For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.— Genesis 3:5, The Serpent in the Garden of Eden regarding the Fruit from the Tree of Knowledge
To the Fundamentalist Evangelical Christian, the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was a literal fruit. Plucked from a forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden and consumed by Adam and Eve. The Original Sin. The Fall of Humankind. To some others it is a symbol. The awakening of the consciousness to morality and ethics.
The Serpent in the story of the Fall in the Garden is often assumed to be Satan, the accuser. Also known as the Devil. Sometimes equated with Lucifer, the light bringer. Again to the Fundamentalist Evangelical Christian it was a literal talking snake who tempted the first humans. To some others it is a symbol. The awakening of the consciousness to doubt.
And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”— Genesis 3:22
God warned that if man ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that he would die. Yet here God says that only if humans eat from the Tree of Life will they live forever. Would humans have died if they did not eat from the Tree of Life? Thus were they doomed to death even if not eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
Why did God fear humankind gaining the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Why did God fear humankind becoming 'like us' and living forever? Why did God want humankind to live in ignorance?
God then curses the Serpent "above all livestock and wild animals" and places enmity between the woman and her offspring, all of humankind, condemning the serpent to strike at the heels of humankind and being crushed underfoot. The serpent becomes a symbol of vengefulness and vindictiveness.
In other mythologies and cultures the serpent, or snake, often is a dual symbol. Good and evil, poison and healing, birth and death. In still others it is a symbol of regeneration, rebirth, the continual renewal of life. As some snakes will hold their ground and rise up to strike those who threaten it, it is a natural guardian symbol for treasures and secrets for some cultures and mythologies.
A serpent in a tree is not unique to Abrahamic religions, either. The serpent Ladon guards the tree of golden apples in Greek mythology. Nidhogg of Norse mythology eats from the roots of Yggdrasil the World Tree. The serpent Mucalinda protects the Buddha as he sat beneath the Bodhi tree of Enlightenment. To the ancient Mayans the Vision Serpent lay at the center of the world atop the World Tree creating an axis between the spiritual and earthly planes.
Even Christianity has another symbol in the snake, in the Bible verses of John 3:14-15 the Son of Man, the Christ, is compared to the snake that Moses lifted up in the wilderness.
The serpent in the Garden of Eden is one of the earliest stories I learned as a young Christian. It is a symbol I would revisit again and again on my journey of doubt and eventual Fall from Faith. The serpent is complex. Guardian, conduit, good and evil, hidden knowledge, keeper of doubt. And in the Ouroboros, the serpent that consumes its own tail, eternity and the constant renewal of life through death.
Like a wise serpent shedding her skin, you are called to release whatever is no longer authentic or doesn’t serve your highest good. You are not the same person you were ten or even five years ago. Acknowledge your growth and movement.― Elizabeth Eiler
So begins my walk along the path of the serpent. I will shed my skin again and again. I will consume my old self and be born anew. It is a path of both suffering and healing; the serpent will offer protection and succor as well as doubt and strife.