Myth: “The serpent in the Garden of Eden is the devil, the ultimate evil tempter who led humanity into sin.”
Truth: The serpent is a symbol of creative power and desire — misunderstood and feared, but actually essential for transformation and awakening.The Serpent in Eden: Not the Enemy, But the Catalyst
"Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made."
— Genesis 3:1 (BBE)
Traditional Christianity often portrays the serpent as Satan, the deceiver who shattered humanity’s innocence.
However, symbolically — especially through Neville Goddard’s teachings — the serpent represents desire and the creative power of imagination. Its subtlety is not wickedness but the quiet, inner promptings of awareness calling us to awaken.
When Eve listens to the serpent, she is drawn to know herself as God — as the operant power shaping her reality. The so-called “forbidden fruit” symbolises the knowledge that we determine good and evil through inner assumption rather than through imposed external rules.
The “fall” is not a moral collapse but an awakening from unconscious innocence into conscious creation. In Neville’s terms, this is humanity’s first act of assuming a state deliberately rather than merely accepting appearances — the essential movement into creative self-awareness.
The Trees in the Garden: Knowledge and Life
Genesis introduces two significant trees in Eden:
"And out of the earth the Lord God made every tree to come, delighting the eye and good for food; and in the middle of the garden the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
— Genesis 2:9 (BBE)
The tree of knowledge of good and evil represents the emergence of duality and judgment — the power to differentiate, choose, and imagine. Before eating, humanity lived in a state of unconscious unity, simply reacting to external influences.
"For God sees that on the day when you take of it your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil."
— Genesis 3:5 (BBE)
Here, the serpent reveals that eating the fruit would awaken humans to self-awareness. Far from being pure evil (although it is the first creeping in of doubt and beast allegory), this act signals the beginning of conscious creative power. Neville teaches that only through this awakening can one step into the true role of creator, assuming states deliberately and transforming the world within and without.
"And the Lord God gave the man orders, saying, You may freely take of the fruit of every tree of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not take; for on the day when you take of it, death will certainly come to you."
— Genesis 2:16–17 (BBE)
This “death” is symbolic: it is the death of unawareness, the end of passively accepting life as it is. It marks the beginning of self-directed life through imagination — a rebirth into responsibility for one's inner world.
The Tree of Life: The Completion of Creative Mastery
After humanity eats from the tree of knowledge, God declares:
"See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now he might put out his hand and take of the tree of life, and eat, and go on living for ever."
— Genesis 3:22 (BBE)
In Neville’s interpretation, the tree of life represents the final realisation of the eternal “I AM.” Once an individual knows good and evil — becomes aware of choice and imagination — they stand on the edge of discovering their eternal creative nature.
Eating from the tree of life symbolises recognising that you are immortal spirit, able to die to any former state and live forever through conscious assumption. If humanity had eaten from this tree immediately, they would have realised their eternal creative identity and fully claimed the ability to assume any state and live continually as the chosen self.
The Serpent Lifted: From Curse to Healing
"And Moses made a snake of brass, and put it on a rod; and it came about that anyone who was bitten by a snake, looking on the snake of brass, got life."
— Numbers 21:9 (BBE)
This event mirrors and transforms the Eden story. The serpent here is no longer the feared deceiver but a symbol of healing and salvation. By lifting it on a pole, Moses shows that the very force once seen as dangerous becomes the source of life when consciously embraced.
In Neville’s terms, lifting the serpent is raising imagination and desire to conscious awareness — seeing them as the path to healing rather than downfall. When you look upon (accept and assume) your desires rather than fear or condemn them, they become instruments of transformation and renewal.
Jesus and the Serpent: The Ultimate Symbol of Divine Power
"As Moses put up the snake in the wasteland, even so it is necessary for the Son of man to be put up."
— John 3:14 (BBE)
Jesus directly relates himself to the serpent, revealing a profound psychological truth. His being “lifted up” is a metaphor for raising one's awareness of the creative power within — the divine imagination.
Neville explains that Jesus Christ symbolises your own wonderful human imagination. His crucifixion is the fixing of a state (an assumption), and his resurrection is the manifestation of that state.
Thus, lifting the serpent and lifting the Son of Man are the same inner process: the conscious assumption of the desired state, resulting in its outward expression.
Reclaiming the Serpent Within
The serpent story ultimately concerns our relationship to desire and imagination.
| Traditional View | Symbolic (Neville) View |
|---|---|
| The serpent = evil tempter | The serpent = creative power and desire |
| Temptation leads to sin and curse | Temptation leads to awakening and transformation |
| The serpent must be rejected | The serpent must be embraced and understood |
| Power is dangerous and to be feared | Power is sacred when consciously assumed |
Instead of fearing desire or treating imagination as sinful, Neville invites you to embrace your inner serpent — your creative impulse — and guide it through conscious assumption.
The Key to Transformation
The Law of Assumption teaches that what you accept and feel as true shapes your outer world. Desire is not your enemy; it is the divine urge to express more of your true self.
The serpent represents that first impulse to reach beyond limitation and claim your identity as creator. By lifting this inner serpent, you awaken from passive living to conscious authorship of your life.
This is the true return to Eden: not a retreat into naive innocence but an awakening to the creative power you have always possessed. When you stop fearing your imagination and instead use it deliberately, you partake of the tree of life and live as the eternal “I AM,” free to choose and assume any state.
Conclusion
The serpent, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life are not symbols of doom and punishment but of divine opportunity. They reveal the process of awakening to your creative power and the responsibility that comes with it.
By embracing the serpent within, assuming your desired states, and recognising your true nature as the operant power, you no longer fear desire — you transform it into conscious creation. You step beyond passive living and reclaim your divine inheritance: the ability to shape your reality from within.