seasonal cycle

Landscape showing four seasons with symbolic spirits representing seasonal changes

The Creation of the Seasons

by Elizabeth Fabowale

April 2, 2026

American Myths·Native American Creation Myths

Long before the year followed a steady rhythm, before people could predict when the land would grow warm or when it would turn cold, time moved without clear structure. Days passed, but they did not belong to any pattern. The land remained in long stretches of sameness, with no clear beginning or ending to change. In the northern regions now

Parchment-style artwork of the Sun and Moon facing each other in the sky, Cherokee folktale scene.

The Sun and the Moon Are Man and Wife: Cherokee Folktale (United States)

In the ancient days, before the world found its rhythm of day and night, the Sun and the Moon lived together on

Parchment-style illustration of Rip Van Winkle waking on a Catskill Mountains slope, American folktale.

Rip Van Winkle, The Man Who Slept for Twenty Years: American Folktale of Time and Change

At the foot of the misty Catskill Mountains in colonial New York, there once lived a good-natured man named Rip Van Winkle.

Parchment-style illustration of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in snowy woods, American folktale.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox: An American Folktale that Teaches Lessons on Strength, Teamwork, and the Power of Legend

Long ago, in the rugged northern forests of America, where towering pines whispered to the wind and the snow stretched farther than

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seasonal cycle

The Creation of the Seasons

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The Sun and the Moon Are Man and Wife: Cherokee Folktale (United States)

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