Man and Woman: Let’s Create a New Story

All of human history, written and unwritten, can trace back to an original story. Like roots of ancestry reaching back, playing out similar themes and patterns to repeat itself again and again through time.

The most commonly known creation story is outlined in Genesis 1 and 2 of the Bible. It is the one we all know well — the story of Adam and Eve.

In Genesis I - the first, heaven and earth, light and night, ocean and land, animal and then the first man and woman were created.

1:27   So God created man in its own image… male and female created them.
1:28   And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
1:29   And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

In Genesis II - the second, God rested on the seventh day and ended its work.

2:6   But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
2:7   And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
2:8   And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
21   And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22   And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

There are two creation stories. The first story speaks of the creation of both man and woman as equals in the image of God. Bestowing upon them the entirety of Earth. To have dominion over and to replenish. The second story speaks of the creation of a woman from a man—a man not created in the image of God, by Lord God. Bestowing upon them the garden of Eden. Why are there two stories telling two creations of man and woman, and a new earth?

There are other stories of a woman that came before Eve. A woman named Lilith. The stories of Lilith suggests that she was the first woman. Created not from man, but created separate and equal, and in the image of God. The stories tell that she left because she did not want to submit to Adam and Adam did not want to submit to her. It is said that Adam sent for her and she refused to return, instead choosing her own path. Many stories have labeled her as a demoness throughout history. Whether or not it is true, her story is unclear. Then there is Eve, thought to be the second wife. Eve was made out of Adam, made to be his helper. He was re-made not in the image of God, but from the earth.

Stories reinforce messages and values. And they are reinforced through the ages. We can never know what is the truth is as they are ultimately stories written by humans. And all humans are fallable and biased. What can be noted is that the story we know and have embodied through the ages is based on the second creation story, the one where man and woman are created not in the image of god but from the earth. Which implies they do not embody the highest Truths of God. It is why they were put in the garden of Eden. Eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge in order to move beyond the limitations of the garden. Staying in the garden would keep them blissfully ignorant, and would not allow them to evolve.

But religion and society have used these stories to create a narrative that suggests women are 1. dangerous (because eve reached for the fruit of knowledge), and 2. inferior to men because eve was created from adam’s rib. And they are able to point to the second creation story as '“proof.”

Christianity as an institution nearly wiped out all prior belief systems through a form of spiritual cleansing, genocide, and conquering of people and land. ‘Paganism’ is a blanket label for the spiritual belief system that was long held in ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India. Not to mention the many spiritual belief systems around the world. These belief systems, pre-organized religion, were centered upon worship of the divine feminine energy and divine feminine goddesses. Institutionalized religion changed the narrative and focused on the masculine, labeling God as male, and nearly wiping out and redefining the messaging around the feminine. In this restructuring and organizing of people and society, it redefined the way humanity would live and build society for the next two thousand years. And the values and beliefs we live by to this day are largely based off the stories and accounts written thousands of years ago.

So the question is, is it time to re-write a new story? Can we not all agree that much has changed over the last few thousands of years of human history and evolution? Are we living the same lives people lived thousands of years ago?

It is important to not oversimplify the concepts of feminine and masculine energy, and the nature of human beings as man or woman. Woman does not equal pure feminine energy. And man does not equal pure masculine energy. Women and men are made of both energies. And energy is not the same thing as form.

In the energetics of the Universe, feminine and masculine energy are both necessary. ‘Feminine’ and ‘Masculine’ are merely labels to describe the dualistic nature of energy and form that works together naturally. Divine feminine is limitless, boundless energy flowing all around, giving way to creation. Divine masculine is structured form, the output of boundless divine feminine energy.

To this day, we are still in a war between genders. Men believe women are inferior and should submit to them; women believe they should be more masculine to get what they want or more feminine to be more spiritual. In the original creation story, man and woman are created to have dominion over the creatures of the Earth, but not over each other. For they were created equal. But they were also created human, with egos and free will. As the only two humans, they served as mirrors for each other. One with an ego, and the other with the same ego. Both thinking the other should submit.

How often do we still see power dynamics play out in relationships between men and women? The battle between Adam and the original woman Lilith continues to this day. How often do we expect women to be an Eve, and not a Lilith? How often do we hear the stories of women like Lilith? And how often do we demonize women like Lilith?

Lilith and Eve represent two archetypes of women. The war between two female roles. Lilith representing the equal or superior woman. Eve representing the inferior woman. It is also representative of the two seemingly opposing definitions of femininity. Is feminine passive and gentle or intentional and strong? The thing about feminine energy is that it is both and it is a lot more nuanced and dynamic then we can possibly understand. What we perceive on the surface as gentle and still, can also be powerful and dynamic beneath the surface. After all, feminine energy is the energy that creates new life. Feminine energy is powerful.

As we are all dual nature energy, we all hold yin and yang, feminine and masculine, no matter the form and gender. Both energies and all genders inherently deserve equal respect, because both energies are the foundational blocks of all life. We need both. So there is no point in trying to repress the other or argue which is better or which is more superior. It’s all really just pointless.

Women and men both experience emotions. Both desire to be heard and accepted as they are. Both desire to be loved. No matter the gender, our desires are Universal. Perhaps we can start there, and recognize that so much of our values, beliefs and behaviors have been colored by the past.

The work continues to heal the divide between genders. Perhaps it is the story that needs to be re-written. We can stop re-creating the past. We can heal and master our egos. We can embrace that we are both feminine and masculine energies (yin and yang). We can embrace both and all genders. We can embrace the ability to forgive, come back to center, and find a way to work together as guardians of this planet.