A
creation myth is a
symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. While in popular usage the term
myth often refers to false or fanciful stories, formally, it does not imply falsehood. Cultures generally regard their creation myths as
true. In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound
truths,
metaphorically, symbolically and sometimes in a
historical or literal sense. They are commonly, although not always, considered
cosmogonical myths—that is, they describe the ordering of the
cosmos from a state of
chaos or amorphousness.