The Garden of Eden presents us with two trees:
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The Tree of Life
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The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
Traditionally, these are seen as moral opposites. But through Neville Goddard’s teaching, we understand them as two distinct modes of self- perception — two psychological states springing from within. The first mention of trees is in Genesis 1:11 - the seed is in itself—a direct metaphor for how imagination creates reality.
Genesis tells us that woman was taken from man’s side (Genesis 2:23). She is called “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” indicating that woman, symbolically, is not an external figure but an emanation of man’s inner nature. In Neville’s interpretation, woman symbolises the conceptual, receptive, and fertile aspect of mind — the creative room in which ideas gestate before appearing outwardly.
These two trees in Eden are not literal plants but symbolic growths from this fertile "womb" of the responsive mind. Every assumption we hold is a seed; the mind is the room where these seeds are nurtured and brought forth.
Genesis 2:24 further illuminates this symbolism: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." This is not merely about earthly marriage. It describes the psychological process of manifestation. To "leave father and mother" means to detach from former beliefs, inherited assumptions, and past identities. "Cleave to his wife" represents uniting with a new assumption — the chosen state you desire to embody. When this union is complete, "they shall be one flesh": the idea becomes manifest in physical experience.
This pattern of allegory repeats powerfully throughout Genesis, most notably in the figures of Sarah and Hagar, and later Leah and Rachel.
Hagar: The Tree of Knowledge — The Divided, Outer Mind
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the mind that judges, divides, and seeks solutions externally. It introduces death not as moral punishment but as separation from wholeness — the split awareness that strives and reasons rather than imagines and trusts.
Hagar embodies this. She is given to Abraham through Sarah’s impatience and logical planning, not through inner conviction. Hagar represents the concept of effortful, divided striving — the attempt to produce results by manipulating outer circumstances. Ishmael, her child, is the product of this state: a manifestation born of external effort rather than spiritual realisation.
Sarah: The Tree of Life — The Undivided, Inner Faith
Sarah embodies the Tree of Life. She conceives Isaac not through calculation but through promise and faith.
Sarah’s womb represents the pure, undivided imagination that receives an idea and nurtures it into form, without resistance or strain. It is the creative room of the mind where assumptions are fertilised and brought to life. Sarah does not scheme; she waits in quiet assurance, and the result is Isaac — the child of laughter and fulfilment, a symbol of joy born from spiritual conviction.
Leah and Rachel: The Continuing Pattern of the Trees
Leah and Rachel extend this Edenic pattern. Leah represents the state of inner persistence — remaining in the assumed state even when it feels unattractive or “unloved.” She resembles the Tree of Knowledge redeemed: her many children, especially Judah (Praise), demonstrate the fruit of daily discipline and quiet continuity in assumption.
Rachel, the beautiful yet initially barren one, is the fulfilled wish or state of being— the Tree of Life fulfilled. Her eventual conception of Joseph (Imagination) and Benjamin (Completion) symbolises the ultimate fruit of inner union with vision. Her barrenness shows that spiritual ideals do not manifest immediately; they demand unwavering union with the new self-concept before they become flesh.
The Trees Grow from the Responsive Mind
These two trees are not planted in an external garden but grow from the depths of the responsive mind — the symbolic "woman" who receives, nurtures, and brings forth every experience. Genesis 2:23 shows us that woman is called forth from man’s side, representing the conceptual framework that makes creation possible.
Genesis 2:24 completes this picture. It tells us that man must leave his "father and mother" — his old self-concept and past assumptions — and cleave to his "wife," the fertile, receptive mind. When this union is established, they become "one flesh": the new idea takes on outer form.
Thus, every woman in Genesis stands for this inner "room" or womb — the mind's sacred space where the seed of assumption grows into visible life.
Four Wombs, One Pattern of Consciousness
| Woman | Symbolic Tree | Mode of Consciousness | Offspring |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hagar | Tree of Knowledge | Outer effort, reason | Ishmael (outer striving) |
| Sarah | Tree of Life | Inner faith, promise | Isaac (joy, spiritual birth) |
| Leah | Tree of Knowledge (redeemed) | Persistence in assumption | Judah (praise, kingship) |
| Rachel | Tree of Life (fulfilled) | Spiritual vision fulfilled | Joseph (imagination), Benjamin (completion) |
Eden Revisited: The Inner Choice
Eden has never been lost. It is a living state within us. We always stand between the metaphorical two trees:
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Hagar and Leah: the divided, effortful mind of outer striving.
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Sarah and Rachel: the undivided, faithful mind of inner vision.
Every moment, we choose which tree to "eat" from — through our assumptions and self-concept.
The question is not "What should I do?" but "From which self-perception am I acting?"
As Neville taught: "You are already that which you seek, but you deny it by your sense of lack."
Final Word: Your World is Your Child
Your outer world is your child — the offspring of your inner assumptions. When you look at what you have brought forth, ask: was it born from fear or faith? From striving or from serene knowing?
Let Sarah laugh. Let Rachel rejoice. Let your inner "woman" — your receptive mind — become a sacred, fertile room again. From there, let the true Tree of Life grow.
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