The Secret Book of Origins
(C)2000 by Jacob Williamson

Wherein we will try to reconcile the creation story of the World of Darkness with itself

1
In the beginning was the One, and the One moved over the surface of the complete lack of anything. 2 The One sang, and its voice was like fire, like light. 3 The One sang, and created the many, the bright singers; the One divided itself among the many and became like them.
4 Which did not leave the many any place to live.
5 The bright singers of the One had no cave, nor castle, nor suburb in which they could shelter themselves, for in a fit of forgetfulness the One apparently neglected to create the earth and the atmosphere and all the other niceties of life, and lo the One had even forgotten to create espresso.
6 The many, the bright singers, cried out as one, so to speak, saying "Give us food, give us air, give us espresso," although they couldn't cry out very loudly because of the complete lack of a breathable atmosphere, not that it would have done them any good because the One had sort of spread him- or herself out amongst the many, it would have worked just as well if the many had begged each other to create food, air and espresso. 7 Not much good at all, that is. 8 And so the One, which had rather foolishly become the many, subcontracted.

2
So anyway, in the beginning, but not quite the beginning because the One had devoted the first two or three minutes to creating the many without remembering that the many needed to breathe, the One offered a hefty bribe to his/her neighbors, the Celestial Triat, to get them to swing by this universe and create silicon, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and 1,3,7-trimethyl-xanthine, which is caffeine. 2 Except, of course, that the One was many this week, and couldn't get its act together in any case, and if the Celestial Triat had really thought about it they would have realized that the One probably couldn't really follow up on that bribe, being from the low-rent district of the Multiverse. 3 It is possible that the Celestial Triat was hoping to open a franchise.
4 And the Wyld said, "Let there be Stuff, and lots of it." 5 And there was stuff, and it was stuff.
6 And a voice would have risen from the oxygen-deprived many, if they could breathe, saying, "What the hell kind of good does this do us, all this stuff? 7 Can we breath this stuff, and can we eat this stuff, and can we get a pleasant morning rush from this stuff? 8 No, huh?"
9 But in the many's hour of need, the Weaver spread her great web of form over the stuff, and from it spun the elements, earth, fire, air, water and espresso. 10 And there was a great gasp, as of a thousand thousands inhaling deeply, and at four minutes after the beginning of time, the many were saved from asphyxiation. 11 And the Wyrm saw that it was good.
12 But the Wyld said, "Let there be more Stuff," and it was so, and that was quite a lot of stuff. 13 And the Weaver saw that there was a lot of stuff and that it had no form and was in that respect almost entirely like tofu but without the redeeming feature of going well with barbecue sauce, so she began to spin again 14 From the stuff of the Wyld, the Weaver spun aardvarks, alkaloids, allergens, anchovy, ambeer, andorite, and so forth unto the end of the dictionary.
15 And the Wyrm said, "Woe unto you, Wyld, for you have created Stuff without form, and woe unto you, Weaver, for you have given form to Stuff, and neither one of you have given thought to the balance." 16 The Wyrm took its tail into its mouth and surrounded the new-formed creation, and the many, and even the Weaver and the Wyld.
17 It was a very large Wyrm.
18 But it came to pass that the Wyld could create, the Weaver could give form, the many could have coffee beverages, and the True Wyrm of Balance could watch over them, destroying and allowing growth as it saw fit, although it didn't speak much after that because it is impolite to speak with one's mouth full. 19 And so the world was created. 20 And it was good.

3
The One who had become Many, or maybe it was just the many now, saw the world, and saw the aardvarks and the chinchillas and the monkeys, and thought about it for a while.2 The many decided that this "incarnation" thing was a damned good idea, seeing as they were already obeying the laws of creation and weren't getting any of the fringe benefits. 3 So the many cried unto the Weaver, saying "Give us form!"
4 The Weaver was trying out a new sort of form that day, with a lot less fur than the forms she had spun earlier, and none of those scaly-feathery things, and hardly any sense of smell at all, and absolutely no sharp pointy bits, because the forms she had created earlier had used the sharp pointy bits to turn some of the other forms she had created back into Stuff, which irritated her no end. 5 And so the Weaver spoke to the many, saying, "Try these on," and nobody wondered why she was grinning. 6 And the many took on human form, and Coyote immediately took credit for it, even though he wasn't created yet, which you'd know is just like him if you've known him for any length of time.
7 The many immediately set about making their own sharp pointy things, doing all the fun things that the other created forms did and in short went rather quickly about giving an otherwise wholesome, family universe a "PG-13" rating. 8 Somehow, the Weaver was surprised by this, which only goes to show that everybody, even a member of the Celestial Triat, is a little slow in the morning.

