... et GENETRIX
by Mary Phil Korsak

This is a story of life and death
It tells of birth, separation and growth

Before anything was
an idea formed in the Mind of the One
who made all things
The idea was about life
The idea was life

The One who made all things
made a groundling
made it male and female
and gave it a name, Groundling
The Groundling was made from the soil of the ground
It was to care for the ground
from which it was taken
so that the ground would produce food
to sustain life

This was pleasing
but it was not enough

The One who makes all things grow
planted a garden
and put the Groundling in it
The garden was beautiful
Its trees bore fruit
that was there for the eating

This also was pleasing
but it was not enough

The One who makes all things grow
made a tree spring up
in the middle of the garden
so that the Groundling would see it
every day
When the Groundling looked at the tree
it saw the tree as the tree of life
When the Groundling looked again at the tree
it saw that the tree bore fruit
that was both good and bad
This is a mystery ...
The Groundling left the tree
standing in the middle of the garden
to look around further

A river flowed into the garden
carrying water to irrigate the soil
If the Groundling looked far away
it could see it branch off
From there four rivers wind out of the garden
to the forest and the steppe
to the desert and the sea
There the world is waiting
with good gold and precious stones

The world appeared vast, beautiful
and somewhat disturbing even to its Maker
The One who cares for all
came to the Groundling
now at rest in the garden
The Groundling was small, vulnerable and lonely
To give this matter thought
the Maker stopped work
but not without issuing the following warning
You may eat of all the trees
but do not eat of the one tree
for if you do, you will die

In the cool of the evening
the One who gives life
began making companions
to rejoice the Groundling's heart
Fish swam in the water
Birds crossed the sky
Beasts crept through the grasses
and cattle grazed the ground
And to each of these the Groundling gave a name

All this was pleasing
but it was not enough

The One who gives life
said, I will make a helpmate
to rejoice the Groundling's heart
I will put the Groundling to sleep
and build from its side
a woman
This was done
The Groundling woke up
looked twice
and burst into song
She is like me!
>From man she has been taken
She shall be called wo-man
for she shall go by man's side

The two looked at each other
They were happy and free

All this was pleasing
It was very pleasing

* * * * *

The woman stood near the tree
in the middle of the garden
She saw that it was beautiful
and perceived its power
She wanted to hug it
But when she put out a hand
a snake raised its head
It said
So you are not to eat of all the trees...
That's right, said the woman
as she drew back her hand
Even touching this tree
can bring death
The snake said to the woman
No, you will not die!
If you eat of the fruit of the tree
you will become like the Power
that knows all things, good and bad
The woman felt within her the stirring of life
She was filled with desire and followed its impulse
She ate of the fruit
and gave the rest to her man
He ate

They saw then
as they had not seen before
They saw that they were different
So they plucked leaves from the tree
to cover their nakedness
Then they heard
the voice of the One who knows all things
calling
Where are you now?
What have you done?
And they hid in the middle of the tree
The Groundling said
She made me do it!
The woman said
The snake made me do it!
The snake said nothing

The One who cares for all sighed
and said to the snake
As you have made difference apparent in the world
you shall be different from all other animals
They walk, fly and swim
You shall go legless and slide on your belly
They eat the plants of the field
You shall eat soil
Fear of your difference shall cause the Groundling
to strike at your head
and you from the ground shall strike at its heel

And to the woman
You have chosen life
and you shall pass life on
when you give birth
Each birth shall cost you hard labour
You shall long for your man
and he shall set you limits

This is both good and bad

And to the Groundling
The ground shall produce food
at the cost of hard labour on your part
You shall struggle against weeds
and sweat to eat bread
But when you eat bread
your sweat shall refresh you
And at the end of your days
you shall rest in the ground
from which you were taken

This is both good and bad

The Groundling gave the woman a name
Life-Giver

The One who cares for all
tenderly clothed them and said
Now the Groundling is ready
to go from the garden
But it shall not last for ever
The man and the woman
were expulsed from the garden
never to return there
for the way back to the tree of life
was guarded by dragons
And the twirling sword had cut through
the umbilical cord

* * * * *

If the fruit stays on the tree
its seed cannot reach the ground!

Published in The Feminist Companion to Genesis, volume II. Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, UK 1998 
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