THE CREATION STORY (God Is A Woman)

And in the days after the creation, Eve, the First Woman spent her time in the centre of the Garden, enjoying the luscious shade the leaves of the Tree of Life provided.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked the serpent, whose subtle presence she had learned to sense.

The serpent slowly transformed into its man-like form and laid by the Woman. With the numerous times she had seen the transformation, she had not ceased to be amazed; in awe of the one that had made it be – The Morningstar, the serpent had called him. A man so beautiful, the Almighty could not destroy, despite his stark betrayal.

“I could take you to him,” the serpent had told her a few days ago.

And she had imagined the feel of Lucifer’s hands on her skin. The thought at first thrilled her, before it short-circuited into annoyance. Annoyance that her husband lived only for Jehovah and the latter for the former, despite her diligence. It was she who ran the garden, giving them time to engage in their fellowships, yet none of them ever seemed to notice.

“Jehovah has requested for my presence,” Adam would say to her every morning. “He called to me in my dreams,” he would add.

And at night, she would secretly wish to dream of the Almighty, just once at least. But wishes, she had since realised, were like trees with no fruits. Now, she spent most of her days listening to the tales of a tainted creature (the serpent).

“I am taken,” she’d snapped at the serpent, surprised by the fury in her voice. “My place is here, and here only. Am I clear!?”

The serpent retreated and had avoided her until today. She had been unfair to it; she’d since realised this in his absence. He simply wanted to help her. Eve stared at the serpent’s fiery eyes. She desired something more, something the serpent had seen firsthand, a life crafted by one’s own action. A life like Lucifer’s.

“Tell Lucifer I would love to give him a tour of the Garden sometime,” she said to the serpent.

***

Eve stared at the succulent fruits of the Tree of Knowledge, the serpent right behind her.

“My master deems you unworthy, nothing more than a puppet of the Almighty,” it had said as Satan’s response to her invitation.

And now, they stood before the Tree of Knowledge. Just a bite of the fruit and she would prove herself worthy of Lucifer’s presence.

“Go on, my lady,” the serpent urged her. “The master of the land beyond awaits.”

Eve plucked one of the low-hanging fruits. The pearl-like fruit was the colour of gold and was thrumming with great energy.

How can something so glorious, so beautiful…bring about death? she wondered.

“It shall do you no harm,” the serpent assured her. “My master has promised, and he doesn’t lie.”

Eve brought the fruit close to her lips.

She eats the fruit, and then what? she reasoned. She would abandon the two men who kept her as a farmhand, for the one who demanded she prove herself worthy of his presence?

Her mouth yawned open, her lips pursing as her teeth drew close to sink into the fruit – when she suddenly pulled back, ignoring the urging of the serpent.

“Tell your master I have nothing to prove to him,” she stated confidently. And in her defiance, she felt herself fulfilled.

And as the Woman stared at her reflection on the shiny epicarp of the fruit, in awe of her own agency, she subconsciously became her own God.

Written by Ikedi