The Secret Dowry of Eve

QABALAH / WOMEN'S STUDIES "Glynda-Lee Hoffmann cracks open the early stories in the Book of Genesis and invites us to enter them in a new way. She writes with flair and verve, and her goal is an ancient one: Know thyself and be whole." --John Shelby Spong, author of Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism and Born of a Woman "Glynda-Lee Hoffmann presents us with a startling picture of why we are the way we are . . .how each of the characters in Genesis represents an archetype of the human psyche, placing that story of our beginnings in a cosmological framework of creation and evolution that is captivating and compelling." --from the Foreword by Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of The Biology of Transcendence The beginning of the Book of Genesis tells us that Eve was created from Adam's rib and, after eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, was responsible for the Fall of humans and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. But is Eve's subservience to Adam and her responsibility for the Fall the true picture of this first woman? The Secret Dowry of Eve presents a revolutionary interpretation of this story. Using her lifelong study of the Qabalah along with current scientific understanding of the four cortexes of the human brain, Glynda-Lee Hoffmann shows that the story of the Garden of Eden is actually an instruction manual that explains our biological imperative for transcendence and wholeness--and that Eve's contribution to meeting this imperative is essential. Adam represents the human with a fully developed neocortex. He is outward-looking intellect, capable of assessing the world, of labeling all he sees around him. But it is Eve's dowry--the inner world of the feminine, the function of the brain's frontal lobes--that makes Adam complete. Eating the fruit opens Eve's eyes to inner awareness--a "feminine" awareness of "every possible possibility" within us, the opposite of Adam's "male" orientation to what is outside ourselves. The Secret Dowry of Eve offers a new revelation in an old story. It is Eve who promotes balance and wholeness through her ability to integrate the feminine and masculine aspects of human awareness. Understanding Eve's role in the development of consciousness is the key to empowering ourselves and restoring wholeness to our world. GLYNDA-LEE HOFFMANN has been involved in extensive study of the Qabalah for over twenty-five years and is a leader in the field of Genesis mythology. She lives in Chico, California.