phases of the moon
It takes one month for the moon to cycle through all eight lunar phases and the cycle always starts with the New Moon, which is the phase during which the moon is directly between the earth and the sun so it is not lit and appears completely dark. Once a full moon appears, the “waxing” (or growing) phase is complete and the “waning” (or shrinking) phase will start. In the Northern Hemisphere during the waxing phase, the moon is always lit on the right side and when waning, it is lit on the left. Half moons are referred to as the first quarter and the last quarter because the moon is one quarter of the way through a complete cycle at the first half moon and three quarters of the way through a complete cycle during the second half moon. I have always been inspired by myths, folklore and legends from around the world; I really enjoy reading different cultural interpretations of a similar theme. With the phases of the moon as inspiration I decided to research lunar myths and folklore from around the world and these are the illustrated “lunar vignettes” of some of my favourite legends that I came across.The write-ups go in clockwise order, starting from the new moon which is at the bottom in the middle.
Please keep in mind that these myths have many different versions and I have chosen the versions that inspired me the most. Also, the synopses are written to the best of my knowledge. I am not an expert on historical myths, just an enthusiast. Please take my renditions with a grain of salt, and you can peruse the links I have provided (or do your own searches if you are so inclined) for more complete re-tellings. Enjoy!
1) NEW MOON: Story of Ganesha and the Moon from Hindu Mythology
I came across more than one version of this story but this is the one I like the most. The legend tells the tale of how the phases of the moon came to be, at a time when the moon was said to be perpetually full. Ganesha had a serious sweet tooth and after a particularly intense dessert binge at a party, he was on his way home but stumbled, fell and dropped his remaining sweets on the ground. Chandra Deva, the god of the moon, saw this scene and laughed uproariously which caused an insulted and angry Ganesha to curse Chandra Deva (and therefore the moon) to disappear from the sky. Chandra Deva was distraught and begged Ganesha to reconsider the consequence. Ganesha took pity on him and came up with a compromise: the moon would slowly decrease in size throughout the month until there was only one day that the sky was moon-less (this is the new moon phase). After that, it would slowly grow in size until it was full again, and this cycle would repeat forever. So, Voila! Waxing and waning explained! Although I came across versions that maintained that Daksha was instead the one who cursed the moon, I really enjoyed the above tale and I wanted to illustrate the elephantine Ganesha.
ILLUSTRATION: shows the head of Ganesha, the image is dark to represent the new moon phase and the other seven phases are represented beside him
Online versions of this tale:
https://mythologyandvaishbhat.wordpress.com/2020/08/21/ganesha-his-tusk-and-the-moon/
https://hindumythologyforgennext.blogspot.com/2012/01/ganesha-and-moon.html
2) WAXING CRESCENT: The story of Iae and Kuat an Amazonian myth
A long time ago, the sky was covered by so many flying birds that there was no light at all. The bird king, a vulture named Urbutsin, kept all of the earth’s light for himself. Two brothers, Iae and Kuat, grew tired of this situation and feared for the safety of their people because perpetual darkness left them vulnerable to attack. They decided to trap Urubutsin and force him to address the problem. After luring the bird king by hiding in an animal carcass, the three of them came to an agreement: Urubutsin would have to share the light. The sun would be present during the day and the moon at night, so the world would always be illuminated, even at night. Kuat became the sun, Iae became the moon and, to be honest, I’m not sure what became of the millions of birds (although all of the feathers on Urubutsin’s head were pulled out during the entrapment, which is why vultures are bald, apparently).
ILLUSTRATION: My version of what the ancient bird covered sky might have looked like - an interlocking pattern of dark birds makes up the dark side of the moon and an illuminated feather represents the light crescent
3) FIRST QUARTER: The story of “Chasing Wolves” from Norse mythology
Skoll and Hati were 2 wolves that forever chased the sun and the moon through the sky and would do so until they finally caught and consumed them at Ragnarok (which is basically the catastrophic end of days in Norse folklore). Skoll chased the sun by day and Hati chased the moon at night. According to some legends, an eclipse happens when one of them has temporarily caught their prize - a solar eclipse happens when Skoll catches up with the sun and a lunar eclipse occurs when Hati briefly catches the moon.
