Gates of Eden
According to Genesis there were two trees in Eden that Adam was forbidden to eat from, being the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Eternal Life. With the snake as an informant he made it to the first, but God put him and Eve out of the garden to prevent them from getting to the second, which would have given them eternal life. To further protect this tree God set a cherub with a flaming sword as a guard.Although I don’t know of this perspective to be exercised by any of the Christian theologies that I have studied, it seems to me that if the sacrifice of Christ is the vehicle to eternal life then Eden’s trees have essentially been ravaged, and the participant has completely become the god that Adam was not allowed to become. Biblically, knowledge has been brought to mankind through Eve, eternal life brought to the participant through the crucifixion of Christ. The fruits of either tree have been partaken of.
Archeology suggests that the appearance of a cherub to the ancient Israelites was like that of a sphinx. They were winged lions with human heads. By different names, these mythological animals were common in Assyria, Egypt, and Jerusalem, and in each culture represented spiritual guardians. In my painting the guardian is dead. His sword of flame is a rifle.
The central tree is the Tree of Life, with a cruciform shape. The five branches with their blood red fruit grow from the traditional five wounds of Christ. The dove approaches it through the gates. The other tree is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It’s fruit are the eyes, symbols of wisdom or perception, that were also used in “Adam and Eve.” The black and white striped snake of wisdom is in it. That tree is shaped like a pregnant woman, recalling our common mother, Eve, who received knowledge of good and evil from the fruit.