ArchTale 37. Point of No Return

The-Man’s creation was now in ruin. With humanity corrupted The-Woman was now an enemy of The-Man.

There was still a place swept clean in her heart for the child she hoped yet to have and for The-Man too, but she had crossed a line.

Up until humanity had joined her in her rejection of The-Man by eating her fruit there was hope for her to turn back to him and eat again from the tree of life, but no more.

The-Man could no longer watch her soul gradually degrading so he caused her bodily soul, her serpent power, to descend and coil up around the earth, there to stay.

He cast her bodily soul down, to lie dormant, gripping to existence, holding onto life, supporting the life of the earth.

From then on The-Woman became as we find nature today; life living on life; survival of the fittest; survive at any cost.

No return from eating the food of the Underworld

Shinto

Thereupon His Augustuess the Male-Who-Invites, wishing to meet and see his younger sister Her Augustness the Female Who-Invites, followed after her to the Land of Hades. So when from the palace she raised the door and came out to meet him, His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites spoke, saying: “Thine Augustness, my lovely younger sister! the lands that I and thou made are not yet finished making; so come back! “Then Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites answered, saying: “ Lamentable indeed that thou camest not sooner! I have eaten of the food of the furnace of Hades. Nevertheless, as I reverence the entry here of Thine Augustness, my lovely elder brother, I wish to return. Moreover, I will discuss it particularly with the deities of Hades. Look not at me!” Having thus spoken, she went back inside the palace; and as she tarried there very long, he could not wait. So having taken and broken off one of the end-teeth of the multitudinous and close-toothed comb stuck in the august left bunch of his hair, he lit one light and went in and looked. Maggots were swarming, and she was rotting,.... Hereupon His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites, overawed at the sight, fled back, whereupon his younger sister, “Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites, said: “Thou hast put me to shame,” and at once sent the Ugly-Female-of-Hades to pursue him. Again, later, his younger sister sent the eight Thunder-deities with a thousand and five hundred warriors of Hades to pursue him. So he, drawing the ten-grasp saber that was augustly girded on him, fled forward brandishing it in his back hand;” and as they still pursued, he took, on reaching the base of the Even-Pass-of-Hades, three peaches that were growing at its base, and waited and smote his pursuers therewith, so that they all fled back. Last of all, his younger sister, Her Augustness the Princess-Who-Invites, came out herself in pursuit. So he drew a thousand-draught rock, and with it blocked up the Even- Pass-of-Hades, and placed the rock in the middle; and they stood opposite to one another and exchanged leave-takings ; and Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites said: “My lovely elder brother, thine Augustness! If thou do like this, I will in one day strangle to death a thousand of the folk of thy land.” Then His Augustness the Male-Who-Invites replied: “My lovely younger sister, Thine Augastness! If thou do this, I will in one day set up a thousand and five hundred parturition-house. In this manner each day a thousand people would surely be born.” So Her Augustness the Female-Who-Invites is called the Great-Deity-of-Hades.

-The Kojiki

Ancient Greece

Persephone was titled Kore (the Maiden) as the goddess of spring’s bounty. Once upon a time when she was playing in a flowery meadow with her Nymph companions, Kore was seized by Haides and carried off to the underworld as his bride. Her mother Demeter despaired at her disappearance and searched for her the throughout the world accompanied by the goddess Hekate bearing torches. When she learned that Zeus had conspired in her daughter’s abduction she was furious, and refused to let the earth fruit until Persephone was returned. Zeus consented, but because the girl had tasted of the food of Haides--a handful of pomegranate seeds--she was forced to forever spend a part of the year with her husband in the underworld.

The casting down of the serpent to encircle the earth

Ancient Scandinavia

Evil was to be expected from the children of Loki of which the Midgard Serpent was one. Odin threw the Serpent into the deep sea that surrounds all lands. But the serpent grew so large that now out in the middle of the ocean, it lies coiled around all the lands, biting its tail. When Odin beheld the foul serpent, which was yet young, but of great length and very fierce, he seized it in his wrath and flung it far over the walls of Asgard. Yet by reason of its terrible weight it did not pass beyond the world’s edge, but fell into the depths of Ocean, where in after -days it grew and grew until it encircled the world of men. There on the sea bottom it lies, holding its tail in its mouth. When it shakes itself the waves rise in great fury and surge high upon the world’s shores

-The Prose Edda and Elder Edda

Ancient Greek Pelasgians

At her bidding, Orphion the great serpent coiled seven times about this egg until it hatched and split in two. Out tumbled all the things that exist, her children: sun, moon, planets, stars, the earth with its mountains and rivers, its trees, herbs and living creatures. Eurynome and Orphion made their home upon mount Olympus, where he vexed her by claiming to be the author of the universe. Forthwith she bruised his head with her heel, kicked out his teeth and banished him to the dark caves below the earth. ‘Ophion the great serpent became obnoxious and tiresome, bragging how he had fathered all living things. Eurynome grew weary of him and bruised his head with her heel. He was then cast down into the dark regions of the earth.

-Graves. R. p. 27. And Matriarchal creation myths

Fon of Abomey

The snake was created first and it carried the creator everywhere in its mouth, making the world as it is now. Each night when they stopped great mountains of snake excrement appeared...When the creator had finished he saw that there were too many mountains trees and large animals for earth to carry. How could he stop the earth from sinking into the sea that surrounded it? He asked the snake to coil itself up with its tail in its mouth to support the earth. The snake became like a circular carrying pad which people put on their heads to support water pots or various other weights. God told some monkeys who live in the sea to make iron bars for his food whenever he is hungry. Every so often the snake shifts position a little and there is an earthquake. If monkeys fail to feed him with iron the snake will be obliged to eat its own tail.

-Parrinder. G. pp. 25-27.

Joshua Indians of southern Oregon

Xowalaci (The Giver) saw the world had become inhabited by dogs and snakes. He crushed the ten biggest snakes in baskets of mixed fresh and salt water and threw them in the ocean. Two bad snakes got away to give rise to today’s snake-like animals. Xowalaci ordered those two to encircle the world and hold it together. He also crushed five bad dogs and threw them in a ditch. They gave rise to water monsters.

-Sproul, pp. 232-236; von Franz, p. 174