The Holy Book

Genesis 2 ~ The Tree of Life

1
After Six Eons of Activity on Earth, the primitive phase was at an end. The civilised stage was pending. Intelligent life standing by.
Till now, various human types had battled like beasts for supremacy. Homo Erectus. Neanderthal Man.
Through love and war, they interbred and wiped each other out, leaving us, Homo Sapiens, victorious. Just as El had planned from the start.
He loves it when different sorts interbreed. It's the spice of life, he says. Makes new pedigrees. Diversities.
His mouth waters, like gardeners planting new varieties.

2
Now in the Seventh Eon, or Seventh Day, as the sages say, El sat back and watched the Homo Sapiens at play.

3
As everything had taken seven eons to complete, El, leaning back, resting his holy head on Jupiter's godly throne, decided to make the number holy. Set the star system clock by it. Give it his heavenly blessing:
"I made the world in seven days," he said. "Six of action, one of rest. A quarter-moon takes seven days. Seven planets with naked eyes are seen. Seven colours in a rainbow, and in music, seven notes. That's the way I made the world. So is the number I want you to live by. Seven days a week, capeesh?"
Ancient seers picked the message up in daydreams. Watched the planets and the moon, agreed. It was a sign from up above indeed. So set their henges by it:
"Hear ye, hear ye, El's request.
Six days working, one of rest.
That's the way life functions best."
The ancient seers proclaimed.

4
Here thus is written the history of the world, from Day One. Or the Dawn of Time. Or whatever you want to call it. From a lowly, narrow-minded, human perspective. Not the perspective of El. He knows the true history. Kept on shelves in heaven's library. But that is not for human eyes. All we get is this.

5
In the ancient Ediacaran, on old Gondwana land, there was no life. No trees, no herbs, no grass that grew. Just barren earth, dry and inhospitable.

6
So the stormgod Baal, on El's command, turned water from the sea to mist, raining luscious droplets all across as-dry-as-a-bone Gondwana. So it exploded into life.

7
Five hundred million years later, mankind evolved. Six million years they roamed the planet primitive as apes.
Then started building farms and towns and worshipping the elemental gods. Like Yam of the sea and Baal of the sky.
Two lovers from a village lost in cool Caucasia, roamed southward through the mountains, clutching an old, gold statue of El, the godking.
"Save us, El. Guide us, El." They prayed. They had no hope but him, never having left their village, before the dragon clan invaded. Like lambs to the wolves. Sheep without a shepherd.
El heard their bleating hearts. So led them to the top of holy volcano, Süphan. Cool and dormant, dripping with melted snow. Beamed to earth on a ray of golden light. Stood he before them, shimmering. His skin a luminous blue, like the undying sky. Or a man who had died, yet had come back to life.
The pair fell to all fours, facing the floor. "W-who are you, m-master?"
"I am El. I made you. From atoms."
"What are they?" They trembled, scared to look at he to whom they spoke.
"Let's just say I made you from clay. They're what clay is made of. Then I placed a spark of spirit, the spirit of the gods, invisible as wind, inside you, like breath in your lungs."
"I came from my mum, sir. Forgive me for saying."
"In your mama's womb, I made you."
"Th-thank you, Don."
"Now I will make you a garden to live in forever, with me. How's that?"
"Am-am-amazing!" They shivered.

8
So El planted a garden there, for the chosen pair, called Eden. Beneath a magic, golden dome, a hundred miles wide. An artificial atmosphere of paradise. A mini heaven on earth for two, where nothing bad or dangerous resided.

9
El filled the dome with every sort of fruit. None with poison. None with thorns. All sweet and good to eat. Pretty to look at. Soft to touch. The weather warm. The perfect temp. So never would they sweat or shiver.
In the volcano crater El planted a tree most magical of all. Connected subatomically to Yesod. The Tree of Life. Fruits of every shape. Branches like the rainbow. Leaves changing colour every day. From it sprang the dome. It powered the dome. Repelled evil. Made flowers grow. Kept fruit sweet and thorns blunt. Nullified poison. Made predators friendly, grazers lose their appetites, and humans lose their memories. So it was. The pair forgot the woeful world beyond the dome existed.
Yet some life tree roots touched Malkuthian soil, deep underground, tainted by sin. So some fruits had an eerie glow, infected. They were the fruits of evil. Fruits of memory and death.

