STORY OF DARKNESS (BY BOST, 2025)

Many cultures have a creation myth; it so happens that Chinese culture has incorporated the dragons in their creation myths.

How wonderful is that?

01- LONGZE READS THE CREATION  STORY OF DARKNESS

A Brief History:

The Book “Epic of Darkness”, compiled in primeval China, is a collection of folklore and legend relayed in epic poetry. Preserved by the inhabitants of the Shennongjia mountain area in Hubei Province, it includes accounts from the birth of Pangu till the historical era.

In August 1982 an old local farmer submitted a rare songbook to Hu Chongjun. The booklet (leaflet), written in brush and ink with about 3,000 lines of seven Chinese characters each, was split into four sections. These sections were: a) The beginnings of the Universe; b) The Birth of Pangu; c) The Great Flood; d) The birth of mankind up until the beginnings of the Three Sovereigns and The Five Emperors. Believing “The Epic of Darkness” to be finest written representation of the oral Han creation myth, Hu went on to study and compile more manuscripts as well as the oral accounts from the elderly living in Shennongjia. It took him 9 years to eventually finish the documentation. Hu had to sort through more than 30, 000 lines of collected manuscript to compile a 5,500-line summary.

 

Here’s a brief retelling (with some liberties taken) of the Han Chinese creation myth:

In the beginning of time, all that was manifest was a cloud of gas, chaos and darkness. A Deity called Jiang Ku, after expending vast effort, created the first drop of water. Another God, Lang Da Zi, swallowed that drop of water and expired. Immediately his body was split into the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. From these elements Pan Gu came into being.

02- PAN GU

The Legend of Pan Gu:

In the primeval Universe there was nothing but a vast formless chaos which, after 18,000 years, merged to form a giant cosmic egg. Inside the egg, the perfectly opposed principles of Yin and Yang eventually balanced, and Pan Gu formed as a primitive, horned, hairy giant, clad in furs. As soon as he emerged from the egg Pan Gu set about the task of creating the world. With a swing of his giant axe, he separated the Yin from the Yang and created the Earth (murky Yin) and the Sky (clear Yang). In order to maintain this separation, Pan Gu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took another 18,000 years; as each day the sky grew ten feet (three meters) higher, the Earth ten feet wider and Pan Gu ten feet taller.

03 - THE CREATION

Pan Gu was aided in this task by the four most prominent beasts: the Turtle, the Qilin, the Phoenix, and of course, the Dragon. After the 18,000 years it took to separate earth and sky Pan Gu passed away. His breath then became the wind; his voice became thunder, his left eye transformed into Sun, his right eye transformed into the Moon and his facial hair turned into brilliant stars and the Milky Way.

His body, his four limbs turned into the mountains and other of the extremities that marked the four corners of the world. (This account bears a strange similarity to Norse myth of the Giant Ymir, and also of the Babylonian tale of Tiamat.) His fur turned into bushes and forests; his blood formed the rivers; his muscles turned into fertile lands; his teeth and nails became metals; his bones became rocks and valuable minerals while his bone marrow transformed into sacred diamonds. Mankind was yet to be created at this point. His sweat fell as rain and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became the fish and animals throughout the land.

From the five elements and animals were born demons and gods who fought each other until a great flood overcame the land. From this great flood, emerged two mighty dragons, one black and one yellow, which fought a mighty battle.

04- BLACK AND YELLOW DRAGON FIGHT

A goddess, the Sacred Mother Wu Tien, helped the yellow dragon defeat the black dragon. In gratitude, the yellow dragon laid three eggs which the Sacred Mother swallowed and gave birth to three gods: Heaven, Earth and Hell.

Later still, five dragons emerged from the flood, and they discovered a gourd across the Eastern Sea. Wu Tien opened the Gourd and found two humans within. Fuxi and Nuwa, who were ordered by Wu Tien to copulate and thus the human race came into being after the flood waters receded.

05- THE GOURD

In a different version it states: A brother and sister became the only survivors of the prehistoric Deluge by crouching in a gourd that floated on water. The two got married afterwards, and a mass of flesh in shape of a whetstone was born. They chopped it and the pieces turned into large crowds of people, who began to reproduce again. The couple were named “Pan” and “Gou” in the Zhuang ethnic language which stands for whetstone and gourd respectively.

In another version:  Nuwa, the Goddess, supposedly had used the mud of the waterbed to form the shape of humans. These humans were very smart since they were individually crafted. Nuwa then became bored of individually making every human, so she started putting a rope in the waterbed and letting the drops of mud that fell from it become new humans. These small drops became new humans, not as smart at the first.

06 CREATION OF NEW HUMANS

Another interesting note:

When the earth had thus been shaped from the body of Pan Gu, ostensibly the three great rivers formed from his blood, then successively governed the world: as first the celestial, then the terrestrial, and finally the human sovereign.

They were followed by Yung-Ch’eng and Sui-Jen (fireman) who brought the fire down from heaven and taught man its various uses. The Prometheus myth, which by the way is not indigenous to Greece but also known in Mesopotamia and India, is another expression of this theme. There is a slight possibility therefore that the figure Sui-Jen has been derived from the same archetype as the Greek Prometheus.

