By: Taylor Millovan
Almost every creation myth known to mankind associates our universe with the term “cosmos.” The etymology of this word however, stems from the ancient Greek word “kosmoV” (kosmos) that literally translates to “world” or “order.” When we think of the term world, we assimilate it with that of the Earth, and the divine geometric order from which the universe is designed. The idea that the world is synonymous to the universe signifies this importance and prevalence of Earth and her place in the universe. Earth is unique in the fact that she is energetically and systematically perfect. She is a living, breathing entity from whom we are given the gift of life.
Native Americans, indigenous to the “New World,” in fact believe that Mother Earth is home to every single medicine, tool, and answer needed to sustain life for the ever-evolving generations to come. Essentially, as long as the earth maintains balance and order, every problem that mankind could ever face could be solved within the trees, waters, and energies of the Great Mother. The term “medicine” actually means “sacred power,” referring to the shamanic ability to choreograph the energies of the universe for the purposes of healing others, suggesting that Earth possesses this “sacred power” and the concept that us humans can tap into these energies in times of need. I am speaking neither from a creationist nor an ancient astronaut theorist perspective, however the fact that we as humans possess the abilities to harness the power of the universe permits me to believe that humans are divine beings, descendants of God himself, and that we are so special and so sacred, that we are the only humans in the universe. Yes, there are other beings and other life forms out there, many of which are extra-dimensional and are endowed with the ability to incarnate to this earth in human form for the sole purpose of bringing truth and knowledge to advance the awareness of humankind, whom over time seem to have forgotten or disconnected from the eternal source that breathed life within us in the first place.
Adam, Eve, & Archetypal Duality
These Native American beliefs are exemplified in most myths in most cultures via archetypal depictions, however different the stories may seem. Take the biblical anecdote of Adam and Eve for example. In the beginning, God created a divine paradise woven with pure love and energetic harmony, and it was good. In need of someone to appreciate and coexist with her, God then created Adam- the anthropomorphized embodiment of God himself, a blissfully unaware being of light molded by the supreme source to love his new creation. He saw that is was good, and it was pure, but Adam turned lonely. Being that he was only a fraction of God, a part of a whole, representing only a puzzle piece of what God embodies, it only seems necessary that another piece of the puzzle is needed in order to create the illusion of wholeness or oneness. It is here we welcome the concept of duality in the universe. Man himself is not God and cannot be God, as it bestows upon him too much power. To split this power into two inherently opposite or mirror forms however restores the balance of this new life, where the physical and metaphorical union of the two forms is a manifestation of God, hence the mystical symbol of procreation prevalent in all life. The achievement of the direct connection to God via the union of the dual archetypes essentially creates a new being of life and establishes the power of God on a sub-God level or earthly level.
Now Adam and Eve led a happy and blissful life in this beautiful garden, exactly as God intended, his only rule for the pair being that neither may eat from the Tree of Knowledge. There is much speculation as to what this “knowledge” represents, and is propagated throughout most Christian theologies that it’s the inherent knowledge of good and evil. By design, God fabricated all of the Earth and her light-beings, and they were harmonious and symbiotic, however powerless, and mere puppets to the great orchestrator of life. It is here we can denote the Tree of Knowledge as a symbol of free will, giving mankind the power of choice and action with consequence to plant the seeds of his own future.
Forbidden Fruit or Existential Crisis?
Enter the serpent, an archetypal embodiment of wisdom, corruption, and the unconscious. When the serpent speaks to Eve instructing her to eat the fruit of the tree, he embodies the wisdom of knowledge, as he knows very well what the fruit is; he symbolizes the unconscious, as his voice surfaces the temptation of the decision to eat or not to eat; and he signifies corruption, as he disrupts the state of harmony of the garden, almost foreshadowing the nature of the fruit itself. Here the serpent does not represent evil or Satan, as most mainstream scholars believe, for God did not sow evil into the fabrics of life. No, here the serpent serves as a mythological figure known as the trickster-god or culture hero, whose role explains how the world came into being. By disrupting the nature of society, the trickster serves as the impetus for a new way of life, in this case humanity with the forethought of God’s knowledge.
Let us now examine the tree itself. A tree is a symbol of life, proliferation, and connection to everything and everyone around us. The Tree of Knowledge therefore represents God himself, the eternal roots of all that there ever has been or ever will be, extending his love in the trunk and branches of physical life, and whose fruit bears the knowledge of all the little secrets to every facet of life. The very knowledge that fills us with curiosity, that gives rise to scientists and theologians alike, of yearning for who we are and where we come from and what our purpose here is. By eating this fruit, we as humans became aware, enlightened, and heightened our state of consciousness to be able to tune into the very essence of God and unlock the secrets of the omnipresent unknown. God forbade Adam and Eve to eat this fruit not because he didn’t want them to possess this knowledge, but because the consequence of resonating this awareness is nearly unbearable. The insatiable longing of knowing you are not of this world, but merely a firefly apart of the grand fire of the sun, will forever anguish the children of this Earth. Anguish that will fuel our minds to grasp for the heavens by mastering life’s secrets and manipulating the esoteric to essentially reconnect with the eternal love and forever light of the Godhead. Ignorance is bliss! God intended for us to lead harmonious lives with the very world around us, but by allowing us the free will of our actions, and with a pivot in the otherwise stagnant society, life launched itself into the most beautiful and most dangerous chassis of technology, science, evolution, discovery- the Pandora’s box if you will, of the very secrets that will transcend the fabrics of life as we know it, until we have progressed so much that we eventually are united with the Godhead once more.
Our Call to Action
Life is a cosmic force of energies intertwining, reciprocating, and balancing the forces of life that cohabitate the universe. Multi-dimensional and infinitely expanding, as are the secrets that sew together the concrete and known with the abstract and unknown to create a beautiful wave of fabric that instills curiosity in the young minds from which the universe is even projected. The more we learn, the more there is to learn, but in order to move forward we have to master the secrets of the past, understand our stories, and draw connections among civilizations that have shaped the very foundation of life as we know it today.
