What purpose do the creation myths serve for humanity? Every society has a creation myth and that suggests that every society has a need for one some particular reason. We need to note, however, that to the society involved, these are not myths or stories told to enthrall the young. They are real, not in our scientific, linear, literal, sense, but nevertheless real, and part of the truth of humanity’s existence.

The first characteristic is the emergence of order from chaos. And we know that chaos is not just first, it is always, never-ending. As well as being the primal dark into which the first creation comes, chaos is also present as the depth over which we move, threatening us with the perpetual possibility of engulfment, and which we, in our living, order. We have always needed stories that speak of cycles and of alternating light and dark without conceiving these movements as flowing from a single point of origin. We humans need these stories desperately. We need them to live ourselves

‘Today then let us build a temple to the stars we see above us now, burned out ten million years ago: hosannas to the wind that shifts the silent dunes without intent: amen to the deep rot of the forest floor, the subatomic world we'll never see, the sweet collisions and the million accidents of time that gave us life - and all those miracles, indifferent and inhuman as the waves that Adam in his Arden never dreamed because they're no more kin to him than heaven is to kings or what is natural to what is named.” (Wilner)

Creation myths share another attribute. They teach that one purpose of creative activity is the production of beings that can mirror the nature of the creator. In this view, living things are not so much accidental collections of unconscious meaningless parts as they are images or representations of the creative power itself. If creative activity is seen as "power-over," then living beings are represented as a hierarchy and human beings, as the "acme" of creation, are given that kind of power vis-à-vis the natural world.

The Aztecs are born out of chaos, combining alchemy (from dust and bones come life) and combat they arrive in this world, from a male god comes both male and female humans and from the Goddess comes both male and female humans. There is a descent into chaos again when brothers and sisters war against the Goddess but the second birthing saves them (the sun), and they ascend again because he destroys sister and brothers (moon & stars). In order for the humans and the gods to coexist the humans must make blood sacrifices to the gods for this is their food. Therein lays the groundwork for the warrior society of the Aztecs. The number four plays a part in each religion. The Aztecs were sent to four separate locations to live.

But there is the constant danger that at the end of things dissolution may once again have the upper hand. In both roles, chaos is the background to what there is. It is implicit in all orderings as the Unmaker, (Card) In traditional myths; however, the void primarily plays a role as the site of original creation. This is its first and most dominant role.

Creation begins from emptiness. Before "being" and its orderings stand chaos and eternal night. Mythic creation is a movement from non-being to being, from formlessness to form. This void both is the medium in which order emerges and is presupposed by all order, but it is not itself ordered or ordering. This "dark" is not the dark that stands in contrast to light and that manifests as shadow or contrast. It is the primary dark before any differentiation at all. It is neither feminine nor masculine; in fact, it is not polarized in any way. Therefore, this dark is literally and completely incomprehensible. It is nowhere, has no qualities, and stands in no relations. It conveys more than the natural cyclic alteration of light and dark, suggesting too the possibility of total disruption and utter non-being. This primal darkness plays a double role in myths of creation. On the one hand, absence stands before the beginning of order as the field in and from which creation occurs; but, on the other hand, it also haunts the world as a perpetual threat of disorder. The monsters and powers of the time of chaos are not destroyed; instead, they are held at bay by underworld dungeons or magical protections.

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