 

Fin 

Happy Easter 2016

Happy Easter 2016

Way before Christianity Easter was celebrated by the pagans as festival of renewal and birth. It took place in the early spring and it honored the pagan Saxon goddess Eastre. In fact the name was derived from the pagan name 'Eostre', the name of the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxons, Goddess of Spring that is also an important symbol of fertility, in Northern Europe. 

Legend claims that this mystical goddess found a wounded bird and turned it into a hare so it could survive the winter. When this very same hare found it could lay eggs it made a gift of its eggs to the goddess who had protected him. And so the tradition of the Easter hare, or bunny as it became later known, was born.

The Spring Equinox (which occurs around the time of Easter) is celebrated by Wiccans, modern-day 'neopagans' - it is one of their most important 'Sabbats' or holy days, and is a time when the fertility of the land and the balance of day and night are celebrated.

When the early missionaries converted the Saxons to Christianity the pagan celebration of spring, since it fell around the same time Christ's resurrection from the dead, was merged to become a celebration known as Easter. 

Easter has high significance for the Christians. It is celebrated for the meaning of Easter symbolizes Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, therefore his victory over death. 

The concept of 'rebirth', an important theme in the Christian Easter celebration, is common to many religions. Other major world religions such as Islam do not observe Easter but it is closely tied to the Jewish festival of Passover, which falls around the same time as Easter.

Another shared tradition between Christianity and Judaism is the significance of eggs at Easter/Passover - hard-boiled eggs are served at Passover and are used to reinforce the idea of rebirth.

In the beginning when Christians gave eggs as offerings and gifts at Easter time, they used birds' eggs. They were painted bright colors to echo the vibrancy of the colors of spring after the darkness of winter. In the UK and Europe early Easter eggs were usually duck, hen or goose eggs. These were later replaced by artificial eggs until eventually, as chocolate became a more widely available foodstuff, the first chocolate eggs began to appear in the early 1800s. The fashion of exchanging chocolate eggs at Easter quickly spread across the world and is still widely recognized today.

Happy Easter Everyone.

Easter Traditions of Eggs and Rabbits

Easter traditions of Eggs and Rabbits

In multicultural Canada, some who are not Christian might wonder why at this time the stores are stocked with decorative eggs, chocolate eggs and bunnies. 

A brief explanation therefore is warranted:

Why Eggs?

First and foremost, Eggs are known to be a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth, pre-dating Christian traditions.  The custom of decorating eggshells is an ancient one. Ostrich eggs with engraved decorations for instance dating back 60,000 years have been discovered in Africa.  Meanwhile decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were usually placed in the graves of ancient Egyptians and Sumerians going back as far as 5,000 years.

The ancient Zoroastrians painted eggs for Nowruz, their New Year celebration, at the spring equinox. The tradition continues today among Persians of Islamic, Zoroastrian, and other faiths. The sculptures on the walls of Persepolis show people carrying eggs for Nowruz to the king.

Easter eggs are special eggs that at present are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime. This tradition goes all the way back to early Christians of Mesopotamia, who had once stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ. The egg symbol was later officially adopted by the Christian church as the symbol of resurrection.  For all Christians, it is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave.   It once was a custom to use up all the household eggs before Lent began. Eggs were originally forbidden during Lent you see, as well as other dairy and meat products.

Easter eggs are a popular symbol of life in Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and other Central European countries ‘folk traditions.  A batik (wax resist) process is used to create intricate, brilliant colored eggs, the best known of which is the Ukrainian pysanka and the Polish pisanka.  At one time, 60 or more eggs would have been decorated by the women of the household. These eggs would be taken to church on Easter Sunday to be blessed before being given away.

There are many other decorating techniques and traditions of giving Eggs as a token of friendship, love and good wishes.  In some Mediterranean countries, especially in Lebanon, chicken eggs are boiled and decorated dye and or painting. In Greece, on Easter Sunday friends and family hit each other’s egg s together.  The one whose egg does not break is believed to be in for good luck in future.

In Germany eggs decorate trees and bushes as Easter eggtrees, and in several areas public wells as Osterbrunnen.

In Scotland children roll painted eggs down steep hills on Easter Sunday.  Egg rolling is also a traditional Easter egg game played with eggs in the United Kingdom, Germany and many other countries.   

This tradition was brought to New World by European settlers and continues to this day. In the U.S.A. it is done on flat ground and is pushed along with a spoon. On the White House lawn the annual Egg Roll is a fun event and is accompanied by the Easter egg hunt. 

 Why Rabbits?

The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is a endearing character that brings Easter eggs (mostly in the form of chocolate) to children.

Rabbits and Hares, like Eggs, are considered fertility symbols since the olden days. Because birds lay eggs and rabbits give birth to large litters in the early spring these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the March Equinox.

Rabbits are prolific breeders. They can conceive a second litter of offspring while still pregnant with the first.  This phenomenon is known as  superfetation. Lagomorphs mature sexually at an early age and can give birth to several litters a year (hence the saying, "to breed like a rabbit"). It is therefore not surprising that their springtime mating antics should enter into Easter folklore.  

In ancient times it was widely believed that the hare was a hermaphrodite. The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary. It may also have been associated with the  Holy Trinity, as in the  three hares motif, representing the "One in Three and Three in One" of which the triangle or three interlocking shapes such as rings are common symbols.

Happy Easter Everyone!