The Story Begins (it's all downhill from there)

The one thing everyone can agree on is that one random day, billions of years ago, our universe was created.People of science will tell you that there was a tremendous explosion and matter was flung outwards, expanding forevermore.

But people of faith will tell you that there rose a celestial being from nothing, willing the universe into creation and making other beings. Or they'll tell you of a golden egg that hatched and spilled forth the contents of space. Maybe they'll tell you of a giant tree on whose branches different worlds rest.

Different countries have different mythologies and different beliefs but when talking about the beginning, there emerges a pattern.

Join me, Ficguru, as we delve into the stories of the old lands, each with their own versions of how it all started.There are majorly 2 ways the universe is said to have been created-
1) By a being risen from an empty pit
2)From the 'world egg'

From what I've noticed, others are (usually) branches of the first one.Below, we'll see which stories of old believed in either the void or the egg.

The Creator and the Void

Egyptian mythology

In one popular story from Egypt, before everything, there were vast rivers of darkness and chaos personified by Nun. From these rivers rose the very first structure- a pyramid-like mound called the Ben-Ben.

On top of it was a lotus flower with the first god- Atum. He was the creator who then brought forth the first generation of gods.

Atum- The creator

Norse Mythology

Norse mythologies are the stories originating from North-Europe and Scandinavia, with heroes, gods, and villains like the hammer-wielding Thor, wise and crafty one-eyed Odin, Cunning frost giant Loki, etc.In the beginning, they say, there was only a gaping abyss known as the Ginnungagap- which pre-dated the cosmos. It lay between the frozen land of Niflheim and the land of fire, Muspelheim.

The World Tree- Yggdrasil

The fire and ice met in the middle until the flames melted the ice and the droplets formed Ymir- the first of the powerful but destructive giants.
To think of his size, just imagine this-After he was killed, his corpse was used to construct the earth, his blood was the oceans, the clouds-his brains, and his skull became the sky.

Further melting ice uncovered the cow Audhumla. Ymir drank her milk and she, in turn, was nourished by the salt licks in the ice.As she licked the ice, Bor- the first of the tribe of gods emerged.
Odin and his brothers slew Ymir and the rest, you know.

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is rich in gods, heroes, and drama. Their beginning was also in the form of an inky black prehistorical void, simply known as chaos. 
Now there is some confusion as to who came first- the earth or the sky but one variation is the personification of the Earth- Gaia, the firstborn, demanding someone else to exist too. Thus, chaos created Ouranos- the sky. 
They were among Tartarus, Eros, Erebus, Hemera, and Nyx- the other primordial beings.

Gaia and Ouranos had 3 sets of children but he deemed the first two sets unworthy, wrapped them up in chains, and tossed them in Tartarus (the supreme underworld)
Angered, Gaia told the 3rd set-known as the titans, to kill him and take over.
They, in turn, produced the next-gen, but that's a story for another time.

(very confusing. Do not try understanding unless you are procrastinating stuff and want to pass time.Spoken from experience)

See also: Dreamtime (Aboriginal Australian mythology)
Wakan Tanka (American Indian mythology)

The Cosmic Egg

Vedic and Hindu mythology

The earliest ideas about a cosmic egg came from Vedic scripts.

It has a Sanskrit term- Brahmanda (loosely translating to creator egg)

Another script mentions another name- Hiryanyagarbha (the golden womb)

Both are thought to be the source of the universe, with one description (in the Upanishads) of the Hiryanyagarbha floating around in the emptiness until it cracked in half, forming the Earth and the Heavens.

The Chinese have a similar story in the tale of Pangu, developed by Taoist monks.

Hermopolitan Egyptian Mythology

The Egyptians had many accepted creation myths and one of them was the Hermopolitan version, under which before the gods, was the Ogdoad (a pre-god time). One of its aspects was the Cosmic egg, from which all life was born.

The sun god Ra was born from this egg during an event known as the 'first occasion'.

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 'In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people angry and has been regarded as a very bad move.'
- Douglas Adams


check more out at ficguru.blogspot.com
~FICGURU

Sources:
World Mythology in Bite-sized Chunks
Wikipedia