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It has been one of my greatest joys whilst as a child and as an adult to read mythology. I absolutely love it. I especially enjoy European Mythology (Greek, Roman, Celtic, & Norse). Every story is filled with passion, rage, triumph, defeat, and cunning. A lot more than all those stories you here at church anyways. You might even say this is what contributed to my agnosticism. Also, to my belief that there can not be a "right" one considering the similarities between differing cultures in early civilizations.

Now, it is not my intention to dissuade you from your current religious views. Nor is it my intention to really cast doubt. No, what I simply mean to show you is that if religion was a supermarket, you should compare the prices.

Every religion whether it is the trifecta monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, or the religions of the Native Americans, ancient Greeks, or the Celts, there is always a creation story.

Now, everyone is aware of Genesis and actually, a lot of the cultures differ to some degree on how the world was created. JCI have Genesis, Native Americans believed of a giant tortoise, Greeks believed the Sky and the Earth as being whom mated to form the Gods & Titans. While, I can not find two similar stories that have the specifics in similarity, but that they all have a creation story is interesting.

However, I have found a lot of differing cultures offer a Great Flood story. Most of us are aware of Noah and his family, building an ark, gathering two of every animal, and bunkering down while the earth was pelted with rain for 40 days and 40 nights. But you might be surprised to see that the Greeks, Celts, and Cherokee, offer very similar tales.

Greek:

"The first race of people was completely destroyed because they were exceedingly wicked. The fountains of the deep opened, the rain fell in torrents, and the rivers and seas rose to cover the earth, killing all of them. Deucalion survived due to his prudence and piety and linked the first and second race of men. Onto a great ark he loaded his wives and children and all animals. The animals came to him, and by God's help, remained friendly for the duration of the flood."

Celtic:

"Heaven and Earth were great giants, and Heaven lay upon the Earth so that their children were crowded between them, and the children and their mother were unhappy in the darkness. The boldest of the sons led his brothers in cutting up Heaven into many pieces. From his skull they made the firmament. His spilling blood caused a great flood which killed all humans except a single pair, who were saved in a ship made by a beneficent Titan."

Cherokee:

"Day after day, a dog stood at the river bank and howled piteously. Rebuked by his master, the dog said a flood was coming, and he must build and provision a boat. Furthermore, the dog said, he must throw him, the dog, into the water. For a sign that he spoke the truth, the dog showed the back of his neck, which was raw and bare with flesh and bone showing. The man followed directions, and he and his family survived; from them, the present population is descended."

Isn't that interesting. This brings in a question. How can different cultures, geographically separated, hold common a belief? Furthermore, could the Ice Age meltdown be considered the Great Flood, in which populations of different civilizations suffered an immense loss? And for those keeping a scientific checklist (as am I, The Last Glacial Maximum, which we consider to be the last "ice age" was 20,000 years ago. Modern humans originated in Africa 200,000 years ago.)

Now, as I keep looking through these myths, I fiound something interesting in terms of the "looking back" aspect of some myths. In Genesis, God is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot is told to evacuate the city with his wife, but it told not to look back. Not being able to handle the thoughts that if his wife was okay, Lot turns to look back to see if his wife is behind him and safe. But as he looks at her, she is turned into a pillar of salt.

Now, the Greeks also have a similar tale in the Story of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Orpheus and Eurydice were young lovers. They were married. One day, whilst strolling in a meadow, Eurydice was stung by a viper and she died. Orpheus, overcome with sadness, vowed to go into the Underworld to retrieve her. A surprising move that it was considering, no mortal may enter the Underworld without first being dead. Orpheus went up to Hades and played a song on his lyre. Hades, overcome with sadness, allowed Orpheus to take Eurydice back. But only under one condition, he must not look back to her. He is to trust Hades that she will be safely behind him. Oprheus and Eurydice make their way to the upper, living world. Orpheus was getting anxious, the light went from, dark to gray, and then finally he made it. He looked to see if Eurydice was behind him, but she was not out of the cavern yet. She was immediately swallowed back into the Underworld.

Another story, however, the Greeks and the Hebrews, while separated geographically, still had acquaintances with each other. No doubtley the Greeks were first, considering Judaism didn't start until 2,000 BCE. But the only thing to really draw from this is if a supreme being asks you to go on blind faith and everything will be alright, I guess you better listen or else you will have a lifetime of regret and seasoning.

I further wondered if some of these differing cultures offer some of similiarity in terms of Armageddon. While, they do not have the same actions, the gist is the same. A great war, everyone dies, a deity renews the earth. Below, I will show in context to how Christians, Hindu, and Norse myths interact.

