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Cosmic egg
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{{Short description|Common motif in mythology and cosmogony}} {{for|the Wolfmother album|Cosmic Egg}} [[File:Orphic-egg.png|thumb|[[Jacob Bryant]]'s [[Orphic Egg]] (1774)]]The '''cosmic egg''', '''world egg''' or '''mundane egg''' is a [[mythology|mythological]] [[Motif (literature)|motif]] found in the [[Cosmogony|cosmogonies]] of many [[culture]]s and [[civilization]]s, including in [[Proto-Indo-European mythology]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leeming |first1=David Adams |title=Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia, Book 1 |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=144 |isbn=9781598841749 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9I62BcuPxfYC&q=world+egg+indo+european&pg=PA144}}</ref> Typically, there is an [[egg]] which, upon "hatching", either gives rise to the [[universe]] itself or gives rise to a primordial being who, in turn, creates the universe. The egg is sometimes lain on the [[:wikt:primordial|primordial]] waters of the [[Earth]].{{Sfn|Brewer|1894}} Typically, the upper half of the egg, or its outer shell, becomes the [[Firmament|heaven (firmament)]] and the lower half, or the inner yolk, becomes the Earth.{{Sfn|Witzel|2012|p=121β124}} The motif likely stems from simple elements of an egg, including its ability to offer nourishment and give rise to new life, as is reflected by the [[List of Latin phrases|Latin proverb]] ''omne vivum ex ovo'' ('all life comes from an egg').{{Sfn|Alcock|2007|p=20}} The term "cosmic egg" is also used in the modern study of [[cosmology]] in the context of [[emergent Universe]] scenarios.
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