ILLUSTRATION: Skoll and Hati are depicted, each on one half of the moon. Skoll is pictured on the right, illuminated side representing daytime with the object of his desire, the sun, in the background. Hati is on the left, darker side representing night with the moon behind him
You can read more about Skoll and Hati here:
https://mythcrafts.com/2017/08/17/norse-eclipse-mythology-skoll-and-hati/
4) WAXING GIBBOUS: The tale of Rona from New Zealand
This myth originated in New Zealand and tells the tale of a young girl named Rona who was out at night to fetch water. It was very dark and she couldn't see where she was going because the moon had slipped behind some clouds. She tripped and angrily cursed the moon for not providing enough light. The moon goddess heard Rona and was not impressed; after all, it wasn’t her fault that clouds were in the way. Her reaction may have been a little harsh, however - she snatched Rona and the vessel she was using to collect water and lifted her up to the moon. As Rona was being dragged up to the moon she grabbed a ngaio tree branch and held it so tightly that she pulled the whole tree along with her. Now Rona, her water vessel and the ngaio tree are forever trapped in the moon.
ILLUSTRATION: depicts the lone girl, Rona, on the moon leaning on her water vessel under the branches and flowers of the ngaio tree
https://pantheon.org/articles/r/rona2.html
5) FULL MOON: Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit (Chinese myth)
The rabbit appears in numerous moon myths around the globe, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Aztec and Buddhist as well as in many other cultures. In fact, when I was learning about myths associated with the moon, the symbol of the rabbit came up more than any other, which is why I decided to illustrate it in a position of prominence as the full moon. As with many myths, the story of Chang’e has different variants but I particularly liked this version: A long time ago, 10 suns existed and their heat and light made life on earth unbearable. Equipped with enchanted arrows from the Jade emperor, the archer Hou-Yi shot down all but one of the suns, changing the world and making it not only liveable but also beautiful. As a reward for his efforts, the Jade Emperor gave Hou-Yi the Elixir of Immortality. As the years went on Hou-Yi became a tyrannical ruler and his wife Chang’e decided to drink the elixir because she feared what would happen if he drank it (or if it fell into the hands of the wrong people). As soon as she did, she rose up to the moon and became the moon goddess - completely alone except for her only companion, the Jade Rabbit who was given to her by the Emperor to keep her company. The rabbit works tirelessly at a mortar and pestle trying to make more of the Elixir of Immortality. Chang’e’s ascension is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month during the Mid-Autumn Festival
ILLUSTRATION: Since, according to many Chang’e stories, the poor rabbit never gets a break from the mortar and pestle, I decided to depict him in a rare moment of slumber. A napping curled up rabbit represents the entirely illuminated full moon, the herbs and flowers by its feet waiting to be put into the mortar when he awakens
Watch a summary of the Chang’e myth here:
The Story of Chang'e and Hou Yi - Chinese Mythology
6) WANING GIBBOUS: The Man on the Moon, Western mythology
The story of the man on the moon has endured for centuries and most likely stemmed from pareidolia or the tendency for the brain to transform unknown shapes to familiar objects. In this case, causing the craters which create shadows on the surface of the moon to look like a man or a face. There are many tales which are associated with the man on the moon and they often center around the moon acting as a prison where a man was sent to be jailed for wrongdoings. Ancient Roman stories tell of a man who stole sheep being banished to the moon, while another tale mentions that he was sentenced to lunar banishment for stealing a cabbage, or for putting thorns on the path leading to church to deter worshippers from attending mass. Yet another variant is that a man was caught gathering sticks for firewood on Sunday (the sabbath), a day that was strictly intended for rest. He was banished to the moon with his sticks on his back because he collected wood on a day that work is prohibited.
ILLUSTRATION: a man with sticks on his back is depicted on the left side, as are the aforementioned sheep, cabbage and thorns. On the right side, I chose to depict the face of a man in profile as the crescent; familiar iconography that is associated with the man on the moon
You can read more about the man on the moon myth here:
https://yalebooks.co.uk/man-in-the-moon-a-european-folktale/#:~:text=In%20various%20medieval%20stories%20inspired,The%20Man%20in%20the%20Moon'.