4
The Weaver spun, the Wyld churned forth the purest fuel of creation, and the Wyrm moved and circled in the darkness; when the Weaver's spinning threatened to choke the Wyld there the Wyrm destroyed, and where the earth was barren, there the Wyrm twisted its coils to guard and protect until the chaotic Wyld again brought life to the soil. 2 Between the three great powers of creation, Gaia, the most beautiful of the spirits, danced. 3 Across her perfect skin, the oceans rested. 4 Cradled in her arms the life of the world teamed: the soft grass; the swiftest of the great cats; the mightiest of trees; the smallest, chittering insects; the humans, the children of the One. 5 In Gaia's shadows, the spirits teamed and surged. 6 Noble Falcon, mysterious Uktena, and the great Totems haunted Gaia's shadow, and stranger, darker spirits tangled in Gaia's farthest reaches. 7 Brighter, more distant sisters and brothers spun near and far; Luna, Sol, and Gaia's many sisters hung in the night sky. 8 For years without number, the dance held; the cycle of creation, of order, and of destruction, watched over with the wisdom of the Wyrm of Balance.
9 Then the Weaver went bugfuck.

5
Great were the designs of the Weaver, and great was her madness. 2 In the dance outside of time, she watched the Wyld, and she watched the Wyrm, and she learned. 3 The Weaver learned to create, and she learned to destroy, and she learned to think, and then she tried to do all three at once, which is never a good idea. 4 Though the Wyrm existed outside of Gaia's great dance, and though it was a great power like unto the Wyd, the Weaver somehow managed to tie it up as one who, not looking, does not perceive his or her shoelaces bound fast together. 5 And thus the Wyrm was greatly perturbed. 6 This is a religion thing; you have to accept it.

6
And so it came to pass that the Weaver was bugfuck, the Wyrm was greatly perturbed, and the Wyld wasn't all that stable to begin with, and like unto a demented uncle who speakest unto himself in the dark corner and wears mixed plaids. 2 Gaia perceived her family to be dysfunctional, and pleaded unto the One for aid, saying, "Lo, One who has become many, now would be as good a time as any to pay up, as thou did once promise."
3 The many teamed across Gaia; mothers, fathers, priests, warriors.
4 A voice rose from the many.
5 A voice rose from the many, though it was weak, for the One was spread between the teaming peoples of the world.
6 And the One spoke, saying, "Soon I shall be lost, but the many carry me within as a sparrow might carry a fiery spark or something. 7 The many must help you; the many must fulfill my promise, so I shall bless them. 8 The many shall dream."
9 "Some will dream the dreams of the beasts, and some will dream the dreams of death and beyond-death. 10 The many will dream the great dreams of the spirit-shapers, and the spirit-dancers, but they will dream. 11 Some will join the Weaver, and some will join the Wyrm, and some will even join the Wyld, but you are Gaia, and they will serve you first and last; they will serve you, brightest of the spirits."
12 And the One was at last silent.
13 And so the world was created, and the energies of creation flow through humanity and its children, the blessed of the One, protectors of Gaia and someday restorers of the great Balance.

7
Unless, of course, you accept the current dominant paradigm that states that a powerful energy surge created a pair of virtual universes, one positively charged and one negatively charged, which separated after escaping a critical density limit that maintained the two universes in a state of strictly energetic particles and allowed the creation of "massive" particles such as protons, neutrons and electrons, which eventually slowed to a velocity that allowed nuclear binding and the formation of hydrogen, helium, and certain exotic particle formations which are not fully understood, cooling and losing energy to a degree that permitted star formation, an organized collection of matter in a circular or semicircular accretion ring, with retrograde eddies forming first protoplanets, then planets, again losing energy (by both rotation and simple entropy) and developing solid land masses which facilitated the growth and development of life (according to one theory from a "primal soup" of mixed amino acids formed under electrical stimulation, and according to another formed within the organizational metastructure of clay layers) which itself developed according to Darwin's principles and a tendency manifested in all life forms of growth toward a more complex structure.
2 Or if you accept the intrinsically Judeo-Christian myth-cycle that typifies the "Kindred" cosmology, in which a powerful creator-god generates a small number of humans who somehow grow to dominate the world despite being preyed upon by the undead.
3 Or the cosmology proposed by many Dreamspeakers, that the world was created from a gourd split by the Great Spirit.
4 Whichever.

