fun of someone, but because she was thirsty for blood. This goddess was named Kali.
     From the body of Mahasaraswathi came another goddess who also had four hands and white skin, white ornaments and white dress. Kushmanda probably should have considered naming her "Miss White Goddess", but she eventually settled on the name Saraswathi.
     From the name of Mahalakshmi also came a four handed beautiful goddess with a pink dress and gold jewellery. She had four arms and held lotus flowers. Kushmanda had the perfect name in mind. You guessed it, Lakshmi.
     After creating the basic outline of the universe, Shakti merged with Shiva to form Ardhanareshwar, the combined form of Shiva and Shakti. With the help of newly created Lakshmi, Saraswathi, and Kali, they created the Goddess Chandi. She was the combined form of the Tridevi. Goddess Chandi, or Chandika, was tasked with protecting the world from evil demons.
     We now turn our attention from away from Shiva and Shakti and focus on the cosmic ocean that envelops the universe. On the ocean lay a giant thousand-headed serpent named Ananta Sheshnag. On his coils slept Lord Vishnu a form of Brahman. Suddenly, a sound could be everywhere, getting louder and louder. It was Om, the divine symbol. Hearing the divine symbol, Lord Vishnu woke up from his sleep. The moment he opened his eyes, a lotus flower sprouted from his navel. It grew and grew until it finally bloomed, bringing Lord Brahma into being. Brahma, like Vishnu and Shiva was also a form of Brahman. He and Vishnu couldn't help but wonder where they had come from. Who were they? What was their purpose?
     In hopes of finding answers to their questions, Brahma and Vishnu meditated for many years. Then, Shiva and Shakti appeared in the form of Ardhanareshwar. Ardhanareshwar told them that they were tasked with creating and protecting the universe. Brahma was meant to be the creator and Vishnu was meant to be the sustainer.
     So, Shiva and Shakti used the remains of Kushmanda's egg to created Dyaus, the sky god; Prithvi, the earth goddess; Vayu, the wind god; and Varuna, the water god.
     Dyaus and Prithvi had four children. They had two twin sons named Agni and Indra. The older twin, Indra, was the god of lightning, rain, and thunder. the younger twin, Agni was the powerful god of fire. With the birth of Agni came light, and Lord Prajapati separated it into day and night. Dyaus, Prithvi, Vayu, Varuna, and Agni together became the Pancha Tattva, the five basic elements of creation.
     Dyaus and Prithvi also had two daughters named Ushas and Ratri. Ushas was the goddess of the dawn, and Ratri was the goddess of night. Lord Prajapati fell in love with Ushas, the goddess of the dawn, and he wanted her all to himself. When she turned into a doe, he turned into a stag and chased after her. She ran away from him, as fast as possible, but Prajapati was too powerful and soon caught her. She then gave birth to all cattle. The gods were shocked and disgusted at what Prajapati had done and waited for the right moment to punish him for his cruel behaviour.
     Lord Varuna, the god of water, was the king of the demigods until Indra proved himself to be much more powerful by separating Dyaus and Prithvi apart for life to grow. He then took his place as the next and current king of the demigods.

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Roman Mythology: Eurynome, Ophion, and the Universal Egg

    Once upon a time, when nothing existed, there came the first goddesses: Eurynome (pronounced your-enemy), and her little sister Epimetheus and some say that they might have been part goddess, and part demon.

    Eurynome's very form separated the earth and sky apart for life to grow. Afterward, she danced in the oceanic waters in order to create the wind. She rubbed the wind in her hands to create the first serpent, Ophion, who became her husband. Ophion was a universal sea serpent and a sea god. despite being a snake, he could still speak the human language.

    If he would have had friends at that time, then it probably would have been weird telling them "Hey, I'm friends with Eurynome!" (your-enemy, get it?). In time, Eurynome became pregnant. However before she was going to give birth, she turned into a dove and flew away. Soon, she laid an egg, which Ophion guarded.

