2025-08-17 14:35

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TAGS: religion, Evil, Animist Refugees, animism

Animist Creation Myth

The First Song

In the beginning, there was the One Force, a single thought now known as Life. From that thought, the spirits were born, and the world was formed by fire and ice. The ice melted to become oceans, and the fire hardened to land. And from the blackest blue, the first song reverberated through the waters, creating the sacred fish Atu. She joined in, and as she broke through the waves, her soft voice created the clouds. And thunder gave rhythm to song, and rain fell onto the land, creating the rivers and lakes, forests, and plains.

When Atu reached the rugged shores, she created Kara, the sacred bird of knowing. As Kara opened her eyes and flapped her wings, storms roared over the land, bending the trees and whipping the waves. And the Earth knew how to make life from song. And from the black, fertile soils, animals and humans emerged.

When Earth’s children turned to the sky, Kara's feathers swirled down with the winds and touched the world with knowledge. But only among humans landed a single large feather from Kara's wing, shimmering in the light of the rising sun. And when they touched it, they fell into open-eyed dream and saw worlds beyond their vision, where past, present, and future existed at once.

And the wind carried Kara's words into their minds and hearts:

"*Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.
Fear leads to anger, and anger to hate.
Don't be afraid of this world.

*Seek our council on mountains and plains
sing to the forests, to rivers and lakes.

Together we will safeguard mystery,
the source of imagination." (Atu's song revealed later)

Humanity heeded Kara's words, and from generation to generation, they passed down the power of open-eyed dream through stories and songs of the world. And the spirits walked among them, and there was no fear of death, for the world was one.

When humans put the feather to paper, they discovered the power of history. Many of them forgot their dreams and began to turn to their own reflection and soon believed to be everything. They built cities so large, each of them was believed to be forever. They hunted the children of Atu and Kara for indulgence and so upset the balance.

Atu's tears became thunderous waves, and Kara's rage howled over the Earth, and as the spirits' song became vengeful, fire and ice returned and swallowed their cities. The Earth trembled, rivers changed course, and the land was parched. A great famine befell the survivors.

Only those who had not forgotten the songs and melodies were able to soothe the spirits' rage. They understood that the world would always mirror their intent. And so they built places meant for all life, where humans and spirits and all children of Atu and Kara found a home.

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