More interesting man on the moon facts and other mythical moon info:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/who-is-the-man-in-the-moon#:~:text=Behind%20the%20Myth-,The%20Man%20(in%20the%20Moon)%2C%20the%20Myth%2C%20the,With%20supping%20cold%20pease%20porridge.%E2%80%9D
7) LAST QUARTER: “Raven Steals the Light” tale of North American Indigenous origin
Some indigenous legends tell of how a raven stole the sun, moon and stars from a chief who kept them trapped and hidden in a box. The raven, who was originally white, escaped through a “smoke hole” of the chief’s house and the soot that clung to him during his escape turned his feathers black. The raven placed the sun, moon and stars in the sky to light the earth
ILLUSTRATION: A raven in flight (perhaps flying through a smoke hole) is seen with the sun above him and the waxing and waning crescent moons and stars beside him. In honour of the story I chose to illustrate the raven as half white (how he was before the theft) and half dark (the colour of his feathers after the smoke hole)
See some indigenous raven stories here:
https://spiritsofthewestcoast.com/collections/the-raven-symbol?srsltid=AfmBOoqZGNuxi4hIwMsiRpnP225tI0wliamLnQnG5-x8-qXI4v0FU897
And watch another version of how the raven stole the light here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qdT2tjWI-E&t=1s
7) WANING CRESCENT: Ilmatar from Finnish mythology (and the Kalevala Epic)
Ilmatar was an air spirit in Finnish mythology. Her myth starts as follows: “In the beginning, there was only Ilmatar” which, in my opinion, is a pretty amazing intro that kind of sounds like lyrics to a metal song. But moving right along…… Eventually there was only Ilmatar and water and she floated around endlessly looking for land. At some point another deity (I guess there was more than “only Ilamatar” at this point) sent a duck her way who needed to find solid ground on which to lay her eggs. Ilmatar gave the duck her knee and the bird laid cosmic eggs, one of which was made of iron. The duck then rested in Ilmatar’s lap on top of her eggs. Eventually Ilmatar needed to stretch her legs and as she moved, the eggs fell off and broke in the sea creating the universe. The egg whites became the moon, the yolks turned into the sun, the bits of broken shell turned into stars and the iron egg became thunderclouds.
ILLUSTRATION: The spirit Ilmatar is pictured in shadow on the dark side of the moon. On her knee is one of the duck eggs while a broken one is at her feet with the whites heading up to the sky to form the moon, the yolks forming the sun in the crescent on the left and the shell fragments turning into stars
From:
https://www.almanac.com/myths-about-moon
Another version:
https://www.godchecker.com/finnish-mythology/ILMATAR/
And another::
https://terrarubrae.wordpress.com/2017/08/25/finnish-goddess-ilmatar/
Other interesting reads:
While I was researching moon myths I came across this piece featuring 8 moon myths as well. I didn’t use all of the myths from this article but some of the above tales are also mentioned here and there are a few other ones to learn about as well:
https://armaghplanet.com/around-the-world-in-eight-moon-myths.html
More lunar mythology info:
https://www.mythfolks.com/moon-folklore
Find the names for each month’s full moon here
https://www.almanac.com/kids/names-full-moons-each-month
And a quick link to a “find my phase” in Toronto:
https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/canada/toronto
The continents that make up the Earth in my phases of the moon piece are represented by different origin myths that correspond to that region of the world.
NORTH AMERICA: This continent features the story of Turtle Island. After a great flood, the surviving animals attempted to put mud from underwater on the back of a turtle to create land. The only animal that succeeded was the muskrat, although he died while trying. Life could start anew on the shell of the turtle due to the muskrat’s sacrifice. In another version, birds placed “Sky Woman" on the turtle's back and created North America.
ILLUSTRATION: includes the turtle, the Muskrat and the birds from the “Sky Woman” version of the tale
Read the stories here:
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/turtle-island
Greenland features an orca that represents the tragic Inuit story of Sedna the Sea Mother whose severed fingers turned into the creatures of the sea
Read it here:
https://teaandbannock.com/2018/09/16/the-story-of-sedna/
Or watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLGiCJAe-aU&t=243s
Meso-America (now Central America) features corn in honour of the Maize People myth which asserts that Mayan gods tried to sculpt people out of clay and then wood but neither attempt resulted in good beings. Finally, they made people out of maize and were successful
https://mindlybiz.com/knowledge/the-maya-creation-myth/
South America is represented by Cai Cai and Ten Ten, two serpents from Argentinian myth who created the mountains of Chile
ILLUSTRATION: the two serpents are shown entwined in battle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_Trentren_Vilu_and_Caicai_Vilu
Europe illustrates the Norse myth of Ymir and the Cow. According to legend, a long time ago there was only a void, then fire met ice and created a great mist from which a giant named Ymir and a primeval cow arose. The cow licked icy rocks and until Buri, the grandfather of the gods ( including Odin) emerged. The descendants of the unearthed gods eventually killed the giant Ymir and used his body to build the world.
