Do all cultures have creation myths?

The answer

Creation myths are universal across human cultures and often share common structural elements despite independent origins. The 'earth diver' motif, where a creature dives into primordial waters to bring up mud that becomes the world, appears in Native American, Siberian, and South Asian traditions. 'Creation from chaos' appears in Mesopotamian (Enuma Elish), Greek (Hesiod), and Chinese (Pangu) myths. Many cultures describe creation through the spoken word or cosmic sound, from the Judeo-Christian 'Let there be light' to the Hindu Om. Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime stories describe ancestral beings who sang the world into existence. These myths serve not merely as explanations of origins but as foundational narratives that establish a culture's values, social structures, and relationship with the natural world.