For my “World Mythology” class in school, we studied creation myths from all over the world. I chose to focus on the Cherokee myth, and wrote diary entries from the perspective of one of the participants. Hope you enjoy!
Many many years ago in the Southeast US
Dear diary,
Wow! Creating a world sure is cool! I mean, I never imagined that I’d have the honor of getting to do such a thing, but the rest of the animals picked me and who was I to say no? So, I dove from the top of Galunlati all the way to the bottom of the ocean. My job was to find a safe place to land, so we, me and all the animals, wouldn’t have to be all crowded up top anymore. Anyways, there was like no land in the ocean, it was all just water! Which was so sad, and I was about to give up, but I remembered what my Grandpa had always told me and I kept going. Eventually, I decided to just dive under the water and guess what! I found…mud. That’s right, real mud! I was celebrating so much, but I knew I had to prove myself first. So, I scooped up as much mud as I could and brought it up with me to the surface. Then, all I had to do was fly back up and let it expand! Everyone called me a hero when I reached Galunlati again, which was so cool. I mean, I know I’m just a small beetle, but I really felt like a superstar at that moment. Ah…I know I’m letting it go to my head, but still! It was pretty awesome.
I heard that someone’s tying up the mud with ropes so that it floats above the ocean, which is great! Grandpa’s worried about the ropes snapping, but I’m sure it’ll be fine! For now, at least.
Ok, goodbye for now Diary! I’ll see you once we’ve all moved onto our new home.
Dear Diary,
Well, what can I say…it’s been a lot of waiting. But it’s interesting. A lot of people who were super excited to move at first are now worried. They feel like they’re being forced to a new place, like all us animals are losing our rightful land. I get where they’re all coming from, but it’s so crowded up here above the Sky Arch that I think the best thing to do is live with it! It’ll be really weird at first and everything, but we have to, so we may as well make the best of it! We can create a new life, no matter where we are. It’s for the betterment of us and our society, after all.
Anyways…we’ve been stuck up here. I know, I know, I said we’d be down on this new “Earth” in no time, but the mud hasn’t dried yet. And I know it’s not my fault, but…I can’t help but feel like I could’ve done better. If I had just gotten less soft mud, or searched further…All the other animals have been very kind to me. I think they can see just how much I’m beating myself up. Grandpa, especially, has been helping me a lot. He’s been telling me stories- he’s super wise and all.
He told me all about the Greeks, the Japanese and the Norse. Yeah, the Norse like the Vikings! Really cool, I know. He told me about how they created their worlds, in different universes, ages ago. The Norse are also afraid of the destruction of their world, just like Grandpa is! Just like us, this destruction is prophesied to happen wayyy in the future, but I get why everyone’s scared. Death is…creepy and we’re all worried about it. Anyways, onto happier things! Like…my job in creating the Earth! By doing that, I separated the sky and what became our Earth, which is exactly what happened in Japanese and Greek mythology as well! So basically, I’ve made history. It’s super important, I guess, since we took something that was once whole, and split it. Since being whole is so important to us, I guess the fact that we were able to separate the sky and earth is a huge deal. So yeah, I felt a little better after that.
Oh! Great Buzzard is back! He was sent out to survey the Earth, to check if its suitable for living yet. See you soon, diary!
Dear Diary,
We have officially moved! When Buzzard created the Earth, he added a bunch of mountains, which makes moving around awkward for some animals, but I think it just gives us character! We also didn’t have a sun for a while, then we got one, but it was super close to us and we were all so hot, so the conjurers, or magic-doers, moved it up to where it is now!
Anyways, Grandpa told me more stories, but this time I found some differences between their worlds and ours…like us animals. In all the other creation stories, it was a god who made the world. But, here, I did that! With the help of the other animals. I guess it shows just how important creatures and the ecosystem are to all of us. Also, the Earth being held up by rope is something that only exists in our world, which is more proof of the previous thing, I guess. And the mountains in our story reflect our land, another thing that makes us unique. Our story is so wide and covers so many animals, and it really shows our diversity and strengths.
Anyways, diary, I went exploring yesterday and…I found another world! I followed the streams of water and found the pathway into this dimension that was the exact same as ours, just colder. I asked the other animals about it and they called it the “Underworld”. Owl thinks that it’ll be warmer sometimes, and colder at others. It reminded me of Norse mythology, if you don’t mind me bringing it up again. Their Underworld is also colder, but unlike them, our Underworld isn’t necessarily evil, or bad. I guess the temperature difference is because we see the Underworld as a completely different and unique place. And as for why it’s not all that bad…well, I know me and all the animals agree that while death is scary, it’s a natural part of living.
Anyways. I’m really excited to live out my new life on our new Earth! See you later, diary <3.
The Water Beetle