ILLUSTRATION shows the primeval cow, the fire and the steam
Read the story here:
https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/giants/ymir/
Or watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVy4R343NuU
Africa is made up of the Nigerian Yoruba tribe’s creation story. In Nigerian myth, the god Obatala was in charge of creating land. He descended from heaven by climbing down a golden chain and used a palm nut, a black cat, a snail shell filled with dirt, and a white hen to build the earth (whatever was handy at the time, I guess?)
ILLUSTRATION depicts the palm nut, the hen, the snail shell and the cat
https://www.gateway-africa.com/stories/Yoruba_Creation_Myth.html
Please keep in mind that these myths have many different versions and I have chosen the versions that inspired me the most. Also, the synopses are written to the best of my knowledge. I am not an expert on historical myths, just an enthusiast. Please take my renditions with a grain of salt, and you can peruse the links I have provided (or do your own searches if you are so inclined) for more complete re-tellings. Enjoy!
1) NEW MOON: Story of Ganesha and the Moon from Hindu Mythology
I came across more than one version of this story but this is the one I like the most. The legend tells the tale of how the phases of the moon came to be, at a time when the moon was said to be perpetually full. Ganesha had a serious sweet tooth and after a particularly intense dessert binge at a party, he was on his way home but stumbled, fell and dropped his remaining sweets on the ground. Chandra Deva, the god of the moon, saw this scene and laughed uproariously which caused an insulted and angry Ganesha to curse Chandra Deva (and therefore the moon) to disappear from the sky. Chandra Deva was distraught and begged Ganesha to reconsider the consequence. Ganesha took pity on him and came up with a compromise: the moon would slowly decrease in size throughout the month until there was only one day that the sky was moon-less (this is the new moon phase). After that, it would slowly grow in size until it was full again, and this cycle would repeat forever. So, Voila! Waxing and waning explained! Although I came across versions that maintained that Daksha was instead the one who cursed the moon, I really enjoyed the above tale and I wanted to illustrate the elephantine Ganesha.
ILLUSTRATION: shows the head of Ganesha, the image is dark to represent the new moon phase and the other seven phases are represented beside him
Online versions of this tale:
https://mythologyandvaishbhat.wordpress.com/2020/08/21/ganesha-his-tusk-and-the-moon/
https://hindumythologyforgennext.blogspot.com/2012/01/ganesha-and-moon.html
2) WAXING CRESCENT: The story of Iae and Kuat an Amazonian myth
A long time ago, the sky was covered by so many flying birds that there was no light at all. The bird king, a vulture named Urbutsin, kept all of the earth’s light for himself. Two brothers, Iae and Kuat, grew tired of this situation and feared for the safety of their people because perpetual darkness left them vulnerable to attack. They decided to trap Urubutsin and force him to address the problem. After luring the bird king by hiding in an animal carcass, the three of them came to an agreement: Urubutsin would have to share the light. The sun would be present during the day and the moon at night, so the world would always be illuminated, even at night. Kuat became the sun, Iae became the moon and, to be honest, I’m not sure what became of the millions of birds (although all of the feathers on Urubutsin’s head were pulled out during the entrapment, which is why vultures are bald, apparently).
ILLUSTRATION: My version of what the ancient bird covered sky might have looked like - an interlocking pattern of dark birds makes up the dark side of the moon and an illuminated feather represents the light crescent
3) FIRST QUARTER: The story of “Chasing Wolves” from Norse mythology
Skoll and Hati were 2 wolves that forever chased the sun and the moon through the sky and would do so until they finally caught and consumed them at Ragnarok (which is basically the catastrophic end of days in Norse folklore). Skoll chased the sun by day and Hati chased the moon at night. According to some legends, an eclipse happens when one of them has temporarily caught their prize - a solar eclipse happens when Skoll catches up with the sun and a lunar eclipse occurs when Hati briefly catches the moon.
ILLUSTRATION: Skoll and Hati are depicted, each on one half of the moon. Skoll is pictured on the right, illuminated side representing daytime with the object of his desire, the sun, in the background. Hati is on the left, darker side representing night with the moon behind him
You can read more about Skoll and Hati here:
https://mythcrafts.com/2017/08/17/norse-eclipse-mythology-skoll-and-hati/
4) WAXING GIBBOUS: The tale of Rona from New Zealand
This myth originated in New Zealand and tells the tale of a young girl named Rona who was out at night to fetch water. It was very dark and she couldn't see where she was going because the moon had slipped behind some clouds. She tripped and angrily cursed the moon for not providing enough light. The moon goddess heard Rona and was not impressed; after all, it wasn’t her fault that clouds were in the way. Her reaction may have been a little harsh, however - she snatched Rona and the vessel she was using to collect water and lifted her up to the moon. As Rona was being dragged up to the moon she grabbed a ngaio tree branch and held it so tightly that she pulled the whole tree along with her. Now Rona, her water vessel and the ngaio tree are forever trapped in the moon.