    It wasn't long before the egg hatched. Out of the egg came Kronos and Nessecitas, who got married. Kronos is the god of time (also known as Old Father Time or Old Grandfather Time). Nessecitas was the goddess of destiny and was the queen of the Fates, who are sometimes said to be her daughters.

    Kronos and Nessecitas together used their powers and created their son Phanes out of the Egg remains. Phanes became the god of light and creation. He is depicted as a marvelous mixed-gender diety, wrapped in the coils of a snake.

    The universe came from that very egg, which was produced by Eurynome and Ophion. They began to argue about who truly was the creator of the universe. Talk about an unhappy couple! Ophion claimed that it was he who was the creator, and this angered Eurynome to no end, forcing her to banish Ophion into oblivion. Why couldn't they just get a divorce? Oh right! Divorce didn't exist yet!
   
     Once again, there was nothing that existed in the universe except Eurynome and Khaos, the primordial void of nothing.

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Hindu Mythology: The Creation of the Universe #Part 3

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     The whole universe personified to form the great goddess Adi Shakti. She was so lovely that Brahma became attracted to her and began to chase her everywhere. When she turned into a doe, he turned into a stag. When she turned into a swan, he turned into a gander. He kept turning into the male counterpart of her female form. This is one of the reasons he isn't worshipped today because he is so busy chasing the physical world. Little did he know that she wasn't any ordinary lady, she was THE supreme goddess. She is nature, energy, and life. She was the universe herself, hence Brahma's daughter. But Brahma just couldn't see that because he was so distracted by her beauty.

     Lord Shiva had emerged into existence on his own and was disgusted and infuriated at the sight of Brahma chasing his own daughter. Shakti was his soulmate, and he didn't like that she was being chased simply because of her beauty without any respect at all. So, he threw one of his nails at Brahma and his nail turned into Lord Bhairav. Bhairav is an incarnation of Shiva and is as innocent as he is scary. Bhairav then used his nail to chop off Brahma's 5th head, leaving him with just four as a punishment. Bhairav and Shiva forever used Brahma's skull as a drinking bowl. This gave him the name Kapalika, the skull-bearer. Brahma's 5th head signifies the evil that tries to control you when you try to do bad things.
     After seeing all this, the sons of Brahma asked him why he did this. If he was a supreme being, then why could he not control his desire? Ashamed at hearing this, Brahma cast off his body before returning. This body became the darkness that spreads everywhere, making outer space look black.

     Lord Brahma made Manu the king of the earth. But, Manu asked Brahma to bring the earth out of the cosmic ocean. Brahma didn't know what to do.
     Lord Vishnu has a boar incarnation. His boar incarnation (or Varaha) has 2 forms. One is the red-boar incarnation, and the other is the white-boar incarnation.
     So, Lord Vishnu became the White Boar and came out through Brahma's nose. He then grew until he was the size of the biggest elephant. He dove into the ocean and lifted the earth to the surface with his tusks. He gently placed the earth on the surface of the Garbhodakasayi Ocean. One form of Shakti is the goddess Varahi. She has the head of a boar, just like Varaha. She was tasked with keeping the earth floating and making sure that it never sank into the ocean.
     Lord Vishnu then went to his heavenly abode, known as Vaikuntha, and all living and non-living things bowed to him.

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Hindu Mythology: the Creation of the Universe #Part 2

   Brahma then created passion, which took the form of a woman. the demons became entranced by her. From her body and moonlight, Brahma created Gandharvas (nature spirits), and Apsaras (nymphs/fairies). From his laziness came living ghosts. from his yawning came the Bhutas (undead ghosts), and Pishachas (zombie cannibals). From his navel came the Sadhyas (prayer deities), and the Pitas (Hindu astral deities). From invisibility, Brahma created the Vidyadharas (air demigods), and the Siddhas (sages). From his reflection, he created the Kinnaras (celestial musicians) and the Kimpurusas (half-lion men).

