CampNano June: B is for Beginnings

Day Two of Applied A-Z World Building: B is for Beginnings

Despite being the second post on the same day, this is actually from two separate days. It's just that VirginMedia tried to up my productivity by shutting down my internet.

So having struggled yesterday with the quandary of how to build an academic system for a world that doesn't exist, I was glad to see today's topic turn up. B for Beginnings, I could use some beginnings and some nice baby-steps. Unfortunately for me, B is for the Beginning of my as-yet-anaemic universe rather than for myself.

Perhaps fortunately RE in Secondary School gave me a good grounding in creating Creation myths for imaginary societies though mine usually ended up bloody enough to put me in the category for either future psychopath or writer. The jury is still out on which one I'll end up at.

Here I must admit I have cheated a little bit if only by accident. The aforementioned lack of internet led me to falsely believe that A was for Animals and I have done a little world-building around that aspect. That is relevant because the central concept I came up with was that all animals are sacred animals. This was highly fortunate when it came to creating my Creation Myth because it gave me a place to start.

As creation stories in society go, the Judeo-Christian story has to be one of the more boring. World in seven days, yada yada, Eden, yada yada. Compared with the Aboriginal creation story of being dreamed into existance or the exotic Discworld Elephants all the way down, there isn't much to it which is why it was odd to me that why I started my Creation myth it ended up with parallels to the Garden of Eden.

My race, let's call them humans for the sake of not making up any unnecessary word, once led the same life of bliss as animals. They ate animals and were eaten by animals. In a moment of rage though, a mother took vengeance upon a goat who butted her daughter into the river and slaughtered the goat. This act was enough to bring the wrath of the Gods who felt such an act was betraying their principals. It was only the mediating middle child's interference that prevented the abolition of the human race.

See, you can't even do a simple creation myth without Gods butting their heads in. The human race was punished with knowledge in the same way as Adam and Eve, forbidden from consuming the flesh of the animals and forbidden the simple existance of not acknowledging sin.

I'm pretty sure my current Creation myth won't stand the test of time when it comes to future world building but it's given me some good ideas in relation to my pantheon and to those who will be outcast in society (The meat-eaters!).

Roll on C!