ILLUSTRATION: depicts the lone girl, Rona, on the moon leaning on her water vessel under the branches and flowers of the ngaio tree
https://pantheon.org/articles/r/rona2.html
5) FULL MOON: Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit (Chinese myth)
The rabbit appears in numerous moon myths around the globe, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Aztec and Buddhist as well as in many other cultures. In fact, when I was learning about myths associated with the moon, the symbol of the rabbit came up more than any other, which is why I decided to illustrate it in a position of prominence as the full moon. As with many myths, the story of Chang’e has different variants but I particularly liked this version: A long time ago, 10 suns existed and their heat and light made life on earth unbearable. Equipped with enchanted arrows from the Jade emperor, the archer Hou-Yi shot down all but one of the suns, changing the world and making it not only liveable but also beautiful. As a reward for his efforts, the Jade Emperor gave Hou-Yi the Elixir of Immortality. As the years went on Hou-Yi became a tyrannical ruler and his wife Chang’e decided to drink the elixir because she feared what would happen if he drank it (or if it fell into the hands of the wrong people). As soon as she did, she rose up to the moon and became the moon goddess - completely alone except for her only companion, the Jade Rabbit who was given to her by the Emperor to keep her company. The rabbit works tirelessly at a mortar and pestle trying to make more of the Elixir of Immortality. Chang’e’s ascension is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month during the Mid-Autumn Festival
ILLUSTRATION: Since, according to many Chang’e stories, the poor rabbit never gets a break from the mortar and pestle, I decided to depict him in a rare moment of slumber. A napping curled up rabbit represents the entirely illuminated full moon, the herbs and flowers by its feet waiting to be put into the mortar when he awakens
Watch a summary of the Chang’e myth here:
The Story of Chang'e and Hou Yi - Chinese Mythology
6) WANING GIBBOUS: The Man on the Moon, Western mythology
The story of the man on the moon has endured for centuries and most likely stemmed from pareidolia or the tendency for the brain to transform unknown shapes to familiar objects. In this case, causing the craters which create shadows on the surface of the moon to look like a man or a face. There are many tales which are associated with the man on the moon and they often center around the moon acting as a prison where a man was sent to be jailed for wrongdoings. Ancient Roman stories tell of a man who stole sheep being banished to the moon, while another tale mentions that he was sentenced to lunar banishment for stealing a cabbage, or for putting thorns on the path leading to church to deter worshippers from attending mass. Yet another variant is that a man was caught gathering sticks for firewood on Sunday (the sabbath), a day that was strictly intended for rest. He was banished to the moon with his sticks on his back because he collected wood on a day that work is prohibited.
ILLUSTRATION: a man with sticks on his back is depicted on the left side, as are the aforementioned sheep, cabbage and thorns. On the right side, I chose to depict the face of a man in profile as the crescent; familiar iconography that is associated with the man on the moon
You can read more about the man on the moon myth here:
https://yalebooks.co.uk/man-in-the-moon-a-european-folktale/#:~:text=In%20various%20medieval%20stories%20inspired,The%20Man%20in%20the%20Moon'.
More interesting man on the moon facts and other mythical moon info:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/who-is-the-man-in-the-moon#:~:text=Behind%20the%20Myth-,The%20Man%20(in%20the%20Moon)%2C%20the%20Myth%2C%20the,With%20supping%20cold%20pease%20porridge.%E2%80%9D
7) LAST QUARTER: “Raven Steals the Light” tale of North American Indigenous origin
Some indigenous legends tell of how a raven stole the sun, moon and stars from a chief who kept them trapped and hidden in a box. The raven, who was originally white, escaped through a “smoke hole” of the chief’s house and the soot that clung to him during his escape turned his feathers black. The raven placed the sun, moon and stars in the sky to light the earth
ILLUSTRATION: A raven in flight (perhaps flying through a smoke hole) is seen with the sun above him and the waxing and waning crescent moons and stars beside him. In honour of the story I chose to illustrate the raven as half white (how he was before the theft) and half dark (the colour of his feathers after the smoke hole)
See some indigenous raven stories here:
https://spiritsofthewestcoast.com/collections/the-raven-symbol?srsltid=AfmBOoqZGNuxi4hIwMsiRpnP225tI0wliamLnQnG5-x8-qXI4v0FU897
And watch another version of how the raven stole the light here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qdT2tjWI-E&t=1s
7) WANING CRESCENT: Ilmatar from Finnish mythology (and the Kalevala Epic)
Ilmatar was an air spirit in Finnish mythology. Her myth starts as follows: “In the beginning, there was only Ilmatar” which, in my opinion, is a pretty amazing intro that kind of sounds like lyrics to a metal song. But moving right along…… Eventually there was only Ilmatar and water and she floated around endlessly looking for land. At some point another deity (I guess there was more than “only Ilamatar” at this point) sent a duck her way who needed to find solid ground on which to lay her eggs. Ilmatar gave the duck her knee and the bird laid cosmic eggs, one of which was made of iron. The duck then rested in Ilmatar’s lap on top of her eggs. Eventually Ilmatar needed to stretch her legs and as she moved, the eggs fell off and broke in the sea creating the universe. The egg whites became the moon, the yolks turned into the sun, the bits of broken shell turned into stars and the iron egg became thunderclouds.
