Revisiting the story of Eve, Vanya Leilani uncovers what is hidden in its shadows: the Goddess in the Garden. Part mythological exploration, cultural commentary, and personal memoir, the book explores ways of being and knowing that have long been exiled in patriarchal consciousness.
During a time when unruly questions were disrupting her devotion to the religion of her youth, Vanya Leilani encountered Eve—not the literalized Eve that has for so long been a stand-in for every (fallen and guilty) Woman, but the mythic and archetypal Eve that shows us something about our deep lives. In the shadows of her questions, Vanya met the Eve that transgressed and became like the gods: sovereign and knowing.
Vanya Leilani remembers the story of Eve in the Garden of Eden, not only exposing the harmful ways it has been used but, more importantly, also uncovering what is hidden in this story: the Goddess in the Garden, along with her ways of being and knowing. The original transgression, that has for so long been used as proof of our fallenness and depravity, emerges as a powerful creative act toward freedom, knowing, and sovereignty.
The Flesh and the Fruit is an invitation for us to learn to live more freely in our nature, to believe in our beauty and inherent worth rather than in a poisonous tale of our fallenness and depravity, and to challenge the hierarchical systems of power that sever us from ourselves, from each other, and from the Earth. It is an invitation for us to step into the center of our own circles and to live from our own wild knowing.
The Flesh and the Fruit
Remembering Eve and the Power of Creative Transgression
$18.95
202 in stock
Book Details
| Pages |
178 Pages |
|---|---|
| Size | 5.5 x 8.5 |
| Format | Trade Paperback |
| Pub. Date | 10/11/2024 |
| ISBN | 978-1-910559-96-3 |
| Publisher |
“I have not been as electrified by a book since Women Who Run with the Wolves."
—Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman, artist and illustrator of The Divine Feminine Oracle
"Dr Vanya Leilani explores the Eden myth as a foundation stone of patriarchy and domination. She weaves together her own lived experiences of growing up in a conservative Christian community with her deep understanding of psychology and myth to show us how profound and invasive the story of the woman to blame is in our Western culture.
A beautiful blend of scholarship and a life well lived, The Flesh and the Fruit can be a light held up to show the way toward true sovereignty and freedom."
—Gina Martin, author of the When She Wakes series
"An important addition to feminist literature. This book is a subversive must-read for anyone who has transgressed (or longs to) only to find a richer world on the other side."
—Natalie Bryant, author of Muddy Mysticism
"The Flesh and the Fruit weaves memoir and mythology through one woman’s profound journey to claim her sovereignty and her whole and holy self. Bittersweet and so very relatable to women seeking the sacred in their own image, The Flesh and the Fruit is an important addition to the growing collection of women’s work that invites and inspires us to look within our deepest knowing to find the answers to the questions that patriarchy doesn’t want us to ask. Both fierce and tender, it provides steady companionship for women at every stage of their individual and spiritual rebirth."
—Amy Wilding, author of Wild & Wise: Sacred Feminine Meditations for Women’s Circles and Personal Awakening
"If, after reading this book, your life hasn’t changed and you don’t feel renewed and awakened, read it again, more slowly."
—from the Foreword by Thomas Moore, New York Times bestselling author Care of the Soul
“What if we conceived of Eve as powerful, creative, curious? Not fallen, but wildly transgressive and able to choose her own path in life. In her excavation of the Eden myth, the author skillfully reimagines this foundational story that has stained women as sinful and shameful. In doing so, she liberates us to discover a way back to our truest and most alive Selves.”
—Mary Reynolds Thompson, author of The Way of the Wild Soul Woman and Reclaiming the Wild Soul
—Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman, artist and illustrator of The Divine Feminine Oracle
"Dr Vanya Leilani explores the Eden myth as a foundation stone of patriarchy and domination. She weaves together her own lived experiences of growing up in a conservative Christian community with her deep understanding of psychology and myth to show us how profound and invasive the story of the woman to blame is in our Western culture.
A beautiful blend of scholarship and a life well lived, The Flesh and the Fruit can be a light held up to show the way toward true sovereignty and freedom."
—Gina Martin, author of the When She Wakes series
"An important addition to feminist literature. This book is a subversive must-read for anyone who has transgressed (or longs to) only to find a richer world on the other side."
—Natalie Bryant, author of Muddy Mysticism
"The Flesh and the Fruit weaves memoir and mythology through one woman’s profound journey to claim her sovereignty and her whole and holy self. Bittersweet and so very relatable to women seeking the sacred in their own image, The Flesh and the Fruit is an important addition to the growing collection of women’s work that invites and inspires us to look within our deepest knowing to find the answers to the questions that patriarchy doesn’t want us to ask. Both fierce and tender, it provides steady companionship for women at every stage of their individual and spiritual rebirth."
—Amy Wilding, author of Wild & Wise: Sacred Feminine Meditations for Women’s Circles and Personal Awakening
"If, after reading this book, your life hasn’t changed and you don’t feel renewed and awakened, read it again, more slowly."
—from the Foreword by Thomas Moore, New York Times bestselling author Care of the Soul
“What if we conceived of Eve as powerful, creative, curious? Not fallen, but wildly transgressive and able to choose her own path in life. In her excavation of the Eden myth, the author skillfully reimagines this foundational story that has stained women as sinful and shameful. In doing so, she liberates us to discover a way back to our truest and most alive Selves.”
—Mary Reynolds Thompson, author of The Way of the Wild Soul Woman and Reclaiming the Wild Soul
