The Hormone Tree

2005-07-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

Interpretation of myths has been one of the most fascinating subjects to me over the past few weeks. Finding any value in a story and having it apply to me, however, has proven to be difficult. I’ve never practiced someone else’s organized religion and considered it to be the only truth. Therefore, in some ways I am isolated. I could continue to cling to my desires in life but it is far too shallow for me to be defined by these surroundings. My passion for the natural world keeps me striving. I’m grasping for some kind of knowledge or understanding of myself. Then I read a story about a tree of knowledge, a tree of good and evil. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest there of thou shalt surely die” God spoke. Why? What is in the tree? What is it that makes a man mortal if he eats from it? Is it knowledge itself that burrows into the belly and makes a person die? The potential botanist in me wants to see what science has to say about it. Perhaps the tree of knowledge of both good and evil is still around today. We may have preserved it by natural selection from the early days of hunters and gatherers. The story tells that upon eating the fruit of this special tree, “your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil”. The main characters in the tale challenge God’s warning and proceed to eat the forbidden fruit. Suddenly they sense that they are naked and try to hide their bodies behind the foliage in the garden. Many religions would proclaim that they were simply ashamed for disobeying but what if they became aware of something that happened to their bodies? Could they have undergone a physical change somehow? Is it possible that a chemical reaction occurred within them? I could name half a dozen naturally occurring plant-based hormones and their abilities to directly affect the human reproductive system. That tree must have been the catalyst for the evolution of human beings. The theory that the original non-fertile human, that was not yet intended for procreation, ate some fruit by his own choice and was born a fully capable creator of life would rock the ideals of many religions. As some may believe, my fragile faith has caused me to speak blasphemy. If the symbolism of the fruit means fertility and the consumption of the fruit is a crime (as in this case), why has society translated, “be fruitful and multiply” into “have as many kids as you can and don’t bother to give a damn about them”? It doesn’t matter because if the story is real, if these characters really existed, if this couple actually ate from the magical yam tree and underwent spontaneous puberty, would it make any difference to me? My own interpretation of this universally known myth tells me something very important about myself. It tells me that I am both good and evil and that I’m not ready to play God. Society’s standards for living and bearing children are not for me. I think we all have much to learn and much more to consider before creating children in our own image.

Divine Madness

The Hormone Tree