The Gods and CreationThe Saubu sees the gods (
anara) as the caretakers of the universe, and responsible for much of our existence. Through their works and the divine laws they made the world; they keep existence itself structured (
saubul) and prevent it from descending into chaos (
þasavul). Chaos, here, refers not to the opposite to lawfulness, but to the primordial state that predates existence. For this, humans are obliged to praise and worship the gods, both by singing their hymns and offering sacrifice and by doing good and just deeds that honour the divine law.
Each deity has a domain or domains which they represent, and which dictates through which acts they can be honoured - Baranxi can be honoured by having pleasurable sex or by loving someone, Maña by bathing, Mēlēija by righting wrongs, Atama by skillful smithing, Aśaġaiza by being a good archer, Asuani by getting drunk, Ðikśasi by visiting the graves of one's ancestors and praying to them, and so on.
In the same vein, each god can be dishonoured by certain acts - Baranxi through rape or hating someone, Maña by polluting sacred places, Mēlēija by mocking the poor, Atama by throwing away perfectly working tools, Aśaġaiza by wasting a kill, Asuani by getting too drunk, Ðikśasi by neglecting the graves, etc.
While the gods themselves would not destroy their creation, too many misdeeds threaten to severe the divine law that is woven through existence, and as a result, it could break (
draimīr haþantu).
And now, a summary of the creation myths and the different divine dynasties:
The First Dynasty of Gods and the Building of the WorldFirst, there was only an empty, infinite universe, and in the centre of it, everything that was not nothing. It was primordial, unstructured chaos, the
Þasa.
Then, water began to drop out of it and collected at the bottom of the universe, forming the first lake. This lake received a spirit, the first god,
Ima.
Shortly afterwards, a small clump fell out of the Þasa and into the lake. It became a bird, the first goddess,
Nu.
Ima and Nu fell in love, so Nu laid an egg, and Ima became warmer to hatch it. Finally, the shell broke into millions of pieces, flying through the whole universe (and becoming stars), and a woman,
Ulxa, came forth. In the presence of the love between Ima and Nu, she felt unwelcome, so she ascended to the Þasa, where she conceived and gave birth to six sets of twins
- Imant and Tum
- Jija and Jiji
- Bara and Bari
- Dēna and Dēni
- Hana and Hani
- Za and Zi
and finally to
Marxi,
fire, whose birth burnt her so badly she died before she could give birth to Marxa. Marxi was then banished by his siblings.
Then, the six remaining siblings wanted to build a tomb for their mother's remains.
Imant and Tum begat
Mamu, the first sun, to light up the Þasa.
Jija and Jiji separated the solids from the Þasa and formed a ball. Hana and Hani raised a platform on it. Za and Zi collected the remaining water and put it on the lower parts of the ball, but Za drowned in the first ocean. Zi mourned her by taking her name, and washing himself in the shallow pool of water she had spit out before dying. This turned him immortal, and in exchange for immortality, his siblings bowed to him and named him their king.
Then, Bara and Bari created the first grass to grow on the plain, and Dēna and Dēni the first animals.
Together, they build a city in the south of the plain where they would live, a tomb for Gulxa and the female Za in the centre, and a throne for Mamu in the north.
Spirits started to form in the vast swathes of land newly created, and a primal, primitive world arose.
These gods and spirits, together with their children, are the First Generation of Gods -
Āŋu Meisīr Anartvu.
The Second and Third Dynasties of Gods and the Creation of the Current WorldSome time later, Nu laid two more eggs, and Ima hatched them. This time,
Hilja and
Udar came forth. Hilja held an oak sapling in her hand, and when it was grown, Udar took a sharp stone and hew two figures from it. With the waters of Ima, they gave them life, and thus 'bore' their children,
Īna and
Alē’i.
These two married, and their children were
Zixa,
Mēlēija,
Manxi, and finally,
Asita. They raised them on the muddy shores of Ima.
There, Mēlēija created the first bees and harvested the first honey, whose pureness could grant immortality.
When they were grown up, the four descended to the world. Mēlēija took the north and raised her bees, Asita took the south and raised sheep, Manxi studied the plants in the east, and Zixa explored the west.
In the following time, Mēlēija adopted
Atama of unknown parentage, and gave birth to
Baranxi with Marxi,
Kaśa with a rock spirit,
Aśaġaiza with a forest spirit,
Marvi with Daybreak and
Ðikśasi with Nightfall. Only then did she, her children and her siblings travel to the city of the First Generation to demand entry as their siblings.
But Za, the King of Gods, laughed at them and demanded that they earn their entry. Mēlēija accepted this challenge, and ultimately created humans. Thus, Za had to allow them entry into the city of the gods.
The domains of the various gods are explained in later myths, and ultimately, the fall of Za as King of Gods and the gift of the world to the humans. He angered all the gods, even his own siblings, so much by mocking a humble human’s plea for mercy that their anger and grief over her subsequent suicide empowered her so much that she came back from the dead riding a wave, broke his sceptre and crown, and became Maña, the new goddess of water.
Other important events include the creation of the moon and the replacement of the old sun with a duo of new goddesses.
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And yes, in due time, I will post that all in loving storytelling detail; once I've cleaned up the current myths and translated them into English, that is.
As a finish for now, have a lovingly created illustration of the Saubu view of the world:

The upper three lines represent Baranxi, the ones in the lower left Maña and the ones in the lower right Mēlēija.