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| William Blake's 'The Temptation and Fall of Eve', 1808. What you're looking at is the moment that God made the universe relevant by surrendering his/her omnipotence and granting mankind free will. The serpent, in the mythopoeia underlying 'Eden's Womb,' is the Strongmother Naja who begat and embodies the universe. Naja created everything we experience, including God, and came to the Garden of Eden to give mankind the power of self-awareness and therefore spirit-awareness. In Eden's Womb, this was NOT a supernatural event. |
Here's the full story behind the 650,000-word book (now available on Amazon) - a collection of posts from this blog (Updated 20 Sept., 2023):
1. ON THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK
From conception of the plot to finished product.
1.1 How it all began - 1966
1.2 Influences from 45 years ago.
1.3 The formative years - late 1960's. Publication of an award-winning poem in 1969, which helped shape the plot.
1.4 Evolution of the plot - introduction of a climate apocalypse, early 1970's. Applying my knowledge and experience as a NASA research Atmospheric Scientist.
1.5 The long slog to a completed manuscript, milestones 1968 to 2013
1.6 Literary recognition - The award of a prize in a novel contest in 2012 is why 'Eden's Womb' is not sitting in a drawer unfinished.
2. THE UNDERLYING WORLD VIEW - philosophy and theology of 'Eden's Womb'
2.1 Theology of Paradox - the only possible 'First Cause'. Thinking of 'Paradox' as a physical, objective entity provides us the solution to most of humanity's deepest philosophical conundrums.
2.2 Morality in an Indifferent Universe - the embedded code. Yes, an unguided, uncaring, impersonal universe still has a built-in moral code. It's in the math. And we ignore it at our peril.
2.3 The Universe as 'God's Body'. There is no reality without a conscious entity to observe it.
2.4 The Spirituality of 'Eden's Womb' - why the Universe has a God, For the characters in Eden's Womb, I tried designing a religion that doesn't compromise anything that science tells us. And it works, even for the real world.
2.5 The Paradox of Free Will - more on the spirituality woven into the world of 'Eden's Womb'. And into the real world. If there is any response from the universe to our presence, then what we choose to do really matters.
1. ON THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK
From conception of the plot to finished product.
1.1 How it all began - 1966
1.2 Influences from 45 years ago.
1.3 The formative years - late 1960's. Publication of an award-winning poem in 1969, which helped shape the plot.
1.4 Evolution of the plot - introduction of a climate apocalypse, early 1970's. Applying my knowledge and experience as a NASA research Atmospheric Scientist.
1.5 The long slog to a completed manuscript, milestones 1968 to 2013
1.6 Literary recognition - The award of a prize in a novel contest in 2012 is why 'Eden's Womb' is not sitting in a drawer unfinished.
2. THE UNDERLYING WORLD VIEW - philosophy and theology of 'Eden's Womb'
2.1 Theology of Paradox - the only possible 'First Cause'. Thinking of 'Paradox' as a physical, objective entity provides us the solution to most of humanity's deepest philosophical conundrums.
2.2 Morality in an Indifferent Universe - the embedded code. Yes, an unguided, uncaring, impersonal universe still has a built-in moral code. It's in the math. And we ignore it at our peril.
2.3 The Universe as 'God's Body'. There is no reality without a conscious entity to observe it.
2.4 The Spirituality of 'Eden's Womb' - why the Universe has a God, For the characters in Eden's Womb, I tried designing a religion that doesn't compromise anything that science tells us. And it works, even for the real world.
2.5 The Paradox of Free Will - more on the spirituality woven into the world of 'Eden's Womb'. And into the real world. If there is any response from the universe to our presence, then what we choose to do really matters.
2.8 Firestorm in the Wilderness - the Physics of the Big Bang, and an exploration of the 'Creation Story' of its unexplained origin. Was our universe the child of a mother-universe, and what does that imply?
3. THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY - the social perspective underlying 'Eden's Womb'
3.1 Humanity's peak of "civilization" was in the 1960's - we're now on a long, slow decline
3.2 Perspectives on "intelligent life" - We are alone in the universe because we are a failed evolutionary experiment. Here's the recipe for the apocalypse that shaped the world of 'Eden's Womb.'
3.3 More on the Fermi Paradox (why we find ourselves apparently alone in the universe), what it says about the future of humanity, and how that informs the plot of 'Eden's Womb.'
3. THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY - the social perspective underlying 'Eden's Womb'
3.1 Humanity's peak of "civilization" was in the 1960's - we're now on a long, slow decline
3.2 Perspectives on "intelligent life" - We are alone in the universe because we are a failed evolutionary experiment. Here's the recipe for the apocalypse that shaped the world of 'Eden's Womb.'
3.3 More on the Fermi Paradox (why we find ourselves apparently alone in the universe), what it says about the future of humanity, and how that informs the plot of 'Eden's Womb.'
3.4 Would Planet Earth be better off without human beings? If every species had one vote, and one species was to be 'voted off the planet' today, which one do you think would go?
3.5 Colonizing Space: Utopia or Bust. Interstellar travel is still just a dream. Our best hope for long term human survival is to diversify. Not necessarily on another planet.
4. NOTES ON THE WRITING PROCESS
4.1 Mythopoeia - myth building--an important element of world building for a Fantasy novel
4.2 The 'Tight-Rhymed Fourteener Couplet' - a poetic form used for many of the epigraphs in 'Eden's Womb'
4.3 More about 'Tight-Rhymed Fourteeners' - because I'm a poet at heart.
4.4 Personal notes on becoming a (successful) writer It started early in elementary school.
4.5 Five essential elements of a good novel plot (and of an interesting character's story-arc).
4.6 Personal thoughts on how to get your work published
4.7 Thoughts on the rapidly changing book publishing industry and how to navigate it
4. NOTES ON THE WRITING PROCESS
4.1 Mythopoeia - myth building--an important element of world building for a Fantasy novel
4.2 The 'Tight-Rhymed Fourteener Couplet' - a poetic form used for many of the epigraphs in 'Eden's Womb'
4.3 More about 'Tight-Rhymed Fourteeners' - because I'm a poet at heart.
4.4 Personal notes on becoming a (successful) writer It started early in elementary school.
4.5 Five essential elements of a good novel plot (and of an interesting character's story-arc).
4.6 Personal thoughts on how to get your work published
4.7 Thoughts on the rapidly changing book publishing industry and how to navigate it
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