创世神话是大部分的宗教或传统中，对人类起源、生物起源或宇宙诞生的观念，在这些观念中，人类是由神所创造，例如中国的女娲，或亚伯拉罕宗教中的上帝。或是经由其他超自然现象产生。

在中国神话中，认为宇宙初混沌，盘古开天地，捐躯生万物。「天地混沌如鸡子，盘古生其中，万八千岁，天地开辟，阳清为天，阴浊为地。盘古在其中，一日九变，神于天，圣于地。天日高一丈，地日厚一丈，盘古日长一丈，如此万八千岁。天数极高，地数极深，盘古极长。」此后，又有女娲造人。「俗说天地开辟，未有人民，女娲抟黄土作人，剧务，力不暇供，乃引绳于泥中，举以为人。」

A creation myth is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. While in popular usage the term myth often refers to false or fanciful stories, formally, it does not imply falsehood. Cultures generally regard their creation myths as true. In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths, metaphorically, symbolically and sometimes in a historical or literal sense. They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths—that is, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.