Why is separation of earth and sky so common in different mythologies?

[zoobyshoe]

Sorry about my late reply. Though I replied to a later post by Simon Bridge, I waited to reply to your post, because so far your explanation ( "The separation of Earth and sky in creation myths is probably shakey, tentative groundwork in an attempt to explain gravity and buoyancy." ) seemed most reasonable to me. ( I wrote something similar in the post number 18 ). I was busy and didn't have time to read your post with proper concentration.

And thanks a lot for the link to Aristotle's Physics. It really helped me.

Glad you liked the post. (I'm sorry I didn't notice your prior mention of Aristotle.)

There's another possibility, which is that "sky" might stand for a mystical concept in some of these myths, not the literal sky. Genesis begins, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...". Notice "heavens" is plural. In some mystical traditions the "heavens" are non-corporeal planes of existence. There are 7 heavens, 7 different levels of spiritual refinement. "Earth" would be everyday reality, while the "heavens" would be mystical, spiritual planes of existence accessed only by the spiritually advanced (i.e. distinctly separated from mundane earth). A word that has been translated as "sky" might have been better translated as "heaven" or more specifically, "spirit plane". The separation of sky and Earth would refer to a separation of the spirit plane from mundane reality. I think it's a possibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Heavens

 

[tarekatpf]

Glad you liked the post. (I'm sorry I didn't notice your prior mention of Aristotle.)

There's another possibility, which is that "sky" might stand for a mystical concept in some of these myths, not the literal sky. Genesis begins, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...". Notice "heavens" is plural. In some mystical traditions the "heavens" are non-corporeal planes of existence. There are 7 heavens, 7 different levels of spiritual refinement. "Earth" would be everyday reality, while the "heavens" would be mystical, spiritual planes of existence accessed only by the spiritually advanced (i.e. distinctly separated from mundane earth). A word that has been translated as "sky" might have been better translated as "heaven" or more specifically, "spirit plane". The separation of sky and Earth would refer to a separation of the spirit plane from mundane reality. I think it's a possibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Heavens

Yes, that's a possibility, too. Like, the heaven they saw ( the lowest one ) always followed strict orders ( apart from those occasional comets, perhaps, which they interpreted as the wrath of gods ), whereas things on land were less predictable.