In the same garden dwelt the Serpent: «The snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman,“Did God really say that you shouldn’t eat from any tree in the garden?”. The woman said to the snake, “We may eat the fruit of the garden’s trees but not the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, “Don’t eat from it, and don’t touch it, or you will die”. The snake said to the woman, “You won’t die! God knows that on the day you eat from it, you will see clearly and you will be like God, knowing good and evil». Gen. 3:1–6.

A number of questions arise, such as why did God create such a tree? And where did the Serpent come from? Here we can think about the balance of dark and light, and free will to choose sides, but that's a topic for another study. Although… we are not going to seriously criticize the Creator, are we? He wanted it and he created it! Just to be…

Let's get back to what the Scripture says: «The woman saw that the tree was beautiful with delicious food and that the tree would provide wisdom, so she took some of its fruit and ate it, and also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then they both saw clearly and knew that they were naked. So, they sewed fig leaves together and made garments for themselves.

During that day’s cool evening breeze, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God in the middle of the garden’s trees.

The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

The man replied, “I heard your sound in the garden; I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree, which I commanded you not to eat?”

The man said, “The woman you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate». Gen. 3:7–13.

So, the Serpent managed to seduce Eve, and she persuaded Adam, and they both ate the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Serpent promised them that they would become as perfect and intelligent as God himself, but the consequences of this act were totally unexpected. After eating the apple, Adam and Eve saw their nakedness at the same moment. They were ashamed – not because they had changed, but because their view of themselves had changed. I think this was the first act of self-discontent, in fact, the first act of auto-aggression, which included shame about their bodies and guilt about what they had done.

In expelling all three participants in this drama from Paradise, God cursed each one, he said to the Serpent: «Because you did this, you are the one cursed out of all the farm animals, out of all the wild animals. On your belly you will crawl, and dust you will eat every day of your life. I will put contempt between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. They will strike your head, but you will strike at their heels».

To Eve: «I will make your pregnancy very painful; in pain you will bear children. You will desire your husband, but he will rule over you».

To Adam: «Because you listened to your wife’s voice and you ate from the tree that I commanded “Don’t eat from it” cursed is the fertile land because of you; in pain you will eat from it every day of your life. Weeds and thistles will grow for you, even as you eat the field’s plants; by the sweat of your face, you will eat bread – until you return to the fertile land, since from it you were taken; you are soil, to the soil you will return». Gen. 3:14–19.