Earth Was Given As a Garden?

One of the most interesting insights that I have had recently really has to do with how humans have been affected by cultivation and subsequently, domestication and the development of agriculture. Being one of those “back to nature” kind of people, I have been interested in ancient myths - primarily myths that explore the relationship between people and the earth.

When I was first starting to look into the relationships between plants and people, I was struck by the comment in a botany book about how most ancient people viewed the tools and knowledge surrounding agriculture and farming as “gifts from the Gods”. It was Demeter’s son who was credited in the Greek culture with bringing these gifts. And in every culture you will find something in the myth structure about agriculture. Not surprising, as the need for this information was important to the development of civilization. I never paid particular attention to the Christian “garden of Eden” story. But that particular myth is very striking. Certainly the garden would be a “gift from God”, but in Jehovah’s anger over their disobediance over the Tree of Knowledge, he gives Adam and Eve the boot. With the birth of Cain and Abel we start to see a dissonance that transcends simple sibling rivalry - the differences between ways of life, the gardener vs the herder. Both brothers proceed to give offerings to Jehovah, but with whom is he more pleased - Abel with his sacrifice of lambs or Cain with his offerings of the earth? Interestingly, value is now assigned to the sacrifice as Jehovah tells Cain that his offerings aren’t as worthy as his brother’s. After Cain becomes angry and kills his brother, Jehovah denies his role in the situation.

I guess that this whole myth could be interpreted as the ongoing struggle between those who work the land and those who raise animals on it. The famed rancher-farmer clashes in the west (and even rancher-rancher clashes) became the subject of Hollywood movies - so this dichotomy was true even within the past 150 years. But the garden of Eden myth has also led to some interesting conclusions for Western culture’s treatment of nature. It seems that man has ever been trying to subdue nature, perhaps trying to reclaim earth as a new “garden of Eden”. But what a mess we have made! What was commanded as stewardship of the earth has turned into rape of the environment by a corporate culture interested in only making a profit. A culture of domination reigns instead of a culture of peaceful coexistence. It seems to me a small thing - why was it that Jehovah could not look equally upon the gifts of His creation? In Western culture having to work the land is seen as part of God’s punishment - not as God’s gift. And the truth be told, the world of plants and the world of animals are not equally dependant - I think that the plants would not miss the animals nearly as much as we would miss them. Not that we would miss them for long - since we can not live without them.

So, the struggle was set up eons ago - some might say the beginning of humans. But I don’t think that this is true. Obviously there are earlier and older myths - myths where agriculture was a gift. It’s unfortunate that we still don’t see it that way- but instead view it as a battle where we wrest our subsidence from the ground and the earth falls victim to our chemical warfare. We justify our destruction in many different ways. But regardless of the current battles, I still have hopes for the emergence of a new myth - one that lets us again see that agriculture is a gift - a covenant with the earth that is not entered into lightly. For if the knowledge of agriculture is indeed a gift from the Gods, then should we not seek to use it wisely? Perhaps the wild, untamed earth can again become the garden we so fervently seek.

 This essay was last revised on July 14, 1999.