Monday, November 1, 2010

Delugional

In ancient Greek mythology, the god Zeus became angry at the first race of men, the men of the "Bronze Age", so he sent a flood to destroy them. Deucalion was saved because of his prudence and piety. He and his family, along with many animals survived the flood, because they were advised to build a large chest in which they would float in. The animals came to him, and by Zeus' help the animals remained calm for the remainder of the flood.

In ancient Roman mythology, the god Jupiter, angered at the evil ways of humanity, resolved to destroy it. He was originally going to set fire to the world, but thought otherwise thinking it may also set the heavens ablaze. He asked for the god Neptune's help to flood everything except the summit of mount Parnassus, where Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha came by boat and found sanctuary.

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the people became rebellious, and the god Atum said he would return the earth to it's primordial waters, which was it's original state.

The Celtics tell tales that the heavens and the earth were actual giants, and that in a quarrel the giant of the heavens spilt it's blood. It's blood became like rain from the sky, flooding the land and all humans died except for one pair who were saved by a beneficent Titan (or god) who helped them create a ship to survive.

In China, the Supreme Sovereign ordered the water god Gong Gong to create a flood as punishment and warning for human misbehavior. Gong Gong extended the flood 22 years and people had to live in high mountain caves, fighting with wild animals for resources.

In old Victorian mythology (Victoria, being the second most populous state in Australia), Bunjil, the creator, was angry with people because of the evil they did, so he flooded the earth by urinating on it. Only a few did he spare from death, and fixed them as stars in the night sky. One couple climbed up a tree on the top of a mountain and survived. All life came from them.

In ancient Hawaiian mythology, it is said that Nuu was of the thirteenth generation of man. The gods commanded Nuu to build an ark and carry on it his wife, three sons, and males and females of all living things. Waters covered the earth. They subsided to leave the ark on a mountain overlooking a beautiful valley. The gods entered the ark and told Nuu to go forth with all the life it carried. In gratitude for his deliverance, Nuu offered a sacrifice of pig, coconuts, and awa to the moon, which he thought was the god Kane. Kane descended on a rainbow to reproach Nuu for his mistake but left the rainbow as a perpetual sign of his forgiveness.

An Alaskan tribe, Tinneh, tells that the flood was caused by a heavy snowfall. One man foresaw the flood, and warned his tribe, but in vain, as the flood trapped their mountain escape. The one man survived in a canoe he had built, and picked up animals from the water as he floated along.

Now after giving you just a few examples of flood myths out there, from around the world, not only by countries in connection with each other, but by others oceans apart and centuries in between, I'm at a loss as to how to continue. All of these stories are so incredibly similar to the one told in the ancient Hebrew book of Genesis (or in Hebrew the book would be called B'reishit), that you either have to convince yourself that what I'm telling you is completely coincidental (and probably false), or you have to accept the fact that there is undeniable proof that a great deluge did indeed happen. I did leave out major details in the story of the great flood yesterday, which I am very sorry about and plan to rectify now. You see, Noah sent a dove out to search for land and it came back with a twig in it's mouth, giving Noah a sign that the water was descending. They landed on a mountain, Mount Ararat, where God unsealed the door to the ark and let them come out. That day, as Bible record tells us, introduced the first rainbow, which symbolized God's promise that he will never send a flood to destroy mankind again. This was very similar to the one tale from Hawaii, about the rainbow, and also his name Nuu is very similar to Noah.

There were a few very distinct points that stuck out between all these stories. One included that it was a God or gods that were very angry at the first race of humans. Another was that of the animals included in the tale. Another was the mountain they landed on. The rainbow. The fact that they tried to warn other humans, but no one listened. Sometimes the name of the person was the same, or very similar. But these stories are from the ancient histories of all corners of the world. If this account, that tells that all humans descended from this man and his family who survived a great flood, were not true in some sense, then how could it be possible that nearly every walk of life has it's roots in the same mythology?

Whether you believe that it was by God's hand or not, there is abundant real-world proof that this great flood of "Noah's day" did actually occur. For instance, on many peeks of mountains today, there has been found fossils of seashells and other marine life. What do you think? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

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For a full list (or a list that is definitely full) of other flood myths around the world, please visit here. I only spoke of about 8 or 9 different tales and myths today, but I can assure you that the link above has literally hundreds more, from all nations and tribes.

(EDIT) Just to be clear, the reason I waited to post the blog until today, November 1st, is because this is the month that the great flood supposedly took place, according to Mosaic account. The seventeenth day of the second month, the month nearly corresponding with our November. Also, it ties in well with the theme I've had for the entire week, about the origins of Halloween.

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