In mythology,
the world and its many cyclic processes exist in delicate equilibrium
that requires constant effort to maintain. Within this balance
also existed various processes that were ongoing since the beginning
of time. Such is the fragility of creation, which would be easily
shattered by the imbalance of any one force, usually as a case
of inevitability.
As such,
most cultures accounted for the end of the world, which lay
at the end of an indefinite period of time, waiting for the
trigger to be pulled to finally result in the end of the world.
However varied enough as the possibilities may be, the myths
of destruction around the world are strikingly similar.
One major
idea with regards to the destruction of the world lay with the
cosmic architecture that was not able to sustain itself forever,
and that would sooner or later collapse when an important section
of the world gave way. The Australian Aborigines believed that
the sky was held up by four pillars, and that sooner or later
one of the pillars would become too weak to hold the weight
of the sky anymore, and would give way, causing the sky to fall
upon the world, ending it instantly.
Conversely,
the Cherokee people of America believed that the earth was held
above the sea by four suspensions from the sky. When one of
these four suspensions finally rotted, the earth would fall
into the sea, wiping out the whole world. Also from North America,
the Cheyenne people believed that a beaver gnawed at the single
beam that supported the world. When the beaver finally succeeded
in severing the link, the earth would fall and be destroyed.
Besides
just ideas of fractures within the cosmic architecture, many
mythologies also talked of times when certain elements would
run out, causing an adverse effect upon the world, causing it
to eventually end. This is the case in West African mythology
that believed in the presence of a huge serpent known as the
rainbow serpent. This serpent held together the world, and was
fed iron bars to keep it from biting its own tail. However,
sooner or later the bars would run out. When that happens, the
serpent would bite its own tail and devour itself, causing the
world to fold upon itself.
Lastly,
another example comes from American mythology and the Tsimshian
people. These people believed that one day, the person who holds
up the pole holding up the Earth, would run out of energy and
cause the world to fall as he dies from the strain.
The other
sort of apocalypse comes about when the balance in the forces
in the world is upset. This is so in Norse mythology. Although
the destruction of the world still involved the decay of some
element holding together the world, this apocalypse included
the idea of giants overcoming the gods. This seemed to play
a more important role in the destruction of the world. To understand
the end of the world, or Ragnarok as the Norse called it, it
would be good to read the story of Ragnarok itself. To summarize,
Ragnarok basically referred to the time when the giants would
finally rise against the gods, and where all the main gods were
killed. The world would finally be consumed in fire.
This idea
is similar to Egyptian destruction, although the Egyptians made
it a lot simpler. The sun god Ra was believed to walk through
the underworld each day where he would be attacked by the serpent
Apep, but would successfully slay the serpent every night. However,
the Egyptians believed in a time when the god would be too old
to fight the serpent, and would finally fall to it. Without
the sun god, all creation would come to a bitter end.
Of course
many mythologies do not provide an absolute end of the world.
This is especially so in cultures that believed in cyclic processes
of creation and destruction. This idea is largely talked about
in creation itself, but to mention it again, this can be seen
in mythologies such as Indian mythology and Aztec mythology.
Indian mythology
believed that the many ages of the world was accompanied by
the waking and sleeping of the creator. The creator destroyed
the world before he slept, only to recreate it the next morning.
However, each day in the life of the creator lasted several
million years. Within each day in the life of the creator also
came many other destructions and rebirths of the world, which
is further elaborated in Indian Cosmology. The Aztecs believed
that there had been four previous worlds before this one, each
with its own creation and destruction. They believed that it
was a matter of time before the end to this world came too.
Once again,
as in the discussion of Creation, it would be interesting to
bring in the idea of the Big Crunch, which essentially is the
opposite of the Big Bang, which created the entire universe
and the cosmos. The Big Crush refers to the time when the various
masses in space eventually pulled themselves, by way of gravitational
forces, back into a single point mass. This idea is very similar
to that of the collapse of the cosmic architecture. However,
as scientists predicted, and as the ancient people prophesized,
such destruction is a far throw from reality and could occur
at the end of an indefinite period of time.
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