What the creation myths give us is a culture’s basic thoughts about how the world was initially created. Today it may seem scientifically naïve but the stories do give us a strong sense of the culture and an indication of where they will return again at any further time of chaos or threatened disillusion. They are, we hypothesise, where a culture goes when troubled and for that reason are very important stories.
We intent to hold these creation myths up against the world view that emerges in the Mythological Cycle as articulated in the story of Cesair and Fintan and the subsequent Invasion. The thought being that having experienced these other cultures Cessair had the benefit of comparison. She had, in essence, options to choose from. This comparative perspective, is, we have suggested, the ‘first wisdom” of the Irish. It also highlights why the world view of the early Irish is so unique and valuable…. Today.
Our Eight Week Experience in the unique Irish Mythology through Oral Myth Telling, Group Discussion and exploring contemporary relevance
| Tuesdays PM 7 to 9 pm Irish time | Myths we will be working with | |
| 7th Sept | The Nature of Creation Myths and the Christian Myths of Origins. Two very familiar creation myths of the Christian World And a very different concept of “God” | God Creates the World in 7 days Adam and Eve |
| 14th Sept | Mesopotamian Creation Myth: Very important creation myth from Babylon in which Marduk kills and dismembers Tiamat | Enuma Elish |
| 21st Sept | Greek Creation Myths and Hesiod The world is creation out of Chaos, then Gaia and Uranus appears…. Also the Titans and Olympians | The Titans and the Olympians |
| 28th Sept | Egyptian Creation Myths: Osiris killed by Seth but Osiris with the help of Horus resurrects the dead king | Isis and Osiris |
| 5th Oct | Flood Myths: Babylonian and Hebrew We are very familiar with the Hebrew, Noah’s Ark flood myth, but there are precedents such as the Babylonian and Egyptian stories | Noah’s Ark and the Babylonian Flood Myth |
| 12th Oct | Epic of Gilgamesh The epic of Gilgamesh is not a creation myth but the earliest hero myth. We can compare Creation, myths of Gods and Goddesses and Hero Myths through this Myth | The Epic of Gilgamesh |
| 19th Oct | Re Tellings: What Cesair knew and what was her choice? An overview of the four foundational creation myths and the consequences in terms of world view and behavior in crisis | Group work on their own re-tellings |
| 26th Oct | Final Re Tellings and Reflections on the Immersion | Group reflections and review |