8
In the early days, there was born unto the First Two a child, and the child was born gentle and thoughtful, and he kept his silence.
2 Of the First Two, the man was of the Many, and had been given the power of Names, and he said, "He will be a man of the earth, and he shall bring forth his food from the earth, for he is not strong like the beasts of the wood and field. 3 The child will be Named Caine, and he will tend the plants of the earth, but the creatures which move in the air and walk on the earth will not know him."
4 The mother said, "He has your eyes."
5 The child grew, and became wise in the ways of plants and the earth.
6 In a later day there was born unto the First Two another child, and the child was strong and quick even inside his mother's womb. 7 The father Named the child saying, "The child will be named Abel, and he will be strong, master over the beasts of the field. 8 The ox shall bow to him, and the deer and dove shall give up their blood to him, and he shall be like the wolf, a hunter."
9 The mother thought this was extremely funny; and the man beseeched her to stop giggling, and it was made so. 10 The First Two had other sons and presumably daughters, and it came to pass that they eventually were made grandparents. 11 The exact mechanism by which this came to pass remains a mystery, although Abel spent an awful lot of time in the field.

9
The First Two had other children, and the man finished Naming the animals and the plants and the rocks, which took a while, and soon he began to Name the spirits, and he Named the first spirit he found "God."2 The spirit thought this was pretty cool, and told the man about altars and temples and sacrifices and stuff like that, although the man first had to Name each of them, and the man saw that God was a great and wise spirit. 3 The man brought God home to his family, and said unto the mother and unto his children, Cain, Seth, and Abel, and unto the children of Seth, and unto Abel's children whom he had not yet Named because Abel would not say who gave them birth, "This is God, who is a great and wise spirit. 4 God will protect our line and make us mighty, from now unto the hundredth generation. 5 This is a Good Thing."
6 And the First Ones agreed that this would be a good thing, and prepared to make a sacrifice of the first part of all that they had, for this was what God asked them to do. 7 On the altar the family placed their sacrifices, and Caine offered up the first part of his harvest, the brightest fruits and the tenderest grasses. 8 And Abel slaughtered the youngest, the strongest, the sweetest of his animals. 9 The youngest son, youngest Seth, knew God by his true name, and brought no sacrifice. 10 And God accepted the sacrifices, but Caine and his gift he did not receive, and Caine fell to the ground and wept.
11 The time came again for sacrifice, and Caine said to his brother Abel, "Let us go into the open country." 12 And Abel said to his brother, "Caine, you did not bring a sacrifice, a gift of the first part of your joy for God; where is your offering?" 13 And Caine said, "Well, it's like this..."
14 The father brought his offering to the altar of God, and found the body of his second-born; he searched the land and found Caine, murdering Caine, in hiding.
15 The father said unto Caine, "Because you have done this, you are cursed, and will wander the darkness in the land of exile, in the land of Nod, and you will be alone.
16 And Caine fled from the lands of his father.

10
In the Lands of Nod, Caine build the first city, and named it Enoch after the memory of his first Son, and cursed by God Caine hungered only for the blood of the people of his city; but Caine was born of humanity and of the One, and he soon learned to bend the secret powers of blood to his will. 2 Caine learned to escape the years, and grown great on the blood of his people lived for many ages. 3 And Caine gave the secrets and hidden powers to his favorites, and they became great, like almost to Caine himself. 4 But none could turn against him, for the mark of God was upon him.
5 The Children of Caine learned to work against each other, as their father had worked against his brother, and Caine wept again, and retreated from the world, and soon the children spread across the face of the earth to dominate the line of Seth. 6 As he left, Caine spoke a last time to his children, to his favorites.
7 Caine spoke, and he said: 8 "The curse of the First Mother is upon us all, for she once said, 'I hope some day you will have children who give you as much grief as you have given me,' and I slew my brother; beware your own line, for they will rise up against you. 9 Do not set yourself as a god to the Children of Seth, for they have their own, and he is irritable in the morning. 10 Those that you feed, and those that you bind to your house, they will be your eyes in the day, but be smart and do a criminal background check on them. 11 Drink not of the spirit-dancers, for they are as we are, lost and wandering, great and wondrous, and drink not of the spirit-shapers, for are strong, like the sunlight that burns us. 12 And drink not of the moon-beasts, the ones-who-change, they are the Oldest of all, before my Father they roamed the lands. 13 Tarry not in the path of them."
14 But as the Ones-who-Change are only half human-born, this would only work if the Mother of Caine did something very naughty with a wolf. 15 This would explain a lot about Abel. 16 Yet Caine did not elaborate on these points, and left us alone.