Christian:

"The Christian Apocalypse as described by the Book of Revelation is quite possibly one of the most famous End of the World stories. The book itself is described as a scroll with seven wax seals. As the scroll unravels, a series of events unfolds, beginning with many wars, famines, disease epidemics, and other heavenly signs to alert the world of an oncoming crisis. After this series of natural disasters, a political ruler called the Antichrist will appear and establish control over the entire earth.

The Antichrist will be backed by a religious ruler, known as the false prophet. Together, they will establish a unified social, economic and religious system that dominates the world. The only thing opposing them are the people of God and two prophets called the two witnesses, who appear in Jerusalem and begin to speak out against the Antichrist and his rule. Also present in the first half the Book is a terrible beast. The beast is not described in great detail but scholars argue that the beast itself represents the oppression faced by the early Christians under Roman rule.

The last half of the book concerns itself with the overthrow of the Antichrist. The beast, the false prophet, the Antichrist, and eventually Satan himself are overthrown with judgments and plagues. These judgments and plagues include asteroids hitting the earth and water turning to blood. Finally, Jesus Christ returns as a glorious warrior on a white horse. He defeats Satan and sends all of the nonbelievers to an eternity in hell, a great fiery lake of constant torment. The followers of Christ are led to heaven on a new Earth with no suffering or sin."

Hinduism:

"The story of the avatars in Hindu mythology provides more depth to the resurrection pattern. Vishnu, the second member of the Indian Trimurti, or trinity, is the Preserver of Order. When universal chaos descends upon the world, Vishnu saves mankind by appearing in a certain form, known as an avatar. Out of the ten avatars that Vishnu will fulfill before the Universe ends, he has taken the form of only nine: a fish, a turtle, a boar, a lion-man, a dwarf, a Brahmin, the epic hero Rama, the famed god Krishna, and Buddha. The tenth form is known as Kalki, the man riding upon a horse. Vishnu will come to Earth as this form in order to destroy it and recreate it."

Interesting. Jesus and Kalki, both ride a horse, and both make the Earth anew. And, finally, Norse:

"Before the end of the world, three winters without summers in between will happen in Midgard, and order will be lost in the human world. Fathers will fight their sons, siblings will commit incest, mothers will seduce their children, and brothers will tear at each other's hearts. Midgard will be consumed with war.The wolves Skoll and Hati will swallow the sun and moon, and the great wolf Fenris, son of Loki the trickster god, will run loose and kill Odin the All-Father, who steps forth to fight him. Odin's son Vidar will avenge Odin by tearing Fenris apart. Thor will battle the Midgard serpent and slay him but be slain himself by the serpent's venomous fumes. Many gods as well as all men and women save two, Lif and Lifthrasir, who seek shelter under the branches of Yggdrasil, will die.

The sky will fall into a pit of flames and the earth will sink into the sea.After the end of the world, the earth will rise renewed out of the sea and flourish. Grain will grow where no grain was sown; Lif and Lifthrasir will repeople the new world with their offspring and descendants."

I wanted to have the Norse as the last one to show something. Early Christians in an attempt to convert the Norse pagans, used the myth Ragnarok (Norse Armaggedon) to show that their apocalypse had already taken place. A conversion that is made easier if you are made to believe your religion is now dead.

This may be a bit off point, but it does tie in to this post. Christianity has since it's explosion (I am talking about the turning point in which Emperor Constantine no longer persecuted Christians and in turn, converted to Christianity himself) has almost erradicated every other cultures religion, by either force or by practicing holidays in conjunction with others. Christmas, which many traditions come from the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. Easter, comes from the Anglo-Saxon festival to Eostre, the goddess of fertility, rabbits were used as a sign of fertility in hopes Eostre would bring good crops to the people. Halloween, while not a Christian holiday, does leave it's trimmings. The day after is All Saint's Day.

And, while on the subject of comparing myths. Do you know what Buddha, the Persiand God Mithras, and Jesus Christ have in common? They were all born from virgins, born of December 25th, and all were martyred and resurrected.

Now, if anybody out there would like to dwell deeper into comparative mythology, I suggest the works of Joseph Campbell. He is now dead, but he is considered the best in the subject. I suggest The Power of Myth and The Hero With a Thousand Faces. There is also a volumed series entitled, "The Masks of God". They are all exhilirating reads.

It does seem that despite being separated have created stories very similar to one another. Now, the myths I have shown you are not inclusive. They are many, many examples on how differing mythos, entwine with one another. I leave it to you to shop and compare other myths and to see how they connect.