6 February 2003, 10:51pm IST
Diana & Robert Wuagneux
Three hundred years ago in the cold, rocky, wind swept recesses of the North Atlantic, our ancestors' way of life was in its twilight.
A steady insurgence from powerful tribes had driven our tiny clan to the verge of extinction. Our largely unconscious adoption of attractive filaments from these cultures had left us struggling for what remained of our identity. But was that such a tragedy? Would the world really be worse off if the Celts were lost into oblivion? Wouldn't it be better if we were all the same?
We offer one of the world's best-loved traditions, a creation myth: Before time there was a darkness deeper than night, empty, infinite. And in that moment, the Creator had a thought, which was light as it was opposite from darkness. It shimmered and swirled; it flowed through the expanse of emptiness.
It arched its back and became the sky. She sighed as wind, and shook as thunder, but she was alone. So, she asked the Creator, what is my purpose? As the Creator considered the question, there emerged another thought. And the winged creatures were born - their expression was solid, the opposite of light. Insects, birds and bats filled the sky. They cried, and sang, and wheeled across the sky and the sky was filled with joy.
Before long, the creatures of the sky became tired; so, they asked the Creator: "Is this all there is to our existence?" As the Creator considered the question there emerged another thought. This thought was born as the earth. Jungles and forests, mountains and plains, oceans and rivers and deserts appeared, all opposites of one another. As the winged creatures settled into their new home, they rejoiced.
But before long, the earth with all her bounty and beauty asked the Creator: "Is there nothing more to my existence?" As the Creator considered the question there emerged another thought. And this thought was born as every living thing in the opposites of male and female. But after a while, the world asked the Creator: "Is this the end? Is there nothing else to be created"?
As the Creator considered the question there emerged another thought. This thought was born as mankind, man and woman, all opposites of one another. And through their distinctions they began to create.
The one constant in every ancient tradition of the world is the belief that we are a part of a larger design. These beliefs include the power to create something from nothing, and an eter- nal parental concern over mankind. What is more amazing than the differences humans express in language or custom, are the similarities of mythologies.
Whether animist, poly or monotheistic, our God or gods are interested in and care about the same things that we do. Just as we require a society from which to draw our individual identity, ancient cultures have defined themselves by drawing comparisons between their actual behaviour and behaviour desired by their God or gods. Traditions have all been born of this reflection.
Early in our history, we began to believe that this control came from elsewhere, outside ourselves. Through the acting out of these beliefs, civilisations have been shaped, wars have been fought, and the world as we know it has come into being.
The universe is a living, evolving aspect of God.
It is not only capable of learning but is dependent upon learning for its very existence. Every atom contains information which is shared with the adjoining atoms that ultimately allows for a collection of atoms to become anything from an ocean to a giraffe. God is that place or moment where thought becomes manifest, and is born in the physical world.
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