Excerpt from my speculative/historical novel DAUGHTERS OF TIME https://www.amazon.com/Daughters-Time-Kaalii-Cargill/dp/1482616971
“Let me tell you a story,” said Old Lil, sitting on the wide rim of the fountain pool. “At the start of time, at the very beginning of time, before the world had filled with people, there lived a man and a woman. Do you know who they were?”
Lili shrugged. “Adam and Eve?”
“Half right,” said Old Lil. “And half wrong.”
The silence deepened. Birds twittered in the vines, and the distant traffic hummed. Old Lil opened her eyes and looked intently at them. “Before Adam lived with Eve in the garden between the rivers, there was another woman. Long has she has been forgotten. This is her story.”
Lili’s face was flushed, her eyes shining. “Most people think Eve was the first woman,” she said. “But you must be speaking of Lilith. She is named in the old stories.”
Old Lil smiled. “What comes first, the bird or the egg? The time of sun or the time of rain?”
Paula shivered; someone walking on her grave.
Old Lil went on with her story. “There is no beginning and no end. So it is, and so it has always been. The green shoot is nourished by all that has gone before. It grows and, when the season is done, it returns to the earth.”
The words were familiar. Were they from the Bible? Paula couldn’t place them.
“The very first woman – Lilith as you call her – was strong and free,” said Old Lil. “She knew the true names of every living thing. When the first man saw her, he wanted to be with her like the lion was with the lioness, like the horned gazelle was with the doe. “But the fierce one knew that men and women could come together in a different way. She tried to show him, but the man turned his back and refused her wisdom. One night, as frogs called from the rivers and crickets sang from the earth, the man tried to force the woman to do what he wanted. She rose up and uttered words of power, and the World changed.”
Bees hovered around the flowers on the vines, making a sound like a summer breeze in dry grass.
Old Lil nodded her head. “Where the woman had stood was a Serpent, scales shimmering in the moonlight. When Eve came, the Serpent was waiting.”
“What happened?” asked Lili.
“First the Serpent spoke of earth: I am the womb of life. From me you come and to me you shall return. Nothing is wasted. Do not fear.” Old Lil’s voice sounded like the hissing of snakes.
“Then the Serpent spoke of air: I am the breath of life. From me come the winds of change. Nothing remains the same. Do not fear. To live you must leave the safety of the womb. To eat you must crush the wheat. Nothing remains the same.”
Paula closed her eyes and leaned forward to rest her arms on her knees, her fears for Peter dissolving in the dreaminess of Old Lil’s story.
“Then water,” said Old Lil. “I am the beginning of life. From me all things come forth. Nothing is forgotten. Do not fear. The primal vortex of destruction is also the central wellspring of creation. Nothing is forgotten.”
“Finally, the Serpent spoke of the golden light of the Sun and the glowing flames of fire. I am the heart of life. From me comes the searing heat of desire. Nothing is unknown. Do not fear. The barley and the corn agree to live in the Sun and die in the flames to give you food. Nothing is unknown.”
Old Lil smiled. “The first woman carried the life-giving power of the Earth.”
“I know of her,” said Lili.
“Of course you do,” said Old Lil. “Her name was almost lost, but some remember. Although you may have not heard this story before. History says she became a demon, living in the netherworld, tormenting men’s dreams. But that is not what happened.”
“What really happened?” asked Paula.
Old Lil smiled at her as if she had just done something clever. “She took many different forms – serpent, wise woman, harpy, priestess, prostitute – coming to women when they were ready to hear her story. Through the Ages she kept alive the original dream of the Earth. She has even been a ‘bag lady’.”
“Why didn’t the Serpent speak to Adam?” asked Lili.
“Because men can’t hear Serpents speak,” said Old Lil, laughing like a mad woman.
(Meet Mago Contributor) Kaalii Cargill