   After creating in this way, Brahma became very depressed and gave up his body. From that body's hair came snakes, and from the rest of the body came the Nagas (serpent-people).
   Brahma then created six immovable entities, animals, and humans. He then created four sages named Santana, Sananda, Sanaka, and Sanata-kumara. Brahma asked them to have children and continue the next generation. But the four Kumaras didn't want to accept household life because they wanted to worship God and become liberated.

    As you can guess, Brahma got angry at their refusal and arched his eyebrows. From his arch came a blue and red-skinned baby, who cried out and asked Brahma for a home and a name. Brahma calmed him and since he had cried out so worriedly, he was named Rudra (The Roaring god). He became the god of hunting, storms, and terror. His home would be within the moon, sun, fire, sky, water, earth, the heart, the senses, and meditation. He was also given eleven wives known as Rudranis. Their names were Diksha, Svadha, Iravati, Ambika, Ila, Sarpi, Niyut, Dhriti, Dhi, Rasala, and Uma.

   Since he was one of the Prajapatis, Rudra listened to his father and began to increase the population by a lot, with children and grandchildren who resembled him in looks and furious nature. with fire coming from their eyes, they tried t destroy the universe and Brahma became frightened. He told Rudra that he must not create children like this and that he must meditate to purify himself. Rudra obeyed and went off into the forests to begin penance.

   From his senses, Brahma created more of his children, who instantly became wise sages. They were named Kratu, Angira, Pulaha, Atri, Bhrigu, Pulastya, Marichi, Vashishta, Daksha, and Narada Muni.
   Desire and lust came from Brahma's heart; greed came from between his lips; religion came from his chest, while irreligion came from his back. Anger came from between his eyebrows; the oceans came from his lower body, as well as evil activities. Rishi Kardam emerged from his shadow and the goddess Vak, goddess of speech, came from his mouth. From his 5 mouths, the Vedas and Puranas (holy books/scriptures) were created.

   Brahma created a second body for himself and while he was thinking about what to create next, a man and woman emerged from his body and fell in love with each other. The woman was Shatarupa and the man was Swayambhuva Manu. They had 5 children. 2 sons named Uttanapada and Priyavrata, and 3 daughters named Prasuti, Devahuti, and Akuti. Prasuti married Daksha, Akuti married sage Ruchi, and Devahuti married Rishi Kardam. In this way, the universe became populated.

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The Creation of the Vedic Universe #Part 1

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When Brahma's lifetime ended, Lord Shiva opened his third eye to destroy the universe. The universe was also destroyed due to a great fire coming from the mouth of Lord Sheshnag. Because of the heat, the great sages in the planet Maharlok retreated to the higher planet of Janalok.

The fire burned for 100 celestial years, which is equal to 36 thousand earth years. After that followed another 100 celestial years of undescribable rain with powerful strong winds. It flooded and began filling up the universe with water until the three worlds were completely inundated. Lord Narayan lay at the bottom of the universe on the white coils of Lord Ananta Sheshnag, as Garbhodakasayi Vishnu. He half-closed his eyes and went into a state of deep yoga-nidra, which is sleep meditation.

After one thousand yuga cycles, Lord Narayan focused on karma which is sprouted from his navel as a lotus flower. Then Virat-rupa appeared in his glowing form, which dried up all the water. Finally, the lotus flower bloomed, bringing Brahma into being. Because he couldn't see any cosmic manifestation, he looked all around him and upwards, creating 5 heads.

Brahma then wondered where he had come from. Surely there must have been a source for his lotus flower. But no matter how close he got to Vishnu's navel, he still couldn't figure out where the lotus came from. After going past his chakra, Brahma returned to his lotus and began to meditate. After 100 celestial years, he could see Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, whose body was the full length of the 3 worlds.

After seeing the magnificent divine at the bottom of the ocean, he came to the conclusion that he was seeing his creator. He asked him about the construction of the universe, which he was worried about. Lord Narayan advised him to always be fixed on him and he won't be nervous about populating the universe.

