Compare the creations myths of Australia/Pacifica with those of China/Japan or North America (choose only one group).  In what ways are they similar?  How are they different?  What about the culture and context of India might explain these differences?          

             The geographic settings of Australia and Pacifica are unique among most of the areas covered in Primal Myths due to their being exclusively island nations. Although the land areas vary to a great degree- from Australia's continent-sized expanse to very tiny atolls such as the Marshall Islands- they are all surrounded by ocean. In many cases the societies of the smaller islands were very isolated, and as Darwin's evolution observations noted at places like the Galapagos Islands- isolation breeds some strange flora and fauna. And it can also inspire some singular creation stories and archetypal figures.

            One common theme in the myths of Australia's aboriginal people was fertility, which indicates that it must have been a major concern. In the Wulamba's “The Origin of the Aborigines” there is great attention and detail given to the genitalia of the Djanggawul- eternal beings (a brother and two sisters) who came from the sea and traveled through the lands to populate it. Apparently these aborigines had made the connection of the sex act to pregnancy and birth. The exaggerated sizes of male and female sex organs in the account; in both genders they “dragged upon the ground as they walked” (Sproul 316) – these might be interpreted as idealized symbols of the virility and fertility they needed for survival of the colonies. Again from the Kakadu tribe's “Imberombera and Wuraka”, we find that the latter “carried his penis... over his shoulder” (323) and that Imberombera “had a huge stomach in which she carried many children” (324). When creating gods, hyperbole is one of the most common methods employed. Bigger and stronger is always better. And for the aboriginal peoples on this very large island, these gods/heroes were also very well traveled and prolific.

            For the many cultures of Pacifica, or Oceania- the many smaller islands; and also with New Zealand and the Maori, the creation myths grow more and more diversified, and very singular in their symbolism. The ocean is quite naturally prominent in many, as is the sky. On small islands, one would view awesome vistas of both, to the point that they could be overwhelming. From both the Banks Island's “The Myth of Qat” (332-3) and Maiana Island's “Making Things” (336) comes the idea of gods who float in the clouds above the sea. And in almost all the islands there is either a singular god or sometimes a pair at most (male and female in the latter case) that serve as creators. This is about as much common ground as can be found among these many different isolated societies.

            An interesting area to compare/contrast Australia/Pacifica with is North America. Many creation myths there also involve a watery void as the primordial state of things (and this can be said of the majority of world creation stories) – but one doesn't find the sexual explicitness and exaggeration of Australia. Fertility was not as much an issue apparently, perhaps due to better resources and climate. Animals seemed to play larger roles in North America compared to Australia or Pacifica.

            Was there a common vision among the two areas? I don't think that claim can be made, even within the many sub-divisions of either. Australia and Oceania served as a fitting ending to Sproul's work, reinforcing the fact that the world's creation stories are intriguing, and often bizarre. And as multi-faceted and varied as its many different terrains, climates, flora, fauna, and peoples.

Primal Myths: Creation Myths Around the World. Comp. Barbara C. Sproul. New

            York: Harper One, Harper Collins. 1991. Print.