Knowledge, women and patriarchal domination

Knowledge, women & patriarchal order

In Christian world, consuming the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the sin committed by Adam and Eve that led to the fall of man describe in the Genesis.

It was disobedience of Adam and Eve, who had been told by God not to eat of the tree (Gen 2:17), that caused disorder in the creation, thus humanity inherited sin and guilt from Adam and Eve's sin. It was said that it was Eve who tempted Adam to disobey. But why put so much emphasis on this differenciation between man and woman. What about the complementary element between man and woman?

Since the beginning of time women were « represented » as trouble makers that shouldn't be trust. Obviously this perspective on woman give much power to patriarchal perspectives on society. For centuries human activities were dominated by the patriarchal look upon man and woman. The social, cultural and religious hierarchy and organization were dominated by powerful man. 

For millennium, generations after generations lived in a human landscape configuration based on the perception that women were less intelligence than man. For centuries woman reproduction were in the hands of religious powerful man. For generations women were not allowed to practice work related with research and knowledge. For centuries women were oppressed and punished severely if they disobey patriarchal authorities.  

For Centuries women were banned and excluded from science, medical field, arts and litterature. Moreover some woman were burned and convicted of witchcraft because of their interest in occult science, alchemy and pharmacopoeia.


Today, I believe it's a good moment to study the genesis of our culture, and the genesis of the relationship of women and men.

What if Adam and Eve had work together on the quest of knowledge? What about this idea of sharing the taste of the apple and of the tree of knowledge? What if at the beginning of time woman and man were working side by side, like a team? What happen to others interpretation of the myth ? What if the genesis had not been fully understood through centuries? Moreover what if the patriarchal domination managed to erase others interpretations and than discriminated man and woman who dare offering other lifestyle. A lifestyle where they complemented themselves and were they are equal human being. A lifestyle refering to a kind of activities and relationship one is doing in everyday life. What if they had this lifestyle where they pay attention to the level of consciousness he's or she's experimenting and how they treated others. I am talking about a lifestyle that goes towards the evolution of the consciousness and of the human being.

So in that sense I think there's more than one way to interpreted the myth of the Genesis, there's more than one interpretation of  the myth of the Tree if knowledge. Today, on International  Women’s Day I am posting an other «interpretation» of the myth from the book, Universal Root Myths wrote by Silo. 

“ The title of this work, Universal Root Myths, demands some clarification. Silo have considered as a “root” myth every myth that, in passing from people to people, has preserved in its central argument a certain timelessness. That is, it has a core that has been maintained, even when over time changes have occurred in the names and attributes of the characters and even the landscape in which the action takes place. While the central plot line, which we also call the “nucleus of ideation,” also undergoes changes, it does so at a pace that is relatively slow in relation to what may be thought of as secondary elements. The book is available and free at on the website Silo.net.” 

The Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life

“…Out of the ground the Lord God made grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. And in the midst of the garden, he set the tree of life and also the tree of knowledge of good and evil.… And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die

And so it was that Adam and Eve lived in Eden, where a river flowed out to water the garden, and from there it divided into four streams. The name of the stream that flowed around the land of Havila, where there is gold, was Pishon. The second one, which encircled the land of Cush, was Gihon. The name of the third, hidden and shaded, which flowed to the east of Assyria, was Hiddekel, and the fourth, of good and murmuring words, was Euphrates. And Eden overflowed with plants and animals, and our parents were the namers of all the living things there. But how could they give a name to the tree of life or that of the knowledge of good and evil if they did not know them, if they did not even approach them? So it was that they yearned for the knowledge that they did not have and did not even know how to attain.

One night, troubled by this question, Eve fell asleep, and, sleeping, she dreamed. In her dream, she saw the tree of knowledge shining in the darkness. As she approached the tree, there suddenly appeared before her a disquieting winged figure. Although beautiful to look upon, in the darkness she could not see its face—perhaps it was that of Adam. Its dew-dampened hair exhaled a fragrance that filled her with feelings of love. And Eve wished to see more. The figure, gesturing toward the tree, said: “O beautiful plant, heavy with fruit! Is there no one who will lighten your burden and taste your sweetness? Is knowledge so scorned? Is it only envy or an unjust prohibition that forbids your being touched? Let him forbid it who will! No longer will anyone deprive me of what you offer. If not for this, why are you here?” Having spoken, the figure hesitated no longer, but with trembling hand plucked the fruit and tasted of it.

In her dream, the audacity of the winged figure left Eve frozen in glacial horror, but immediately it exclaimed: “O divine fruit, you alone are sweet, and so much sweeter plucked in this way—forbidden, apparently set aside for the gods alone, and yet capable of converting men into gods! And why should they not be so? Good is increased the more it is shared, and in this its author, far from losing, only acquires more praise. Approach, fortunate creature, beautiful and angelic Eve—share this fruit with me!”²

Eve awoke with a start and recounted her dream to her companion. Adam then asked himself: “Does not God speak through dreams? If during the day he prohibits and by night he invites, how, with my meager knowledge, shall I know to which incitement I should respond? We should acquire this knowledge so as to direct our destinies, since God Jehovah created us but did not say how we should make our own selves.” Then he told Eve his plan to take the fruit and run with it to the tree of life in order to become immune to the poison of knowledge. So it was that they waited, until the God Jehovah strolled through the garden in the cool of the afternoon, and when he had passed by they went to the tree. Seeing a serpent gliding among the branches toward the fruit, they thought its venom must derive from that food. And because of this they doubted, and while they doubted time passed, and the God Jehovah began his return to the garden.

Then they thought they heard the serpent whisper: “You shall not die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”³ The snake was not lying, but wanted to stop them from eating from the other tree, the tree of life.⁴ As it was already very late, Adam and Eve tasted the fruit, and the eyes of both of them were opened. But when they wanted to reach the tree of immortality, the God Jehovah blocked their way, keeping them from fulfilling their plan.

Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and what if he now reaches out his hand and takes also from the tree of life, eats, and lives forever?” Therefore, the Lord God drove him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he came. He cast out the man, and to the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword of flame that turned in all directions so as to guard the way to the tree of life.⁵

And so Adam and Eve went out from Eden, but their gaze was always turned toward Paradise, whose presence was revealed only by the smoke of the sword of fire during the day and its radiance during the night. And they did not return because they could not, but since they believed it pleased him they began to offer the God Jehovah sacrifices of fire and smoke. And with time, many peoples came to think that the gods preferred the high mountains and the volcanoes because these are the bridges between the Earth and the heavens. And so when the time came, it was from the fire, from the mountain, that the God Jehovah delivered the Law for which humankind searched so that they might make straight their Destiny.⁶

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1 Genesis 2:9 and 2:16–17.

2 Based on Book 5 of John Milton’s Paradise Lost.

3 Genesis 3:4–5.

4 In this story, following the tone of the myth of Gilgamesh—”he who knew all” but who returned to die in Uruk—the serpent is interested in having man acquire knowledge, but impedes him from achieving immortality.

5 Genesis 3:22–24.

6 Annunciation of the Laws of Moses.

Complete work at : www.silo.net