So I was thinkin about the Bible...what a great way to start a post.

More specifically, the beginning of Genesis. Creation. The story of Adam and Eve and original sin. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, here's a breif synopsis: God creates the world and Adam and Eve, says, "Hey, eat from the tree of Life, but don't touch the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or you'll die. Then a serpent comes along and convinces Eve that the tree of...KGE...will make her godlike in wisdom. So she does. And then humanity is banished from Eden."

A breifer synopsis would be, "God gave mankind a choice: Enlightenment, or and everlasting life of ignorance. Man chose enlightenment." or WOman, for any of you feminists out there

A buddhist would be proud of Eve. And that is why Buddhists are evil.

But seriously, is the serpent really that bad? I've read Tuck Everlasting, immortality doesn't seem to be all that great. Enlightenment, on the other hand, sounds pretty tempting. And that is a basic part of Buddhism...either you reach elightenment and go to Nirvana (or cease to exist), or you live forever in a constant cycle of rebirth. Is that serpent really all that bad...besides being a nasty snake? Sounds like some may say that he led Eve to the right choice...like Neo. He took that pill.

Thinking about this, it should come as no suprise that the snake is an ancient symbol for enlightenment. Look it up in a dream dictionary thing (having a New Age mommy might help with that). But in case you don't put stock into that crap, as I don't, there are other places where you can find the snake being used this way.

The Caduceus is a symbol that I can't seem to find an exact orgin for, but seems to be pretty ancient. You probably have seen it on the sides of ambulances or in hospitals; it has also been called the physicians staff. From what I've read/been told, the caduceus consists of two snakes ("the kundalini") winding their way up the spine towards the third eye, and upon reaching the third eye, enlightenment is reached, as symbolized by the wings. I guess the reason this symbol is used in medicine is due to the fact that medicine used to be tied closely with religion.

So, based on all that, it would seem to me that the story was written by greedy Hebrew preists that didn't want others to share in their knowlege, as it was the secret to their power. So they wrote some stories to glorify ignorance, making God seem like a jerk who didn't want any man to gain his knowlege.

On the other hand, there is Kabbalah. To them, the Tree of Life represents a journey towards enlightenment.

So, maybe, God intended us to reach enlightenment. However, he gave the option of living a full life in preperation for enlightenment, a gradual journey, or getting it instantly (like people say they do when they are on PCP). Eve decided to drop some acid, played with a talking snake, and then ran out of Eden because she thought a flaming sword was chasing her.

Seems like as good an explanization as any.