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In the Beginning
Stories of how the cosmos came to be - from primordial chaos to ordered creation, featuring the first gods and the birth of worlds.
7 Deities5 Stories
Why This Theme Is Useful
Collections make comparative mythology easier to scan. Instead of approaching one pantheon at a time, this page groups related figures and narratives so you can compare how different traditions handled the same role, motif, or symbolic pattern.
The best way to use it is to open a few entries side by side, notice the overlap first, and then branch into the full deity and story pages for context, source material, and deeper reading.
That process matters because collections are strongest when they do more than list names. They help you see where a motif repeats, where a culture changes the pattern, and which figures deserve a closer read once the broad shape of the theme is clear.
One role, many cultures
The In the Beginning archetype across pantheons
Deities in this Collection
chinese
Nuwa
creation, humanity, marriage
The serpent-bodied goddess who created humanity from yellow clay and repaired the broken sky after a great catastrophe. She is the mother of mankind and establisher of marriage.
mesopotamian
Tiamat
primordial waters, salt sea, chaos
The primordial goddess of the salt sea and chaos dragon. Tiamat is the mother of the first gods and, after being slain by Marduk, became the raw material from which the universe was fashioned.
hindu
Brahma
creation, knowledge, time
The creator god and first member of the Trimurti. Brahma created the universe and all creatures. Depicted with four heads facing the four directions, representing omniscience.
egyptian
Ra
sun, creation, kingship
The supreme solar deity and creator god. Ra travels across the sky each day in his solar barque and through the underworld each night, battling the serpent Apophis.
norse
Odin
wisdom, war, death
King of the Aesir and god of wisdom, war, and death. Odin sacrificed his eye at Mimir's well for wisdom and hung himself on Yggdrasil for nine days to learn the runes.
japanese
Izanagi
creation, life, sky
Male primordial deity who, with Izanami, created the Japanese islands and many kami. After Izanami's death, he performed the first purification ritual.
japanese
Izanami
creation, death, underworld
Female primordial deity who created the Japanese islands and kami with Izanagi. After dying in childbirth, she became goddess of death and ruler of Yomi.
Stories in this Collection
norse
The Creation of the World
In the beginning was the void Ginnungagap, with Muspelheim (fire) to the south and Niflheim (ice) to the north. When fire and ice met, they created the giant Ymir.
mesopotamian
Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Creation Epic
The Babylonian creation myth tells how the young god Marduk slew the primordial chaos dragon Tiamat and fashioned the universe from her body, becoming king of all the gods.
japanese
The Creation of Japan
The primordial gods Izanagi and Izanami create the Japanese islands and countless kami, establishing the divine origins of Japan and its imperial line.
egyptian
The Heliopolitan Creation Myth
In the beginning was the primordial waters of Nun, dark and chaotic. From these waters arose the primeval mound, and upon it stood Atum (later identified with Ra), the self-created god.
african
Oduduwa and the Creation of the Earth
creation, responsibility, second chances
After Obatala fails his divine mission, Oduduwa descends from heaven to create dry land and establish the sacred city of Ile-Ife.