Each of
these totemic groups preserves a creation myth, carrying in its details
special reference to themselves; but all of them claim a common origin
in the interior of the earth, although the place of emergence to the
surface is set in widely separated localities. They all agree in
maintaining this to be the fourth plane on which mankind has existed. In
the beginning all men lived together in the lowest depths, in a region
of darkness and moisture; their bodies were misshaped and horrible, and
they suffered great misery, moaning and bewailing continually. Through
the intervention of My?ingwa (a vague conception known as the god of the
interior) and of Baholikonga (a crested serpent of enormous size, the
genius of water), the "old men" obtained a seed from which sprang a
magic growth of cane. It penetrated through a crevice in the roof
overhead and mankind climbed to a higher plane. A dim light appeared in
this stage and vegetation was produced. Another magic growth of cane
afforded the means of rising to a still higher plane on which the light
was brighter; vegetation was reproduced and the animal kingdom was
created. The final ascent to this present, or fourth plane, was effected
by similar magic growths and was led by mythic twins, according to some
of the myths, by climbing a great pine tree, in others by climbing the
cane, _Phragmites communis_, the alternate leaves of which afforded
steps as of a ladder, and in still others it is said to have been a
rush, through the interior of which the people passed up to the surface.
Pages:
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33