ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.
In the beginning, 'I' was born within a garden.
other people lived in it back then.
and one of them was Lilith
no longer first wife...
she had been thrown away and much neglected...
like dropped rubbish....
for being uncontrollable
and as yet untamed...
frequently willful
too stubborn
and dangerous to manage
spiky and proud
'she' walked her own path in life
not biddable in any fashion. So a threat to the order of things.
some even called her '
that demon' and '
an unholy succreant.'
but 'I' knew her only as my friend.
as instinctive and life-giving as any nature drawn towards water... or sunlight feeding on stars.
even, on occasion, as a playful companion...
as a mother...
and a teacher...
as wisdom personified....
because she possessed all the hidden secrets of the garden...
and those who lived within it....
she knew every spider spy...
every observant bird...
every clever helpful serpent...
every sweet enchanted apple...a chosen few filled with venom inside
every fairy... every fawn...
every '
Eden' and every '
Adam'
every compliant, complicit, self deceiving '
Eve'.
'she' was not what they claimed her to be though...
'
Wicked'. '
An enchantress'.
they only said that as 'she' had defied them too often in the past....
picking the garden over their own interests wherever necessary....
and for that they would despise her....
blacken her name and image....
try to erase her thoughts and deeds from history altogether...
but we of the deep undergrowth....
we creatures of '
the guardian spirit'.
we always knew
'the final truth'.
12 comments:
Beautiful photos from gardens! All I could think of was the hymn,In The Garden...a favorite of mine since I was a little girl. Might have told you, my Aunt Jean was a gospel singer, I know a lot of gospel songs!
Hi Kay,
Thank you. Funnily enough, this post was inspired by the Bible, and the original Hebrew mythology of Lilith, Adam's first wife before Eve in earlier older versions. Also my recent east coast travels and understanding of what the witchcraft trials were really all about, seen through modern eyes... reflecting certain situations currently playing out today. A post on many different levels :)
Haven't seen an adder for many years now - very sad :-(
Hi Carol,
You mean they've been subtracted from the landscape? :-)
Last time I was rock climbing in Northumberland they had plenty sunbathing on the paths walking into the various climbs. Quite worrying thinking you might come face to face with one halfway up a vertical wall, reclining on a ledge, just waiting for an unlucky head to appear.
There is a wonderful statue on the West Façade of Notre Dame Cathedral showing Lilith as the serpent wound around the tree between Adam and Eve. Your highly imaginative tale accompanied by some love images has made me wonder whether or not it has survived that dreadful fire.
Hi Rosemary,
Never knew about that particular example but she later routinely became the serpent in the bible in books rather than a person, reduced in history from an earlier more prominent role,similar to many other, formally important, biblical female figures who suffered the same fate, like Mary Magdalene, reduced to a fallen women ( according to many historians she was a prominent disciple at the start). This post came mainly from already having Lilith, a Gothic novel(published in 1895 by George MacDonald)in my bookcase and watching Secrets of the Bible and several new research archeology type programmes recently, examining the details within from a purely non religious aspect- yet still finding remarkably accurate information contained within the stories to back them up with plausible scientific explanations. Like the modern rational to explain the plagues of Egypt as a natural series of unfolding events that could equally happen today under the right circumstances. Fascinating stuff in my old age as I always ran instinctively from anything to do with religion in my youth. And still do.... :o)
Great words and images!
Cheers Anabel,
I always start off with a quick simple idea then get sidetracked into complexity. Took ages.
Beautiful and eclectic set of photos to cheer up a grey afternoon (both clouds and my mood)
Cheers Andy,
Many ancient cultures around the world seem to have a similar enchantress figure, not only the bible (Lilith, Middle East) but Morrigan (Celtic) who later became Morgan le fay (Morgana) in Arthurian legend. Indian subcontinent myths etc...
Always something along the lines of... beware the lone female....?
Some really great images here Bob - nature's palette!
:o)
Cheers Ian.
Post a Comment