After Narayan vanished, Brahma did as he was told and meditated on him for another 100 celestial years. Brahma became both powerful and knowledgeable. Narayan entered Brahma's body as Kshirodakasyi Vishnu, which made him want to create. Brahma went into the whorl of his lotus and split it into 3 parts and later into 14.

Lord Narayan had already created 6 things, which were: knowledge, the forces of nature, sense perceptions, false ego, the controlling deities, and the ignorant darkness. Brahma then created 5 things for people to live through: the fake conception of life, sense of death and fear, self-deception, sense of ownership, and frustration.
     Brahma felt bad after creating these things, as he felt that they caused people to be sinful. So, he meditated, focusing on Narayan in order to purify himself before continuing to create.
     He then created attachment, death, madness, anger, ignorance, and envy. Disgusted, he took off that body of ignorance, which possessed some impure creatures. These creatures chased him and cried out "Eat him!" and, "Don't spare him!" Brahma couldn't teach his own creations, his sons, to protect him and not eat him. So, those who said that he should be eaten became Yakshas (demonic spirits of wealth), and those who said that he shouldn't be spared became Rakshasas (demons, evils, devils, monsters).

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Ymir, Audhumla, Buri, and More!

  At the beginning of time, nothing existed except the 2 primordial realms. One was called Muspelhiem, the realm of fire, and the other one was Niflheim, the realm of ice. In between of them was only chaos, the void of nothing.
  But slowly, heat rose from the fire realm, which melted some ice from the ice realm and it met at the void in the center. It rose and froze again, forming a primordial mixture of chaos known as Ginnungagap. From this mixture came the first of the frost giants: Ymir (pronounced ee-meer). He drank milk from a cow, Audhumla.
  Audhumla licked the ice of Niflheim, and the first god Buri came into existence. Ymir slept for a long time, and while he slept, creatures came out of his body parts, who would later become the ancestors of the gods, like dwarves, elves, spirits, etc., But mostly giants of every kind: fire giants, frost giants, rock giants, and mountain giants. Ymir then became the king of the frost giants.

Eurynome and the Universal Egg

  Once upon a time, when nothing existed, there came the first of all goddesses: Eurynome (pronounced your-enemy) and her little sister Epimetheus. Not much is known about their looks and features, but we do know that they might have been a part-demon, though I bet they probably didn't look like it.

  Eurynome's very form separated the earth and the sky for life to grow. Afterward, she danced naked in the oceanic waters in order to create the wind. With this wind, she rubbed it in the palms of her hands in order to create the first serpent, Ophion, who became her husband. Ophion was a kind of ocean god, as he was in the form of a great sea serpent of universal size. Despite being a snake, he could still speak the human language.

   If he would have had friends at that time, then it probably would have been weird telling them "Hey!, I'm married to Eurynome! (your-enemy, get it?).
  In time, Eurynome became pregnant. Before she was going to give birth however, she transformed herself into a dove and flew away. Soon, she laid an egg, which the serpent Ophion guarded very carefully.

  It wasn't long before the egg hatched. Out of the egg came Chronos and Ananke, who got married.
 Chronos was the god of time (also known as Old Father Time/ or Old Grandfather Time, depending on which one you prefer). Don't get him confused with another Cronus, who we will talk about later.
  Ananke was the queen/goddess of destiny, beyond space and time. She was associated with the Fates, who thread destiny, who are sometimes said to be her daughters.

  Chronos and Ananke, together, used their powers and created their son Phanes from some primordial mixture that came out of the egg. Phanes became the god of light and creation. He is depicted as a marvelous, mixed-gender diety, wrapped in the coils of a snake.

  All the universe came from that very egg, which was produced by Eurynome and Ophion. They began to argue about who truly was the creator of the universe. Talk about an unhappy couple!
  Ophion claimed that it was he, who was the creator, and this angered Eurynome to no end, forcing her to banish Ophion into oblivion. Why couldn't they just get a divorce? Oh right! divorce didn't exist yet!!!

  Once again, there was nothing that existed in the universe except, Eurynome and Chaos, The primordial void of nothing.

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