10
The River Eden, pure and sparkling, flowed through the garden, for the couple to sip from, and the trees to drink. Beyond the dome it split into four different streams.

11
The first is the Jordan. Flowing south to Havilah, the land of gold.

12
Mountains of gold in Havilah. Onyx crystals too. Plus frankincense and myrrh trees. Their golden sap makes two pungent perfumes that look good enough to eat. "Frankincense" means "fancy fragrance", and "myrrh" means, "sniff but don't swallow". For external use only.

13
The second is the Nile. You can get there through the Sea of Reeds. Flows all the way down through the Land of Cush. East Africa.

14
The third is the Tigris. Runs fast like a tiger. Takes you to old Sumeria, where Gilgamesh lived.
Fourth is the famous Euphrates. "Row freight to the west with ease" it means. Cargo route for emperors and kings.

15
"You'll be my gardeners," said El. "A gardener like me. Keep this dome as full of peace and joy as it can be. By making all the best of all the fruit and stuff you see…

16
…Eat any fruit you want. Any fruit at all…

17
…But never, I say never, eat that glowing green stuff on the life tree, right? That stuffa killya."

18
The gal looked at herself and saw her body was different from the guy's. She couldn't remember her life before she got here. So innocently asked: "Why am I different to him, Don El?"
"You used to be joined together in heaven. A being with four arms," said El. "But here in this dark realm, your spirits are shattered into smaller shards. You gotta learn to live in harmony. So climb the stairway back to heaven, fusing spirits as you go."

19
"What are those things?" She pointed.
"Beasts and birds. I made them. You, my dears, can name them."

20
So that became one of their hobbies. Seeking out new species. Giving them names.
The bloke awoke one morning, eager to see more creatures. But when he went to wake his gal - Lilith, as he called her - she was gone! Gone for a day and a week and a month. Gone and never came back.
He tried to speak to the creatures instead. But none could understand him. So lonely and sad, he cried:
"Where has Lilith gone, Lord El?"
"It's better that you do not know."
"Tell me, Lord, and there I'll go."
"She ate the fruit of death and died."
The fellow cried: "Whatever will I do now, El? I wish I could have her back again."

21
El hated to see the poor chap sob. So tapped his head and made him sleep. A deep and dreamless, sedated sleep.
With a glowing finger, like a sabre made of light, he split the man's chest, detached a rib, no pain at all. A smooth, curved, white bone, full of DNA-rich marrow. Then seamlessly sewed up the slice.
The bloke awoke and never knew what happened.
"There's a new girl on the way. I made her from your rib."
"Thank you, El." He sobbed, at the memory of Lilith. Then carried on eating fruit and naming creatures.

22
El beamed the bone to an angel lab. Had them engineer a lady. The perfect gal for him. Same age. Same likes. Match made in heaven.
The lab beamed her to El. El put her in the garden with the man.
Because of this the sages say: "Don't look for a wife or hubby. El will lead you to the perfect match."

23
"She's perfect!" Said the man. "A girl much like me. My own flesh and blood. I'll call myself Ish, and she shall be Isha. Like me, but different."
Isha and Ish mean Woman and Man.

24
So it is. To make a new human, a man must put part of himself in a woman. When he does, he stops being a child. Leaves his own parents, has kids of his own.
The kid gets half its features from its dad, half from its mum. Then when it grows, becomes a mum or dad itself.
As the kid is half of both, the couple should stay together. To raise the kid and be a family for life.
There's another reason too. Two become one on the soul plan with love. A sacred ritual. It's spiritual. To split is to lose the power of the bond. The longer the bond, the stronger it grows. Faithful lovers swim fast across the astral seas. By the sages it is known.

25
The woman and man, the ish and the isha, were totally naked and unashamed. They didn't need to cover up with clothes, like me and you.