All About Eve

Recently two books about Eve have come to my attention... Eve, the Mother of All Living - the one who dared to eat the forbidden fruit and take the next step in evolution.

The first is Eden: the Buried Treasure by Eve Wood-Langford.

The author writes:

As a Unitarian, I was brought up not to believe in the concept of Original Sin based on the beautiful Genesis story of Adam and Eve. Moreover, this magical story, complete with speaking serpent, was accepted as an important myth-history long misinterpreted in the Judaic/Christian tradition. When the story of the naked couple was seen in the light of its pre-biblical origins in Abraham's country of Mesopotamia, however, it guarded an inspirational 'history' of value to all human beings.

Unfortunately, in the age of science a story complete with speaking serpent is seen in terms of fairy story, but this throws a valuable baby out with the bath water, for myth is a form of history. It cannot be interpreted correctly, however, in factual terms, or without cognisance of its integral images. In the pre-biblical world, the archetypal images of serpent and tree were important signposts associated with the Great Mother Goddess. They offered guidance to the illiterate polytheist populations of the world in which the garden paradise story had origin.

Nevertheless, as Eden: the Buried Treasure reveals, the garden paradise still guards its treasure of truth, and that meaning may yet be glimpsed when the story is seen in the light of its Mesopotamian origins. Look into the garden in an earlier, more pristine light, and the naked Eve that stands behind the biblical one, offers a gift from the ancestral world having nothing to do with the origin of sin.

Another book has recently been published, this time from a Jewish and Kabbalistic perspective, called Dancing in the Footsteps of Eve, by Heather Mendel. The author writes:

What if the story of Eve is wrong? Beneath the literal surface of text, Eve, the quintessential hero and positive feminine archetype for our evolving consciousness awaits our recognition, remembrance and reclamation. Symbolic of the innate curiosity that moves our human adventure forward, Eve can lead the way to hope and healing for the global human family as she reaches for the forbidden fruit once again. Dancing in her footsteps, we joyfully commit to taking the next step in the spiritual expansion of consciousness.