ILLUSTRATION: The spirit Ilmatar is pictured in shadow on the dark side of the moon. On her knee is one of the duck eggs while a broken one is at her feet with the whites heading up to the sky to form the moon, the yolks forming the sun in the crescent on the left and the shell fragments turning into stars
From:
https://www.almanac.com/myths-about-moon
Another version:
https://www.godchecker.com/finnish-mythology/ILMATAR/
And another::
https://terrarubrae.wordpress.com/2017/08/25/finnish-goddess-ilmatar/
Other interesting reads:
While I was researching moon myths I came across this piece featuring 8 moon myths as well. I didn’t use all of the myths from this article but some of the above tales are also mentioned here and there are a few other ones to learn about as well:
https://armaghplanet.com/around-the-world-in-eight-moon-myths.html
More lunar mythology info:
https://www.mythfolks.com/moon-folklore
Find the names for each month’s full moon here
https://www.almanac.com/kids/names-full-moons-each-month
And a quick link to a “find my phase” in Toronto:
https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/canada/toronto
The continents that make up the Earth in my phases of the moon piece are represented by different origin myths that correspond to that region of the world.
NORTH AMERICA: This continent features the story of Turtle Island. After a great flood, the surviving animals attempted to put mud from underwater on the back of a turtle to create land. The only animal that succeeded was the muskrat, although he died while trying. Life could start anew on the shell of the turtle due to the muskrat’s sacrifice. In another version, birds placed “Sky Woman" on the turtle's back and created North America.
ILLUSTRATION: includes the turtle, the Muskrat and the birds from the “Sky Woman” version of the tale
Read the stories here:
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/turtle-island
Greenland features an orca that represents the tragic Inuit story of Sedna the Sea Mother whose severed fingers turned into the creatures of the sea
Read it here:
https://teaandbannock.com/2018/09/16/the-story-of-sedna/
Or watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLGiCJAe-aU&t=243s
Meso-America (now Central America) features corn in honour of the Maize People myth which asserts that Mayan gods tried to sculpt people out of clay and then wood but neither attempt resulted in good beings. Finally, they made people out of maize and were successful
https://mindlybiz.com/knowledge/the-maya-creation-myth/
South America is represented by Cai Cai and Ten Ten, two serpents from Argentinian myth who created the mountains of Chile
ILLUSTRATION: the two serpents are shown entwined in battle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_Trentren_Vilu_and_Caicai_Vilu
Europe illustrates the Norse myth of Ymir and the Cow. According to legend, a long time ago there was only a void, then fire met ice and created a great mist from which a giant named Ymir and a primeval cow arose. The cow licked icy rocks and until Buri, the grandfather of the gods ( including Odin) emerged. The descendants of the unearthed gods eventually killed the giant Ymir and used his body to build the world.
ILLUSTRATION shows the primeval cow, the fire and the steam
Read the story here:
https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/giants/ymir/
Or watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVy4R343NuU
Africa is made up of the Nigerian Yoruba tribe’s creation story. In Nigerian myth, the god Obatala was in charge of creating land. He descended from heaven by climbing down a golden chain and used a palm nut, a black cat, a snail shell filled with dirt, and a white hen to build the earth (whatever was handy at the time, I guess?)
ILLUSTRATION depicts the palm nut, the hen, the snail shell and the cat
https://www.gateway-africa.com/stories/Yoruba_Creation_Myth.html
