NPO #8: Creation Myth

In the beginning, SWAT Ticket was just a place on the internet that I named and used to vent my juvenile (but mostly accurate) rantings and gushings about movies that I rented from a brick and mortar medium that has since died a tragic death. SWAT Ticket has since gone by many names and given birth to the many side projects that currently populate the Ticketverse. But following the demise of the media gods known as Blockbuster Video, Hollywood Video, Tiger Town Video, Movie Gallery, and Hastings, as well as their distant supermarket cousins behind the customer service counter at Safeway and any other rental outlets I neglected to mention, the spark at the center of the Ticketverse began to dim and flicker, eventually going dormant for hundreds of days. Then one day, in the year 2017, something Grimm came along and rejuvenated that spark. That spark began to create again, and although scarred by the thought of relics gone the way that relics go, that spark is driven to look back on the things that had once brightened it into existence, to find a light in itself that it had thought long extinguished by time, which brings us to today's edition of New Piece Offerings.

Happy Truman Show greetings to you, Ticketholders!

I hope you like the little creation myth-inspired intro I cobbled together just now, because (if you couldn't tell by the title) today I bring you a creation myth of my own devising that I submitted to Period 3 FROM April 27, 2002. Last week, I had planned to do a double post of New Piece Offerings based around two versions of this story, but the second version (a short film adaptation) was on a VHS tape and my conversion hardware was broken, so I scrapped the plan in favor of a newer writing selection and waited for my new combo recorder to arrive in the mail. It arrived, it works, and I can now move forward with the old plan this week.

A disclaimer for anyone I might piss off: This was a writing assignment. It in no way reflects my actual beliefs on how the Universe was created or of religion in general. As a work of creative fiction, it should be read and appreciated (or not) as such.

And with that, we finally come to:

"Creation Of the Universe and the World"

In the beginning, there was only a black, silent void with no definite shape, size, or purpose other than to exist. Many thousands of years later, the human race would give it the name Unum, as it was the only thing in existence during its time. But in the beginning, its name did not matter as much as the story of what became of it.

An immeasurable span of time later, it came to pass that from this deep blackness, the first two gods emerged. Infinity was the god of space. He controlled the size, shape, and substance of all objects in existence. Eternity was his sister and the goddess of time and motion. She controlled the longevity and movement of all that her brother created. Infinity soon began the creation of all the heavenly bodies. He created all the moons and stars. He created Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto. Eternity then gave each planet and moon an orbit. She even gave motion to some of the stars as well. These moving stars became known as comets.

It later came to pass that Unum was jealous of its children's power. And out of Unum, there came three more gods, each with the power to corrupt and destroy. Mort was the god of death and disease, Sin was the goddess of corruption and vice, and Phobus was the god of fear and hatred. The children of Unum were locked in combat for countless centuries, but in spite of their being outnumbered, Infinity and Eternity emerged victorious. To punish his brothers and sister, Infinity created a planet called Earth and trapped them inside. As it was a planet like the eight that were created before it, Earth was given an orbit and placed among them.

It then came to pass that Infinity and Eternity gave birth to three immortal children of their own. The new gods acted as the balancing force to the children of Unum. Anima was the goddess of life and cure. She was the balancing force against Mort. Conscience was the goddess of wisdom and truth, so she was the balancing force against Sin. Philus was balanced with Phobus as the god of friendship and courage. Together, the three new gods followed the Earth on its orbit to remind Unum of its failure. This reminder caused Unum to become so distraught that it died. Upon Unum's death, it was renamed the Universe, and became the kingdom of the gods.

Over time, the children of Unum and the children of Infinity and Eternity settled their differences. The only god who chose to remain within the earth was Mort, and he became the ruler of the Underworld. Working together, the five other gods created plants, animals, and humans. However, it soon became evident that their creations were not immortal, nor did they live very long. The gods wanted their next creations to live longer, so they sent Anima in search of her father, Infinity. She found him and asked if he would give the creatures on Earth a source of light. He did so by creating the sun. The plants and creatures had more energy and could see, so they were grateful.

When this second race died out, the five gods were not satisfied. So Anima set out again, this time in search of her mother, Eternity, to ask if she would allow the plants and creatures on Earth to live longer. She did so by giving Anima the gift of water. Eternity explained that water would prolong the life of those that drank it and bathed in it. So the Earth became blue with water, and green with healthy vegetation. The plants, animals, and humans lived longer, and were grateful.

This third race died out, and the five gods were still not satisfied. They created a fourth race of plants, animals, and humans. Conscience and Sin gave the animals Instinct. Philus and Phobus gave the humans Tolerance of one another. Finally, the five gods gave all of their creations Survival and the ability to reproduce. At last, the gods were satisfied.

This fourth race was able to feel, think, and evolve, and had water and light. So they survive, and they are grateful.

I earned an A for this assignment (no numbers or symbols, an actual grade!), praised for my use of Greek- and Latin-derived names. Some recurring elements I used that come up in many creation myths are the void, the cosmic war, gods as anthropomorphic concepts (especially in polytheistic mythologies, but angels and saints fill the role just as well in Western religions), repetition, and the four races of man. The difference between classical mythology and my work of fiction is that beliefs of the time had each race (or age) degrading as time went on, whereas my creation myth makes the gods more fallible and human by having them make mistakes and improve upon each new race. What quality the fourth race makes of the world beyond that depends solely on how they use the gifts the gods have given them to keep themselves alive. So I guess a little of my Deist viewpoint did seep into my work after all. I apologize for that, but I still assert that this creation story, as a whole, is a work of creative fiction that should be taken solely on its academic merit and entertainment value, and not as any kind of religious agenda push.

So remember to create some comments and allow your likes, shares, and subscriptions, as well as my ad revenue, to be fruitful and multiply upon the buttons of thine mice. Wait. That sounded super-dirty. Just click stuff to make me rich and popular, okay? Please? And speaking of creation and entertainment value, stay tuned for the film adaptation of my creation myth in tomorrow night's New Piece Offerings.