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Two Creation Stories
Creation Story I
Once, there was only One. Caelestis is her name, a name belonging to no one else. She was then, is now, and will be forever more. She is Agape.
Caelestis envisioned the heavens, the sky, the stars in it and they came into being. There was light. She envisioned the world, made of rock and soil, and it came into being. She envisioned the water covering the world, the oceans, rivers, lakes, ice, and it came into being. She envisioned animals, all species of wildness, of dumb creatures, and they came into being. And she was pleased.
But she wanted someone who could know her. So lastly, she envisioned a person, and she came into being. Caelestis told her that her name was Nova. She told Nova that she did and always would Agape her and that she could enjoy the land however she wanted. There was food and goods abundant, a land of plenty. The only thing she forbid her from doing was looking at her reflection. If she happened to see herself in still water, she must look away immediately.
For many days, Nova went about touching and tasting everything, getting to know the land. But Caelestis saw that she was lonely. She saw she needed a partner. So Caelestis envisioned a man and he came into being. She told him his name was Amar. She told Amar that she Agoped him and always would and that he could enjoy the land however he wanted. She told him all of the things she told Nova.
Although Amar and Nova were two, they were one. They were connected, united. They shared Agape between them.
One day, Amar and Nova were eating berries near a gushing stream. Although it ran quickly, the stream had carved out a gully, forming a pool of clear, still water. Amar and Nova had never seen still water before, but they realized that this water was what Caelestis had warned them of. They wondered why she had warned them. The water was so still and clear, so beautiful.
Amar and Nova looked each other in the face every day. They saw that they were beautiful. But Amar wanted to see Nova to see herself. He wanted her to see how beautiful she was.
"Will you go to the pool and look into it?" he asked her. "I want you to see how beautiful you are. I want you to see what I see."
Nova saw that what he asked was wrong, but wanted to make him happy.
She thought for a moment, and answered, "I will do that."
She went to the edge of the pool and looked into the crystal clear water. She saw herself, she saw her reflection, perfect and pure. She could not look away. She asked Amar to join her, to look in the pool himself. He gazed in the pool and saw himself, his reflection, perfect and pure. He could not look away. Although both were looking in the pool, they could not see each other, only their own, individual reflections.
Caelestis saw what they were doing and was saddened. She saw that they had disobeyed her, separated themselves from her. She cried, silent tears of Agape. She knew that Nova and Amar would never be the same.
She called out for them. "Amar, Nova, where are you?" She knew where they were but wanted them to respond.
Her cry drew them from their reverie. They looked at each other, but still could only see themselves, not the other person.
They hid in fear. They no longer only Agaped Caelestis, but feared her. They had not before known fear.
Caelestis called out again for them and they refused to answer.
She called once more, and finally Nova, her first creation, answered.
"We are here," she said, stepping out from behind a bush.
"Why did you hide?" asked Caelestis, although she knew why.
"We were afraid," Amar said, also stepping from behind the bush. "We gazed into the pool. We saw our reflections."
Caelestis cried out again and told them:
"Cursed is the water for you. From now on, it shall be bitter because of your selfishness.
Cursed are you for gazing in it. From now, you shall not each be one. You know yourself now at the expense of knowing the other. You have seen yourself and so can never see the other with unclouded eyes.
Cursed are you for this sickness. You cannot continue to know yourself or your sickness will only grow. So after every change of the seasons, on the season of your birth, you shall change bodies with another. At first, it will only be between you two wretched creatures, but your kin shall one day cover the earth and suffer greatly because of your action. All others shall start when they reach maturity, when they know themselves as you have.
Cursed are your descendants. Because they shall so be separated, they shall never again know the Agape you share."
And so, as people covered the earth, the children of Amar and Nova, their suffering increased every year.
Creation Story II
Before time, there was Multus. Multus is all things, and all things are and of Multus.
Multus created everything out of himself. He took the darkness of his pupils and created the dark skies. He took the brightness of his eyes and created the sun and stars. He took his flesh and formed it into a ball to make the world and the dark, cool soil. He poured his blood out to make the life-giving water. He pulled his hair out to form the forests, fluffy and thick. He breathed out and created the wind. He took his muscles and formed the animals across the earth.
Lastly, he took parts of his heart and fashioned man and woman. And he was finished creating.
The man and woman came together and had many children. Those children had their own children, and soon there were many people. But the people were terrible. They hurt and hated each other.
Many days after creation, the one called Permu, the son of Adeo killed Aliqe, the son of Paren. Aliqe had taken Permu's wife and Permu found them together. He killed both in rage.
Malthus saw that this could not continue on.
He called Permu to Mt. Cyllene, where the olive trees grow.
"What have you done?" he asked.
"I have done nothing wrong," Permu said. "He did me wrong first."
"You and he are part of each other and both part of me. Yet you killed him," Malthus said.
But Permu did not understand.
Multhus was unhappy with Permu and the rest of the people. They were still part of him, but no longer fully. He saw that they no longer knew that they were part of him at all. He saw that they were tied to themselves, their own bodies.
He gathered them together at Mt. Cyllene, where the olive trees grow. The people listened. He said to them, "You have killed one another. You are no longer connected with each other. You are no longer fully part of me. You must be part of me again. You must be part of each other."
They did not know what to do. They did not understand. Malthus saw and knew this. He saw that the people must be joined to each other to be joined to him. He saw that each person must see the view of every other person to be part of him again.
He told them: "From now on, you will always be a part of each other. You will be in the body of another so that you will know, will be, that other. You will pass through many bodies until you all become One with each other and with me. You shall learn in each body and be closer to being part of the One. Finally, you shall be wholly part of the One."
The people still did not understand. But as the seasons went by, the time of changing came for each individual. And they understood.
Many have forgotten, but many still know. Those who remember, who know, learn from each experience so that they might finally join the One.
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