After a long repose, one that was longer than my expectations had designed it to be, Share a myth series return. Again from Arthur Cotterell as General Editor, I take the subsequent myth from World Mythology, a Parragon Publishing Book, 2005 edition.

Chapter 15, “Africa” introduces an absorbing article titled “The Cosmic Egg”. I enjoyed reading this bit and I feel I should share it with my readership. What I found captivating is the fact that this particular myth affirms the existence of a single creator for the world, and the existence of a spider before man. Other aspects I found lovely are found at the end of the myth, and are related to the process of creating earth.

The Cosmic Egg

Mebege (Fang, Pahouin/ Congo Afrian Republic, Congo, Gabon) was lonely. He pulled some hair from under his right arm, took substance from his brain and lifted a pebble from the sea. He blew on these three elements and they formed an egg.

Mebege gave the egg to Dibobia, a spider who hung between the sky and the sea. When the egg became hot, Mebege descended and put his sperm on it. The egg cracked and three people emerged. Mebege took a strand of raffia and worked it into a cross, establishing the four directions.

He took hair from under his arms, and the lining of his brain, rolled these into a ball, blew on them and created termites and worms. These dispersed in all directions and with their droppings they built up the earth upon which the three humans stepped.