An Illustrated Guide to the World’s Creation Myths

Each culture has its own version of how the universe began. Artist Noah MacMillan brings this “visual vocabulary” to life

  • By Leah Binkovitz
  • Smithsonian magazine, February 2013
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(Noah Macmillan)


Mankind came to this world through a rip in the sky, according to the Huron, originally from Ontario. Actually, woman came first. Falling to the watery realm below her, the Sky Woman was caught and rescued by two birds who helped her create Earth on the back of a turtle.

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Comments (8)

vyctorynotes.blogspot.com says: I loved this piece. I would love to see another article exploring even more creation myths. The art is wonderful!

Why does the East African god look like a white man crafting darker skinned people? Is he supposed to be white, according to the myth, or is this artistic license? Also, are the creation myths of the Judeo-Christian tradition portrayed in the full article? There are two accounts in Genesis. Overall, the art work is beautiful.

The rest will be in the issue yes? Loved the five I saw here, will look forward to seeing the others. :)

So???? What happened to the Judeo-Christian verson if Creation??

That was a fun, but all too brief, tour of creation stories; the artwork is beautiful, and the stories are wonderful!

In the National Geographic series, The Journey of Man, geneticist Spencer Wells traveled to New Mexico. As he talked to some Navajos, he casually asked them about their "creation myth." One man got upset and insisted that it’s not a myth – it’s the truth. How interesting Christianity, Islam, Judiasm and other mainstream religions are considered factual while aboriginal ones are always "creation myths."

* very artistical - great combination of two themes. modern and ancient - also appears very spiritual - very very good art - a pleasure to see!

Fantastic visuals! What imagination and creativity.



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