The first time I felt real empowerment was very likely the last time I held a snake. I was about three or four years old and playing with the little boy down the street. We found a nest of garter snakes in their backyard and were fascinated by them. Excited, we each grabbed one and ran to his house to show his mother. She simply did not grasp the importance of the occasion. She screamed and stood on top of the kitchen table. After a few unintelligible noises she told us in no uncertain terms we were to remove ourselves and the snakes from the house. Rather than scare us we looked at one another with a wide grin. We had the power to make his mother blither. With wide eyes we wondered if we could do the same to my mother.
My mother, however, was not as impressed. She simply told us what they were and why they belonged out in the garden where they could dine on the pests. Why would I think my mother would react the same? After all, this was a woman who happened to be wallpapering at the time with a raccoon following her up and down the ladder. She did scold us for scaring Peg but I heard her later laughing as she relayed the story to my father. This was a woman I simply could not faze; and, I tried, many times over the years I tried.
As I grew older I learned to give snakes a little more respect. Although I've never been afraid of them I've also never tried to grab one without considering possible consequences. It may have had something to do with the 8 foot bull snake I encountered one time near the river. I've often wondered, though, if some of it had to do with Sunday school and the Garden of Eden.
We all know the story. Adam and Eve are told not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge but they do anyway after Eve is tempted by a snake. Suddenly, they are aware of their nakedness and become embarrassed.
Throughout history the snake has represented many things. Some American Indians saw the tail as a male phallic symbol and associated it with assertiveness while others viewed it as female and representative of birth. The writers of the Bible associated it with the Occult belief that the snake symbolized hidden knowledge. They were terrified of knowledge.
The Church knew if the followers came to understand too much about themselves and the world they would also come to recognize the men who led them were no more than humans like themselves. If everyone knew God was inside each individual what power would they then have to dictate behavior, belief and laws? Their authority would become meaningless.
According to Freud, my primary problem is an inability to respect authority figures. I'll take that diagnosis, thank you, and damn proud of it. The day I fail to question who I am following and why is the day I should pack it all in.
I guess I'd be too much like Lilith. She was Adam's first wife. You never hear about her because she was booted out of the garden after demanding equal treatment. She was not formed of his rib; rather, God made her in the same manner as he made Adam. I doubt God kicked her out; man did. If you assume God regretted making her to be the equal of man you also must assume that God, the all-powerful, makes mistakes and failed to visualize the effects of his actions in the future. It doesn't work that way, no matter what some preacher with misogynistic wet dreams tells you. God knew exactly what he was doing. I suppose He knew what he was doing, then, when He granted us all free will. That's probably why He sent people like me down. To remind you of what you already know at some level. You are God, God is you and the only voice you need to heed is your own.
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