"Garden of Eden 2.0 - The Permaculture Food Forest Mythic Promise" - by Willi Paul, Mythologist, Planetshifter.com

Prelude

The Garden of Eden Myth 1.0 -

Much like records of the great flood, creation story and confusion of languages, the story of Eden echoes the Mesopotamian myth of a king, as a primordial man, who is placed in a divine garden to guard the tree of life. In the Hebrew Bible, Adam and Eve are depicted as walking around the Garden of Eden naked due to their innocence. Eden and its rivers may signify the real Jerusalem, the Temple of Solomon, or the Promised Land. It may also represent the divine garden on Zion, and the mountain of God, which was also Jerusalem. The imagery of the Garden, with its serpent and cherubs, has been compared to the images of the Solomonic Temple with its copper serpent (the nehushtan) and guardian cherubs.

God created the first man Adam and then created the first woman, Eve. God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to care and nurture the land. He told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any fruit from the trees except for the tree of good and evil. God warned them that if they ate from the tree they would die.


Eden 2.0 is a working sanctuary; a new myth machine. Sacred. A mythological and spiritual forest temple with thousands of similar sites all over the world. The food forest is the dawning spiritual body of Human + Nature.

I asked Scott Wells in our recent interview if there a place in the present age that is like the Garden of Eden? Is this place just a fading metaphor for Mother Nature? His reply:

"When we speak of the "garden" in our mythology we are referring to the garden of Eden which is a metaphor for when we lived within a simpler range of awareness before we were able to conceive of duality. Being able to question our own nature is an expansion in awareness. So, eating the apple is actually symbolic of the growth in our mental ability to ask if we are inherently good or evil. What we are arriving at now collectively is to see beyond good & evil, to see that polarity is created from one source. Our challenge is to remember that we are one with this source."

While I agree with Arthur George from our July 2014 Planetshifte.com interview that "the Eden story is really about the elevation of our consciousness, which is a continuing historical process," I do not support his assertion that "any attempt to recreate and live in any new "Eden" would be regressive. Rather, human consciousness must move forward and upward, further from Eden. It would be best for modern myths to be oriented in this direction, as was the main line of the original Eden myth in my interpretation."

Permaculture (and its agents) are far from regressive. Just ask us. Eden 2.0 is a vision fueled by resilience and spiritual rebirth; a community creation story.

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Elements of a Permaculture Food Forest: SpiritNature and Community

• Permaculture Courses, Plans, Ethics and Values
• Sun and Rain
• Seeds
• Fruits and Vegetables for the Harvest
• Home and Food for Animals
• Fire Circle - Alchemy and Spirit
• Tool Shack
• Compost Piles
• Enriched Soil
• Water Source
• Gardeners and Teachers
• Food Sharing Systems
• Rocket Stoves

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Mythic Elements and the Search for Garden of Eden 2.0

Campbell's classic mythological vision has now evolved to emphasize the community over the individual: community initiation, community journey and the community hero (W. Paul, 2017). Today, there is more resources and power in the group and often too much short-term gaining and corruption with individuals. Remember: "Power to the People?"

Permaculture & Nature Symbols are key elements in our archetypes, story building and our values and practices:

• Shovel - turning, renewal
• Cob bench - community
• Pond - water birth, diversity
• Sun flower – Nature Steward
• Moon - magic, Nature wisdom
• Bees - togetherness, eco-business
• Lightning - ecoAlchemy - transmutation
• Cob feet - dance, new Nature rituals
• Broken concrete - reuse – recycling
• Butterflies - metamorphosis, freedom

Archetypes impact the age that they persist in. Archetypes morph and fade. "According to Jungian approach of psychology, some highly developed elements of the collective unconscious are called 'archetypes'. Carl Jung developed an understanding of archetypes as universal, archaic patterns and images that derive from the collective unconscious and are the psychic counterpart of instinct. They are autonomous and hidden forms which are transformed once they enter consciousness and are given particular expression by individuals and their cultures. Being unconscious, the existence of archetypes can only be deduced indirectly by examining behavior, images, art, myths, religions, or dreams. They are inherited potentials which are actualized when they enter consciousness as images or manifest in behavior on interaction with the outside world."

Archetypes support and challenge our life journey through the stories, births, deaths, celebrations, trials and tribulations. Consider the following:

A. Permaculture & Nature Archetype: A love to preserve unique landscapes for future generations. Mistrust of greedy, short-term land and energy developers
Symbols: Tree of Life, Permaculture logo, Yosemite, Seeds, Amazon Rain Forest, US Gulf Coast

B. Permaculture & Nature Archetype: Our hope is to build sustainable systems in our local neighborhoods and towns. Fear of food and fuel shortages; fights for resources between neighbors and governments
Symbols: Crude oil on rails, GMO; Convergence and sharing expo events; neighborhood plans and new rituals

C. Permaculture & Nature Archetype: A deep love for freedom to own fire arms; fear of guns and killing.
Symbols: AK-47, US Flag, Scenes from mass shootings, vigils, pawn shops

D. Permaculture & Nature Archetype: Fear that global warming will destroy all life on Earth. Mistrust of business and goal of short-term profits
Symbols: Rising coastal tides, melting polar ice, coal fired power plants.

E. Permaculture & Nature Archetype: Mistrust of energy privatization and corrupt safety practices. Love of the system and blind faith in corporate responsibility
Symbols: BP, PG&E, Duke Energy

In addition, consider the following sound archetypes and their role in the Four Seasons:

Spring:
Symbols - Planting Seed Crops, Cool Rain, Digging the Rows
Archetypes of Procreation: Renewal, Prayer
Sound Archetypes – Digging in the Soil

Summer:
Symbols - Weeding / Irrigating the Fields
Archetypes of Gestation / Incubation: Growth, Watching the weather as Crops Grow
Sound Archetypes – Channeling Water

Fall:
Symbols - Harvest Basket, Compost Pile
Archetypes of Community: Collecting, Celebrating, Soil Building
Sound Archetypes – Women Celebrate Harvest

Winter:
Symbols - Cracking Ice on a Frozen Lake, Canned Foods, Dried Fish
Archetypes of Transition: Decay, Meditation, Repair, Hibernation, Preparation
Sound Archetypes – Ice Breaking on Rive

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Conclusions

Psychologists and mythologists often see the world through the power of opposites. Dark - light; sane - insane, etc. There are numerous examples of this in the Chaos Age. Destroying Nature for short-term corporate profit as Bayer-Monsanto is doing is the evil opposite of a green, locally-nurtured Eden.

The opposites are stark:

Bayer-Monsanto = GMO - poison fruit - toxic seeds - killing-off small farms -

vs.

Permaculture = Caring for Nature and building healthy communities -

One group is growing a healthy space - the other is tearing it down. Permaculture is about expanding our consciousness; Bayer-Monsanto rules through capricious capitalism, a dark force that only cares about resource privatization and legal control.

God is warning us again.

Which Eden 2.0 is next?

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